KILLIAN'S POV "Still no change?" I took a bite of my roll, staring at Chris over my plate of food, and rolled my eyes. I swallowed and then answered. "Don't you think I would have come and got you if there had been?" He rolled his eyes back at me. "No. You'd want to keep her to yourself. It's been two days. And she's still unconscious. Has Divinity been in there to see if she can do anything?" "She's been in there every day. She said she needs to rest. She lost a lot of blood. She's healing. Caleb did a number on her." "Caleb is an asshole, but I never thought he was this cruel. I don't see him doing this to her." I shrugged. "Maybe you don't know him as well as you think." He shook his head. "Something isn't adding up. He was in love with her. Then to almost murder her? No. When she wakes up, she can tell us more." "Hopefully. If she remembers anything, she went through a pretty traumatic
VIVIAN'S POV "This is where we found you." I looked at the ground where Killian was pointing; spots of blood were still covering the ground—my blood. Looking at Killian's face, I could tell he noticed, too. Chris's jaw was tense. No one was happy to be here, but they wanted answers. I looked towards the tree line, feeling a pull. Chris and Killian watched me, waiting for me to react to my surroundings. I started walking, letting myself be guided. As we continued to walk, the tugging felt stronger. I'd been here. I'd come this way. "Vivian? Where are we going?" I held up my hand, silencing Chris. I needed to feel, not talk. I paused, closing my eyes, and turned, heading in another direction, further into the forest. Where were we headed? Ivy started whimpering. She wasn't happy that we were returning to where we came from. Something here had scared her. The closer we got, the more I questioned if we should turn bac
KILLIAN'S POV "You're not serious, are you, Vivian?" Chris stepped forward, bumping my shoulder in the process. "He's right, Vivid. Take it back. We don't need her." Vivian looked back at Sylvara and then at us. "The deal's been made." Mother Nature grinned at us over her shoulder and then held up her hands. Her lackeys formed a line around her, waiting for her command. "We go with the wolves." I looked at Vivian again. "We're taking them back to Blackmoon? Now?" "How else are we going to train with them?" I groaned. "Fine. Just don't say I didn't warn you." She shrugged. "If it makes you feel better. Let's get going."*****VIVIAN'S POV I rubbed my hands together nervously, staring at the trees Sylvara should be coming from. When we'd gotten back to Blackmoon, Killian had offered to make up rooms for them, begrudgingly, but they had insisted they'd feel more at home in the fore
CHRIS'S POV "Just leave me be." I knocked on Vivid's door harder. "It's been two days. You can't keep sulking. You either open up, or I'm breaking it down." Hearing scuffling, I waited until the door cracked open, her tear streaked face staring at me. "What do you want?" I held up a paper sack of food. "You know what I want. I want you to eat something and make sure you're okay." She held out her hand. "I'll take the food, but you can go." "Yeah, right. I'm coming in and going to watch you eat this." "Not happening. I don't want to see you or Killian." My jaw dropped. "What did I do?" "Exactly that. Nothing. You didn't do anything. You stood there and did nothing." "What was I supposed to do, Vivid? She's Mother freaking Nature. Did you want a vine through my chest, too?" She flinched. "No." "So let me inside, and we can talk." She
VIVIAN'S POV "You're holding back." I closed my eyes, trying not to glare at Sylvara. I was on the ground again. "I'm giving it my all." "Listen to your body. Listen to your wolf, wolf girl." I opened my eyes to see her holding her hand out to me, which I grabbed, letting her help me up. "But this is magic. This isn't shifting. What does that have to do with it?" "Your senses. You're ignoring them. You don't have to shift to pay attention to your wolf." I let myself feel, listen, smell. Then I heard it—the sound of something coming behind me. I whipped around in time to see a vine coming straight towards me, and I sliced it in half with the force of energy Sylvara had already taught me to wield like a sword. She was a much better teacher than Clarence. She was vicious and in it to win it. I spun around, grinning at her, her expression matching mine. "I think you're catching on," she said. "
SARAH'S POV "Why aren't we letting them come to us?" Zeke asked, staring down at the paper I held in my hands. I crumpled the sheet with the scribbles of Blackmoon's mapped compound. I knew the place by heart, so it wasn't doing me much good anyway. "Can you just shut up? I know what I'm doing." "If the pack knew I was letting you call the shots, it would hurt my cred as Alpha." I rolled my eyes. "Because you're such a wonderful Alpha in their eyes." "Hey, I am. I got rid of that murderer, Vivian." I started rubbing my temples. "Right, you did. Good job, Zekey. But listen, this is super important stuff here, and I know Blackmoon better than you do, so it's best if you just let me handle the logistics. If we let them take the offensive, we're at a disadvantage." "Got it. I've never been to war before; I guess it's all these nerves." I patted the spot on the bed next to me. "Sit down, Zekey."
VIVIAN'S POV I wanted to avoid having this conversation. Chris and Killian were on their way to my room after I had sent for them separately, and I was preparing for a massive blowout. I looked around, ensuring there were no immediate weapons nearby. But I'm sure that wasn't going to stop them. A knock on the door stopped my search, and I rushed to answer. It was Killian, who was grinning at me. "Sorry if I took too long. I came as quick as I heard you were looking for me." He stepped inside, eager. He didn't know yet that Chris would be joining us. And as if in the queue, Chris jogged up behind him. "Vivid!" Killian stopped in his tracks. "What is he doing here?" I grimaced. "I asked for both of you to be here." Killian glared at me. "What is this about?" Chris glared at Killian. "Maybe she's finally made a choice and didn't want to embarrass you publicly." Killian's eyes widened. "Is that
KILLIAN'S POV It was early morning, and the screams started before I smelled the fire. Why was it always fire? You'd think she'd be more original when she attacked. I jumped out of bed, ran out of my room, and headed towards Vivian's. Vivian was already leaving her room, shooting a wild look in my direction. Sarah had said she was coming, and this was it. We didn't say a word as we took off outside. When we emerged, we emerged into chaos. There was fire, and people were running. Some running from the fire, and others are running toward it. Looking at where the fire came from at the front gate, I saw shifters pouring in. Some in wolf form, others not. They were breaching. I spun around to see Marcus before he shifted, my army behind him. Good, they'd handle the breaching army. I screamed at my citizens. "Get in your homes!" I hoped they heard me and listened. Not all my people were built to fight. My army whipped past me, taki