*Maggie*
“GAH!” I scream as I bolt upright in a cold sweat, clutching my cracking leg.
Spit flies from my lips as I breathe through the pain and try to keep my sobs to myself. I fall back grunting and sobs wrack my body, only making the pain all the worse. My muscles throb and my femur creaks as it tries to find its other half so it can heal. Each agonizing second it inches closer and closer to where it belongs. An audible snap echoes through the darkroom as I pound the ground with my first.
“Mother fucker!” I drag my hand to my mouth and bite down, trying to muffle my cries. Shivers wrack my body in a confused state as every part of me tries to decide if it’s found relief or more pain.
“What the fuck was that?” a voice asks softly from the corner.
“Adriana?” I ask tentatively.
“You know me?” She asks.
I bend my legs and test it out, k
*Axel*“It’s coming whether or not you want it to,” Angus says from his chair at the other end of the long oak table.“That is something we can agree on,” I scoff.“Eat, you will need the strength for the Ultima. If he is going to transform strong wolves, then he will need his own strength.”I look at the display of various roast meats before me and I have to keep the drool from dribbling down my chin. Never in my life have I wanted for food as badly as I do at this moment. Every part of my stubborn nature wants to throw the food to the ground in defiance, but I know he is right. My body needs the energy. If I have any chance of getting out of here tonight when the moon comes up, then I need to get my strength up.Reaching out, I reluctantly take a turkey leg, a slice of ham, and a mountain of mashed potatoes. I start to eat civilly, taking a bite and politely chewing unti
A surge of power swells inside of me as my muscles tickle, and I swear I can feel every single one twitching as my clothing grows a little smaller. I close my eyes and breathe through the pressure building in my abdomen as I try to contain it, control it. If I can remain in control for long enough, then maybe, just maybe, this time, it will be different.I have sent every blue moon since my eighteenth birthday hiding from the source of my strength, fighting it off for as long as possible until it outgrew me and took me over. This time I am desperate enough to work with it so I can save the people I care about. If I can channel, or even have some semblance of control over it this time, then perhaps we stand a chance.“Brutus,” Angus calls in the distance as I try to center myself and relax, embracing each wave of power that the moon sends to me.All sounds around me disappear as I find myself swirling in
*Maggie*I stand by the window just staring at the moon, willing it to move faster. The sooner it is up, the sooner I can signal for everyone to attack. I was hoping to see Freddie one more time before the big attack, but he never came back and I’m not sure if I should be worried about it or not. It was never a definite plan, plan, but it would have put my mind at ease.I haven’t seen Adriana since they grabbed me and dragged me down to the dining room with Axel and Angus. I swear I can still feel his filthy lips on mine, and it makes me gag as I turn away from the window to contain myself. A man has never been so repulsive to me before. It’s hilarious how everyone tries to make Axel seem like he is the disgusting one when they are protecting a disgusting leech.I check the moon once more and groan at its defiance. Doesn’t it realize that I need it to do what I want? I impatiently bounce, shaking m
*Axel*Something tugs at my stomach as I try to find my way back out of my mind. I could feel Maggie, and hear her voice when she was talking about Adriana, but it had taken every ounce of my mental abilities to force the mind link to work. And now I am back to being a passenger and only feeling the emotions of the ultima. He is worried for the first time in all the years of being a part of me and I take that as a terrible sign.A low growl rolls through us in a possessive and angry manner and shows how he is letting me back in. I blink through the fog and look down at my strange looking body and around the courtyard from the tree I am perched in. There are hundreds of werewolves here armed with guns that they train on me and fire. My body acts on instinct as it leaps from branch to branch, trying to avoid getting hit.My eyes search frantically for Maggie. I can’t feel her presence any more and part of me thinks that may be a
“What about them?” “Can we have them back?” She asks, stepping forward, looking hopefully at me. I look at Billy and Jacob, who look as confused as I feel. “You are going to have to explain what you mean,” I say flatly. “Alpha Angus has many of our mates locked up, so we would fight. Or do what he wanted us to do… Can we have them back now?” The words get lost in my head as I try to comprehend how much pain they have all been in. Everything makes sense now, why Angus was able to keep a pack when he has no wolf. How they all willingly served him and allowed him to thrive off of their strength for years while he searched for me. “Yes.” I choke out, trying not to think about how terrible life must have been for each and every one of them. “Yes, you may have them back” In unison, every single wolf turns and runs through the mansion in stark silence as they move to free their loved ones from the clutches of the dead man
Maggie sags slightly and grabs hold of my arm tightly, squeezing it. I look down at her and see how pale she looks. Pain is etched on her face and I run my eyes over her, scanning for something that might cause her such pain. Alpha Wade is next to me within a moment, while his mate tends to Adriana. “The cut on her neck looks deep,” he says, bending down and looking closer. Maggie groans, holding her side, and I look down in shock. I had assumed the injury to her abdomen had already healed. Especially since she had been carrying on normally and her throat had been nearly slit. I bend down and gently pick her up, whisking her to the stairs where the lamps afford us better lighting. Maggie groans again in discomfort as I lay her as gently as possible onto the chipped steps. “Sit back Mags, let us look, ok?” She nods. Maggie’s top is drenched in her blood and I slide a glance to Wade, who waits for me to lift the hem of her s
When I feel completely depleted, I reluctantly open my eyes and look down at Maggie who stirring with me. She whimpers in pain and Billy looks up, surprised. “She is waking up.” He tells Dr. Sari, who continues to work stitching up the wound. It’s hard to tell how much better the wound is looking with all the blood, but Maggie’s breathing is even and her clamminess seems to be gone. “I am all set,” Dr. Sari says, snipping the string she used to stitch Ali up. She grabs a clean cloth and gently wipes away the remaining blood, then grabbing a brown liquid, she dabs it on gently. “Did you get it out?” I ask weakly. “Yes. and now I have to see a human patient.” She says, jumping up and walking out the door. “What were you doing?” Billy asks, watching me. “I don’t know. I just reached out for help in calming her down and my wolf helped me.” “It did more than that, Axel. The bullet pushed itself out. Doc
The wolf pounces back, snarling and snapping at my ankles as I dodge every blow. My agility and speed are quicker than I am used to as I lash out and slash at his side. He growls in anger at every missed strike and takes a step back to collect my thoughts. The surprise of this wolf’s eyes has thrown me completely off in a panic. There can’t be two Ultimas. They can’t exist at the same time. It’s never been heard of before. A warm sensation floods through my mind as knowledge of the ultima and what it means somehow fit their way into my mind like puzzle pieces I never knew were missing. Somehow I have answers to all the questions I have ever had about Ultima’s and what they are, what they do. I look at the wolf in front of me with clearer eyes and I understand exactly what is happening. Only one of us can be allowed to live. This fight isn’t about my pack or hatred. This fight is about determining who gets to live the rest of their life.
Thank you all so much for reading my little Freakshow!! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it!Don't be sad about Adriana and Liam's unresolved story since they will have their OWN novel coming soon to GoodNovel! Look for it in the next month titled "The Alpha's Redeemer"This will be a much more emotionally charged book than you are used to reading from me but I promise it will be action-packed and full of sass! All of the characters from the "Guardian" standalone series will be in this one!If you haven't read The Alpha's Guardian yet you are missing out! it is the FIRST in the Guardian Standalone series and it has been my best-selling book by a long shot! so if you haven't checked it out - GO! I promise Ali and Wade's story is amazing!Keep up your reading!MiriG
Epilogue *Axel* ** Six Months later** I can hear Maggie laughing from my office, loud and boisterous. Exactly how she has been since we got our pack. She has been deep in the planning stages with Cora as they work on our newest Freakshow. Even though we have pack lands and I am helping Wade with his newest mission concerning omegas, we need a source of income. And we made damn good money with the original Freakshow. Billy and Bea have taken to traveling around looking for exiled, lonely, or abandoned shifters who need a home. We have quickly become the pack of misfits, but that is exactly what makes our pack so much more special than everyone else’s. We don’t want to travel anymore. It’s not something that makes sense when we all want to be near each ot
*Maggie* Ginger blushes as Emal drops a kiss on her cheek before running off after little Al, who is playing soccer in the field across the road. She and Emal may have mated weeks ago, but she still blushes when he shows affection around other people. Which I find amusing, considering she has never been a shy person before. That was always Emal. It’s almost like they have taken on each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The elephant bond differs from the wolf bond. It’s a chosen bond, which almost makes it seem bigger. No pun intended. I am pretty sure that Emal loved Ginger from the moment he saw her, but being Emal, he lumbers around trying to decide the best options. Not that he was looking for someone better, no. I think he was looking for someone better FOR Ginger. I guess it takes almost losing someone to realize that you would rather give them everything you have than watch them struggle on their own. So that’s what he did.
*Axel* “How has everything been so far?” Wade asks as we enter my makeshift office. The room is basic, with bookshelves lining the walls behind the desk, a large window facing the pines to my right, and beige carpet that match the tan walls. It’s not anything special, but it’s enough for me. I’ve never in my life had a real office before. I had a small desk overrun with papers at all times in my large circus tent, but it hardly could be used for more than writing down expenses or searching places to go. I've never had formal meetings before meeting Wade, I never had a reason to. My Freakshow pack was intimate and we are a family. If we wanted something we spoke our mind and asked there was never a need until now. “Great,” I answer honestly. “We had a whole haul of construction equipment, workers and materials sho
*Maggie*It’s crazy to think that only three weeks ago we fought the largest fight in our entire lives. Axel had never gone up against such foes, nor had any of us. Alpha Wade had even made mention that this was easily the craziest scenario he had ever come across, and the man was plotted against and almost killed in his own home by a committee member. So we don’t take his words on the matter lightly.Just as Alpha Wade had promised, they provided us with our own pack lands. Thankfully, it already had some houses and lots of land to spare for the building of more and potentially a small city area if we wanted. Axel and I have learned so many lessons since finding each other. Ironically, the most important one for me was trusting. Axel likes to put up a front and pretend he is jaded, and he has every reason to be, but I know better. He is the quickest of us to trust. Though that could be because his ultima powers help him with discernm
*Axel* It has been way too long since I have had a good night’s sleep, and waking up next to Maggie is the icing on the cake. I could feel her tossing and turning for the first part of the night, but once she settled in, I was able to fall into a deep sleep. What Billy said about the man setting fire to the tents has to have bothered her. I don’t see how it couldn’t. That night had been a rollercoaster of emotions for the two of us. Her falling, combined with her injury, had been enough to set me over the edge until her tears came. The tears that completely unraveled me. I would have done anything to stop those tears and the ache I saw behind them. I loved her before that moment, but I fell for her right then. It was the most real she had ever been with me, and in turn, I told her my secret. The same night, we sealed our mate bond. I reach out and stroke her soft cheek with the back of my knuckle, memorizing every line of her stun
*Maggie*Axel sits motionless in front of me and Billy trying to wrap his head around our crazy stories. I started with the moment I left Axel’s side. Billy and Axel sat in awe while I told them how hard it was to leave him, explaining finding Jacob, Declan, Rosie, Abigail, Bea, and Jasper in the woods. And how willing they were to help and follow me. Axel was especially not happy about me trying to take on Abraham’s pack or that I had been in his old home.I explained how Madelyn had helped us and how I pissed Jacob off by storming the dungeon the moment I realized the Freakshow was down there. But in the stoic face, I could see the pride and I took it as a good sign. He had no questions for me as he just sat and listened. Billy tossed in a few things here and there as we regaled him on our heroic journey to save him. I explained how I went willingly with Liam, and that I was beaten up because we had no choice, so I sparred with Liam
Maggie stiffens, and I hold her tight to my chest, refusing to move from my place. I hold no fear for my brother. I have no desire to fight with him and no desire to kill him, though if he gives me a reason, I will do what I need to. A heavy sigh escapes my lips and I glance down at Maggie, who slowly moves from my grip and stands at my side. However, I decide to remain seated.“Abe. What brings you here? Coming to kill me again?” I raise a brow and bring my elbow to my knees, leaning forward slightly.Abe chuckles and steps out into the lamplight that illuminates the broken driveway.“Brother, if I wanted to kill you…”“I would already be dead?” I raise a brow and dawn a ghost of a grin. Still the same as Abe. Way too confident for his own good. “What more do you have to prove? You have the title you have always wanted. I stayed away. You came to me, you and your men shot my ma
Cora comes rounding the corner with Hans right beside her, Jacob trailing close behind. Her eyes are red and puffy, her hair a tousled mess, and her nose pink and raw from blowing her nose. Hans is looking no better. His once lively smile and tan skin are nowhere to be seen. He moves like a zombie with no light in his eyes, offering Cora a hand when she shudders, trying to shed the weight of another onslaught of tears. The excitement of showing them overwhelms me as I smile wide and stick my hands in my pockets, trying to keep my eyes glued to the ground. They step in front of me, stopping and looking at me with their blank stare. My stomach lurches. They both look so broken and vacant. “Cora just fell asleep, Axel.” Hans frowns “I know, and I’m sorry to have woken you up when you really need some sleep. I’m not sure this is the right way to do this. Hell, I’m not sure anyone would actually know what the right way is, but…”