"What the fuck do you mean?" Avery finally asks after a pregnant pause."There are two she-wolfs who are carrying children," the girl repeats, and Avery rises from her seat."Oh, Avery, Louisa," Lilith exclaims, slapping the table as she puts the pieces together.Avery raises a brow, sitting back down and staring at the woman in the corner.She doesn't say anything else, retreating back to her knitting."She lost her mate to this," Byron murmurs, "I'd take everything she says with a pinch of salt.""I can hear you. Being mateless doesn't make me deaf," the woman scoffs, scowling over her half-formed scarf.Avery tries to cover her chuckle with a cough at this remark, and she quickly shakes her head, forcing herself to focus."What do you want us to do though, Wilcott?" The other man asks, and Avery frowns at him."Alpha," she simply says, staring at him intensely, and releasing some of her dominance.The woman with the knitting cringes at the influx of power, Byron blinks rapidly, and
Avery secures her hair into a tight braid and then laces up her boots."You look like you're going into a war," Lilith comments, sitting up slightly from the bed.Kali nods in agreement, eating some of the popcorn out of their shared bowl."I would rather go into war than walk into this interrogation," Avery admits truthfully, sighing ruefully as she smooths down some flyaway hairs."It won't be that bad; you're being dramatic!" Lilith exclaims, getting off the bed and walking over to her friend.Avery looks at her, and shakes her head, rolling her shoulders back and trying to relax a little."You're so tense," Kali observes, watching the two move around the room, Avery side-stepping away from Lilith, who appears to be trying to straighten the Alphas collar."You would be too, if Mama Bird was chasing you," Avery grumbles, eventually stopping and letting Lilith fidget with her clothes.Lilith rights the collar, and she brushes some fluff off the black jumper Avery has on, scowling whe
"We need to hurry; we're going to be later than I thought," she mutters, starting the engine before she entirely sits down."I told you we would be," he reminds her, rolling his eyes and sitting in silence."Are you nervous?" She asks, trying to make conversation while she tunes the radio."No," he responds, staring ahead of himself."Right," Avery mutters, stepping on the gas and willing her car to go faster.She takes on the corners with little caution, and more than once Hayden has to hold himself back from cursing as he grabs onto the handle above the window.When she nearly smashes into a tree, Hayden has had enough, and grabs the steering wheel."You crazy bitch, are you trying to get us both killed?" He glares at her, and she slaps his hands off the wheel."I don't want to be any later than we have to be," she comments, not looking over at him.Well, that got his attention, Sonya quips."Well, we'll be very late if we're dead," he fires back, "I happen to have something to live
The next few hours, everybody was on autopilot.Everybody was going everywhere, but nobody knew what they were doing.Zephyr was called, but nobody could remember who phoned him.This had never happened before. The Alpha of Moonstone Mountain burst onto their pack lands with no warning in a flurry of horror.Avery had stormed into the emergency room, her trench coat swirling around her legs and her eyes flashing black.Nurses and doctors had gotten out of the way as quickly as they possibly could, and some patients fainted at the sheer level of dominance she was giving off.When Zephyr arrived at the hospital, he had found Avery pinning the paramedic she had recognised up against the wall.Her eyes were completely black, and Sonya didn't even make a note of Zephyr entering the break room.She was completely distracted by the possibility of bloodshed"Avery, have you found anything?" He barks, and she turns to him quickly, holding the woman up by her throat."No. I'm trying to get inf
Okay, honestly? I did not see that one coming, Sonya admits, absolutely baffled.Neither of them is really sure what's going on.Okay, that doesn't mean she had anything to do with Lilith's disappearance, Avery reasons to herself, and then clears her throat, returning to speaking to the man who's waiting for a response.What time was the call made at?, Avery asks, and the man clears his throat awkwardly.She can practically feel his nervousness through the link.Just before 2 pm, he quickly responds, and Avery furrows her brows, pulling out her cellphone and looking at her call history.She squints at the recent callers until she finds Kali's number, and then she frowns."Somebody tell me I'm not crazy, and that this number is two," Avery urges, holding her phone out in front of her.Louisa grumbles, and then peers at the screen and rolls her eyes."Yes, it says two," she drawls, putting her free hand onto her hip.Avery silently nods and returns to the man on the link.Thank you, she
The four of them keep walking, but Hayden isn't happy.He doesn't want to be in danger of dying when he has the chance to finally see his son again.But he also doesn't go back on his word, so he's struggling to continue.His wolf is at war with him, torn between self-preservation and a need to protect others.Avery is having a similar battle, but the need to protect her friend wins every time.She can sense the tension in the air, and she glances back at Hayden."You can go back if you want to," she shrugs, and he clenches his jaw."I'm no pussy," he snarls, and she rolls her eyes away from him."I never said you were," she says quietly, "I'd just understand if you wanted to go to the surface."He doesn't respond, and they walk for another few meters until Louisa stops suddenly."What's wrong?" Avery asks, and Louisa slams her hand over her sister's mouth immediately, pointing to the wall beside them.Avery raises an eyebrow and tries to talk, and Lilith frantically shakes her head,
It's so dark in the tunnels that it's almost impossible to see more than five feet in front of yourself.I'm the one doing all of the work, Sonya reminds her irritably. Her phone rings suddenly, and she pulls it out of her pocket after she pushes the boy against a wall to keep a hold on him."Yeah?" She asks, and she hears coughing on the other end."Ave, I'm sending Zephyr in," Louisa chirps, and Avery nods.She realises her sister can't see her through a phone and resists the urge to groan."That's perfect, thanks, Lou," she sighs, and Louisa hangs up.She was civil in that sentence, Sonya gasps dramatically. Avery ignores her wolf and pulls the boy away from the wall, continuing the descent.It eventually levels out, and the front boy starts shaking.Avery notices there's a large emission of power somewhere nearby - nothing that she can't handle, but she can see Hayden is trying not to flinch, and the boys are both vibrating with fear."What is that?" Avery asks her prisoner, and
A tapping noise greets Avery as she opens her eyes."Shh," she mumbles, rolling over.As she rolls over, she rests her weight on her face.A hiss leaves her lips, and she bolts upright, clapping a hand over the bandage covering her cheek."Wasn't that stupid," Hayden mutters, looking up from his cellphone."Why am I here?" She grumbles, and he sighs, pulling his legs off the arm of the chair he's slumped in."You fainted. I had to carry you all the way here, and you're a lot heavier than you look," he grunts, and Avery scowls at him."You could have left me there," she snaps, looking down at the hospital gown she's in."Who changed me?" She asks sharply, and he rolls his eyes at her."One of the nurses, they wouldn't let you wear filthy jeans to lay down on their clean beds," he sighs, settling back into the seat."Oh," she mutters, "why did I faint?"Hayden sighs again, shaking his head at her."I'm not a doctor, so I have no idea. I pressed the call button when you started making no