My captor drags me into a dark room and slams the door behind us. Lavender pushes forward to protect me with a deep growl. My fangs and claws extend and vision becomes sharper in the unlit room.
“Lavender, it’s okay,” I hear Keller’s voice in my ear. It sounds raspy and deeper than his usual smooth alto tone. His rosemary and basil scent calms me, but Lavender still won’t move. “I’m here, my beautiful mate. You’re safe. Don’t scream, okay?”
I nod and the arms confining me loosen, then turn me around. Lavender tenses up as we look into the dark and find Keller looking back at us. His eyes are black with Rocky at the surface.
“Please tell Zara I’ll keep both of you safe, Lavender.” Rocky’s voice says from Keller’s form. He pulls me back in and hugs me tight. “He might not accept you yet, but you’re my mate. I accept you.”
Ever so slowly, Lavender relaxes an
I’m in my bed. Sunlight is peeking through the blinds. Everything is in slow motion. My head is pounding and I feel dizzy. I think today is purple, but it might be an elephant. I’ll ask Mom when I remember her name. I try to raise my arms, but I can’t because I’m being held down. Keller is holding me in his arms. His breath is even and slow. Is Keller a dragon? Can he breathe fire? I tilt my head to look up at his face. Even through the fuzzy edges of my vision, he looks peaceful with his eyes closed. I feel calm surrounded by his muscular arms. As long as they don’t turn into snakes, it’s okay. I take a deep breath. His scent is so comforting, it even feels like it’s helping my headache, but my belly feels funny. I was a bunny, but I don’t think I’m like that anymore. Keller’s mom has pins taped to the ends of her fingers. She’s scary. His dad is a monster with vice grip
“Hi Keller.” Zara’s little voice comes up beside me while I’m sitting at the kitchen counter. “Hey Pocket. How are you feeling?” I turn and face her, observing her movements. She looks remarkably still. When she moves, it is slow and calculated. She gives me a vacant stare, as if she isn’t sure what’s supposed to happen after I speak to her. I watch her blink and look at her hand, turning it over with a confused look on her face. She holds it up and looks at her fingernails in awe. Now I’m in familiar territory. This is the reaction most she-wolves have to the ketamine concoction Mom gave Zara. They become calm and compliant. Some have hallucinations, some don’t, but it looks like Zara is. I pull her next to me, giving her a side hug. She doesn’t resist. In fact, she leans heavily against my side. “What happened?” She pouts. I’m not sure
The longer Zara lives in the penthouse, the more I notice quirks in her personality and behavior. Like when she put carrots in a vase as if they were a bouquet, but when I asked her about it, she didn’t remember doing it. One afternoon, she laid pens out all over the floor in arrow patterns. She said it was so she wouldn’t get lost. I thought it had something to do with studying, so I didn’t move them. In the morning, she picked up her pens, annoyed that I left them lying around. One night, though, things got really weird. I came out into the kitchen to grab my keys and found Zara standing still in the kitchen with no lights on. I flipped on the light but it didn’t phase her. She froze on the spot and had her hand near her ear, pinched into the shape of a hand puppet. Her eyes were glazed over like she was mind linking someone, but I still don’t know who it could have been. “Zara, what are you doing?
Zara’s POV“Zara, break’s over, Baby Girl. I just sat booth eighteen for ya. It’s a three top.” Toya, the hostess, interrupts my lunch break that turned into a spontaneous mini study session.“Thank you, Toya.” I hook a pencil in my notebook and shove it all in my backpack.“Zara, something’s wrong. I just don’t know what.” Lavender was suddenly at attention.“It’s because I got interrupted, Lavender.” I dismiss her concerns. “It startled me. I’m just stressed with all the homework assignments and still having to work. Everything's fine.”“Maybe it’s time to ask for fewer shifts?” She worries.“I’ll consider it at the end of the semester.” I do my best to appease m
Keller’s POV “Jas, where are you now?” I make a hard left as we get closer to town. “I’m outside the gate of this community called Crystal Lake. It's to the south, about twenty minutes outside of town. Zara said she wanted to go to the hospital here. The medic said they are familiar.” I’ve never heard Jasper sound so worried in my life. “They let the ambulance in, but they wouldn’t let me past the front gate.” “Yeah. We know where it is. It's a private community with their own hospital. Mom has friends there. Just wait for us. We'll get you in.” The light turns red, forcing me to brake hard. “Thank you, Jasper.” “You don’t need to thank me, dude. Zara’s your roommate. I would do anything for her.” He sounds hesitant. “Keller, those chicks really messed her up. I don’t know what Zara ever did to them, but I’m glad I walked into the Cozy Up
Time seems to have stopped, so I don’t know how long it is before I feel Mom’s hand on my back. “Are you okay, Honey?” “Mom, no, I’m not okay. Look what they did to her.” I look up at Mom. Behind her Jasper is behind her, wiping tears out of his eyes. “She was at the diner working. It’s not like she was somewhere by herself.” I look back up at Zara and hold her hand up to my cheek, trying desperately to feel the mate bond, but it’s still not there. I hope she can feel it. Can she feel me here? “Zara? Can you hear us?” Mom looks at Zara with worry and lightly touches her forehead. Seeing how gentle Mom treats Zara makes me smile through my tears. Years of having to deal with Jensen, Skylar, and me have given her a tough skin. It makes me feel better knowing she’s on Zara’s side. A small groan comes from Zara’s chest that could be mistaken for a growl. She
The scent of a male wolf wakes me up with a protective growl. Doctor Zhang is standing at the foot of the bed whispering to a nurse while they look at Zara’s folder.“You can stand down, Keller. I’m just checking in on Zara.” He holds his hands up in surrender.“Sorry, Doctor.” I feel my cheeks flush with embarrassment.“No worries. Happens all the time.” He gives me a warm grin. “We’re supposed to be protective of our mates. Especially if they are sick or injured.”He has me wake Zara up so he can check her over. As soon as she sees the doctor, she freezes up and presses her body firmly against me. The wave of fear overwhelms me for a moment until I’m able to collect myself. It takes about twenty minutes to convince her and Lavender that they are safe before she relaxes and lets the doctor examine her. When the nurse tries to move the bed to take Zara for x-rays, she freaks out again and it takes another
When we get back to the car, I help Zara into the passenger side and buckle her seatbelt.“Thanks for all your help, Greg. I really don’t know how to repay you.” I shake his hand before I get in the car.“You can repay me by making sure that young lady stays safe,” He winks, “and gets accepted by her mate sooner than later.”I look at the ground and nod. “I’ll figure it out. Don’t worry.”I climb into the car and make my way down the main road toward the front gate. I glance over at Zara to make sure she’s okay. She’s looking out the window, with her hands fidgeting in her lap.“How do you feel, Pocket? Ready to get home?”“Keller, I want to do something special to thank Jasper for saving me,” she taps her finger on her mouth while she looks out the window.“Okay, did you have something in mind?”I lean over, pull a little leaf out of her hair, and hand it to her.