(Katelyn's POV)Nausea hit me hard, the aftershock of the vision assaulting me brutally. I'd touched the baby, which was obviously a bad idea, but I hadn't been able to stop myself. Then there was the blood... so much blood it stained the ground red.I heaved, covering my mouth and running to the bathroom as fast as I could. I barely made it in time, collapsing in front of the toilet as the bile rose in my throat. I heaved, vomiting until my stomach was empty, and even then, the retching didn't stop.I rested my forehead against the cold porcelain, trying to steady my breathing. Then the tears came again, sadness and grief mixing with the sickness as I struggled to process what I’d just seen.Me... My mother... My father. I wiped at my tear-streaked face, the nausea still gripping me, but the wave of emotions that coursed through me was worse than the physical sickness.I had seen my mother’s last moments. I had lived them with her. It was completely heartbreaking, but maybe... I suppo
(Katelyn's POV)The moment Harlan opened his mouth, I knew it was going to be bad.“Now, before you ladies get any ideas, let me explain the situation to you," he said, his voice dripping with smug satisfaction as he glanced between me and Jenna. His arrogant smile made me want to punch him in the face.“Jenna over here has been dosed with enough wolfsbane to keep her wolf dormant for the next 24 hours... at least," he explained, looking so fucking pleased with himself.My heart dropped and I looked over at Jenna, trying to keep my expression neutral, but inside, all I felt was absolute hopelessness. I had thought this might be our ticket out of here, but if she couldn't shift, there was no way I could take him on my own. We were back at square one.“That means she can’t shift, Katelyn,” he continued, stating the obvious and reveling in the fact that he couldn't be outsmarted. “That means the two of you can’t shift and try to take me on. Not that you would have had any chance anyway. A
***TRIGGER WARNING - DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & ANIMAL CRUELTY (Not too explicit though because I'd rather die)***(Katelyn's POV)His hand tightened around Jenna’s arm, pulling her closer to him, the threat clear.“Harlan... I can’t do what you think I can do,” I said, my voice trembling with desperation. “I’ve already shown you. Please, you have to believe me," I begged, desperate for him to believe the lie.He sighed and shook his head, exasperated.Without warning, his fist collided with Jenna’s face and I watched in horror as her head snapped to the side. She stumbled a little, but he held her up. I thought she might start to cry. I know I probably would have, but instead, she slowly turned her head back toward him, glaring at him with pure hatred in her eyes.There was blood oozing from a cut on her cheek as well as on her lip that mingled with the falling rain. The sight of it made me feel queasy all over again.To everyone's horror, Jenna spat in his face, the blood from her mouth sa
(Katelyn's POV)As the vision took hold, the rain and the cold wind disappeared. The world around me turned into a nauseating swirl of heat and suffocating air.I felt the same scorching heat I had before and I thought my skin was going to melt off of my body.We landed in the vision... the same one I had had before. The one where Harlan's packlands were on fire.A satisfied smile crept across my face, but I hid it quickly, masking it with an expression of concern as I looked around at the fearsome flames that licked the sky.This time was a little different in that I wasn't experiencing the vision in first person. Instead, it was just like the memories, where all you could do was stand there and watch whatever scenario was playing out in front of you, unable to intervene. Unable to change anything. Not that I would want to in this instance.Harlan stood beside me, his face showing none of the usual smug confidence he carried. Rather, he was looking around in confusion as the smoke cu
(Katelyn's POV)The fear flashed in his eyes and something inside me clicked. He was afraid of me.This was my chance. My only chance.I swallowed hard, forcing the nausea to the back of my mind as I decided to take the opportunity to act before it slipped past me. If I was going to do this, it had to be now. I couldn’t afford to hesitate.With as much control as I could muster, I turned away from Harlan and made my way toward Jenna, every step I took deliberate and steady.I had the power now. I was the one in control of this situation. I was the one to be feared.Bending down beside Jenna, I took her cold hand. The rain continued to pour, soaking us both, but I ignored it. Instead, I leaned in close to her, whispering, “It’s going to be okay now, Jen. I swear.” My voice cracked with emotion as tears filled my eyes at the sight of her. She smiled weakly, but then, in an instant, the smile fell.Just as quickly as my hope had blossomed, it was torn away.Pain shot through the back of m
(Tyler’s POV)The rain beat down around us relentlessly, making everything feel slow and heavy.It felt like a lifetime had passed since we’d left Medicine Bow territory, and the journey to Aspenwood had been long, grueling, and frustrating in every possible way, but we'd finally made it. We were in the Aspenwood Pack lands, but instead of relief, I only felt the growing pressure of time slipping away from us.Ryder walked ahead of me. He was quiet, his gaze searching through the dark, thick forest in hopes that we might find some sign of Kate, but the rain made it exponentially harder.Every now and then, I glanced at him, the flicker of our earlier argument still lingering in my mind. We’d been on edge the whole drive. Maybe it was the exhaustion or the helplessness of feeling like we were chasing shadows, but tempers had flared.“I don’t get how you’re so fucking calm about all this!” Ryder had snapped, his frustration reaching a peak as the sun began to set and the rain had started
(Katelyn’s POV)Harlan’s hand was like a vise around my throat, squeezing tighter and tighter with every passing second. My back was pressed hard against the tree, the rough bark scraping painfully against my bare skin. I gasped for air, but his grip was unrelenting, and the harder I fought, the more hopeless it became.I tried to claw his hand away from my neck, desperate to pry his fingers loose, but it was pointless. He was too strong and my one arm was all but useless after my fall.My movements were growing weaker, my strength ebbing away as the lack of oxygen sucked away what little fight I had left.I kicked out at him, landing blows against his legs and abdomen, but I may as well have been kicking a brick wall. He didn’t even flinch. His eyes burned with rage, his expression twisted with fury, but I could see something else there too... satisfaction. He was enjoying this. Enjoying watching me struggle, watching the life drain out of me.My chest was burning, my arm was throbbi
(Katelyn’s POV)The snarl echoed through the rain-soaked forest, sharp and vicious, drowning out the sound of my own ragged breathing.My head snapped up, eyes wide as I caught sight of two wolves launching themselves at Harlan. They tore into him, their powerful jaws ripping at his skin while he struggled to fight them off.For a moment, I was frozen, unsure of what I was seeing.The wolves fought relentlessly, taking advantage of the fact that Harlan was still in his human form. They ripped into him with brutal efficiency, and I could hear his pained growls as he tried to fight back.I squinted through the darkness, trying to make sense of it. I couldn't see the color of their fur... Everything just looked gray in the dark. My mind immediately raced to the conclusion that it was Ryder and Tyler, but I knew it couldn't be. They didn't know where I was. It couldn't be them.As I struggled to my feet, my mind raced with questions, but the only thing on my mind now was escape. I had to g
I adjusted my grip on the tiny, squirming bundle in my arms and smiled as a chorus of laughter echoed through the Valentine house."Could you hold her for a sec?" I asked Ryder, shifting Ava into a more comfortable position. "I forgot my phone downstairs.""Absolutely," he replied, his face lighting up as he took her from me.I had to admit, Ryder had surprised me. I’d always known Tyler would step up to fatherhood like it was his destiny, but Ryder… I thought he might need a little more coaxing along the way.To my relief, and, I'll be honest, surprise, that hadn’t been the case at all.Ryder had embraced fatherhood like a natural. Late-night feeds? He was right there with me. Diapers? No problem. Making sure I ate? He was relentless. And the way he loved our daughter, with every fiber of his being... God, it melted my heart daily.Tyler, on the other hand, was exactly the dad I’d known he’d be. He was steady, dependable, and endlessly patient. Where Ryder brought the energy and fun,
(Katelyn's POV)I nodded slowly, processing it all as I tried to picture it in my mind's eye."Oh! And get this!" Ryder piped up with an excited grin. "Michael, the guy you wrapped around the pillar? He's Simon's cousin!""What?! How do you know that?" I asked, confused.Tyler replied this time, "Well, when we were leaving, we bumped into Simon in one of those long, winding corridors. He started going off at us asking where we were going and if we had permission to leave, blah blah blah... But Helen shut him down. She told him that the decision had been made and instead of giving us a hard time he should probably go and check on his cousin because the last time she saw him, he didn't look so good.""You should have seen his face," Ryder smirked, chuckling to himself. "He just stood there for a moment, still blocking our path, but then I think something clicked in his head. He probably saw that we were all covered in blood and shit and realized that something was wrong and he practicall
(Katelyn's POV)The first thing I registered was the sound of hushed voices and the faint smell of lavender.My eyelids felt like they’d been superglued shut, but after what felt like an Olympic-level effort, I finally managed to pry them open.My vision swam, the room around me looking like a watercolor painting that someone had left out in the rain.Where was I? WHO was I? It felt like I had been asleep for a hundred years.I blinked repeatedly, willing my vision to focus, but when it finally did, nothing seemed familiar.It was dark, from what I could tell, and the only light was coming from a lamp somewhere on the other side of the room.I shifted onto my elbow, trying to sit up, but I instantly regretted it. Pain throbbed in my skull, my head spinning like I’d spent hours on some rotating carnival ride. A groan escaped me, and the low murmurs nearby stopped immediately.“Kate?” A voice cut through the haze... Familiar, warm, desperate.My gaze darted toward the sound, and there t
(Katelyn's POV)She was furious, but not with me. I could feel her... like a storm raging inside me, raw and untamed. I waited in the quiet shelter of my own mind, nothing more than an observer as I watched her wrath unfold. It was like witnessing a hurricane from the safety of a bunker, awe and terror warring inside me."We... We didn't know!" the iron-haired woman’s voice quivered, her arms raised defensively, as if they could shield her from the Goddess's divine fury."You didn't know?! You didn't know that you were exploiting them? Or you didn't know that I would care?" the Moon Goddes spoke through my lips, her words flowing like liquid thunder."I... We..." the woman stammered, her eyes darting around desperately, searching for someone, ANYONE, to come to her rescue. But no one did. No one dared to move. They were all frozen like statues in the face of the storm."You will—" the words spilled from my mouth, but I somehow managed to cut them off abruptly when I heard Tyler's angu
(Tyler's POV)"I don't know what to do," Kate whispered, her voice filled with helplessness as she looked up at me while I struggled against the attendants who held me in place."Let him go," she ordered, authority resonating through her voice in a way I'd never heard before.When they hesitated, she glanced toward the man she'd just sent flying through the air like a puppet as some kind of silent warning of her power.That seemed like enough for them to release me.The second I was free, I fell down beside her, desperate to stop the blood that was pouring from Ryder's neck. It was coming out so fast it was clear that they must have gotten an artery, the blood pulsating out of the wound in steady throbs."What do we do?" she whispered, looking to me for answers I didn't have.I reached out, holding my hand over hers in some futile attempt to stop the bleeding, but it was like trying to hold back a flood with a fucking paper towel.His neck was a mangled wreck. The flesh was torn open t
(Katelyn's POV)Tyler’s hand trembled as he held it in place over mine, trying desperately to stop the blood that continued to pulse out, albeit at a much slower pace now.His voice was a whisper and it wavered with desperation. "You’re going to be okay, Ryder. You hear me? Just hang on. Just—" he broke off, choking back a sob as his other hand found its way to Ryder’s blood-matted fur as he rubbed him affectionately.He looked at me, his face pale and his eyes swimming with tears that he tried uselessly to blink away.“Kate...” His voice cracked, barely audible above the rapid, shallow breaths of his brother. “The bleeding... it’s too much. He’s not healing fast enough.”His words struck me like a dagger to the chest. I'd thought it, but hearing him say it out loud made it real.“What are you saying?!” I cried, my voice raw and broken as I gripped Ryder’s limp paw, shaking it in hopes of some kind of reaction. My vision blurred as I let the tears spill down my cheeks. “Is he going to
(Katelyn's POV)Through a blur of tears, I found myself face to face with the broad-shouldered Elder, Michael."You're an abomination!" he snarled, his hands gripping my arms with a ferocity that promised bruises. "You're a curse! A witch! A temptress! Do you know how my family has suffered because of you?!" he spat as he shook me violently, his eyes filled with absolute rage."But... I..." I stammered, trying to form words into sentences, but my brain couldn't do it.All I could do was stare at him, still reeling from the fact that one second I had been kneeling beside Ryder, trying to help him, and the next, I was being violently shaken by a man who seemed to have gone full psycho."Katelyn?!" Tyler called out, realizing I was no longer at his side.Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him struggling against about three or four attendants who tried to hold him back.Suddenly, pain shot through my cheek and the world around me fell into a darkness that seemed to ebb and flow like the t
(Katelyn's POV)For a moment, the entire room froze and my ears rang with the word exterminated."We're leaving," Tyler said, his voice low as he snatched me by the wrist and tugged me toward the door.The attendants remained though, none of them making any move to unblock our path. Instead, they all looked toward the iron-haired woman as if waiting for her to give them some instruction."Move," Tyler demanded sharply as Ryder appeared on my other side."We aren't finished here," the iron-haired woman called out as three more attendants appeared to block our exit."She wants to leave," Ryder replied, his voice filled with venom as he turned to address her."We aren't finished," she repeated, her voice cold and sharp as steel."I thought you said this was a hearing," I shot back, glaring at her. "Was there some line in the invitation about being held against my will? Because if there was, I must’ve missed that part," I spat, trying to hide my growing fear with sarcasm.The room fell si
(Katelyn's POV)The iron-haired woman watched me, her grip on her notes tightening once more. Her restraint was evident as she took a deep breath before finally replying. “You have already been told, Miss Grey, that this meeting is for us to ascertain—”I cut her off, my own patience now unraveling fast. “God, you can’t even give me a straight answer! What are the potential outcomes here?!” I demanded. "Even criminals on trial know what potential penalties they'll be facing! Why can't I be afforded the same courtesy?! Are you going to impose some kind of limitations on me and my abilities? Or do you plan to lock me in a prison cell? Or maybe a tower in the middle of nowhere? Are you going to kill me? Seriously, what options are on the table here?!" I pressed, annoyed by how fucking evasive she was being.It felt like they had already made up their minds here. While a few of them did seem to be on my side, it's clear that many of them were not. And those who sat on the fence would likel