*Isla*All the information that Mystica is giving me is too much for my mind to process all at once. I’m going to need a few moments to get it all into my brain. For now, I’m still stuck on trying to grasp the idea that I'm pregnant.I’m pregnant, and my child was not only exposed to the wolfsbane that that horrible bitch Zabrina poisoned my body with, but who knows what kind of damage the medications Mystica gave me in an attempt to heal me could cause in a body so tiny and undeveloped?Maddox is telling Mystica to stop filling my head with nonsense when I finally begin to pay attention to their discussion again, and the healer looks horribly offended. “Your Majesty!” she declares. “I am not filling her head with nonsense! It is about time that you came to understand the truth of the situation. You have to accept the fact that your beloved breeder here is more than just the title you have bestowed upon her! She is, in fact, a princess! She is from Maatua! And she does have capabiliti
*Maddox*The shadows on the ceiling begin their dance again, and I suddenly feel all alone, like I used to just a few months ago that feels like a lifetime ago. I watch as tree branches turn to fingers, beckoning, pointing, accusing. I would shift my position and look at the wall, but it wouldn’t make any of the problems and responsibilities weighing me down go away.Isla wanted to sleep alone tonight. She said that she needed some time to process everything, and she still wasn’t feeling well.I believe her on both accounts, but it makes me sad. My arms feel empty without her wrapped within them. My chest feels cold and exposed without her head cradled there.I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the last few months. I can’t admit that to anyone else, but I can admit it to myself, at least to a degree. I knew that Isla was special the moment I first laid eyes on her, standing in her bedroom with a towel wrapped around her, and especially when I caught a glimpse of her perfect form in the mir
*Isla*“I just don’t understand how he can be so confident about the existence of this curse but not be willing to budge an inch when it comes to the discussion of the fountain.” I take a bit of my piece of toast and shake my head, not sure if I’m actually going to be able to eat much of what Poppy has set before me on the table this morning. All night, I tossed and turned, thinking about Maddox and the discussion we’d had right before I asked him to leave the night before.“Well, he is very protective of you,” Ben says, still chewing. His appetite has definitely not been affected by this situation. He came back to check on me after he was certain Maddox was gone last night, and I’d told him I was pregnant and needed to get some rest. He’d been ecstatic to know he was going to be an uncle again. My sisters have kids after all, but he never gets to see them because they live so far away, and even though I do, too, now, my brother and I are very close, much closer than he is with anyone
*Maddox*“You look like hell.”Seth shakes his head at me as he walks toward me in the hall. I narrow my gaze at him, but I can hardly be mad at him when what he’s saying is absolutely correct. I’m sure I do look like hell. I probably look like hell twice warmed over.He has my morning protein shake in his hand, and rather than chastising him for making fun of me, I say, “Give me that.”“All right,” he says, handing it over. “But I’m pretty sure it’s not gonna help with… whatever’s going on here.” He raises a hand toward my face and moves it around a bit as if to indicate which part of me he is mostly talking about.I literally growl at him and take the drink, sipping a bit of the vanilla-flavored concoction as I glare at him over the top of the glass. “You’re so helpful,” I mutter. “Thanks.”“Maybe we should call in Willa?” He sounds hesitant to say such a statement, and he should be. I groan in disgust. “Oh, come on! It’s her job, Maddox.”The hallway is empty. I know it must be for
*Isla*“We need to talk,” I say to Poppy, and she stops fluffing the pillows on my bed long enough to look over at me.“Oh? Now you would like to talk?” She sits down on the edge of my bed and crosses one leg over the other one so that her foot is dangling. She kicks it around in a circle, her hands folded over her knee. “All right. What would you like to discuss? What do you think about the rain we got last night? Oh, did you hear that Barbie in the kitchen found her true mate? Do you think Beta Seth plucks his eyebrows?”Letting out a sigh, I walk over and sit next to her. “Stop it, Poppy. I understand that you’re upset. You feel like I should’ve told you what was going on, and you’re not wrong. I just… I didn’t know anything until last night. And after I talked to Maddox about it, I was so exhausted, I just wanted to go to sleep.”“I understand.” She pops up off of the bed and crosses to where she left her duster earlier. Picking it up, she begins her aggressive dusting motion agai
*Maddox*It’s drizzling as Isla and I step outside to begin our walk to the stage that is set up behind the gallows. My father used to give his declarations from inside of the castle. He’d simply step outside onto a balcony and address everyone before he ordered the execution. Sometimes, he’d do that right before going back to bed. Other times, he’d sit in a chair near the balcony and sip a whiskey while he contemplated the world.I never knew what to think of him in those moments. Did he feel at all guilty for what he’d just done or did he feel like the most powerful man in the world? I have a feeling, now that I am in that position myself, he might have had a bit of each of those sensations.Isla looks beautiful in a purple gown and cloak that remind me slightly of the one she’d been wearing when she first arrived at the castle. Not that I’d seen much of her in it that day, but I’d seen it hanging in her closet later. This one is the same style, but it is made of much nicer material
*Isla*Maddox gives the signal for the condemned prisoners to be killed, and someone in the back of the crowd watching shouts, “Now!”Immediately, chaos erupts in front of the gallows as dozens of shifters leap up and change into their wolf forms. Women, children, and some men scream and try to get out of the way, but the wolves plow through them, trying to get to the gallows.The guards react immediately, also shifting to fight back. I hear Maddox shout. “Drop them!” and the hangmen do their job even as the wolves that are either from Hill Country pack or Zabrina’s pack–Maple pack storm the gallows.“Seth! Get Isla inside, now!” Maddox shouts over his shoulder just as he shifts and takes off down the stairs toward the fray.Seth turns to look at me, obviously upset that he’s not running, too. I want to tell him to go on, that I’ve got this, but then I remember I am carrying a baby, and I’m not so brave anymore. It looks like the wolves that have started the chaos are not just in fron
*Isla*Ben isn’t breathing, and I don’t know what to do. He’s bleeding everywhere. I feel lost, hopeless, and alone.“Maddox! Help me! It’s Ben!” I shout for the hundredth time using the mind-link. I don’t expect him to answer me this time either, but I hear his voice saying, “Isla? Where are you?”I feel my heart begin to pound just from hearing his response. “We went in through the door closest to the stage, and some woman stabbed him! He’s not breathing. Where’s Mystica?”“Are you safe, Isla? Where’s the woman?” he asks me.I wish he wouldn’t always do that, answer my questions with his own questions. “She’s dead!” I shout at him, still unable to believe that I’ve killed someone. “Maddox, what do I do!”“I’m coming,” he says, but that doesn’t help me any, and I know that if we don’t do something soon, there will be no getting Ben back.My tears have soaked his shirt right above the wound, and he’s starting to turn blue because he hasn’t been breathing. I think about doing that thin
Misty“Aviva, stop!” I shout as she begins to turn toward the woods, her bow raised and arrow primed and ready. My powers ignite, stronger than they’ve ever been, and explode through the clearing in bright, blue light that sizzles into the ground. I swear, somewhere deep in the swirling, blue ether, I hear what sounds like a lock clicking–like I’ve just jammed a key into a padlock and wrenched on it until it turned–and then the ground shakes violently, a crushing, grinding sound beginning to echo through the clearing. Red eyes appear near the tree line–three sets–barreling toward us. Aviva roars as she pulls back on her arrow again, but then she… disappears with a surprised scream. “Aviva?!” I shout, then choke on her name as the ground beneath me falls away. My powers burn out. I’m falling through the darkness, reaching blindly for anything to grab onto. Something beneath me hits the ground with a crunch, and then I’m landing on top of the object, which turns out to be Aviva. We
MistyLogan is quite gaunt. That’s the first thing I notice as I linger in the doorway of the healer’s cottage, watching Cole check Logan’s ears. Cole is amazing with kids, and it shows, because Logan cracks a smile at something Cole says and Aviva interprets. But Cole’s eyes are heavy with concern when he turns away from the boy, his eyes scanning his notes before closing his notebook and setting it on the counter. Aviva, wearing Lexa on her back, takes Logan’s hand and leads him out of the healer’s cottage, closing the door behind her. I watch through the window as they walk away, into the rolling, morning fog. It’s a chilly late summer morning–the first truly cold morning since we arrived last week. It’s been four days since almost everyone fell ill, but thankfully that’s over. And, Kyra isn’t here right now. She’s off doing something in Endova, according to Cole and Ryan. I feel immediately more relaxed in her absence. “So? Is he going to live?” I try to tease to break the t
Aviva“What’s your name?” I ask in the old tongue as I lead the boy through one of the pastures, shoving chest-height strands of wheat to the side to give us a path.He doesn’t speak for a while. I don’t press him for information, either. The fact that he’s following me is enough.“Logan,” he says after a moment, his voice calm and cool like the breeze coming off the rolling hills in the distance.“How old are you?”“Twelve.”“I thought so.” I look at him over my shoulder, smiling, but he doesn’t return the gesture. Dark circles line his eyes, and he’s incredibly thin, even for a boy his age, who all seem to be gangly and lanky. His dark, nearly black hair is pin straight and sticks up at all angles, rustling in the breeze, and he’s pale with freckles across the bridge of his nose.A scar wraps fr
AvivaI wake from a dead sleep that leaves me in an absolute panic. I roll off the bed with a crash, and then Ryan’s voice cuts through the air in alarm over the sound of him ripping the sheets from the mattress in his haste to follow me out of bed. “Aviva–Goddess–” he grumbles, scooping me up right by my armpits and tossing me back in bed just as a wail echoes through the house. “Where’s Lexa?” I croak, my throat throbbing painfully like I’ve swallowed glass. I clutch my neck in alarm, swallowing hard past a massive lump nearly blocking my airway. I’ve never felt so terrible in my life. Ryan disappears and returns a few moments later with an incredibly fussy Lexa and a giant glass of water for me. Then, he fusses over us, propping me up against the headboard with several pillows and whisking Lexa away when she’s done nursing, all while I sit there in a haze, my head pounding and my joints aching so badly it nearly brings me to tears. It’s early morning. I don’t even remember goi
MistyNight falls on Silverhide against a chorus of coughing and sneezing. I’m not sure how else to describe it, but I’ve also never been sick before, so seeing half of Ryan’s pack under the weather is absolutely alarming. Everyone seems to be doing okay, however. Aviva snapped out of what ended up being a very short-lived fever, and Lexa is back to her usual self, but they’re both exhausted. Freya, Andrew, and their son, Sam, were somehow spared by the worst of the illness and have taken over care of Aviva and Lexa tonight so Ryan can take me on a run. I stare at the sleeping forms of Cole and Addy before closing the bedroom door and slipping out of the cabin to meet my brother on the road leading out of Silverhide. The dress I borrowed from Aviva feels strange against my skin as the warm night air wafts over me, lifting my hair from my shoulders in a soft breeze. It’s one of those Endovian dresses designed for shifting, of course, which means I’m practically exposed, but when I ca
MistyIt’s early afternoon when I finally leave our cabin in search of Cole. Aviva–who stayed up all night hunting, and then the entire morning caring for Lexa–is asleep on the couch with both babies as the moment. The tension in the village is palpable as I walk through the village square, which is quiet… borderline empty. A few people mill around going about their chores, but the square isn’t filled with conversation, children playing, or food being cooked and shared. It’s a bright, sunny day, which is being wasted. I sigh heavily and hike the bag I packed with a few sandwiches and treats for Cole over my shoulder and lower my head as I pass a group of men then turn toward the healer’s cottage. In the few days we’ve been in Silverhide, I haven’t had a chance to meet the pack's healer–some witch sent down from Moonrise a few weeks ago to serve in his pack. That’s the norm across Eastonia. Witches trained in Moonrise spread out, taking up residence in packs from Veiled Valley, thro
AvivaHot water rolls over my skin as I press my forehead against the tile. The shower is a new addition to our house, built along with the second story and unused bedrooms in the upper level. For me, the shower is absolutely massive–unreasonably so. For Ryan, it was a much needed upgrade from our copper tub downstairs. He stretches his arms over his head and groans as the scent of lavender soap fills the air, mingling with the steam. The window cut into the tile fogs up, blocking our view of the woods, but the first inklings of morning sunlight are trying to stretch toward Silverhide. “So,” he says behind me, gently tugging twigs from my curls and tossing them out of the shower. “This hellhound you found… what did it look like?”“A wolf,” I say, closing my eyes as his large hands drift to my shoulders, working out the knots from being in my wolf form practically the entire night. My breasts begin to ache with fullness but it’s a sensation I’m eager to ignore, especially as his touc
AvivaThe packhouse is always full to the brim. Four impossibly long tables and benches rest in the center of the wide, wood-lined space in rows where not a single seat is unaccounted for. Children dart from group to group, finding friends to play with while their parents dine. I’m at my usual spot at the head of the left-most table, surrounded by the other young, mated, new mothers while our mates move from group to group of men, chatting over pints of home-brewed ale. I bounce Lexa in my lap as I fork another piece of meat into my mouth, glancing down the table where Misty and Cole are seated together, unaccustomed to the noisy, damn near riotess shared evening meal. Misty seems especially affected, which strikes me as odd, given that she spent two weeks here last year before she went back to school… but that was before everything happened. Her eyes are empty, which worries me. I thought I was the only one having an existential crisis, but apparently… I’m not. Freya leans over,
Ryan“Come on, girl. You liked me yesterday.” I hike Lexa up and set her on my shoulder so her legs are around the back of my neck, my arm bent and extended so I press my hand against her back. She immediately fists my hair and stops wailing, her sad sniffling turning to quiet excitement. A small giggle leaves her lips as we pass one of the ceiling height windows in the hallway I’ve been walking her up and down for the past thirty minutes.Aviva would tell me this is dangerous to do with her at only four months old, but I can’t help it. Tossing this baby around is getting her ready to wrestle, which is what I often tell my wife before she stops my fun, but right now, we’re completely alone.I turn a corner, find another hallway, and walk down it with no plan nor destination in sight. In fact, I’m not entirely sure what I’m supposed to be doing right now other than keeping Lexa happy, and current