Nathan's POVLewis Manor"Make her go away!"I shouted into the phone before Rachel had a chance to speak and instantly felt remorseful.My apology was sincere, if brief, as I stepped away from the wailing at my door to hear Rachel better. Given how we'd parted ways, I knew something serious had to be happening for Rachel to call me. I couldn't imagine what was going on, but I wasn't about to fail Rachel the first time she trusted me after leaving Moonglow Pack on a bad note."Nathan? Nathan, what's going on? Make who go away?"Shoving my hand through my hair, I mumbled, "Nothing. It's nothing. Are you alright? How can I help?""Have you spoken to Art? Do you know what's happening with Ethan?"I felt as if the banshee-level moaning was splitting my head in two. I took several steps back only to realize the woman got louder the farther away I moved---as if she could sense me moving away. Could she? Was that possible?My wolf, Lyon, growled inside my mind without answering. I couldn't t
Rachel's POVWright HouseI could picture Nathan's parents in my mind with perfect clarity. Once, I'd spent more time with the Lewis family than my own. The only times I'd gone to my own home had been to ensure Ethan was cared for and well.If I had been able to get Ethan to go with me to Lewis Manor, I would have kept us both there always. Would my life have been different if Ethan hadn't felt such a strong connection to our father? He'd wanted to be there to try to convince Patrick to avoid the gambling, drinking, and general bad behavior the man engaged in.Neither of us had ever had any hope of saving Patrick.Some men weren't meant to be saved.Conjuring the image of Luna Lewis and her mate, the current Alpha Lewis, in their garden, I closed my eyes and told them what I knew Nathan wouldn't."Nathan has met his fated mate. Her name is Linda Campbell and she is my sister of my heart. She's called Lindy. Will you take her into your home to protect her while Nathan helps me? My brot
Rachel POVOur Blessed Goddess Medical CenterGetting to the hospital was proving to be an exercise in organized chaos.Tyler still didn't want me to go while Nathan was adamant I had to be allowed to go. Neither of the Alphas in my life could stop fighting with each other long enough to agree on how I would be transported to Ethan.I was in the process of ordering a ride for myself with my cell phone when Adam came into the house looking pissed."I've got the car pulled around to the front if you can stop fighting long enough to get in."Adam was normally a very laid back guy -he had to be in order to tolerate being Beta to Tyler- so I was surprised to see him angry.Was there too much testosterone
Rachel POVOur Blessed Goddess Medical Center - Surgical Waiting Room Floor 3No one came to tell us any updates. No one came into the waiting area to join us in the waiting. No one came for any reason at all.Nurses and doctors bustled around outside the surgical waiting lobby while the overhead intercom went off in unpredictable bursts.I could tell Our Blessed Goddess was a living hive of busy worker bees all buzzing around while they did their errands in the name of their queen. I doubted the hospital was ever still or quiet. I should have been comforted by the constant hum of energy.All I could feel was increasingly cold panic freezing me from the inside.In spite of the buzz of the hospital, I became quieter and quieter myself un
Tyler POV"Go find out what's wrong with your mate, Lewis."Nathan Lewis gave me a look which said he'd kill me if he could, but I wasn't moved by it.I already knew he'd kill me if he could.After all, I had what he wanted more than anything else in the world: I had Rachel as my mate.Rachel had been a warm weight against my chest until I'd pushed her away from me. Her face was stricken as she looked from the nervous omega in the doorway to Nathan Lewis to me and back again.Her concern for her brother was admirable in a way yet also perplexing to me. Why was she so convinced she needed to be here to wait on him? Ethan would likely not awaken post-op for hours. We were wasting time sitting around in the hospital waiting area just---
Art POVOur Blessed Goddess Medical Center - Surgical Waiting Room Floor 3Too many minds were pressing in on me to focus on the ones treating Ethan Flores. My head ached with a throbbing insistence I couldn't ignore. I slouched further in my chair while tuning out as much of my surroundings as I could.All the pacing of my companions had to be ignored or I'd get ill watching them move. All the worries of those with me had to be pushed down or I'd be too distracted to recognize a potential threat before it was on top of us. All my own thoughts had to focus on my assignment---I couldn't go back to the Alpha Council with news I'd let an Alpha House heir be maimed or murdered.Could Ethan Flores be heir to House Campbell?Omega lives were foreign to my experiences as a wolf a
Nathan POVHearing Lindy wailing on the floor of the lobby was blood-curdling enough to let me know I'd be remembering the sound in my nightmares."What's going on out here? She's not dangerous. Goddess wept, get off her!"I crossed the lobby with long strides -my wolf, Lyon, only too happy to propel me forward faster to get to his Queen- and sank into a crouch by Lindy's side."I said for you to get off her."The threat implied by my tone was a real one: my wolf wanted to tear out the orderly's throats for tackling our mate. Lindy was crying with an intensity I had come to realize was unique to her. There didn't appear to be any physical damage done to her in spite of her tears.Both of the hospital staffers who had been holding Lindy
Rachel POVOur Blessed Goddess Medical Center- Surgical Waiting Room Floor 3"Do you think he'll be able to help? Save Ethan, I mean?"My words came out mumbled and murmured because my lips felt numb.Honestly, the numbness was spreading from my lips to my cheeks, my scalp, down my neck, and on and on until I felt as if I were an ice sculpture frozen in place by nameless fear. A ringing sound was echoing in my ears and only got louder the longer it took to get a reply.Both Alphas with me seemed to want to do anything other than speak to me; Lindy Campbell was silently crying while clutching Nathan's hand with both hers as if she could hold him in place if she only tried hard enough.I realized I wanted to slap the girl only when Tyler
Rachel POV"The baby is coming!" I criedHow was my baby coming?I'd had pain in my back, but I was used to that by now. I spent all day in the bed. My stomach was so swollen I couldn't see my feet and the extra weight put pressure on my spine.I had not had the first cramp! Where were my contractions? Where was the agonizing pain women all talked about?"Relax," a nurse said as she bustled into the room behind my mother who'd bolted for the hall as soon as I'd first called out.The nurse looked gloriously professional and capable. I wanted her help more than I wanted my next breath of air. I sighed audibly in relief."It's not really my water breaking? Was it just some kind of---accident?" I asked, blushing as I looked at the tablet where the Alpha Council was still hanging on the line on their side.All the male Councilmen looked terribly uncomfortable while the two females both looked amused. I was mortified this had happene
Rachel POVDays turned into weeks in Our Blessed Goddess Medical Center.Mama had taken over a week to detox from the drugs flooding her system. She'd managed to regain her ability to speak after only a few days. She was, however, still taking physical therapy to assist her with strengthening her muscles and bones again after all those years of living a dormant life in the asylum.My body was still fighting against itself. Some part of me -some animal part deep inside- wanted to reclaim the ability to shift, to fight, to run.I knew Rayne wanted to stretch her legs, but I didn't think my wolf was the one calling all the shots. I believed most of the restlessness in my body was from a part of me even more primal than Rayne herself."Have you seen Ethan today?" I asked my mother.Mama looked up from where she had been studying her hands. I knew it would take her a few moments to respond. She'd gotten her voice back, but speech was still not ea
Rachel POV"How is my brother?" I asked again, feeling like a crazed parrot as I clutched my mother to me yet every muscle in my body had gone tense in her arms.Ethan was going to have to be okay, too. I couldn't gain my mother only to lose my brother. Ethan was too young, too vital, and he had too much life left to live.Mama sat at my side on the edge of the bed tangling her fingers with mine while being careful not to pull on my IV lines or interfere with her own. We were a pair of invalids it seemed.I couldn't quite comprehend the situation we were in. Everything felt too surreal. Nothing was going the way I had ever imagined it in my head though I had certainly dreamed of my mother being returned to me more than once."Ethan is still unresponsive," Tyler answered, taking a seat beside me and reaching for my other hand, "He's not getting worse, but he isn't improving at all either. Your mother has agreed to donate blood. The hospital is tryin
Rachel POV"Your mother is doing well considering," Art said."Considering what?" I asked.My body was hot yet numb at the same time. I had a baby monitoring band wrapped around my waist to monitor my daughter, a pulse oximeter to monitor my oxygen and pulse, a blood pressure cuff for exactly that, and two IVs to make sure the hospital had access to my bloodstream as fast as possible "just in case."Saying I felt out of sorts was putting it mildly."Considering the quack caring for her had kept her overmedicated for the last two decades," Art said, shrugging a shoulder, "I think they did all they could to keep her barely conscious to avoid her fighting for her freedom. According to Justice, she can't even speak."I frowned, the muscles in my face moving as sluggishly as the rest of me, "According to Justice? You haven't seen her?"Art shook his head, "No. I distracted the facility attendants while Justice got your mother from her room
Elena POVTime passed based on the light coming in from the only window in my room. I knew the rays of dawn, the brightness of noon, the fires of dusk, and the silver of moonlight at night.Everything else was a guessing game.I've never been allowed a clock or a calendar. I tried to count days by marking them on the wall beside my bed, but they just painted over my marks on one of the days they took me for their tests.'Tests' were supposed to determine how safe I would be in normal society, but they consisted of a series of random questions I couldn't follow with all the drugs in my system.Every time they asked me something I knew there was a right answer and a wrong answer. I just couldn't make my mind identify which was which so I played the part of a mute after a while.If I didn't speak at all, they didn't give me more drugs. I was given a little more autonomy. I was left with books to read and, for a time, paper to write on.I
Art POVEvery breath felt harder and harder to draw in. I couldn't get my head on straight. For some unknown reason, I was more involved with this case of this missing female than any other case I had ever investigated in my career as an Alpha Inspector.I'd rescued children -babies even- and plenty of women before. What made this woman special? What made Rachel's baby so important to me?I couldn't think of anything hurting her child or her without the Alpha instinct rising up in me. I could feel my wolf, Merlyn, bristling all over and I couldn't afford a moment's lapse with the vampire demon sharing my body with my wolf.Merlyn had to keep the vampire in check. We would go on a rampage, drink dry anything with a pulse. I'd lost control once before and it'd been worse than any nightmare I had ever had.Coming back to myself with my belly full of the blood of others, I remembered wanting to erase every memory I had to take away the taste.No
Tyler POVRachel had finally drifted off into a fitful sleep. They'd had to pump her full of icy IV fluids to drop her temperature enough to allow her any peace. Every drop of sweat from her forehead felt as if it were being wrung from the marrow of my bones.I literally ached with the need to protect her, care for her, heal her.But there was nothing I could do."You'll drive yourself insane if you keep pacing out here worrying over what you can't change. We need to get to Elena," Windsor said.I could hear the finality in his tone; I knew he wanted to push me to do something for him. I just didn't know what more I could do for the Alpha Council. What help could I be in tracking this 'Peter' down?I'd never crossed paths with the man to the best of my knowledge."How can I help?" I asked, knowing Art Windsor well enough to realize he would tell me what he needed if I only asked.Art placed his hands into his pockets, walking o
Rachel POV"Why aren't we going to get my mother, now?" I asked, wiping the sweat from my brow with a towel growing steadily warmer with every touch to my skin.Art had brought Richard Campbell's computer along with the files from behind the picture frame. We had an exact location on the asylum my mother was being held at, but we had no access to her. I was still trying to understand why.I prompted, "What is the plan, Art? We can't just let them keep my mother in that hellhole."I knew the place Mom was in had to be terrible. They couldn't be a reputable institution and keep a woman with no illness hostage for two decades. I didn't even want to visit the place much less imagine how my mother could have survived there for twenty years."Are you okay?" Art asked, his expression concerned as he studied me hard enough to make me wipe myself with my cold towel again, "You don't look okay.""I feel hot," I said, "I don't know? It seems to be gett
Rachel POV"What do you mean you don't want to meet them?" I asked, feeling ridiculous even repeating the words aloud, "Lindy, we're talking about your family. Your real, blood family."Lindy shook her head 'no' over and over. Her wet hair slapped against her cheeks and I noticed she was crying now, too. Her gaze was slightly vacant, as if she couldn't understand what she was saying or what was being said to her or both."You---"Art cut me off, saying, "Lindy, do you need something to drink? Some water? We don't have to talk about those people right now. Can I get you anything?""Water," Lindy mumbled.Adam offered, "I'll go get it. Plenty of ice. I've been---well, I haven't been where she's at right now, but I understand enough."The big Beta left the room while the rest of us simply stared at Lindy as if we expected her to do a trick of some kind.I couldn't say I had ever seen anyone look so lost before. Lindy looked the wa