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
Lacey tried to sleep but couldn't get comfortable. Her lower right side was hurting most of the night. But one good thing was that she was finally feeling more like herself. She was no longer afraid to go to sleep, afraid that someone may come to the door and drag her away. Whatever Dr. Silva put into her IV to counteract and remove the drugs from her system must have been working.After a while, Lacey finally fell asleep.Lacey walked into a clearing that she didn't recognize, and Scar, Brock, and Rex were there. Rex looked across the field and smirked. "You're coming with me.""No, I'm not! Get away from me!" She tried to morph into her wolf, but nothing happened. Panic set in, and when she turned to run, she ran right into Thorn, laughing. "Oh, yes. You do." A broad grin spread across Thorn's face. "I'll teach you for being born! Your mother should have never had the affair and should have never had you! Now I'm giving you to Rex.""No!" Lacey yelled, backing away as Thorn advanc
"Julien?" Lacey asked, waking up in the hospital, feeling disoriented. When she opened her eyes, the light was much too bright. "Where am I?""You're in the hospital, Lacey," Julien said, holding her hand. Then everything started coming back to her... the pain... and then Julien carrying her to the ambulance... "Did they do the surgery?"Julien nodded, smiling. "Dr. Silva did the surgery and it went very well. Come to find out, your appendix ruptured in his hands as soon as he took it out." He sighed, shaking the memories from his head. "We got you here just in time."She nodded, giving him a weak smile. "Good. At least we know what it was."Julien raised her hand to his lips, and then looked up, his eyes pleading. "Lacey, I'm so sorry I waited so long to bring you here. They gave you some pain medication so it should help." Then Julien leaned in conspiratorially. "Dr. Silva said that you should be able to come home in a few days, but you'll need to wait until next week to go back to
Lacey's eyes flew open and she was staring into Scar's. Lacey tried to scream, but Scar held a knife to her throat. "Scream, and I'll kill you and Julien, too," Scar said. Rage filled Lacey's chest as she quickly assessed her surroundings. There was a huge picture window close by, and the IV was still in her arm, but Lacey could easily pull it out. She glanced over at the small sofa in the corner and Julien was gone. He had probably stepped out to get something to eat. But that was okay. Lacey smiled. She wanted Scar to herself.It was payback time.Lacey nodded once and Scar removed her hand, but still held the knife to her throat. "I thought it was time we had a little chat... woman to woman.""Too bad you aren't one." Keeping as still as she could so as not to attract Scar's notice, Lacey started pulling the IV from her hand. Once she was free, Scarlett was hers. The longer she could keep Scarlett talking so she could work it out of her arm, the better. "You're not a good woman, a
A security guard came in along with the nurse, who looked back and forth between them, not quite sure what to do. Lacey assumed that she was still in shock from nearly witnessing a murder."The police are on their way," said the security guard. Then he looked down at the blood pooling through Lacey's hospital gown. "I think you'd better get that looked at, ma'am.""Yes, yes!" The nurse finally came to her senses and led Lacey back to the bed. Then she turned to the guard. "Leave us, please."The guard nodded, concern coloring his face. "I'll be right outside.""My husband will be back in a moment if you'd like to talk to him," Lacey offered, laying back down on the bed.He tipped his hat. "Yes, ma'am." He gave her one last concerned look and then walked out, closing the door behind him. "Could you stitch me back up?" Lacey asked the nurse. "Then I have to go home. I no longer feel safe here."A crease formed between the nurse's eyes. The nametag on her uniform read SAMANTHA. "I'm afra