Helen POVI sat up to find Justin had left our little oasis of a camp. I looked around for him for a while but when I came up empty, I went back to restoke the fire. I tossed a few logs on the burning, golden ashes seeing the flames eventually lick up the sides of firewood.Warmth was nice but being held by my mate earlier was way better. It almost felt like he was back, like he was forgiving me and loving me again, but I knew that it wasn’t perfect. He still had to trust me, something I knew was too hard to do right now.While I curled upright in a little ball, resting my chin between my knees, I watched my mate come through the greenery that surrounded our little camp. He had his eyes down, an odd little glass bottle in his fist that I could tell didn’t just come from this nature retreat.“Hey,” I purred.He jumped at the sound of my voice, his breath catching while he slid his hand awkwardly behind his back. He scanned the space with those dark, Lycan eyes, like he was furious alre
Helen POVJustin rented a car when our time in paradise had clearly come to an end. We didn’t get to mate, we didn’t even get to talk through all of our problems. I felt stronger though, as if I had gotten a week’s worth of rest and my body and wolf were both rejuvenated.My mate appeared to be in the same condition, his eyes lit with a new fire.He sat the little vial between us, the precarious opal-like liquid swishing around as he pulled the classic car down the mortal world’s highway. I missed our pack and the trees, especially the river, but I also needed to know what happened with Ezequiel.Justin said Randy was going to take care of him but it didn’t explain anything to me.Why would he turn on us and lead the pixies to their death? He had been given leniency with his sister staying in the pack but for him to betray that trust, it just didn’t add up. I thought of him a lot on the silent, dreary trip back to the pack.My eyes flutter shut with his name still stuck on my mind.I
Helen POVMy wolf had been muted for hours and I didn’t feel any less dilapidated since we escaped to the oasis. I felt nauseous and weary, my head spinning as he opened my door and tried to help me out of the car.I sank to my knees in the dirt, the world slow moving and foggy. I spotted a little light though that looked familiar and Freya rammed right into my forehead, colliding with me at such a speed that we both flinched on impact.I caught her before she hit the ground and Justin paced away from my side so he could greet Randy and Russo in the doorway of the estate. Freya looked just as worn as I had and I felt worse for her than I did myself.I blinked slow, her eyes tracing my bruised and battered features in shame.“Are you okay?”She nodded but stayed silent with her mouth agape in sad shock. She brushed off her wings, straightened her back, and stood on my palm confidently.“Do you know what happened with Ezequiel? Was he rejected from True Mates?”Her little head cocks sid
Helen POV“Ezequiel,” I gasped, rushing into the barracks to see him laid out on the floor, his body slumped off the edge of the cot. I found the keys and hurried over to his side, only to push him over onto his back. “No! Dammit, no!”I leapt out of the cellar and hurried away, my head spinning, my hands covered in blood. I couldn’t get to the bedroom fast enough, stumbling and weeping and angry—so fucking angry.I finally had the opportunity to tell Justin that I had proof and now it was ruined. Ezequiel looked dead and it wasn’t going to solve anything anytime soon.I ran right into my mate, throwing myself into his arms as he caught me unexpectantly. He gasped, his hands pulling at my arms, stained in blood. He looked over me for some kind of sign that I was hurt but when I shook my head, my mouth still parted open in shock, he seemed to understand.He moved past me, ripped open the window and looked down toward Russo and Randy chatting on the village street.“Go to the barracks a
Helen POVJustin purred in his sleep behind me, both of us nearly knocking out the moment we laid down. I couldn’t help but grumble, wanting to make tonight something intimate and delightful, but we were both exhausted. I hadn’t had a choice by now.I drifted asleep, feeling weak and weary but safe. With the poison I was able to sleep peacefully without the Huntsman in my head, but something else called to me.I woke up, sitting on the edge of bed while my eyes watched the window carefully. My body was bare and the chill that spiked through me had certainly led me to wan
Justin POVIt was my fault. All of it. I was the one who gave Helen the potion to make her mortal and I was negligent in how to handle her lack of strength. It was like she was mortal, a human again, and I could have killed her if my Lycan came anywhere near breaking loose during that moment with her.I was furious with myself, my Lycan needing to run, to exert every ounce of ferocity out until my mind could clear. I found Randy on the brim of the pack, keeping the warriors company on watch.I shifted at last, panting and exhausted when I doubled over in the grass. Randy shifted as well, mortal and confused, but no where near as furious as me. He looked oddly calm, waiting for the storm to brew with that rogue William.“What’s wrong?”I shook all over, trying to make sense of my horrible mistake tonight. “My mate, Randy. I—she just—I should have—”He looked through me with an eye of distain, I could tell he knew what I was aiming to say. “Should I go check on her?”I nodded, though he
Justin POVShe whimpers aimlessly through the night. Randy and Russo both sat with me near the fireplace, steering conversation away from my mate as she was drug right back into the Huntsman possession. The sun was threatening to come over the horizon outside when I had enough.“I have to wake her up somehow,” I snarled.Randy caught me first, Russo standing between my beta and my mate, as a failsafe backup in case I made it any closer. I looked through the pixie on Russo’s shoulder, furious with the small creature.“You can’t wake her up, it could send her into shock,” Randy huffed. “You have to let it play out. He didn’t kill her all those other times he invaded her sleep, Justin. He won’t do it now.”“I can’t be sure of that until her eyes open,” I snapped. “I have to save her. She needs me.”“She needs to let that monster out of her head naturally,” Russo added. “Let it happen and when she wakes up, we will be able to give her another dose of poison.”We all watched the pixie flut
Helen POVI tried to sit up, sore and weary after my last stent with the Huntsman.I block out his torture from my mind, reaching to find my mate but there’s nothing in bed beside me. Instead, Russo stood by the window, watching intently while little Freya sat perched on the edge of the bed before me.“What’s wrong?”Russo turned quick, his eyes cold and dark. “Hey, little Luna. How are you?”“Sore,” I mumbled. “I don’t remember everything. I just know I was back in his dungeon again. I was supposed to be safe from that, Russo. It doesn’t make sense. I had to take that stupid poison to prevent all of that from happening.”“I know but…” he looked to Freya. “She was only trying to help the wounds on your face. Her dust seemed to heal everything, instead, which included the poison. I’m supposed to give you another batch of it as soon as you wake up.”He pulled out the small vial and set it down on the nightstand. I hated the taste of it before and it made me feel so weak and pathetic. Wh