Julien had caught Lacey's scent just outside of their suite at the castle, and then followed it down the hallway toward the right, but there was nothing at the end of the hall. On a hunch, he started pushing on the walls over and again, then a panel opened to a hidden staircase that Julien knew nothing about. He ran down the stairwell, all five flights, and it opened to the outside of the castle on the ground floor. Julien cursed to himself, wondering why he had never seen this passage before, making a mental note to have every inch of the castle searched and mapped when everything settled down. Julien followed the scent around the corner of the castle, and then the trail headed for the woods.Julien and the pack had spent the rest of the night and into the next day searching for her, but nothing turned up. With no sleep, he was exhausted, but vowed not to stop until Lacey was found.It was clear that she hadn't left on her own accord. And some time during the search, Scarlett, Brock,
Julien searched the river as he ran and then there Lacey was... clinging to a log in her human form, probably too weak to stay in her wolf form. Rex stood on the other side, pacing the bank, thinking of a way to get to her. But if Rex touched her, he was a dead man.Julien searched the side of the cliff, but there was no path leading down to the river below. He had only one choice. Julien ran back and Rex laughed, thinking Julien would abandon her. But he had another thing coming.When Julien was far enough away to gain momentum, Julien poured on the speed, heading straight for the edge of the cliff, pushing himself harder. He needed to jump into the middle of the river, as far away from the rocks on the edge as possible. When he neared the cliff's edge he pushed off, catapulting himself away from the side into mid-air, feeling the earth leave his paws below him. He fell for what seemed like an eternity and then splashed into the heavy current, plunging deep into the water.Under the w
When Lacey woke, it was dark out and she felt overly warm. Then the events of the day before came rushing back... being kidnapped and then escaping... running from the wolves... leaping to the other side and missing... then landing in the water and being carried downstream. Then she had nearly drowned. But luckily, the current had taken her close to shore, so she swam with all her might and caught the end of a log that was protruding from the shore into the water and pulled herself in. But she had been too weak to pull herself up the bank onto shore.Just when she thought all hope was lost, Julien came. She didn't remember much after that, other than him carrying her in his human form to a cave, and then building a fire. He must have shifted into his wolf form to keep her warm, since there were no blankets. If it hadn't been for Julien, she would be dead.Since they were safe and Julien was still sleeping, she turned over in his paws and faced the fire. She couldn't believe that Thorn
Later into the evening, Julien knew they had to leave now before daybreak. He just hoped that Lacey was up for it. "Gggrrrooolll!!" a wolf-shifter growled outside the cave. "Lacey!" Julien gently shook her shoulder. "Lacey! Wake up!"She opened her eyes, sitting up abruptly and rubbed her eyes. "Julien, what is it?""Someone's here," he said, running his hand along the side of her hair as he rose to his feet. "Stay here." Then he let the tremors run down his spine and throughout his limbs as he stood back away from Lacey, not wanting to hurt her in the process. Then he let the red haze with black edges overtake his vision and then his paws touched down onto the gray cave dust, purplish in the darkness of the cave. Julien crept through the passageway and into the main cave but saw nothing. "Gggrroowwll!!" a shifter's growl resonated into the cave. Then Julien recognized his voice and ran out. "I could use a little help here," Brogan said in the Pack Mind. He, Misty, and Victor were
As they ran from The Silver Pack Compound, Lacey hoped she would never see it again, or her family living there, either. They ran until the faint rays of morning sunshine began to peek through the clouds. The promise of a new day, a new beginning.When they arrived at the compound, Lacey was exhausted, even though she rode the whole way. Luckily, none of the Silver Pack wolves had followed. For some reason, they had let them go. But now she realized why. They were coming here, to the castle.Julien slowly bowed and then slowly lay down on the ground, and Lacey slid off. Then Gwen hurried to wrap a robe around her and started to help her in. "No." Lacey turned and Julien was slipping into a robe, too. She hurried to him and laid her head on his chest. "Thank you, Julien... My Alpha."The sincerity in his eyes touched her as he swept her into his arms. "Gwen, get Dr. Silva... now! Have him meet us in our suite. And have Chef Mastrano prepare her something."Gwen gave a quick curtsy. "Ye
After Dr. Silva spoke with him, Julien came in and sat in a chair beside the bed. "I agree with Lacey. Let's keep her in the castle and do the tests. If it comes back that she has appendicitis, then we'll rush her to the hospital." Then Julien thought of something. "Could you take the samples and run the tests here in our suite?" Julien sighed, shaking his head. "Lacey's been through enough, and she really needs to rest."Dr. Silva nodded. "Against my better judgement, I'll agree. But if she starts running a fever or has more abdominal pain, we'll rush her to the hospital.""Agreed," Julien replied. "Both of you, please don't talk about me as if I'm not here," Lacey said. Julien nodded, patting her leg. "Sorry, darling."Dr. Silva rummaged around in his bag and pulled out a slender box. Lacey knew it was a pregnancy test. "I want you to take this test now. I need to go downstairs to bring up some things that I'll need, and I'll be right back." Then he looked over at Julien. "Do you h
A few minutes later, there was a knock on their bedroom door. Julien opened it and Dr. Silva was standing there. "Well? What did the test say?" The doctor sat in the chair next to the bed, looking more like a kind friend than a doctor.Lacey forced a smile. "I'm not pregnant." Then she bit her lower lip and released it. "So, do you think I have appendicitis?""I think you really need to rest." Dr. Silva sighed, his eyebrows pulling together in concern. "But I'll tell you what. Right now, you don't have a fever and you're not vomiting, so let's get an IV in you and see if the fluids will help. Then if you're not better by morning, we'll take you to the hospital for a possible appendectomy."Julien looked at her and raised his eyebrows, silently asking her permission.Lacey nodded. "Yes, that's fine."It was time that she started being brave. She had learned a long time ago that she needed to be the one to save herself. But now she had Julien. And whether he was with her or not, she had
"Eeekkk!!!" Lacey screamed in the middle of the night. She had been dreaming that Thorn had given her over to Rex, and he had taken her away from Julien. But then Rex grabbed her hard and pulled her to him. "Uuuuggghhh!" Lacey screamed as the strong arms held her tightly, pulling her to his chest. "No! Let me go!""Ssshh.... Lacey... it's me, Julien," he cooed, pulling her to him, brushing her hair from her eyes. "You're going to pull out your IV!"She thrashed about as he held her rms still, tried to calm her, not realizing it was Julien. "Eeehhh!""Lacey! Wake up! You're dreaming!" Julien shook her shoulders hard, trying to wake her. "Lacey! It's me! Julien!"Then she looked into his eyes, as if seeing him for the first time. "Oh, Julien! I'm so sorry! I was just dreaming—" She looked at the IV. Even though it had come untapped, it was still secure in her arm. She quickly smoothed her hand over the tape and the memory of what had happened over the last few days flooded her mind."Sss