Keller gets in the shower and helps me wash up. He holds me when I break down and cry again. He shields my face from the water and rocks me in his arms, reassuring and soothing me until I’m able to calm down. He uses a damp washcloth to wipe any remaining blood off my face and neck.When he’s sure I’m clean, he wraps me in a fresh towel. He wraps one around his waist and leads me out to the bedroom. “Zara, I have a question. I’m not trying to call you out or anything like that and it’s not very good timing, but this is important.” He sits on the bed and holds my hands in his.“What’s wrong?” I don’t know if I can take much more right now.“Zara, this is far and away Mom’s favorite holiday.” He looks up at me and brings my fingers to his lips to kiss them lightly. “She is definitely going to ask what we got each other for Solstice. What do you want me to tell her you got me? I never want to lie to her, but I don’t think the truth will cut it here.”My mouth opens and closes, but no wo
“Zara, what the Hell happened to your face?” Mom gasps when I walk in the door. She grabs me by both shoulders and stares at me with panic in her eyes. “Keller, what the Hell?! What did you do?!”“Mom, it’s okay, I-”Before I can explain, Dad rushes past us and slams Keller into the wall next to the door. I hear Keller get the wind knocked out of him before I can turn around. Avalanche growls deeply, making the whole room rumble. “What did you do to her?”“Papa M! No! You’re hurting him!” Jasper yells. There’s a scuffling sound behind me as Sam and Estelle try to push Dad off of Keller, too.“Dad, no! Avalanche stop please! It wasn’t Keller!” I squirm out of Mom’s grip and push myself between Dad and Keller. “STOP! Avalanche! Please let me explain! Don’t hurt my mate. Please!”I feel Dad’s posture soften when he realizes I could get hurt in the fray. He lets go of Keller, who falls to the ground coughing and choking. Estelle and Sam drop to the ground to help him while Jasper stands b
“Zara, it’s safer to shift in the field, but if you want to go into the treeline, that’s fine too. Rocky is going to stay with you unless Lavender outruns him.” Keller hands his coat to Jasper and unties his shoes. “Lily and Avalanche are going to run interference in case Lavender tries to come at Estelle and the guys.” Mom and Dad strip down and make their way toward the middle of the field, hand in hand, to shift. There is about a foot of snow on the ground, making it a little more difficult, but it doesn’t seem to bother them too much. I look back at my friends and think about it for a moment. Jasper and Sam look really uncomfortable, trying to avoid looking at Keller’s parents naked. “Sorry, Sam, but you’re the only one here who hasn’t seen me with no clothes before. Today is going to be the first.” I give him a sympathetic grin and take off my coat. “Uh, it’s okay as long as Mom and Dad don’t react the way they did to Jas.” He rubs his hands together, trying to stay warm. “Th
“So it doesn’t bother you to work for werewolves? You’re not afraid?” I ask curiously, watching Estelle draw blood from Jasper’s arm. “Most of the time, no. Sometimes Phil can be a bit intimidating, but I know he won’t hurt me,” Estelle waves off the notion, “Keller’s brothers, though. That’s another story. Fortunately, they don’t have a lot of reason to come into the lab.” “Oh. Yeah. Amy told me they don’t pay attention to pack news, so they don’t know the trials were about Keller and me, but I think they know…” I frown, hoping it’s not true. “When I went for dinner, I’m sure Jensen knew he recognized me because he chased Lavender when we were in heat.” “I don’t think either of them is smart enough to figure it out. Alright, Jasper, do you need a lollipop like Keller, or are you good?” She motions to Keller, who is sitting in a chair, looking pale and clammy. “No, I’m good. Keller is going to take me upstairs so we can talk to Papa M about work.” He pulls his sleeve down and cla
“How the Hell did she have access to the detox cells, anyway?” I hear Keller whisper, “Her key card shouldn’t have worked on that door.” “I-I don’t know, Keller. She should only have access to the lab and storage areas.” A woman’s voice responds on a speakerphone. “I’ll get it figured out right away.” “Not a word to my father until then. He’ll have all of our heads if he finds out.” He growls. I try to focus on the conversation, but my head feels like there is an elephant sitting on it. I groan and roll over to get relief from the sensation. “Lavender? Are you okay?” I search my mind for my wolf. “Who were those girls, Zara?” Lavender whines. “Why are they prisoners?” “Zara? Can you hear me?” Keller interrupts before I can respond, sounding closer now. He takes my hand and kisses it softly. The flow of our mate bond dulls the heavy sensation in my head, and I’m able to open my eyes slowly. Keller is sitting next to the gurney I’m lying on. It looks like we are in an examining ro
Keller’s POV “Rocky, do you smell that?” I lift my nose to the air to assess a pungent odor. “Deer piss.” He sounds disgusted. “River and Canyon are supposed to chase them away so they don’t scare the sigmas.” “Lazy asses.” I move to the open area where there’s enough room for Rocky’s wolf form to shift. “Make it quick, Rocky. We need to make sure Zara and Lavender-” Before I can finish my thought, a heavy power tackles me from behind, throwing me to the ground. The wind gets knocked out of me, but when I try to get a breath in, the scent of deer piss assaults my nose, making me gag. I try to roll over, but my attacker is much heavier than me. A hard elbow to the back of my head lets me know it’s Skylar. It was his signature move when we were kids and I couldn’t defend myself. Now that we are adults, the blow makes me see spots. “Skylar, what the fuck are-” I try to roll over, but he presses hard on the back of my neck, smashing my face into the ground. He holds me down with a kn
“Keller, can you hear me?” A familiar voice shines a light on a path and leads me from the infinite void I have been existing in. “Open your eyes, honey. Come on, it’s time to come back to us.” A rush of stimuli crashes into me all at once. Scents, sounds, emotions, gravity, lights, dizziness, nausea. I try to sit up, but something is holding me down. “Easy, my boy.” Dad’s voice permeates the darkness I’m emerging from. He sounds somber and restless. I wrestle with feeling everything at once inside me, but one thought prevails. “Zara Zhade.” My voice is hoarse, and my throat is scratchy. Maybe they didn’t hear me. Maybe I didn’t say it out loud. “I need Zara.” The words absorb into the crevices of my soul until the concept becomes tangible. I need her in my arms. I need to smell her and stroke her hair. She needs to hear me tell her I love her. She needs me to protect her. I force my eyes open in the bright room. I can barely make them squint. Mom’s silhouette comes into view,
Ace sits on the edge of the bed and sighs heavily. He looks back up at me like he’s trying to figure out the best way to begin. “Okay. First, there are a couple of things you need to know. And please remember, I’m just the messenger here. Got it?” He holds his hands up in surrender. “Got it.” I also hold my hands up, mimicking his gesture. “I should preface by saying, Doctor Khe came before we could even get Zara here and we made sure only female staff members have attended to her. We are doing our best to keep her condition in perspective, so we haven’t pushed her too much.” He fidgets with his hands, then looks at me sympathetically. “She hasn’t been very cooperative, which is understandable, but she has spoken with the Doc and she’s speaking to your parents, so that’s a good sign.” Condition? Does he mean she’s a sigma or is it something else? My brother’s unforgiving dark eyes come to my mind. Jensen. “Did Jensen hurt her? I’m gonna fucking kill him.” I throw the blanket of