For the first time in two days, I wake up feeling almost good. Most of the aches and pains are gone, and the crushing fatigue is now merely annoying – something that is hanging around to remind me I’m busy growing another living being.
I take a long shower, sighing with pleasure as the warm water washes away the last several days’ agony. I even have enough energy to change the linens, and since no one’s been in here to clean for a while, I decide I might as well get on with that too.
I’m unsure what this emotion is I’m feeling. I have felt it before, but I’m loathe to even think of the word because it never lasts. I’m happy. I can count the few times I’ve been this cheerful on one hand. The last time I was this happy was a month ago when I met Suri.
Singing a lullaby Aunt Mildred taught me, I make my way to the living room, expecting to see Carl or Kane, but it’s Glenn who waits for me today. His head h
Kane's POV:I stare at Willow sleeping next to me. She’s pale and breathing heavily. The shift was harder on her than it should have been, and she couldn’t control her wolf. I spent the whole night keeping Suri in check while also controlling Dario. It was an exhausting night.Despite the fact that I’m bone-tired, I get up and go to the kitchen. Whether she wants to or not, Willow has to eat. Yawning, I pull meat from the freshly stocked fridge, and despite the fact that I know she won’t bother with it, I take out some vegetables and start to chop them up. “Kane, are you awake?” Glenn asks in my head.“Unfortunately.”“Yeah, I know the feeling. How is Willow?”“She’ll be okay. The shift was hard on her. How are you?”“Looks like I’ll live.”I sigh. I know how he feels. Right now, he’s wishing and hoping and praying fo
Kane's POV:The three massive Gammas, emissaries from Vickus’s kingdom, look at me like I just hit them with a wet fish. “Forgive me, king,” one of them says. “You want us to decide Vickus’s fate? Why?”“You were his warriors. Your lives were impacted by his actions the most. What is your process?”“Our process, king?”“Hm. Do you have a hearing or a court or…how do you deal with traitors?”“Vickus just…executed them. Publically.”“Well, we don’t. We gather our Gammas and decide their fate together.”The emissaries look at each other like it’s the most amazing thing they’ve ever heard. “You trust them?”“Yes.”“Why?” The oldest of the Gammas, Blake, asks. He’s the one I almost killed the night in the forest.“That’s ho
It’s almost midnight by the time Kane comes home, and I’m about ready to climb up the walls and start killing shit. I have so much energy that I don’t know what to do with myself, and sitting in this apartment with nothing but my own company to keep me occupied nearly drove me insane.I take one look at Kane’s face when he steps inside, and decide to say nothing about it. He’s exhausted, he’s irritated, but mostly he’s angry. “You’re still up,” he growls at me, clearly displeased“I couldn’t sleep,” I answer honestly. I tried, but I guess after more than a week in bed, my body’s done resting. “Can I bring you something to eat?”“Did you cook?”I snort in answer. “Of course not. James brought up a tray.”He growls again, but I know it’s only his new instincts doing it. “I’m going to miss him.”“
While we’re eating breakfast, Kane tells me about everything that happened yesterday. I’m not surprised to hear about Tyler. I know from experience how depraved people can be. “Bryce took an under-aged mate too….Is that a thing with werewolves?” “No. It’s against the law, but if we don’t know someone’s breaking the law there’s not much we can do about it.” “How did no one notice his mate was only fifteen?” Kane shrugs. “They probably lied about her age.” “So what now? What will you do with Tyler?” “I don’t know. He didn’t murder anyone. He didn’t commit treason. I want to kill him, but he didn’t break any laws that warrant a death sentence.” “What does it warrant?” “A lengthy prison sentence. Sometimes a sentence of slavery.” “Slavery?” I ask, not shocked at all, just curious. “Why?” “So they’ll understand what their victims went through.” “Ah,” I grin. “A tit for tat punishment.” “Something like that, but I can’t give him a sentence of slavery, because my grandfather outlaw
Kane's POVI am just about to settle in with Vickus’s Gammas so I can try to guide them towards some kind of resolution to the Vickus issues when there’s a knock on the conference door. I am tempted to ignore it, but my new inner voice tells me that I really need to talk to the person on the other side. “Just a moment,” I say to the annoyed-looking Gammas and get up to answer the door.Kaylee, one of Willow’s guards, stands on the other side, looking terrified. “King,” she says through stuttering breaths. “It’s the queen.”I haven’t felt anything from Willow that concerns me. A little anger, a little jealousy, some pangs of fear and concern, all normal emotions for a pregnant she-wolf. “What about her?” I ask, closing the door behind me.“She, ah, she’s on her way to see Maria.”“So?” I still don’t know why the guard is
Kane’s POV “It’s not the potion,” Agatha says. “Nothing in it can cause…this kind of mental and physical decline.” “Fuck,” I run my hand through my hair and glance at Willow. She’s quiet, her head thrown back, looking at something we can’t see. “What is wrong with her?” “I don’t know, great king. Perhaps it’s the pup doing it to her.” “Why would he kill his own mother?” Agatha just shrugs. “Who knows why The Ultima does anything, my king? Maybe she’s not supposed to survive the pregnancy. Perhaps, the gods only granted you this short time together, so she can birth this saviour of the werewolf race, and then her time here comes to an end.” I have to stop myself from knocking Agatha’s head off her shoulders. She’s saying things I’ve been thinking about but don’t want to hear. I don’t want to believe it. I can’t. We are meant to be together forever. “If that’s the gods’ plan, it’s a bad one. Ripping the child’s mother an
“What happened? What did I do?” Kane asks while he helps me off the altar.“Not you, great king,” Agatha offers. “The gods. They saw your anguish, and tied your life force to hers.”I’m still a little too dazed to say anything. I’m not convinced the gods had anything to do with it. Kane’s magic has a tendency to get away from him, and he does things without even trying. “Is there a way he can undo it?” I ask.“Not if you want to live through this pregnancy, priestess.”“Stop calling me that. I’m not your priestess.” I turn to Kane. “You have to undo it. If I die, you die, and then our child will be all alone.”“No,” he says, and crosses his arms over his chest. “I can feel it now. How much the pup takes from your magic and life force. Goddess, he's strong. I don’t even know how you made it this far.”&ldqu
“Do we still need this?” Kane asks, holding up the container of vials.“I don’t know,” I say and sit at the kitchen counter. I don’t know how Kane does it, because he looks at least as bad as I feel, but like every morning, he got up early and made breakfast. “I don’t think it makes any difference anymore.”He nods and returns the container to the cabinet. “We’ll see how it goes. If you get sicker, we’ll start using it again.” He runs a shaky hand through his thick hair and pushes his half-eaten food away. “I have to go into the city next week. I think you should come with me.”“Why?”“So I can keep an eye on you.”I’m too tired and sick to argue with him. “Okay. Did the Gammas come to a decision yesterday?”“Yes. They’re executing Vickus tonight.”“Do we have to attend?”