Chapter Four

NORA POV 

Freezing ice water washes over my skin, dragging me from the unconscious void with a ferocity. Bolting upright, my head fuzzy, the light in the room making it painful to open my eyes.

Finally opening my eyes, I find Marcus standing above me, with Hakeem beside him. A bucket in his hand. “What the fuck, Hakeem?” I growl before reality sets in, and I realize I am back in Northern Lakes territory. “Wait…when did we get home?”

Panic takes root as I look between the two men before me, trying to recall memories of the night before. “Thank you, Beta Hakeem,” Marcus growls, his voice deadly as he glares at me. “You can go now.”

I will take the bucket of ice water over the chill in his voice any day as I scoot my frozen body away from him. My back smacking the headboard, trying desperately to get away. Sensations from the night before invade my waking thoughts, while I desperately grab for them, hoping to understand the situation.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Marcus seethes, my once calm brother slowly slipping into a fearsome Alpha I had never witnessed before. “I told you not to embarrass me, Nora. For fuck’s sake, I know you think the entire world revolves around you, but newsflash it doesn’t!”

“Marcus…I…” I try to explain, but the memories from the night before are still fuzzy, the pieces scattered and not making sense. Faces of people I don’t recognize dance behind my eyes. I am trying to put the puzzle pieces together, but it seems impossible to wade through the fog.

“You can’t even remember last night, can you?” he questions with a sneer, disappointment written all over his face, and I never felt as much shame as I do at this moment.

“I…” I attempt again, and still nothing becomes clearer. I reach out to Viola, but she is quieter than a church mouse. While we haven’t been besties for the last few months, I have always been able to feel her essence, but now it’s like she never existed.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. Your drunken mistakes are no longer my issues,” Marcus mutters, refusing to look me in the eye.

“What?” I ask, tears prickling my eyes, the stale, slightly acidic taste in my mouth becoming more prominent. I try to focus on that instead of the intense fear burrowing into the pit of my heart. “Please Marcus, you can’t do this…please don’t send me to the council. You can’t send me to that hellhole, please. I will be better, I promise.”

“Damn right, I can! You fucked around, this is you finding out. I gave you so many chances, Nora, and I can longer afford to give you anymore while you are living here! I have more important things to think about than your drunken mistakes,” he replies, his eyes dead while looking at me. It’s like I no longer exist to him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I reel back. His words are like a slap in the face. His words holding a double meaning. There is more to this conversation than kicking me out of the pack. My darling brother has more up his sleeve. I just wonder what it has to do with me?

“Kailah’s pregnant,” Marcus says, meeting my eyes for the first time, the heartbreak written all over his face as the following words leave his mouth. “And neither of us can trust you around the pup until you are sober. We can’t risk your reckless decisions putting our child in danger. So we are sending you somewhere that might help.”

“Are you sending me to the council?” I ask, praying to the Goddess he wouldn’t be that cruel. No one deserves that life. The only way to leave is death, or retirement. Which are essentially the same outcome. Those that go awol don’t have very good chances of making it out alive. They’ll hunt you like dogs until there is no trace left.

“No,” he walks to my bedroom door, “you are going back to Silver Run. Apparently, Luna Elle saw something in you. Goddess knows what, you’ve been nothing but a disappointment to me. Pack your shit. You leave in three days.”

Before he exits the room, he turns to look at me with a sadness in his eyes. “This doesn’t have to be forever, Nora, but you can’t come home until you’re sober. I will call and check in, find out how the Alpha and Luna there are treating you, and anything else that might be useful.”

“Sounds like you’re asking me to spy,” the words tumble out with a chuckle, but it doesn’t deny it, his eyes meeting mine in silent confirmation before exiting the room. “Why? Why me? I am sure there are others more qualified for this job.”

“Honestly,” Marcus sighs, his patience for this conversation rapidly declining, “this was a last-minute decision of convenience. Luna Elle asked to help you personally, and you will stay with the Beta while you’re there. It would take any spy months to infiltrate the upper echelon of that pack. They want you there, and I want to know why.”

He leaves the room while I stare after his disappearing image, endless questions sprouting. The least of which is, when the fuck did I meet Luna Elle of Silver Run?

*********************

THREE DAYS LATER

It’s the wee hours of the morning on the day I am being chased out of the pack by my Alpha brother.He hasn’t given me any specifics on what I am supposed to be looking for in Silver Run, but there has to be a reason he wants me there so desperately.

My brother hasn’t been the Alpha of Northern Lakes since sixteen without learning a thing or two. One of those things is how to back people into a corner so they do your bidding.

Hell, I would just become a rogue if I didn’t have a pile of questions, all without answers, nagging at me incessantly. Viola has finally returned, but she has been pretty moody, and refuses to talk to me, making me feel more alone than ever.

With some final huffs, I continue the trek to a secret spot hidden in Geneva State park. The perfect hiding spot where you can escape from the rest of the world, and still enjoy the gentle splash of the waves from the lake hitting the shoreline.

Sitting on the log found there, I take a large inhale of the chilly morning air, reaching underneath to grab my secret stash. A substance that I cannot bring into the territory, one strictly forbidden within pack borders.

Unzipping the protective plastic bag, I pull out a small tube packed with a joint. Every instinct telling me it’s not worth it, but Goddess, is any of what’s happening really worth it?

I don’t know what other bullshit the Goddess is going to pull, but I don’t know how much more my poor heart can handle. Speaking too soon, a twig snaps behind me, but I don’t need to turn to see who it is. His scent wrapping around me, but it no longer brings the comfort it once did.

“Is it true? Are you leaving?” Dillon asks. His presence brings Viola forward with a growl. Neither of us trusting his sudden appearance.

“Why does it matter? You have a mate at home,” I snap, refusing to look at his traitorous face. Despite the stench of misery rolling around him.

“Come on, Nora,” Dillon pleads, “please? I made a mistake, but I don’t love Hazel. I love you, and I miss you. We can run away together.”

His words have my willpower cracking, my body shifting to look at the boy I used to know and love. His once manicured brown hair is greasy, underneath his eyes sits large purple bags or maybe recovering bruises. They’re so dark.

I contemplate what he is saying for half a second before realizing how ridiculous it all sounds. With a shake of my head, I crush the fantasy world he has been using to survive. “Dillon, you have a mate now. Whatever we had is over.”

“No,” he denies, a fury forming in his eyes, “we are meant for each other. What I have with Hazel is…it’s not what I want. She is not who I want. You are.” He advances closer to me, his energy becoming crazed and slightly scary.

“You slept with her while we were dating,” I remind him gently, trying to scoot away from him before he gets too close. “That happened for a reason, Dillon.”

“That was the mate bond!” he roars, pulling on his hair in frustration, his body shaking as he comes closer. “I only want you, Nora. We can run away together!” He exclaims, refusing to listen as he continues with his daydreams.

“That’s not happening,” I say sternly, putting my foot down. “I will move on from the betrayal you and Hazel put me through. You will remain mated and stay there for your pups.”

“Aren’t you listening?!” Dillon screams, stepping closer, glancing behind me. I realize I have no more room before the drop off into the lake; deadly rocks sitting below. “I DON’T LOVE HER!” His hand wraps around my wrist in a vise grip, tugging me into his chest as his arm snakes around my waist.

For the first time in the years I have known Dillon, I am afraid of what he is capable of and who he has become. His aura obviously unhinged as I struggle against his hold, only causing him to hold on to me tighter.

“Please don’t do this to me,” I beg through the tears, as I thrash against his hold on my body, terror clutching my insides at the look dancing in his eyes. “Please, if you love me like you claim, you won’t do this.”

“It’s because I love you that I have to do this.”