CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT:~Drake: ‘We need to rest,’ Dane grumbled again. Annoyed with me. We’d been driving for hours. I’d filled up twice since we’d left the motel but outside of that we haven’t stopped. ‘We’re nearly there,’ I sent him back. ‘No, we’re not. And if we don’t stop we won’t have the energy to defeat them all,’ he pointed out - again. I growled aloud, smacking the steering wheel. I didn’t want to stop but the da*n wolf did have a good point. I haven’t been here in what felt like a lifetime. Alpha Rafael was a grade A a**hole but he wasn’t stupid. He likely changed patrols since I left. I wouldn’t be able to use any knowledge on the packlands other than where the buildings were. I had to slow down, build a strategy - figure out how to get in touch with Archer before blowing the element of surprise. If I even had that. Blowing out more agitated breaths I pulled over, bringing the car to a full stop. I’d lost track of where I even was. I was just heading home. All wolv
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: ~Avery: I vaguely registered the gun in his hand before I fell forward on my knees. A sharp pain stabbed me. I put a hand there, pulling away a dart. He shot me! What was even in that? “Just got to make sure we keep you dosed. Can’t risk you getting your voice back can we?” the older O’Dell kid smiled, tucking the dart gun somewhere in his back pocket. My head slunk forward. “Now, before you go back to bed… I need you to take this,” he said with what seemed like super speed. Was he speaking really fast or was everything moving slowly? Darkness threatened to take over my vision and my head swam. I saw a little bright green speck in his hand. “No,” I blubbered out, hands splayed on the ground trying to hold my body up. “Well you take it now, willingly, or I call your mutt’s Alpha and tell him exactly where to find him. Plus - I can always just shove it down your throat when you’re asleep. Which shouldn’t take more than.. Oh,” he looked at his watch, “t
CHAPTER FORTY:~Drake: “I already tried that,” I snapped. Alec heaved out a breath, his patience waning. “Well, try again anyway.” I bared my teeth, his attitude instinctually making my more animalistic traits pop out on their own. Maybe I was wrong about this guy,’ Dane grumbled in my head. “Seriously?!” I gritted through my teeth, meaning to respond to Dane but saying the word aloud. I looked at Alec to see a bored look on his face. “Do I really need to say it?” he drawled. “Oh just shut up, bloodsucker,” I snapped. Beth rushed in front of me a blink later, her teeth bared. I hadn’t seen her for what felt like hours. She’d come rushing from seemingly nowhere. Alec had us stuck in this tiny, hot, stinky room (vamps stink, there’s no getting around it). And we had been trying different meditative techniques to try to reach Avery. “Dove,” Alec chided from his chair several paces away. “He doesn’t mean it. Mutts can just be very grumpy sometimes. Remember he’s away from his
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: ~Avery: My heart thundered in my ears as I ran quietly through the halls, praying to every deity out there to help me avoid detection. The slick hospital-like flooring contradicted sharply with the literal torches near each doorway and I tried to not totally lose my footing as I moved. Between the darkness around long stretches of hallway, and the possibly slippery floor, I had to trust my gut to get me out of this. If I could even hear my gut around the sound of my blood pumping. Another corner became more clear up ahead and I slowed my approach, listening as carefully as I could. Jack was still out there. I’d heard some very far off cursing a few minutes back and I couldn’t tell if I was getting further or closer
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO:~Drake: “Queen- what?” I asked Beatrix, looking away from Beth and Alec. “And you,” she added, closing her syfy eyes, “You are no regular werewolf either.” “Lady Beatrix, what do you mean?” Alec asked from behind me someplace. Beatrix opened her gaze and looked between all of us meaningfully before saying, “Let’s talk someplace private. There’s a lot to explain.” “Let’s use my office,” Alec offered, walking briskly ahead of us. I rose from my knees, confused at the turn this had all taken. We entered a small, ornate building that looked like it had been carved from a giant tree. The closer I inspected it the more details I could make out in the wood. Little moons of various stages, treelines, mountains, even a bat now and then. Beatrix’s steps clicked on the hardwood as we entered. The hair on my arms stood up as soon as I passed the inner door. “Beatrix spelled this space some years ago. Soundproof against supernatural hearing,” Alec explained to me when he
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE:~Avery:The blinding light of the outside world had me needing to shield my eyes. While the hospital lighting down here had been a shock, this natural light and the heat from the sun was something else entirely. I squinted, shading my eyes, and checked the area quickly. No real threats. Sadness came over me that I tried to will away - I had hoped that I’d regain some normal feeling over my magic once I got out here - but it was the same. A deep empty hole where my magic had been.There was a forest out there and I thanked anyone up there listening for the coverage. The only challenging part was the vast expanse of grass between me and those trees. I ignored my aching body and quickly ran across the distance, keeping my head on a swivel for anyone else who could be out here. Holding my breath, my heart pounding, I pushed my muscles to the brink and - made it. Just behind the first tree I paused. Waiting for someone to yell out that they’d seen movement… But nothing
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR:~Drake: I rolled my eyes, “And how is this time supposed to be any different than the nonsense you were having me do outside earlier?” “Like I said, that wasn’t real,” he grunted, pulling something out from a chest that must have been way at the bottom. Everything clattered loudly as he removed it. “Aha!” he exclaimed, holding up a big golden… arm band? It looked like part of a knight’s old armor. Like it was made for someone’s forearm. He walked over to the table beside where he told me to sit, and laid everything out. It looked like nonsense. ‘Looks like a crazy pirate’s treasure,’ Dane said in a wry tone. ‘And where have you been?’ I asked him right away as I watched Alec sort his crazy collection of random shiny objects. ‘I needed a break,’ he said simply. ‘From?’ I asked. He didn’t reply. Again. My skin was itching to get to Avery but I had no real way of finding her. I looked back up at this crazed vampire and squinted my eyes trying to figure hi
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE:~Avery: The woman in front of me was her, I knew it in an instant. My gut sank. My heart broke. My spirit dissolved. All of them, Tyler and his older brother, and now her, had reasons to hate me. Reasons to track me down like this, to kill me. I’d have done the same thing if someone had done that to my parents… I had taken away their parents. Come to think of it, I killed mine too. In a way. While I know Tyler could have died without me stopping his dad, that doesn’t change what I did. All of my running over the years. It was for me. Not just because I didn’t want to get caught. Not just because I was a danger to anyone who tried to lock me up. But because I was running from this. From facing the consequences of my actions. I was a murderer. A family destroyer. I felt sick. I leaned on one hand, pressing into the concrete floor, suppressing the urge to vomit. I breathed deeply, something between hyperventilation and dry heaving. After a few moments I looked