REESE POV
Vanessa gave me an evil smile and ran towards me. Vin was incensed. He wanted blood, her blood, and he was going to have it. We were ten feet apart when Vin launched himself into the air. With a pop, Vanessa disappeared.
We landed hard, skidding and rolling in the snow and crashing against a tree. Vin stood and shook his head, and then began racing for the Alpha House.
It registered with me a moment after it did with Vin. We could hear Joanna screaming for Izzy and Tyra roaring. Cornelius had gotten to Izzy, and she was fighting. I needed her to hold on until I got there.
I was halfway across the yard when I realized that it was too late. An invisible call had gone out to the vampires and rogues and they began disappearing. The rogues were running hard for the border and the vampires were disappearing with popping noises, teleporting away from our pack.
The carnage was left
IZZY POVI opened my eyes and saw Vanessa standing ten feet from me, a self-satisfied smirk on her face. I awkwardly climbed to my feet, swaying a little and feeling weak.“What do you want?” I asked. “To come back to the pack? I can arrange that.” I felt my babies kick inside me and I winced. Vanessa noticed and smiled.“Not interested, sweetheart,” Vanessa said. “Cornelius is going to give me everything I want and more. Why would I settle on going back to a pack and working for the rest of my life?”“Sounds like you have it all figured out,” I said. “Now that we have that settled, how about letting me go?”Vanessa snorted. “You’ve always been such a smart ass,” she said. “Keep it up. I’ll enjoy seeing the look on your face even more when you realize that Cornelius figured out a way
IZZY POVWhen Cornelius came back into the cave he was accompanied by a woman. She was older with long black and gray hair that she had pulled into a braid that hung down her back. She had high cheekbones, and her face was very pleasant, except for her eyes. They were black.She ignored Cornelius, walking over to me. I shrank back involuntarily; her black eyes were unsettling and I felt like they had the capability to devour someone, like a black hole in space. She didn’t even look at my face. She reached down and, with a clawlike grip, grabbed my stomach. I cried out and the pups kicked from inside.“They are far enough along,” she said, standing up and walking back towards Cornelius. “They can be born tonight.”“What do you need?” he asked.“I have what I need,” she answered, pulling her backpack off. I lay still, watching her w
REESE POV“Alphas! GET OUT!” Joanna yelled at Ethan and me. She immediately apologized. “Please, alphas, forgive me. But I need to concentrate and you’re distracting me.”“We’re sorry,” Ethan soothed. “Please call us the second you find something. We will be waiting.”Joanna waved us away with her hand, muttering something. I slipped out the door, Ethan following.“Pissing off Joanna?” Kat asked mildly. I started. Damn. She was quiet. Sneaky as, well, a cat.“Seems to be the case,” I said. “Did you find out something?” I knew that she had. She had that look.“Yeah,” she said. “Let me go talk to Joanna real quick and then I’ll meet you in your office.”Ethan and I looked at each other and I shrugged. &ldqu
IZZY POVThe contractions were coming harder and faster and I was no longer able to pretend that I wasn’t feeling them. Another one gripped me and I cried out, leaning forward. The shackles bit into my wrists and I cried out again with the burn of the silver. I felt a gush between my legs.“Her membranes broke,” Agnes said, her voice devout of any emotion.“Good,” Cornelius said. He had been on edge this entire time, pacing. He was driving Agnes crazy, and I could see she was moments away from snapping.Agnes leaned over me and I flinched, pulling away. “I’m your only friend right now, child,” she said, using a wet washcloth to wipe away the sweat on my face. I shook my head.“I have no friends here,” I said bitterly.Cornelius spoke from behind us. “How much longer?” he asked. Agnes’s nostrils flare
IZZY POV I lay back with a gasp, utterly exhausted. I could sense Agnes moving between my legs, clamping cords and cleaning up. Cornelius appeared next to my bed. “Is it done?” he asked. Agnes shook her head. “I need a few more minutes. She will bleed to death unless I get the bleeding to stop.” She walked over to the table and picked up a cup with liquid in it that she had made up hours earlier. Cornelius looked impatient. “Do it quickly,” he said. “We need to move.” Agnes shrugged. “If you want her healthy enough to feed the pup until its weaned, you need to give me time.” Cornelius turned on his heel and walked to the mouth of the cave again. I looked at Agnes, fearful. “Drink, Izzy,” she said in a low voice. “This is something to stop the bleeding, nothing more. I promise.” As I watched, her eyes flashed from black to white again. I wondered if sh
IZZY POVAll I could hear was crying. It was muffled, as though I had a ton of dirt and rocks on top of my body. I probably did. But I could hear the three babies fussing and I took comfort in that. All three of them were alive.REESE POVI turned to Ethan. “I’m going down there,” I said. I took a coil of rope off from my back and looked around for something to anchor it on. Ethan put out his hand.“Tie it to me,” he said, quietly.I made a loop and Ethan sat down, bracing himself against a boulder. Two warriors came to sit with him, locking arms with him. It wasn’t perfect but it was the best we could do in the circumstances. I made myself a harness and then looked over the edge before stepping off. I fell three feet before my carabiner caught it and then I began repelling down.It took less than a minute to get to the e
IZZY POVI heard the ceiling collapse, and I squeezed my eyes shut as tight as I could, praying that Troi was able to get the last baby out before the ton of dirt and rocks cascaded down, crushing them.I listened intently, trying to hear anything other than the frantic beating of my heart. Nothing. The tons of soil separating me from the entrance of the cave muffled any sort of noise that might be going on. I couldn’t hear if a rescue was in progress or if a baby was buried, crying out for me. I shook my head, trying to clear my mind of that horrible mental picture.First thing first. I needed to get out of this bed. I twisted my arms, trying to work the silver off from my wrists. Troi had immediately began gnawing them the second she found me. I stopped her. It was more important for her to get the babies out of here and she acted like she understood, taking each bundle out carefully
REESE POVI was hauled to the top of the cliff rather quickly by my exuberant warriors. I reached the top and looked around. Fifty warriors were standing, all of them grinning at me.Then, the warriors parted, making a path.I held my breath.Izzy stepped into view. Someone had flung a blanket over her shoulders. She was still in her nightgown, and it was dirty and bloody. Her hair was braided, but many strands had come loose and were coated in dirt and dust. Her face was dirty, and I could see tear tracks down her face. She gave me a small smile.I took a deep breath. “Izzy!” I said, beginning to run towards her. Her face lit up and she took a few wobbly steps towards me before I reached her, enveloping her in my arms. I picked her up and swung her around. She buried her head in my neck.“Reese,” she breathed. And then she began