Spencer's POV“Thank you for rescuing me, by the way.” I look down at Colin in surprise when I hear the words past his lips. I can’t remember the last time Colin thanked me for anything–in fact, I don’t think he ever has before. “Of course,” I reply impassively. “He was an intruder in the dungeon and a traitor to the crown. I wasn’t just going to let him kill you and get away with his evil plan.” Colin chuckles lightly. “All you had to say was that you ‘weren’t just going to let him kill me.’ You didn’t have to tack on the part about only doing it so he wouldn’t get away with his evil plan.” I return the slight smile on his face. “I could have, couldn’t I,” I say. “Well, thank you,” Colin says again. “No problem.” I hesitate for a moment before adding, “I wasn’t just going to let him kill you.” Colin beams up at me, and despite the haze of pain on his face, he looks genuinely happy. “What are we going to do now?” Colin asks. “I mean–obviously, that will was forged. You’re the
Spencer's POVWith Captain McAndrews now in custody and coroner’s services flowing through the dungeon to remove the bodies of all the deceased guards, things are finally starting to settle back down. I breathe out a heavy sigh, leaning against the wall and watching the entire situation finally starting to wrap on up. Now that I know Captain McAndrews is the traitor–and that we’ve got him securely tied up–the mystery of the dungeon break has been resolved. I don’t have any proof, but I can picture the situation easily enough: after slipping a message to the prisoners to wait for his cue, and after evening lockup, Captain McAndrews would’ve moved through the dungeon to unlock each and every prisoner’s cell. Then, once the signal was given, the prisoners would’ve all pushed open the doors to their cell and begun attacking the guards. The sheer chaos of a dungeon break would cause enough havoc to serve two purposes. Firstly, Alpha Leo would be freed, allowing for a powerful tactical a
Spencer's POV“What did you do to her?” In an instant, I’m on Captain McAndrews. Breaking the bindings with my bare hands, I waste no time unstrapping him from the gurney and throwing him to the ground. Bloody spittle begins to bubble up on his lips as I begin delivering swift, relentless kicks to Captain McAndrews’ ribs and chest. “Where is she?” I roar at him. “Where are you taking her?” Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the medic staring at me in wide-eyed concern, clearly caught off-guard by the whole situation. He looks like he wants to stop me, out of some sort of caretaker concern for whoever his patient is, but he doesn’t dare. “Spencer!” Gamma Everly rushes up behind me, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me away from Captain McAndrews. “Spencer, you’re going to kill him!” “Good,” I spit. He deserves it. Captain McAndrews continues to smile that sickening smile, and I want to punch his teeth in. “I know,” Gamma Everly says, levelling her ruthless gaze on his bloodi
Spencer's POV“How long do I have?” My expression is impassive, and I’m doing my best not to betray any emotion as I speak. But despite the complete lack of feeling I’m communicating, I still feel as though my words are desperate, begging. I don't like having to rely on someone else to set my deadlines, to tell me what I need to do. The idea that Elder Jet has me under his thumb chills me to the bone. But if he wanted to control me, he chose the best possible way to do it. Ivy is the great love of my life, and I would do anything to keep her safe. Captain McAndrews’ lips curl into a cruel, wicked smile. “You’ve got until Elder Jet makes his way to the palace,” he replies. “But if we’re being really honest, by the time he makes it here, you might already be too late.” My heart hammers in my chest as I turn away from Captain McAndrews. I look up at Gamma Everly, who looks every bit as shocked and devastated by the revelation as I’m feeling. I know, in that moment, that Gamma Everl
Spencer's POV“Elder Jet has directly threatened Ivy’s life.” Upon hearing those words, Alpha Leo’s face falls. “No,” he murmurs. “No, Elder Jet wouldn’t actually hurt her. He’d take her as a political hostage, sure, but…” I raise an eyebrow. “Why are you so reluctant to believe that Elder Jet would kill in cold blood?” I ask. “He’s done it more times than I can count by now. It seems to be his modus operandi, if we’re really being honest. He wants to hurt me, and he’d hurt Ivy to do that. Plain and simple.” “But Ivy–she’s good!” Alpha Leo insists. “I’ve spoken with her before, and she… she’s kind, generous, and caring. She’s not a warrior, either. She has no place fighting this war.” “And yet she’s not here, is she,” I growl, staring daggers at Alpha Leo. “So you figure that one out.” “I–” Alpha Leo’s mouth has fallen wide open, and his face is twisted into an expression of such sheer disbelief that I have no choice but to believe it’s genuine. “No, that can’t be the case!” Gam
Ivy's POVAs my kidnappers continue to walk me through the halls of the palace, I’m doing everything I can to keep myself calm. I look between the two men, and they look back at me, the warning evident in their eyes. At this point, I’m assuming they’ve got to be working for Elder Jet–after all, Elder Jet’s men have kidnapped me before. Elder Jet would want to deal maximum damage to Spencer, which means he knew exactly what he was doing by taking me. He knows just how much I mean to Spencer. All I can do now is hope that Elder Jet and his cronies don’t find out about my pregnancy. And because my kidnappers are likely working for Elder Jet, I’m terrified that means they have connections to witches and their strange magic, too. They threatened to kill Jason if they received any sign that I mind linked anyone for help–normally I’d call it a bluff, but after those red potions, after seeing the things a witch’s magic can make a person do…I’m terrified of doing something wrong and doom
Ivy's POVWithout a moment’s hesitation, my kidnappers pull me into the crowd of advancing rebel werewolves. I suppress a shrill scream as I find myself in the surge of bodies moving forward. It’s like swimming upstream, and my arms ache as the kidnappers drag me towards the center of the swarm. The world seems to spin around, and I lose track of where I am, lost in the crush of bodies until I suddenly burst out the other side. I stumble slightly, held up only by the guards. As I struggle to regain my balance, I take a look at my surroundings and realize that I effectively made it through to the other side. Instead of still being tangled up in the army, I’m standing in the center of a large makeshift camp, watching the rebel werewolves from behind as they make their way towards the palace. A sense of impending dread keeps over me as I watch the rebels approach. It’s sickening to see–the Lycan Palace will be under siege soon, and I don’t think anyone there knows it yet. I cast a fu
Ivy's POV“You’ll never get away with it!” I’m gripping the bars of my cage as tightly as I can, but even despite my pointed efforts, I can feel myself beginning to slip. My hands feel like they're made of gelatin, and I can’t force myself to move them how I want to. My knuckles unclench, and my fingers are as useless as limp noodles. Elder Jet lets out a cold chuckle and pulls away from me. He takes a couple steps back, clearly enjoying the sight of me doing my very best to regain control of my body. I’m doing everything in my power to try and suppress the potion’s effects, but what can I do, really? I can feel it coursing through my body, bubbling into my stomach before being absorbed through the lining and into my bloodstream like some sort of sick, infested stain. I lie back on the ground, chest heaving. Grass tickles the back of my neck, and I can feel the particles of dirt clinging to my skin. I have no control right now. I don’t have anything. I’m completely and utterly u
Spencer’s POV“Run!” My warning to Alpha Fierro echoes through the darkened office seemingly unheard. As the shadows continue to creep around my field of vision, obscuring everything from view, my heart thuds in my chest. Never before had I been scared of an enemy until encountering the witch. I shift fluidly into my wolf form, powerful arms and legs rippling with muscles, fangs and teeth sharp as daggers. My growl is a low, warning rumble in the base of my throat. Despite my heightened sentences as I continue to peer ahead, ears trained to detect the slightest sense of movement, I still have no idea where the witch is. “Reveal yourself, coward!” I shout, my voice echoing through the room. “You betray your honour by slinking around in the shadows.” The witch’s laugh, low and melodious, fills the air. There’s a haunting coldness to it. “Honour is a werewolf construct,” she says. “And it’s so unlike a proud, foolish warrior to consider it a cowardly action to win a battle with intel
Ivy’s POVThe longer I stay in the hospital bed, the more I can feel myself beginning to crumble. The pain is ceaseless in its intensity, great waves of agony that crash over me without letting up for even a second. I can’t scream, can’t cry, can’t move. I’ve given up on trying to call in any of the nurses when the flareups get too bad–all they’ll do is look at me sadly, scared of doing anything to make me worse, scared of simply standing by and watching the queen die. There’s an IV flowing an endless stream of pain medication into my veins, which is helping somewhat, but it’s not enough. All I can do is feel this. Until it kills me, I suppose. I have no idea where Spencer is–after he rushed out of my room unexpectedly like that, he never came back. I’ve heard some whispers floating around the hospital about a great escapade, about the looming creep of a plague sweeping through the kingdom. If it really is a plague, I hope more than anything that Tala didn’t catch it from me. If
Spencer’s POV“Alpha Fierro, I need you to focus up.” The words are harsh as they leave my mouth, but I’m not trying to be malicious, although it’s true that things desperately need to get moving. The longer I spend in the Sunclash pack, the more on edge I feel. Every wall in sight feels like it’s closing in on me, and I can feel the sickness permeating the air. There’s a heaviness to this place now, an endless sense of dread. I have a feeling that this ground will carry the weight of all its deaths for a long, long time. “Scour the office for anything that seems out of place,” I say. “If your Beta was in charge of the pack in your absence, it’s likely that he was the one putting any preventative measures into place. He may have tried to find a cure–hopefully there are signs somewhere around here.” I look down at the man’s corpse, the papers clutched in his fist and the expression of profound horror on his face. “I read his reports. He seems to have been a confident, driven man. I’
Spencer’s POV‘I think a considerable number of people managed to leave, contaminated or not.’ The longer Beta Wilson’s words echo through my mind, the more I begin to realize the scale of the potential disaster we might have on our hands. Where would any contaminated werewolves go? To the surrounding packs, most likely, and from there, the plague could spread from pack to pack to pack endlessly, ultimately becoming a worldwide pandemic…I whirl around to look at Alpha Fierro. “What was your relationship with other packs like?” I ask him urgently. “If any of your pack members were to turn up there looking for help, would they receive it?” “Probably, yeah,” Alpha Fierro says. “We tended to keep things as peaceful as possible. Unless there was very clearly something wrong going on, no one would have any reason to turn any of our members away.” I curse silently under my breath. “Keep heading towards the pack house,” I tell Alpha Fierro, already starting to walk away from him and back
Spencer’s POVMost of my skin has already been covered by my day clothes, but in the few places I’m not, I can feel the hazmat suit’s crinkly plastic resting against me uncomfortably. I shudder as the plastic continues to shift. It clings uncomfortably to my skin and is far from stealthy, causing a loud rumpling sound to ring out with every step. I’d hoped that we could carry out this surveillance with at least the slightest bit of stealth and decorum, but as the entire haphazard team of us begins to make our way into the Sunclash pack, it becomes more and more evident that that’s just not going to happen. Through the suit’s bulbous plastic dome, I make eye contact with Doctor Danbury, clearly far from amused. She purses her lips, and I can see my own frustration mirrored on her face as we continue to lug equipment around. “I know,” she says, coming up to walk beside me. “Believe me, I hate the suits too. Easily one of my least favourite parts of this job. But whatever wiped this p
Spencer’s POVAs we all sit in the back of a sleek, high-speed limo, I can’t help but feel thick tendrils of dread curling throughout my stomach. Every second I spend away from Ivy feels like I could be missing her final moments, and the fear over what could happen to her is making me sick. “The hazmat suits will be uncomfortable,” Doctor Danbury warns, holding up a hideous yellow baggy bodysuit. The plastic crinkles under her touch. “And the tanks on the back are going to poke weirdly. It’s no fun to wear, I know. But we still don’t quite know the extent of the toxicity of the environment we’re about to enter, so right now, safety is of the utmost importance. It’s possible that we’ll be able to take the suits off once I’ve run a couple tests and deemed the area safe, but I have no idea yet.” “Whatever it is, it seems to be highly contagious,” Alpha Fierro says somberly. Doctor Danbury nods. “The last thing we want to do is bring an uncontained plague back to the Lycan Kingdom, so
Spencer’s POVJust as Beta Wilson and Alpha Fierro make their way out of my office, I see Alpha Leo slip through the doorway. He looks much better than he did the last time I saw him–there are still the occasional cuts and bruises marring his skin, a couple ridged scars in the process of forming, but Alpha Leo seems to be walking without much pain. His posture is straight and his gaze is keen. He looks at me tentatively as he approaches my desk, and I can tell he’s just the slightest bit on edge. “Your Highness,” he says uncertainly. “Alpha Leo,” I reply. “Um, what can I do for you?” Alpha Leo asks nervously. I shuffle a stack of papers on the desk together. “As I’m sure you know, we’ve suffered considerable gaps in our staff,” I begin. “Specifically in our military and guard positions. One of the most notable absences is Captain McAndrews, as I’m sure you remember quite well.” Alpha Leo blanches. “Right,” he mutters. “The work you did during Elder Jet’s invasion was exceptiona
Spencer’s POV“The Lycan Kingdom will come to your aid at once.” Clearly, the ease with which I offer my support comes as something of a shock to Alpha Fierro. His eyes widen, and his face breaks into an expression of gratitude. His posture already seems straighter, like a great weight has been lifted from his shoulders. “Really?” Alpha Fierro breathes out. “Thank you, Your Majesty. Truly, I’d nearly given up hope on receiving any sort of aid at all–I’d almost started believing the rumours…” My eyes narrow. “The rumours?” I repeat coldly.” Alpha Fierro blanches. “Well, I–of course, I never really believed them. But I’m sure it hasn’t escaped your vast reach of influence that some werewolves have been saying things about the Lycan Royal Family that have been rather… out of line. Ever since Elder Jet and his rebellion, things have been different. But I–that’s not important! What I’m trying to say to you right now is thank you, Your Majesty. From the bottom of my heart.” I remain si
Spencer’s POV“Tell me everything you know about this plague.” The command is sharp and electric, crackling with urgency. At Alpha Fierro’s mention of this strange plague taking lives–not to mention its unfortunate coinciding with the Blood Moon–I can’t help but feel nauseous thinking about what could happen to Ivy. There’s been no confirmation that she’s sick with any sort of plague, of course, and there haven’t been any reported cases of illness from those who have come into contact with her so far. But all of that could change at any given moment, and when it comes to Ivy’s life–or the lives of anyone in my kingdom, for that matter–I have no intention of taking it lightly. Alpha Fierro hesitates for a moment. “I’ve been having my Beta send me reports tracking the symptoms he’s seen from some of the infected pack members we’ve got under observation,” he says. “But my Beta is–well.” He stops speaking abruptly, gaze momentarily taken over by sadness. “He’s deteriorating rapidly, to