"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
LUCKY'S POV**4 weeks since last chapter (3½ months since Hycinth left)**I watched Hycinth from the corner of my eye. True to her word, she was doing all of the things I wanted her to. She got up, dressed, went to work and then went home. But she was only going through the motions. There was no happiness in her expression, ever. I didn't think she'd even smiled since we left Leander.She'd opened up a few more times about her pain and grief. We were making progress, slow, but progress. I could see her opinion start to sway. She wanted to fix what was wrong inside of her, but she just didn't know quite how to get there. And even if she did, she feared it was already too late to get Leander back. I didn't think so. That male would do anything for her...in the same way I would do anything for my mate one day. It would be painful for both of them, but they could get through it. I had to believe that. But her self-criticism and self-doubt kept her bound up unable to break free.And we wer
"The violet and cerulean smoke?!" Hycinth breathed. She seemed to understand more than I did. I had no idea what the hell colored smoke she was talking about.The Oracle nodded in approval. "Yes. That is correct. You bore his child at that moment."Hycinth's mouth dropped open. It took her a minute to close it. The shock never left her expression as she asked incredulously, "Are you telling me that was when Leander got me pregnant...even before we had sex?!"What she said sounded like nonsense, but I had no details on the ceremony preparation, so for the moment, I just listened.The older shewolf nodded again."Does it always h-happen that way for the mating ceremony?" Hycinth stuttered."No. Never has it happened in such a manner. Usually, conception occurs during intercourse."Hycinth blinked, stunned silent, finally out of questions."This smoke that you are referring to, the thing that got Hycinth pregnant...what was in it?" I asked skeptically."Leander's semen was the main ingre
Caught in a LieLuckyThe Oracle walked out the door, leaving both Hycinth and me gutted and raw with the truth, utter devastation in her wake.Unable to make my body move, I slumped in the chair across from Hycinth. Her arms were wrapped around her middle, clutching her belly. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She rocked back and forth. Confusion swirled unchecked in her irises, mirroring mine, trying to wrap her head around the impossible.But neither of us couldn't any make sense out of what we'd heard.Nothing made sense anymore...Lost blue eyes focused on me. "I thought it was about the war, Lucky-the decades-old conflict between our pack and Leander's -it was supposed to be about the war!" Hycinth wailed, gasping for breath. Desperation colored every word. "Not me! Why did they have to kill Leander's mother and your mate because of me?!"I inhaled slowly and let the breath out. I wasn't sure I could talk about my mate without breaking down into a puddle on the floor, so I focused
. "What are you trying to say? That we should never have run three years ago?" Hycinth asked with her lower lip trembling."Maybe...as much as I hate to admit it." I ran my hands through my hair. The more I thought about it, the more I questioned our decision because the facts all pointed to one conclusion. "What happened after he finally caught you? He did everything in his power to make you love him."Hycinth shook her head. "It's not that easy. Lucky, you didn't see his face that day. He wasn't happy to find out I was his mate. You heard him yourself. He thought of me as his whore when he first found out. That's not someone who intends to be gentle and loving.""True..." I acknowledged, "but happy or not, the bond is powerful. I haven't experienced it personally...and now I never will,"I swallowed to contain the lump in my throat before continuing, "but, I know it to be true. Think of it this way. How many names did you call him in those early days as well? We both did. Leander di
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