REESE POV
I hung up the phone and looked at my brothers and Alessia. “There was another prophecy stated,” I said.
“Another?” Alessia said. “Has anyone checked the validity of these?”
“It’s real,” I said, heavily. “And it concerns our girl. We have to believe that Cornelius knows this too.”
“Let’s hear it,” Caleb said. I nodded and then read from my paper where I had written it down.
“In the palace of the north, a traitor will be forsaken. The sanguisuge lord will court the lady of the moon. The goddess of magic will cast her bequests on to fire. The three griffins of the fire will conquer the emissary of darkness. The kingdom of the north will burn and be forgotten by the woman of the south.”
There was silence. Then Ethan swore. “If he has heard this, we have to assum
IZZY POVI looked at the closed door in shock. I immediately went to the bed and stripped the bottom sheet off from the mattress, wrapping it around me and tucking in the corners. I felt better and not as exposed.I had a decision to make. I could continue to be defiant, or I could eat the food that was brought to me. I hadn’t eaten in a few days and only a little bit. I was past the point where my body was hungry.But then I felt movement in my belly again. I touched my lower abdomen and remembered that I needed to make the best decisions I could for the four of us. And right now, that was eating.Cornelius was as good as his word. Ten minutes after he had left with the blanket, he returned. I was sitting on the bare mattress, cross legged, drinking the tea and picking at the frittata that was on the plate. I was having a hard time eating it quickly; my stomach had shrunk and it was
IZZY POVFor the third time today, I let my tears fall. I had faith in my mates, but if people were working against them and they were trusting the wrong people, they didn’t stand a chance. I prayed that Cornelius was just trying to scare me, but I knew, deep down, that he was telling the truth.ETHAN POVThe morning dawned and we could tell that the weather was beginning to lift. For one, it was colder. The thicker the cloud cover, the warmer it was. It started below zero and it was falling fast. The thermometer showed a brisk negative forty below zero Fahrenheit on the thermometer this morning.We crunched across the street, hopefully for the last time, to meet with Travis and the crew. I was the last to arrive. I looked around at everyone lounging and ran through them in my mind.Travis was an instructor at the Alpha School. They flew him in to teach survival for a f
REESE POVWe looked up at the fireball that used to be the helicopter that we were supposed to be in. Ethan, next to me, swore.“I didn’t want to believe it,” Caleb said.“Believe it,” Alessia said bitterly. “Kat was right.”“So were you,” Caleb said, his voice admiring. “I still can’t figure out how you knew.”Alessia shrugged. “Funny feeling. I’ve been a warrior longer than you’ve been alive. We learn to trust our instincts. I tried to tell you guys when I said that I didn’t want Troi to come with us. It was lucky Kat heard that. She’s on our side because of Troi. And Griz is in love with Kat, so he’d do anything for her. The other three are worthless.”Caleb gave a snort. “How pissed do you think they’re going to be when they finally get
IZZY POVI shouted out a warning. Cornelius stood in front of the charging Griz and clapped his hands. Some sort of invisible force came from it, knocking into Griz like an invisible battering ram. He faltered, falling to his side but I managed to cling to his back as he struggled to his feet.Out of nowhere there was a loud yowl and Tyra came bounding out of the stairwell. She landed right on top of Cornelius, knocking him to his back and shredding his body with her claws. She turned and belched fire down the hall behind us, igniting Earl and one of the other guards. Their blood curdling screams were terrifying until they disappeared into a pile of ash.Griz was running again and I hung on. I thought Griz was going to take a ninety degree turn down the stairwell, but I was wrong. He kept running to the end of the hall, not slowing. I flattened myself against his back and braced myself. He crashed throu
CALEB POVI thought we had a great plan until I hit the icy cold water of the river. That’s when I started to think we might have made a mistake.After Kat confirmed what Alessia had suspected, we came up with a new plan. We met at the airfield where there were three helicopters waiting for us. Travis was back at his office, working the communications, oblivious to the new plan. Prior to arriving at the airfield, Griz had a discussion with Dr. Strong who agreed to hole up in his house for a few hours. The pilot of the first helicopter was persuaded to hand it over to Kat and Griz with only a little bit of effort. Alessia tied him up and shoved him in a locker where he wouldn’t be found for a day or two. The boys and I took care of the other wolf brothers, injecting them with wolfsbane and loading them into a shipping container bound for Russia. They would be found and be fine. . . eventually. Then
ETHAN POVI took the tin snips with thanks and ran back to the captain’s cabin. We were desperate to get the collar off from Izzy as soon as possible so that her wolf would have a better chance of healing her. I burst through the door. I wasn’t expecting to see what I saw.Izzy was sitting up in bed. The collar was off, and her arms were around Troi. She was still not wearing clothes, but Troi had twined herself around Izzy so it looked like she was wearing a fur top. Troi’s eyes were glowing a brilliant blue, so bright it looked like beams were coming from them. Her black fur had turned a silver color, shimmering, the same color as Izzy’s wolf. She was purring, but the purr wasn’t quiet. It was so loud I could feel the vibrations from where I stood in the doorway.Izzy turned her beautiful eyes on me. “Ethan!” she said, softly but with emotion. I dr
IZZY POVThe jelly was cold on my abdomen, and it tickled when the doctor moved the wand across my belly. We were at the hospital for our first ultrasound.“Yes, definitely three,” the doctor said, pointing to three little blobs on the screen. If I squinted, I could make out features.“How long until they’re born?” Ethan asked. His excitement was contagious, and we were all grinning like idiots.“Four and a half months,” the doctor said, handing me a wad of Kleenex to wipe off my belly.“March,” breathed Caleb. The doctor nodded, giving me a hand and helping me sit up.“Triplets may be early. No shifting from here on out to be safe. Healthy foods, but also give in to a few cravings. Your body knows what it wants.”I glared at the triplets. “You hear that? Cravings are okay. I don’t want
IZZY POVI hurried through the town, not looking at anyone. Troi was right beside me, making her angry cat glare at anyone who crossed paths with me. I kept going. I didn’t sense that my mates were behind me and I was glad. I just wanted to be alone.I was so stupid in thinking that things could change. I’ve ignored the signs for so long, but the fact is that the responsibility of the pack’s behavior rests on my mates’ shoulders. Their ignorance was something taught long ago, I’m sure, but they have the power to change it.Even my mom experienced the pack’s bigotry. There is such a stigma attached to rejected wolves that she couldn’t shake it. She had to literally join the human world to get away from it. It was so wrong, and I didn’t understand why no one realized it.I walked into the woods, kicking up the loose leaves. Troi pranced happily beside