Edric's POV
I listen to Alexander waffling on about the great Blake Lycans, and how they’re coming to their end. It does not escape his keen mind that they created their own downfall. “My first mate, Maxwell’s mother, was my first cousin. I should have known that weak bitch wouldn’t deliver good pups, but my father demanded it.”
I say nothing, just stare at poor Maxwell – he’s no older than seventy, young for a Lycan, but he looks double that age. “He didn’t have any pups?”
“A few…none of them came to term.”
“My second mate was a second cousin. She delivered only female pups. All of them dead now.” He spits in disgust. “I have a new mate, unrelated, but she’s not taking.”
It’s astounding that an otherwise intelligent wolf can be so fucking dense. They must have known the effect their inbreeding would have on their offspring.
“This one--” he waves a hand in Maxwell’s direction --“was born retarded. We’ve been hiding it
I was already clawing my back from the underworld when the witch let me go. It took me a while to realise what had happened. Where I was. At first, when I came back, the terror wouldn’t let go, and the sheer relief of finding myself back in the real world overwhelmed me, but now that I’ve gotten over it, all I feel is anger. I stare up at Edric’s bloody face. “What happened?” “I don’t know. You were basically catatonic--” “No, I mean the blood--” I circle the air in front of my own face --“why are you bleeding?” “Oh. When you called me, you were a little loud. It ruptured a blood vessel in my nose.” He wipes his face with his t-shirt and gives me a lopsided grin. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even know that’s possible.” “Neither did I. I suspect there was a bit of a magical punch in there too…I could feel your fear.” He came, without question and without any reservations. He just came. Because I needed him. Just when I think I can’t lov
I don’t see anyone else for the rest of the night. Not the witch, an Omega, or my mate. The grounds are dark and quiet. I miss the sound of children playing, and mates laughing at their partners' secret jokes. I miss the smell of barbecue fires and the fresh mountain air. On the rare occasion that the world went silent at Mountain Fire, I found it peaceful, here I find it threatening, and nothing can ease my frazzled nerves. Eventually, I take a long, too hot bath and go to bed where I toss and turn half the night away, feeling lost and lonely in the strange big bed without Edric by my side. I fall asleep sometime during the early morning hours, woken at dawn by my mate getting into bed next to me. “What’s wrong?” I ask sleepily. “Nothing,” he whispers and puts his hand on my hip. “Go back to sleep.” “It’s daytime.” “Hm-hm,” he mumbles, half-asleep already. “I told Alexander we’re resting today. We need it.” I want to snuggle into him
Edric's POV For the rest of that day, we pretended that we were just normal wolves, without the weight of the world resting on our shoulders. We spent the whole day in bed, as newly-mated wolves should…just the two of us, finally alone, enjoying each other in every way possible. Body, mind, and soul. Getting to know each other, finding each other’s secret places – the ones you kept so deeply hidden that you sometimes forgot they existed. It ended too soon. I sit on the tiny bed in my cell, staring at the grey wall opposite me. My wolf is restless, pacing up and down, trying to surface. Wolves don’t like being trapped like this – it drives them insane. * Calm yourself. He’s testing us. * ~ We should kill him next time he comes down here. ~ * His warriors will kill us before can get close…and then they’ll kill Maya. * In my pack, I was the biggest wolf, but here I’m not, and the king has surrounded
Edric's POV I make it to the foot of the stairs that leads to my apartment before I run out of adrenaline and strength. After two weeks in the dungeon, surviving on very little food and water, barely resting, on high alert all the time, my mind and body finally give out. I sag to the floor and sit there, holding my head in my hands. The sound of the wolf’s breaking neck still echoes through my head, reverberating around my skull. Goddess, what did I do? I can’t just sit here feeling sorry for myself. I need to get upstairs, need to get to Maya before the king sends his warriors to kill her -– or worse, throw her in the dungeons. Groaning loudly, I get up grab the railing and leaning on it, drag myself up the stairs, one torturous step at a time. Everything hurts, and I keep waiting for my shaky legs to give way under me. My right side hurts the worst – yesterday, one of my tormentors repeatedly hit me in the kidney with a pipe. The deep purpl
I sit on the balcony watching the moon rise over the lake. The water is quiet, mirror-smooth. Nothing moves or stirs. It’s a dead silent, dead unnatural night. I’ve barely slept since they took Edric to the dungeons. The only reason I knew anything at all was because Stephen told me when he came home that night. Every night, I asked him how Edric was doing, and every night he said the same thing. “He’s alive.” And no matter how many times I asked, he wouldn’t tell me what they were doing to my mate down there. I threw myself into learning how to control my magic, because it helped me to pass the days, and I had a feeling I’d need it soon. In the late afternoons, Cedric and I met in one of the many quiet gardens, where he taught me how to fight like a proper wolf. I hear Edric groan from the bedroom, and my heart lurches painfully. I wish I knew how to cast healing spells, but only the most accomplished and talented witches can do them, and I’m nowhere near re
Edric moans and falls against the wall. “You need to get back to bed,” I say. “Yes.” He slides down the wall, hitting the floor with a loud thump. “In a minute.” He keels over on his side. The front door bangs open and Stephen comes stumbling in, still pulling on his shorts. Like all wolves, he’s unconcerned by his own nudity. I’m so relieved to have someone else here, someone that can help, that I don’t even mind. He kneels next to Edric, a panicked look on his face. “How long as your wolf been asleep?” “Since this morning…when the kid--” “Gus.” Edric looks up at me, breathing heavily, his face pulled in a grimace of pain. “Thanks. Since just before they started beating Gus. I told him to go to sleep.” “Oh Edric, that’s bad. You shouldn’t have done that.” “I know, but he couldn’t handle it.” “Why can’t you wake him?” “I don’t know.” Edric grimaces and rolls over on his back. Several things happen at onc
Edric's POV: ** I sit on my cot, staring at the grey wall. There’s nothing in the cell but a pot to piss in and the creaky bed with its thin mattress. The walls, the bars, everything except the floor, are coated in silver. My wolf is restless, angry, and wants to break out, but he can’t. The vast quantities of silver make it impossible to shift. “Stand back!” a guard barks. I get up and move to the back of the cell. I wonder what fresh new hell waits for me today. Alexander follows his two favourite torturers into the cell. They drag me to the middle of the room, shackling my hands to the cuffs that hang from the ceiling before they spread my legs and tie each ankle to the shackles bolted to the floor. I guess I should be grateful that the cuffs aren’t made of silver, but the chains are, making it impossible for me to break them. My grandfather smiles and sits on the bed. I’m surprised that he has the strength to walk down here every
Edric's POV: I can’t do it. I can’t just stand here while my mate walks right into that filthy wolf’s claws. Driven by my frantic wolf I start walking in the direction of the palace, following Maya’s scent. “Prince,” Cedric says, grabbing my arm and holding me back. “You can’t follow them.” Surprised, I look at Cedric. It’s not easy to sneak up on me, but I’ve been so concerned about Maya that this one managed to do it. “I can’t let him--” “That is what he wants. He wants you to storm in there and prove him right…he wants to show you the mate bond is your biggest weakness. If you charge in there snarling and out of control, you’ll give him what he wants.” Every instinct in me screams at me to shake Cedric off and go after Maya. “I can’t do it. My wolf--” “Control him…if you barge in there…it will be the perfect excuse to throw you back in the dungeon.” Fuck. He’s right. “What do you want from me? I can’t just s