They salivated for it, like the sick wolves they were. And now, Hycinth's actions had not only left Leander emotionally maimed, but she'd put hundreds of lives at risk. Innocent males and females would die...even young pups and newborns, if her vile pack breached our borders. I shuddered hard to control my fear. But I should be afraid. The memory of what they'd done to that innocent baby after they'd cut it from its mother womb still tore me up inside. They'd proven beyond a shadow of a doubt there was no deed too diabolical, no blood too sacred to shed. I swallowed down the bile that crept up my throat.And as far as I was concerned, every drop of blood shed now was on Hycinth's hands.She'd set these events in motion....She was the daughter of the cruelest Alpha to ever breathe. We'd thought her innocent. Hycinth had been so young, only fifteen when her father died. We'd assumed he hadn't had the chance to instill his thirst for war into her. But we'd been wrong. She'd played us al
It HurtsLeanderMy Wolf's thoughts were a jumbled mess...WorthlessUnwantedUnlovableSome vital component had disconnected inside his head the moment Hycinth had left us. His self-hatred radiated through our bond, cutting me to the bone. The marrow of his being was bleeding, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to staunch the flow. Not that I had enough strength of my own to even try to keep us both together. His agony was mine, and mine was his.Dazed and confused, he ran.No goal in mind, no destination.He just knew he had to run because standing in one place hurt too damn much.Through the forest, careening around trees, paws barely touching the fleshy earth beneath his feet, an ominous silence played in the air around us, a distinct lack of birds calling and squirrels chattering. Even the hum of insects was absent. All creatures, substantial and insignificant, somehow recognized the devastating imbalance of the feral predator flying through their midst and wisely kept them
Push Me and SeeHycinthThe room was dark. Velvety curtains, the color of deep cobalt, hung over blackout blinds and ensured virtually no light penetrated the space.I liked it that way....dark.It was how the world should be because color and light just made me feel the pain of everything I had lost. I couldn't take it. I burrowed deeper beneath the covers, wishing to blend in with the blackness, to fade into an empty void of nothingness where I just stopped feeling.But it didn't work......it never worked.I couldn't shut off my thoughts and emotions. I couldn't stop grieving the past and fearing the future.Luca had been right. Within two days of his stunning revelation that I was pregnant, I was able to scent the tiny pup growing in my belly. My little male or female. The idea was shocking. I was a mother. And within a few months, there would be a little life completely dependent upon me. How was I going to care for a child when I could barely get out of bed?I reached out to my
War Is an Ugly ThingLeanderPain...Everything in my body hurt.From my scalp down to my toes, no area was exempt from the throbbing agony that devoured my attention and stole the breath right out of me. I tried to take shallow panting breaths to regain my air but it felt like someone was sitting on my chest, gleefully stabbing a white-hot poker in my lungs on each inhale. I had to have a broken rib, probably several, if the unbearable ferocity of pain was any indication.The stench of blood consumed the air around me and overwhelmed my sensitive nose. Instinct demanded I recoil from the offensive smell, but even if I could move, there was no avoiding the foul scent because the fresh tang of metallic iron flowed freely from my own skin."Make sure every damn one of our healers is present and ready to treat him by the time we get back!" Ever barked out orders."Got it!" someone grunted.I couldn't see who he spoke to. From the location of Ever's voice, he must have been hovering over
"This will help take the edge off," Keane mumbled. "I'll clean you up as best I can while we ride, but I won't be able to stitch your wounds closed until we get you into a sterile environment."Fuck. I should hope he didn't plan on doing any stitching right now. Not with the way the ATV was lurching over the rough terrain. I'd look like Frankenwolf by the time he was done, I thought, my mind a bit altered with the almost immediate effect of whatever drug he'd pumped into my brain. My head felt woozy and my exhaustion ratcheted up about ten notches.Without warning, something cold was poured over the deep claw wounds in my shoulder, bringing me back to full awareness. Squeezing my eyes shut, body rigid, I cursed, "Fuck!""I know," Keane replied tightly, dabbing at the edges of the lacerations with gauze to remove the dirt and grime. "Just hang in there.""He needs more for the pain," Ever snapped."I can give him another shot of morphine now," the healer replied, "but I don't want him
The Living and The DeadHycinthThe alarm clock next to my bed blared the unpleasant news that it was time to start another day. I cringed and moaned. Eyes screwed shut, I flailed my arm in its general direction, and my hand smacked the front until I found the snooze button. Silence fell. I inhaled slowly. But my reprieve would be short.It had been six weeks since Lucky had threatened to call Leander if it didn't get out of bed. And every day since then, I'd dutifully gotten up and gone to work and tried to pretend I was okay. But every day, instead of feeling better, I just felt worse.Leander invaded my every thought. It didn't matter whether I was awake or asleep. When my eyes were open, images of Leander's tortured and incredulous expression at the moment he realized I knew about his mother waged war for the worst memory in my life against the pain in his violet and cerulean orbs just before he turned his back on me and walked away.And when my eyes were closed, fate was even cru
He exhaled heavily, "I don't want to threaten you with calling Leander again. But that means you're going to have to open up to me whether you like it or not."I stiffened, anxiety running through me. Somehow, I knew it was just a matter of time before he threatened to call Leander again. My brother loved me which meant he would go to any extreme to keep me safe, even if it went against my wishes. I didn't have any choice now but to talk to him. I said quietly, "What do you want to know?"The tension in his shoulders relaxed a little. He was relieved I wasn't fighting him. "Why don't we start with why you were crying this morning?""I-I felt the baby kick," I said barely above a whisper but it was loud enough for his advanced Wolf hearing."Really?" there was excitement in his voice, but then he paused. "But why did that make you cry?"I blinked back tears. Speaking the words made it hurt so much more. I swallowed thickly. "Because h-he's not here to share it with...and my Wolf..." I
Someone to KillLeanderFor a moment, my head swam. Where the hell was I? My pulse thudded like a hammer between my temples. Cracking one eye open slightly, I took in my surroundings.Oh, yeah...the treehouse.The dim evening light didn't completely hide the telltale signs of my descent into madness. The place was a mess. Empty liquor bottles littered the floor. Clothing tossed everywhere. I'd clawed through the sheets and destroyed most of the furniture.Since I'd been released from medical care six weeks ago, I'd given up trying to stay at the pack house. Ever hadn't liked it but even he'd agreed that having a little more space for my Wolf was a good idea. The animal had gone from infinite despair to a bloodthirsty mongrel, not safe to be around other wolves, snapping and biting at the least bit of provocation.The nearby scrape of boots across the hardwood treehouse floor made me lurch to attention. Claws extended from my fingertips. Coiled and ready to spring, a feral growl ripped
The house was quiet until Leander arrived an hour later after I woke up. I killed the time in the library, going through books and learning about the history of werewolves until he came. The conversation with Gwen lasted for only a few minutes. I didn't question her any longer once she had told me that he hadn't hurt her, not once in the past year.He wasn't lying. He had it under control-at least for himself."How are the injured wolves?" I asked him as he came inside the library and greeted me."They are better. The wounds heal up quick.""And the ones that died?""I paid respects to their families." He answered, lowering his gaze and curling his arms behind his back.There were a couple of deaths from last night. I wasn't sure how many but a few warriors were ripped by the monster and killed before Leander could kill him. He only acted when the monster had attacked me and if he hadn't, he wouldn't have killed him.I closed the book I had been reading and set it aside on the table.
A shiver ran down my spine and suddenly the hunger left my stomach. "What do you mean?" I clicked my eyes to Leander. "Have you seen her?""No." He shook his head."Then?""I'm assuming she's the one that might have poisoned the man and that man belonged to the pack, which means that Sydney is somewhere here." Не continued, speaking slowly and cautiously.I wanted to hunt Sydney down, find her, question her and force her guilty for all the terrible things she had done. I wanted her to be punished, not just for today but for everything she had done. Over the year, I had grown to resent her, hate her more than I could possibly hate anyone.I pursued my lips and gripped the knife on the side of the table while taking in heavy breaths.What did she want now?"Why do you think she is here? D-do you think you can find her?" I asked him while stammering on my words as the thought of my mother made me quite nervous."I think she's going to find you. Her appearance here after poisoning me only
Tears after tears spilled from my eyes uncontrollably. I placed my hand over my mouth to hold in my sobs but the sounds still made it through. The pain was terrible and the fear was greater than every. I had barely ever been afraid of anything but tonight I was.The clock was striking to midnight and an hour had passed by since the horrific events yet I couldn't get any sleep.I wasn't going to.Whatever had attacked me tonight and killed people- Leander was that. He was the same monster as that man was and that monster was most terrific thing I had ever seen in all my twenty years of living.I wanted to blame someone for this, I wanted to be furious over Leander and pin my finger over him for everything but I couldn't. This wasn't his fault, it wasn't anyone's except for Sydney. My hatred for her was so much. After another hour of sobbing and bruising my eyes, I stood up from the bed and walked over to the washroom. Warm water flooded down from the tap and I used to wash away the dr
After Leander parted from me, I placed my hand over my mouth, holding in the urge to scream and snap at him. He just had to do one thing and he couldn't do that.All he had to do was kill the monster.The warriors were still running around the camp, trying to find their way out. After a minute of walking around, I figured the way out from the forest and back into the town. There were wet tire marks from the car that had left earlier with the injured boy. The tire marks were going to lead everyone back home.I told as many people as I could and guided them out from the camps while a few of them remained on the ground, injured. Some of the injured ones were getting carried away by the other warriors while the rest were still there.It was a monster that had tore through this forest, nothing more."You should come with us," One of the warriors whispered to me. "It's not safe for you here either." He continued.I looked over my shoulders, finding the rest of the tents getting on fire. The
I lined my lips straight, "Take him to the hospital before I rip your head off."The man quickly grabbed the boy off my shoulders and turned around to command the warriors in training. A few of them got into the vehicle nearby and they began driving out of the forest while the rest of them remained surrounded around me.Whispers began to rise between them.The ones that had gotten a sight of the boy and the wound on his neck were gossiping among themselves. I could hear it all."Did you see that? It looked like a bite. I think she bit a boy." One of them whispered to another and I rolled my eyes before turning around and walking back into the same path I came from.I needed to find Leander. The silence was eating me up alive. There was no sound of him or the monster we both had encountered. The night was getting darker and I was getting uncomfortable.I parted myself away from the camp and none of the warriors followed me. They remained there even though I had warned them to leave the
The skies began turning dark just when the sun began disappearing completely. The golden hues were gone in just a couple of minutes but we did get lucky to see the sun setting from the hills. My heart thudded loud and hard in my chest, I felt enthralled and wild and so did Leander. We took lead over one and another after every minute, we fought hard and bruised each other's wolf's slightly. We raced and tracked each other's scents across the forest.Until...The air became stiff and the atmosphere changed. We stopped on our tracks in the middle of nowhere, both of us sensing something unusual. There were wolves around, tons of pack wolves running around and some training but this was different.'Do you smell it?' I asked Leander while my nose wrinkled. It was strong-the stench of death and blood. If I could sense it, so could he and if we both did, it was somewhere near us.'Yes. It's a lot worse. It's coming from somewhere around. We need to shift back. 'He quickly said before turnin
The lunch meeting lasted for another long hour. I didn't keep track of the time as I engulfed in hearing the chatters between strong, powerful Alpha's. It was the first time I had been in a place packed with Alpha's. It was different this time.The meeting was concluded soon and the Alpha's began leaving. They began dividing, and parting ways, entering their own vehicles and soon taking the highway out of the town.So many thoughts swirled around in my head. What were they doing here? I knew for certain one of them was helping Leander with the poison but the others. What were they here for?"Did you find out if any of them has the poison?" I asked, hands inside my pocket while I stood outside, under the cold, chilling air and watched the skies change colors and the Alpha's leave the town.The gates of the house were widely opened, showing the paved roads outside. The sun, nearly setting, shone it's golden light onto the road and the several trees surrounding the house.If Leander had
Leander gawked at me with his eyes wide and his nostrils flaring. He blinked slowly, waiting for my response. The word blurted itself out of my mouth. I didn't think about it correctly. The damage couldn't be reversed now but I had to try."I don't mean it like that-" I began and he got dangerously close to me. Every step he took toward me, I took one step back. "I meant, I just want to find her and she's the one who did. She must've something going on in her head and I'm the only one who can find her." I tried to come up with something quick, before he grew any more furious.I had an idea to where I could find Sydney. She probably must be laying low in someone's pack. I now wanted to search for her again.She couldn't have ran to far. She was probably around waiting to see how the posion will affect leander."You're not leaving this place and if you do so, I'll drag you back myself and the next time, I won't be so gentle." He threatened, once more. It was the first time he had said t
Sydney had reached a new low and it was way too low for her. Why would she have given the poison to anyone? Why did she give the poison to Leander?What did Leander do to her when she came back to him?! Leander didn't tell me everything that happened when she came back in his life but I think Leander didn't treat her right. At this point I wasn't even jealousy that Leander allowed Sydney in his life even after her killing our pup. I was worried about him."But I overheard you speaking to this other man- l suppose the Alpha of the Silvertail pack about the new strain of the poison and something about his healers." I quirked my brow at him, remaining confused."He's not the enemy. I asked him a favor to figure out a way to reverse the affects of the poison and in return, I would offer some of my army to him whenever he's in need of it." Leander explained to me. "Though, his healers haven't come up with anything yet.""What about the healers in your pack?""Nothing. No one knows about i