‘We have to hurry. We have to get to her.’ Niru was pacing until he finally took over and pushed us to go faster.‘I thought you would be mad that I didn’t go to the pack first.’He huffed. ‘The pack is okay. Our Mother confirmed it. Our mate wiped out the enemy. Now, our mate needs us. Not the pack. Pack will come later. As will a lot of training.’I nodded in agreement. ‘A lot of training.’We lapsed into silence because it was far to run to Skylar’s; especially from this road. It would have been worse the closer we got to the pack but that didn’t make it easy. Every so often I broached the subject of her coming to the pack. She wouldn’t move and I understood where she was coming from but at times like these I wish she was living in or around the pack.Finally, we could see our goal and Niru jumped over the road barrier. As we ran up to the door, Niru handed over control and I shifted. My right hand slammed into the door as I stopped our momentum and jammed in the numbers on the secu
‘What do you mean?’Niru shook his head. ‘I don’t know. These shadows, the weight of it, is what is hurting her. We need to take some of it, take her burden.’Part of me wanted to think he was crazy. The other part of me knew this might not be Niru’s mind but more instinct. Justin and I were supposed to balance out Sky. That was what Sophie and Fiona said. Sky said she would be too much for one person to handle. Did that mean we could take some of the darkness from her? Whatever the Blood Witches had twisted, whatever grew inside of her that turn her into a monster, was that something we could help pull out?‘How?’ I finally asked Niru after coming up with nothing on my own.‘I…I don’t know. It’s frustrating. I know we have to do something. We have to save her. I…feel like she’s slipping away, Ethan. I just…I don’t know how to help.’I nodded. Her writhing hadn’t been as bad but that was necessarily a good thing. It meant she’d stopped being able to fight. Otherwise, I’m sure she would
I jolted awake and my eyes snapped open but my body was weight down. Looking down, Sky was still sleeping in the crook of my arm. Yawning, I looked out the window and saw that the sun was peaking through. Had I slept the entire day? I was pretty sure when I tucked Sky in the sun was only going down. Rubbing my face with my one free hand, I turned my body inward a bit without jostling Sky. Laying my head above hers, I closed my eyes and drifted back to sleep. The second time I woke up, I knew it wasn’t nearly as long as the first. Sky was shifting though, her brows pinched tight and she was curled up in an even tighter ball.“Sky, you need to wake up. It’s just a dream. You’re not there anymore. You’re right here.”Brushing her cheek a couple times, her face softened and her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at me with her brown eyes and I didn’t realize how much of a relief it was to see them. I honestly didn’t know what I would do if those red eyes looked back at me this morning. Ma
“Kevin should be back any minute from the gas station as well.”My eyebrows went up. “Kev is here? I thought…”Mom tittered. “Kevin was the first guinea pig for the witches healing potions. They work wonders if you can get past the taste.”Sure enough, I heard the front door unlock and open. Sky sighed as I set her down on the stool facing my mom.“I’m going to have to change the code. Too many people know it now.”“You better not. I just memorized it without Niru’s help.”Sky laughed and I smiled. Kev walked up the steps and he smiled as he came around to the kitchen. He looked okay. His dark circles were a little more prominent but outside of that, he looked perfectly healthy.“I’m glad to see you’re okay, Sky. We were all worried about you. We didn’t know if you got hurt or if you needed help.” Kev slide her a bottle of Gatorade. “Drink that. You need it.”Her nose wrinkled. “It’s the yellow one though. Who drinks the yellow one?”“I do!” Kev huffed, taking out a blue bottle and sli
“I…” I was surprised mostly. Not just that she knew what I had done but that she knew it was an option.Her hands fell and her forehead rested against my chest. “You can’t do that, Ethan. You can’t take the darkness. No matter what.” She looked up at me, determination reflecting in them. “Do you understand?”“No.”“Excuse me?”I put my hands on her shoulders and pulled her back slightly. “If that’s all I can do to support you, then I will. My questions, how do you know?”My tone was a little more angry than I meant it to be but I was angry. If she knew that it was an option, I could have helped her sooner. Part of me wondered if she even trusted me. This was a lot of information to hold back on. She sighed and leaned back against the door. Her body language was like she was curling in on herself. As she did it, I felt my anger deflate.“It starts with chest pain. Like your heart is being squeezed or stabbed. Then, it starts to hurt
After four days, I finally got a moment to step away. Kev was right that the damage could have been much worse but for one she-wolf, Sky did a number. Mostly it was cracked roads or wolves being thrown into building or poles. There was cleanup covered the roads, buildings and in the places that my pack had tried to make a stand against the rogues. The pack house was an absolute disaster. The bottom floor was basically completely ruined along with the outside porch being unsafe to walk on.Then it was getting everyone healed and rested. Both fortunately and unfortunately, the majority of losses that we had were warriors. It was their job to put their pack safety first but it left a huge hole in our own security after. I needed to make sure we had coverage where we now had gaping holes. Sam, Kev and I all took up multiple patrols to cover as many places for the healing warriors before putting the newer recruits sandwiched between veterans. I didn’t anticipate another atta
And ready, I was not.My very busy schedule suddenly got a lot busier. Every other day I had to drive up to the coven. Most of it was sat in meditation for hours, only to get slapped with a staff when my mind wandered. One thing I could do was focus on my drawings for long periods of time but focusing on nothing was not in my wheelhouse. It turned out I was exceptionally bad at it. Leaving me some days recovering just from the amount of hits I got from the two of them.“You’re wandering again!” Sophie hit me between the shoulders with the stick.I knew better than to answer or even growl. That was breaking out of the concentration completely and usually ended up with some kind of magic being slung at me. Taking a deep breath, I focused inside. It wasn’t a natural thing to do. Pushing away the pack bond, even pushing Niru out of my head, was far more difficult than it seemed. I hadn’t been alone in my own head since I was a child. Th
“You’re late.”Sky didn’t even turn around. Her arms were crossed as she watched my guys spar on the mats they dragged out. I put my hands up in resignation.“I apologize. I didn’t mean to be. It won’t happen again.”She looked at me over her shoulder and her eyes narrowed. Turning, she held out her hand. I looked at it, confused of what she was asking for. Finally, I just put my hand on top other open palm. Immediately, it started to sting as she slapped it.“Not that hand. The other one.”I cocked my head to the side and placed the still-tingling numb hand in hers. Her chest rose and fell before she sandwiched the top of my hand with her other one. Slowly, she pulled her hands until my hand was left hanging mid-air. My eyes widened as I had full feeling back in my hand. Looking up at her, Sky had already turned back to the guys.“Don’t do that again.” Her tone was cross.“I…how…you can just…?”Chuckling, Sky shook her head. “It’s my power, Ethan. You think I can’t just take it back?”
I can't believe I'm actually here. We are at the end of Shift. Done. Complete. Marked and mated. ;)First off, thank you. All of you. Every single one who liked, who commented, who corrected my spelling, who didn't do anything but just read. Every single one of you have stuck with me and I can only hope that you guys enjoyed a peek into the lives of Sky, Ethan, Justin, Emmett, Kev, Sam, Kat, Caleb...and so many other characters. They are near and dear to my hearts and I honestly will say, closing this last chapter out was such a heartfelt moment for me.I could not have continued this without my regulars. You know who you are and I just want to say even when I felt down, I knew I had to keep going because I honestly didn't want to disappoint. As a lot of you know, I struggle with being sick a lot. So having my writing means so much to mean and having you guys be so patient during that time means the world to me. Especially when it feels like there is so much negativity on the internet.
My lips crashed onto Sky’s and it was an entirely different feeling with the electricity of the mate bond. Niru was growling and howling incoherently in my head but at the same time, it all made sense. I wanted her, needed her. Needed everything that she would give me. The thing that surprised me the most was that I wanted to share her as well. Pulling away, I looked at Justin who was just about foaming at the mouth.“She tastes like orange citrus as well. Would you like to taste her lips?”Justin’s irises blew out and a shiver ran through his spine. He reached for her but it was a lot more gentle than I expected. He brushed her cheek and sucked a hair behind her ear before pressing his lips to hers. She molded up against his body and I stepped up behind her, brushing the hair out of her face.“Can you taste it? Taste the orange with the salt from the sea?”Justin hummed as he pulled back slowly taking her lip between his teeth for a moment before letting it go. I smirked, feeling how
Justin chuckled. “You mean Fast Orange? Yeah, I smell it. Of course that’s what she would smell like. She uses that shit almost every day.”I smiled and I realized he was beaming too. This time we did follow our noses. She had been here but she wasn’t here anymore. We followed it back up the stairs as she wove through the art tents and through the throng of people that had amassed. I pushed through first, following just my instinct, Niru almost fully taking over.Justin was right behind me, never once straying or getting stuck behind someone else. I followed the orange scent and it started getting stronger. Like I had just stuck my nose in the bucket of the stuff she kept in the shop bathroom. The beach was relatively quiet since it was getting cooler as the sun was going down.Near the edge of the waves, just where it was lapping up onto the sand, Sky stood alone. Her large-brimmed woven sunhat was pushed back on her head and sunglasses were set around the top of it. She was wearing a
There was a read receipt but she wasn’t replying. Not that I blamed her. Sky probably saw right through my charade. Justin looked over my shoulder at my phone. “Yeah, because that’s not over the top.” I growled at him but continued to stare at the screen. Finally, I held my breath when the three little dots appeared. Justin was the opposite, breathing heavy as he started at my phone as well. S: Well, it’s nice to be remembered today. Both Justin and I winced. Oh yeah, she was mad. ‘Who can blame her? I sure can’t.’ Niru added his two cents. Shaking my head, I typed up another message. Mate #1: I’m sorry, baby. Really. Come on, let’s celebrate together, yeah? We can go to your favorite place in the city, have a nice dinner or whatever you want. Justin snorted. “Way to lay it on thick.” “What else do you want me to do? We fucked up. She knows it. We know it. I’m not about to lose the chance to be with her on her birthday because of it. Are you?” That shut him up as we both
*** Ethan’s POV *** My alarm went off and all I wanted to do was throw my phone at the wall. I’d gone to bed at three in the morning and I knew this alarm was for eight. My eyelids didn’t want to open and I turned over in bed, burying my face in my pillow. This had been the first time in three days I’d gotten to bed. It was a chore dragging myself up the stairs but I’d made it.Normally, I loved doing the work behind the scenes. The problem was is that the inspector with an entire tree trunk shoved up his ass decided that he was going to nitpick laws that weren’t even updated in this century. I would know because I fucking checked. Mr. Marrow had been out three times and each time we passed the first set of requirements but would find even more to throw our way.‘You need to be extra safe when it comes to our youth. You know, they are our future and the path to a better tomorrow.’ Niru copied his grating voice almost perfectly, before growling and snapping his jaw. ‘If I could just s
*** Four Months Later *** My eyes peeled open and I reached out for my phone. The screen flashed four in the morning and I groaned. My hand fall back against the sheets and I laid there for another moment. However, it was Raine who started to bounce up and down in my head.‘Raine, come on.’‘But Sky, aren’t we doing to do the thing?’Her exuberance and happiness made a smile creep onto my face.‘Come on, Sky. If we go early, we can be there early!’‘Alright, alright! Fucking hell.’Throwing the blankets off of me, I got up and padded into the bathroom. Going pee and taking a quick shower, I woke up enough to feel somewhat alive. Coffee would get me the rest of the way there. The kitchen was quiet when I walked in and I still continued to thank the Goddess for it. It had been a month since everyone moved the hell out of my place. There was still work needing to be done in the apartments but I left that to the contractors and the guys themselves.For now, I would enjoy the simple peace
I sat on the stairs of the porch, looking out over the back yard of the pack house. Everything was so quiet here. It was nice to take a break from the chaos that was now my home. At least for a few minutes. The wind blew and I tucked a stray hair behind my ear. Looking down at my phone, I stared at the messages that were there. E: Hey Sky, I feeling a little better today. Sam made some kind of soup. It was completely inedible. She had to order pizza. It reminded me of when you tried to cook that pasta dish and you somehow managed to burn the pasta. E: I went shopping online today. Got some more clothes. Bernard came by and cut my hair for me. That was nice. It was getting in my eyes. They won’t talk about you though. It’s like you don’t exist anymore and I hate it. E: Today was a bad day. I don’t know why. I just woke up and I threw up until there was nothing left in me. Sam tried to help but I felt disgusting. I’m reminded of what I did. What I had done. It’s like it comes back
We headed down the road in Ethan’s truck. I was squished between Ethan and Justin in the center seat of the bench. Still, it felt nice as I rested my head on Justin’s shoulder and my fingers laced with Ethan’s. I’d need them to handle this trip.“I gave one of the new homes to Sam. Her and Emmett have been staying together.”“So she didn’t reject him?”Ethan squeezed my hand. “She didn’t. She hasn’t marked him but when she heard what you did, I think she thought it only right for her to give him a chance as well.”My heart lightened just a little, knowing that something good may actually come from all this pain. Ethan turned down the road that was brand new and I could see the new homes that were being built. There were three blocks of them that were already finished and he pulled into the driveway of one that was a block down. I scooted out of the middle and Justin helped me down from the truck.“Whatever you do, pretend like I’m not here.”Both Ethan and Justin gave me confused look
I woke up screaming and my eyes flung open. Everything was hazy and I didn’t know where I was. All I could remember was the all consuming feeling of the darkness. How sticky my hands were from Emmett’s blood. The last sound that came from Marrok as I killed him. My heart sped up as I started to hyperventilate, as my stomach started to roll.“Hey! Sky! It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe.”A hand brushed my cheek but I flinched away from in.“Shit. Hold on. I’m pulling over.”I felt bile start to come up but I just coughed, forcing myself to not throw up. I hadn’t realized we were moving until the motion stopped completely. It helped a bit for my stomach but I still felt like I couldn’t breathe. Hands slipped under my arms and pulled me up from my laying down position. My head fell heavily against Ethan’s shoulder and arms held me tight.“You’re okay. I’ve got you. I’m right here.”That broke the damn. I started to cry as I grabbed onto the front of his shirt, balling it up between my