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
EPILOGUE TALIA POV “Coming!” I answered my mom, looking in the mirror and tucking my hair behind my ear. Today was my eighteenth birthday and I was officially going to introduce my wolf to the Pack. I had technically been able to shift since I was a baby, but we had managed to keep that a secret from almost everyone, though it had been a close call a few times. My brothers were coming back from Mongolia with their mate, Zaria, and their friend, Leo, to help celebrate my birthday. They were on some sort of a mission for the Council, but they got permission to come home for this event. They were twelve years older than me and I liked to tease them about being old. They didn’t think I was as funny as I knew I was. They were cool, though, and all my friends loved my brothers. Their mate was also pretty awesome. She was the daughter of our Beta and one heck of a warrior. She went to the same camp my grandmama was accepted to. Only the best warriors are allowed to go. I ran
IZZY POV I rubbed my swollen belly and sat down behind my desk with a sigh. Baby girl was seriously a week overdue, and I was over being pregnant. I wanted to meet my Talia and that moment couldn’t come soon enough. A lot had happened in the three months since the Summer Solstice Celebration. Elder Voltaire had officially asked permission to join our pack and he put in his retirement notice to the Vampire Council. Apparently, serving as head Council Member for three hundred years was enough for him. We gave the Blood Moon Pack to Griz and Destiny. We talked a long time about it and had first asked Leo if he was interested in taking over for his father. He had vehemently turned down our offer, insisting that he never wanted to see the Blood Moon Pack again. When we had gone to visit, I could see why. The pack needed a lot of work and there was a general sense of discourse. Griz and Destiny agreed to take on the Pack with Griz being named the first non-wolf Alpha of a Pack.
IZZY POV“So what do you do, Elias?” Reese asked. I could see his nostrils flaring a little to see if he was a wolf. I didn’t sense a wolf in him, but I wasn’t going to ask. It was kind of like asking someone’s religion or income. If they offer the information, we could talk about it. But only if they offer it.“I’m a bounty hunter,” he said. Kat was clinging to his arm.“A supernatural bounty hunter,” she corrected. “He works for the Council, believe it or not.”Elias smiled. “Kind of. They hire me on occasion. I work for myself,” he corrected her gently.“Sorry,” she said, smiling. He leaned down and gently kissed her on the lips. I grinned. I was so happy for my friend.“Tell us about one of your captures,” Destiny asked. She was next to Griz,
IZZY POV“How are you doing?” I asked Destiny. We were busy hanging decorations around the backyard, and it was the first time I had a moment alone with her in a week. I knew she was feeling really guilty about Kat leaving.She shrugged. “I’m okay. I just feel awful every time I look at Griz. I never intended for her to leave. I just wanted her to be more careful.”I dropped the streamer I was holding and put my arm around her. “I know. And so does everyone else, including Kat. She just needed a change. She spent so much time and effort making sure every part of Cornelius was destroyed that she doesn’t know what to do now. She’s just trying to find her place.”Destiny sighed. “Tell Griz that. He is worried about her.”“She’s moving around pretty quickly,” I offered. “I think sh
IZZY POVThey say a Luna’s work is never done. They’re right.I got back and had my bath and some alone time with my mates, but the pack business didn’t slow down. I was involved in the planning of the half-way house we were building as well as another youth center. I approved budgets and began working on the nursery upstairs, a room we hadn’t used in eight years. And then I began to plan the summer solstice celebration, a tradition that we had upheld since we first started it thirteen years ago.“Black and white this year?” Destiny asked. “I hate black and white,” Lucy said. “It makes everything look so formal and this should be fun.”“Okay. Black and gold?” Destiny was relentless. Lucy threw a wadded up napkin at her.“You only want black because you love it,” Lucy accused her.Destiny shrugged.&
IZZY POVThe gavel dropped and the room exploded. I turned and Kat flew into my arms, hugging me. She wasn’t normally demonstrative, and I was pleased. I needed someone to hug right now, and Kat was perfect.She was also a great bodyguard. She pulled me through the reporters at the door and only got tripped up by one of the fae reporters who used projection to try to block us. Kat pushed him over and got me out of there and into a taxi without further incident.“Keystone Airport,” she told the taxi driver, naming a private airport. I was guessing that my mates had communicated with her.“I can’t wait to get back to the pack,” I said, leaning against the back seat. “I’m exhausted. I just want a bath and an uninterrupted night of sleep.”“I’m not going back with you,” Kat said suddenly. I sat up.“Why?
IZZY POVThe twenty-four members of the Councils filed out, leaving me standing at my table, still in the handcuffs. Thanks to Johan, the handcuffs were the normal ones that they used in the human world which meant I could break them if I needed to, but I wasn’t going to. I wanted the shifter world to see what was going on.After the council members left, Kat walked over to me bringing a couple of chairs. She plopped them down and I gratefully sat. “Did you have a vision earlier?” she asked.I nodded, rubbing my forehead. “Was it obvious?”“To me,” she answered. “I know you. I was about ready to create a diversion.”I chuckled. “You’re a good friend,” I said. A look crossed her face for a second but then disappeared. I had said something that bothered her. Curious.Her phone chirped and she looked at it.&n
REESE POVThere was an outburst from the spectators in the viewing area. The main werewolf and main vampire council members were banging their gavel, telling people to be quiet. We all exchanged grins.“We are not the ones on trial here, Luna,” the main vampire council member said fiercely.“No. You’re not. I am. And I am telling you why I had to do what I did,” Izzy said. She turned to the werewolf council again.“Who among you believed that the prophecy from Nehum thirteen years ago was about me?” She kept eye contact until all twelve members had their hands raised. “And who among you thought that the prophecy was also about my sons?” The same twelve hands were raised.“And the same on the vampire side?” she asked, turning. Reluctantly, some of their heads nodded. The others resolutely ignored her, keeping thei
REESE POV“This session will now come to order.” We were watching the trial on television. The Council, in their infinite wisdom, had decided at the last minute to broadcast the trial on a special encrypted channel that Packs would have access to. We had turned it on first thing this morning when we woke up, looking at an empty room somewhere in Salt Lake. We were watching when the members from both Councils filed in, twenty-four in total. Johan was part of the werewolf council. Alessia had gasped when she saw him take his seat.They had brought Izzy in with handcuffs on. I had roared, losing control of my wolf, but Alessia had wrestled me down. “It’s for show,” she had soothed me. “They’re not silver. Just look. She’s fine. She can break them in a second.” Vin was not convinced but at least he gave me control back.“Isadora Killian, Luna of the Moonstone Pack, you were called before the Council today to answer to an entire list of charges. But you were not the only one