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27. Sawyer
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Resisting the Beta 28. Phoebe
Wren leaving saw a cloud cast over everything. Despite Huli still being insanely perky and the dresses growing sheerer. It didn’t change the fact that Heath was holed up in his royal chamber coughing endlessly. Coughing is a mild term for all the spluttering, hacking, wheezing rattles that came from the other side of his locked door. There are no cute excursions for us now. Nobody is free to show Huli a fascinating lump of marble or a fountain shaped like a peacocks opened tail. The mood of the kingdom is driven by its leader, and right now, every human knows King Heath is fragile. Declining. Judging by the firm lines of his slender body, he has tried to build himself back into health. With no shifter healing, he must have been eating beef and lifting weights for months on end. Dragging himself upwards into a pretence of health. Sadly it’s all collapsing now. We have taken to sitting outside his royal chamber. History book and notepad in hand. Not that Huli writes anything.
Resisting the Beta 29. Phoebe
“Rami? Our little Rami…to save a human?” Naomi gasps, Finn immediately agreed, both of them scowling. I knew it would go this way. I didn’t bother to argue with Huli about it, mainly so I could stay present. My big sister and Finn match in black vests and dark pants, the bulge of daggers clear against both of their hips. I wore a beige, dress made of long intertwined strips of fabric. Normal in Lanfear, bizarre at home. Alpha Cillian completes our group, his expression as stern as when we accused Sawyer. Followed by guards from the instant we crossed over into the human border, my arrival home had been greeted by one seriously pissed off welcome party. That was before we asked for Rami’s tender little throat and wolf. Cedric loomed over our conversation, mounted in the silver-clad carriage, a silver-tipped crossbow loaded. Heath shuddered and shook in the back, turning greyer by the second, draped in royal blue. The pure ice of Huli reminds me she is not of this world. “
Resisting the Beta 30. Sawyer
Time is eating away at me. Standing idle in the centre of the White Forest castles courtyard in my black hooded cloak is not ideal, but I need a plan. Wren catches up to me, a little out of breath. “Nikolai and Genevieve are going to the Full Moon dance tomorrow night. They’re going to tell Cillian everything then, so you’ll have twenty-four hours to get a head start.” “And the Feast Day-” struggling to even complete the phrase and all its connotations, “-is definitely the day after the Full Moon?” “Yes. So we have a little bit of time. Phoebe needs you to be composed. Because you’re not fighting some witch or angry Beta. If her wolf is truly behind all this, then you’re dealing with something far more intelligent than any of us.” “But she cannot harm you?” rubbing my chin in thought. “Not with Dark Arts anyway. She can not affect humans either. It is manipulation of the wolf spirit. The curses and chants force them to abandon the Moon Goddess. To serve a darker force that h
Resisting the Beta 31. Phoebe
“Heath isn’t going to make it back in time. It needs to happen now. We can see with this moonlight!” “What do you need?” Cedrics surly voice answers. His cuts the confusion, grounding me into the here and now. Away from seeing my mother’s face morph into pure horror. A different sound to the sickening crunch Matilda’s body made when it smashed into the rocks. For the first time, I must give everything to stop cowering in the darkness. Nobody is going to save me from this. Huli cannot shut me out completely. The roles between us are reversed, and I could never shut her out entirely. Silver would make her be quiet but never fully vanish. It took so much effort to drag myself towards the light. Still so raw, the pain saw me breaking apart. How did Alpha Nikolai ever survive such a torture? “MAMAAAA!” bleats high and wild, giving me the extra oomph I need to push on. Rami, oh Goddess no. “HE’S WAKING UP! PIN HIM DOWN! NOW CEDRIC!” “MAMA! FINN!” squeals out over and over.
Resisting the Beta 32. Sawyer
Understanding Phoebe’s wolf overpowering her senses made sense in theory. Having to physically witness her slamming a blade into someone’s chest will be hard to shake off. Naively, my worst fears had been her seducing King Heath. I never thought I would see her grinning, covered in blood, crossbow aimed my way. She’s the same girl yet completely different. Down to the bigger hairstyle, the way she stands in the carriage, legs astride in her human-style gown, smirking like a pirate captain. There are just enough seconds to recognise that she stands tall, proud, and ready to murder me because her wolf is that confident and self-assured. Something my Phoebe was never allowed to be. Except none of that really matters because her chocolate eyes suddenly turned wide and vacant. The crossbow fired over my head before Phoebe began clutching at her chest. Falling from the carriage, she lay in a crumpled heap on the grass. Forgetting everything else, I sprint. “PHOEBE! Phoebe, no!”
Resisting the Beta 33. Sawyer
“Luna,” dropping to my knees. “I don't know what you've been told. But if you let me explain-.” Genevieve raised her hand to silence me. As always, she is grace personified, dressed in gold and cream, her blonde curls gently brushing her cheeks. “Do you know where Nikolai is?” I glance around, expecting a blow to hit my head, or a gruff insult before coming to my senses, “He can’t be here! Where is he? Heath’s wolf is too unknown as of yet. Wait, you shouldn’t be here either! My wolf has been removed, I am safe from influence, but I can not protect you, Luna. We should leave right now,” and stride towards the double doors. “Sawyer, Nikolai is on the border. He’s safe. Practically foaming at the mouth with anger, in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him as testy. But Jane and Wren came to see us, and with what they explained, I didn’t really have a choice.” "Please, Luna, I would prefer us to have this conversation further away from the castle. If you were to be harmed-” She sm
Resisting the Beta 34. Phoebe
It's over. I think, anyway. I’ve never been so tired in my life. Did a convoy of trucks steamroll over me during Genevieve’s extraction? By the end, it felt like Huli was trying to take me with her. The sickly green gunge plunged me into a weirdly lucid dream. I stood alone on an island, fighting to rebuild a stone wall being bashed by white, foaming waves. In the distance, away from the shore, I could see a thundercloud. A miserable, dark, coldness hovering over the ocean. That dark core was whipping up the waves and sending them towards my crumbling, grey-brick defences. My only defence. Chunk flew off, forcing me to sprint up and down the painful, shingle beach to find replacement rocks. Fighting to keep together. I knew, even though Huli said nothing and no instructions were provided. I knew that to give in and allow that wall to break was to give in completely and pay with my life. But against the dark, foreboding thundercloud of Hulil’s hatred, I could feel the sun
Resisting the Beta 35. Phoebe
Sawyer and I just existed together. Cosy and safe. We gently talk and go over what has happened. There is no blame, only facts. Reluctantly, I mumur, “Should we get out soon?” “Do you want to?” Sawyer said, his huge hands pausing. “No, but won’t we have to see Heath, start writing to people or…” “No. I told Heath he needed time to recover from losing his wolf. Everyone can completely and utterly fuck off. Even if it’s just for a day. We’ll see Heath tomorrow I promise.” I've no desire to argue seeing as I’m basking in pure relaxation. Penned into a tiny ball by Huli, now I’m expanding, closing my eyes and simply breathing in the huge tub. “What about Jane or Wren? Now it’s safe-” “I don’t think you’re understanding, Sugar. That door is very much locked. The Moon Goddess herself could be knocking with welcome gifts, and I wouldn’t leave this bathtub.” His powerful hands continued to massage my arms, shoulders, and back. Eking out knots and twisted, miserable little sect
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