I hated the cold. In the winter time, I usually stayed in my room as long as possible, buried in a mountain of blankets. My nose was almost always red, my ears burned, and my teeth chattered during that time of year.
Deep, dreamless sleep faded away and left me in a cocoon of warmth. My toes, which usually stuck out from under my blankets, were wonderfully toasty, and I buried my nose in a soft, lovingly warmed mass. A tiny moan of pleasure tumbled from my lips and was chased under the bed by a deep, masculine chuckle.
Still heavy with sleep, I forced my eyes open and met the amused gaze of my mate. His silver-black eyes sparkled as I realized I had crawled on top of him sometime during the night. Dawn hadn’t yet broken, and he held me bathed in almost full moonlight.
“Aldrich…” I whispered, my heart slamming against my chest. I knew almost nothing about him. We’d only spent one hectic day together, but still, something deep within me whispered words I’d never spoken before as he watched me with a tender look in his eyes.
He rolled me easily, tucking my body against his side. My back, now no longer touching his skin, should have blossomed with goose bumps. Instead, I felt his hair. That strange living entity wrapped around my small frame. He kept every inch of me safe from the cold. Such a small consideration, but still he made it.
“Aldrich,” I whispered again, lifting up against him. It was the first time I had kissed him freely, and I knew, I knew, it wouldn’t be the last. Even fresh from slumber, he was magnificent. His lips tasted sweet and hot like sugared tea, and he smelled earthy and strong.
I could feel the shock echo in his mind. The big bad wolf had been certain I wouldn’t want him after I knew what he was. I laughed into his mouth, and he saw my thoughts just as I saw his. His unwarranted fear warmed me. It showed me all the secret, soft sides of him that he thought didn’t exist.
Winding my hands in his hair, I scratched his scalp lightly with my fingertips. The low groan he let out signaled a shift in the aggressor.
His hands came around and cupped my buttocks, wrenching me against the strong muscle under his jeans. “You’re killing me, liebling.” His voice tumbled through the space of my mouth.
It was only a kiss, but I felt like every muscle in my body was straining, grinding eagerly against what he offered. He shuddered as I pushed the soft curves of my body against his, and I delighted over the mixture of pleasure and power.
When his tongue reached out to touch my bottom lip, I gasped, allowing him entry. He explored with deliberate care, testing the paths I was willing to take while pressing his fingertips against all the aching parts of my body.
I felt rather than saw the Alpha form tugging at his consciousness. The beast wanted to mark me violently, to take me by force and claim me for all to see, but he kept it in check. “Mine,” he whispered.
In that instant, I agreed wholeheartedly. Whatever else was happening, I was his. And he was mine. My shoulder burned curiously, but I ignored it, my hands sliding along his scalp until they found the ears at the top of his crown.
His breath came out in a hiss, and he let out a low, dragged out groan moments before I felt him shudder with release.
Pleasantly surprised, I unwound myself enough to inspect the damage I had done. A burst of delicious power flew through me like an arrow, and I laughed aloud for the joy of it. I had taken this strong tough guy, this scary, immobile force, and I had shattered his control.
“It isn’t nice to laugh at a man after such an act,” he offered wryly.
I tried to sober and failed. “Don’t be upset. I don’t mean anything by it. I’m just happy." He smiled and butterflies fluttered in my tummy, making me sigh.
“Listen to me, Roux.” It was the first time he’d said my name, and it effectively caught my attention. “Tonight is the Wolf Moon. I will lose my ability to shift come nightfall and will be weakened throughout the day.” He paused to ensure he had my attention. “No matter what happens today, I don’t want you to be afraid. I will never allow anything to harm you. I will protect you at all costs. I may be weakened, but you will never be unable to draw on my power if you need to.”
I leaned over and brushed my mouth against his. “Mm, power, eh? You don’t need to worry. Maybe by time the day is over, I’ll be the one who ends up saving you. Now wouldn’t that be a happy ending?”
He groaned, rolling his eyes in his head. “Not this again. I don’t want you to get your hopes up. You’ll only end up crushed.” He saw me frown and wisely changed the subject. “But before such a thing happens, I think it’s time for a little payback.”
I squealed playfully and wriggled out of his hold, laughing when he lunged for me while I neatly dodged his hands. Whispers of hot, heady promises caressed my mind while we moved through the room playing tag like a couple of kids while we dressed.
Suddenly he jerked to a stop. “Mate.”
I rolled my eyes. “I know you know my name. You could easily use it.”
He pulled his shirt down and bared one of his shoulders, showing me a dark patch of skin that looked like a healed-over bite mark.
“You look like someone took a chunk out of you.” I moved to inspect the wound, but he pulled down my ever-present riding hood and pointed. There, on the same shoulder as his, stood a dark mirror of his pink scar. It had the look of a tattoo, but there was no raised flesh and no evidence of ink. I looked up and blinked at him. “Well, that’s strange.”
He nuzzled the shoulder, and it tingled where he touched it. “We will discuss this after you are safe.”
Several seconds ticked by where neither of us did anything.
I shrugged. “Okay, well…what now?”
“Now, this!” Aldrich made a low, pleasured sound before he jumped, successfully pinning me to the bed. I laughed. What else could I do? So many things kept happening that if I freaked out over every little one, I wouldn’t survive.
Sunlight streamed through the windows, and he lifted his head regretfully, scenting the air. “The siblings are awake and it’s time to get going. I’ll have to get you back later.”
* * * *
Ylva was the name of Lyall’s mate. I expected her to be some kind of bitter old woman living in a hut but found her quite the opposite. Far outside the bubble that was Harmony, Ylva owned a small manor surrounded with lush green grass and a full garden that wrapped around the ash-colored brick home.
Even with Aldrich holding me as he ran—he couldn’t do his semi-flying bounds in his weakened state—it took us nearly three hours just to find the place.
I wondered how we would convince the banished woman to speak to us, but it turned out I didn’t have to worry.
Ylva stood in the midst of the gardens, her head bowed as she carefully tended a row of golden-petaled sunflowers. As we approached, I watched her gloved hands turn over and repack the soil over their roots. A breeze wrapped around her, tossing glossy black tendrils of her hair toward the flowers.
The breeze carried our scent. I wasn’t sure if it would, but then I saw those delicate shoulders stiffen, and she turned just as Aldrich set me down and moved to shield me with his body.
“You would dare come to my sanctuary?” Her voice had a lilt to it that told me it would have been beautiful if she wasn’t so angry. As it was, her voice dripped with venom, even as her brown eyes shimmered with tears. I thought she was speaking to Aldrich, but she pinned me with a glare. “Have you no caring? You reek of him!” She shook with rage, her trowel snapping in her hand.
I opened my mouth to tell her I had no idea what she meant, but Aldrich stopped me with a look.
“Look at me, wolf. Do you know what I am?” He whispered it with a hint of his Alpha powers making his voice hard. “This woman is my mate. Nothing more and nothing less.”
I heard the threat he left unspoken as clear as day and again felt the elusive presence of something he was hiding.
The melodious voice of Ylva interrupted my efforts to break through his barriers. Even dripping with hatred, I could see the beauty in her. She tilted her head back, exposing a span of smooth dark skin, and shook her hair. I wasn’t sure why, but the action seemed almost…defiant. Her chest expanded as she sucked in a deep breath through her nose. “She is as yet unclaimed, Wolf." She righted herself with a roll of her shoulders and moved toward a wicked-looking plant with harsh spikes. “Maybe I should give her to my babies.”
I watched Aldrich lift his shoulders casually. “She is mine.”
“And what does such a thing mean to me, at any rate? I have things in my garden which will tear both of you to sticky little shreds of skin and bone. Still, what I have means nothing to you unless you are faced with it.” She closed her eyes, and when they opened, I saw the deep sadness she kept hidden there.
“We wish only to speak with you.” He let go of his power and exhaled, leaving him with his own voice.
“How unfortunate, as I have no inclination to speak with you and am under no obligation to do so.” She turned her back on us and started back toward the house.
“I could force you to speak, wolf.” Again there was an unmistakable threat in his voice, and I flinched at hearing it.
Her steps paused, and she sighed. “You could try, but there is nothing you can take from me but my life. I’ve already lost the only thing that mattered, and would you murder a helpless woman in front of your girl so easily?”
Aldrich faltered, for which I was grateful. I didn’t know much about Pack law, but I knew I wouldn’t have been able to sit by quietly if he tried to force her.
Sure, she might have been a crazed wolf with killer plants, and she gave me the creeps, but it was obvious she was in pain. Still, I couldn’t let her go so easily. I stepped carefully around my mate. “Please, we only want to know about Lyall.”
She turned, and for several moments I thought she was frozen. She did not move so much as to breathe or blink. When she finally spoke, it was so soft I thought I imagined it at first. “His name was Sandulf.” She beckoned for us to follow.
“Be alert,” Aldrich warned me as we wove our way through the low maze of flowers. “Remember what I told you about mates. If we are in trouble and you get the chance, run and don’t look back.”
There was no way I was going to go anywhere without him, but I wisely kept the information to myself.
Ylva led us into a small courtyard with creeping vines running up stone pillars and marble benches. She settled onto one and gestured for us to sit. I did while Aldrich stood.
“Now, what can I do for you two?” She asked it in such a calm, friendly tone, I found myself relaxing. In one swift instant, she didn’t look like a scary woman bent on feeding me to her various forms of man-eating plants.
Remembering my manners, I cleared my throat. “Forgive us for arriving without sending word before. We’ve come in search of the truth.” I paused. “The truth about what happened so many years ago.”
Ylva snorted dismissively. “The truth, you say? Why the sudden interest? No one seemed to want the truth then, so what’s changed? Is it someone important who is in trouble this time?” Her gaze slithered over to my mate, and I was shocked to realize the ugly growl that filled the air came from me.
“Oh, I see.” Ylva shifted her attention back to me and her gazed softened. “Is that how it is now?” She leaned over to pat my hand lightly. “It can be a little overwhelming at first, can’t it?”
I nodded dumbly, those chocolate eyes holding me captive. “That’s how it was for my Sandulf and me too. He blew into my life like a beautiful hurricane and knew instantly I would be his perfect match.” She sighed wistfully, and I found myself mirroring the action. “It took me a little longer, but once I knew…”
“It was so obvious, you couldn’t believe you hadn’t known all along.” I murmured the words that were an echo of my own hidden heart. A pang of kinship struck me, and I heard Aldrich’s silent sigh of relief.
Ylva continued. “The pain I felt when I lost him was almost too much to bear. I thought I wouldn’t be able to go on living without him.”
“It must have been terrible.”
“It was, child. Especially so after he was gone. I had to endure the whispers, the things they were saying about my dear mate. The lies. He was banished from the Pack as soon as that girl was taken. No one listened to him when he tried to explain he was being set up for her disappearance.”
“You tried to tell the Pack and villagers your husband wasn’t trying to hurt the girl? But he was found covered in her blood. How did you explain that?”
"Yes, I suppose it does look a little questionable. Especially when you don't consider the possibility of him being abducted by the same person who took her. To make him look guilty, you understand."
"Why would anyone go to so much trouble over an innocent woman?"
Ylva let out a tiny hiss. “That bitch wasn’t the innocent they made her out to be. He only wanted to speak to her, but she made it into so much more. If only she had just heard him out. But you know her. You must know how impossible she can be. Always has been.”
“I…I know the girl from the story?”
Ylva grunted. “Of course you do. You’re wearing her favorite little hood. She never took the damn thing off.”
If there had been carpet, I’m sure my mouth would have tasted of it. “Grandma was the girl from the story?”
“Yes, she was. My Sandulf believed she had the Blut-kette.” We both heard Aldrich’s sharp intake of breath. Ylva grinned. “Oh yes, you’re an Alpha too, aren’t you?” When she saw I didn’t understand, Ylva turned to me. “The Blut-kette is a legendary item among the Alpha wolves. It was a gift from the gods given to the first Alpha to control his bloodlust. It’s been lost for centuries, and she had it.”
Her voice reached out and wrapped around me as she stood, chills running all over my skin. Her tone was a deep and sing-song, like a mixture of a funeral march and a nursery rhyme:
“Blood chain to make it glow,
Caught in Candles light.
’Tis given to make it so,
And bloodlust will it smite.”
A shudder ripped through Aldrich, but he cut his mind from mine. “I don’t understand. If the Pack had been looking for this thing for so long, why wouldn’t your mate simply go to them when he thought he’d found it?”
Ylva laughed and the venom I saw in the garden shined through again. “Oh, he tried, my dear. He tried very hard. I felt his struggle and distress all the way from here. And finally, before he was killed, I could hear his laughter. He sounded so far gone, so…” Ylva shook her head. “He was blocked. His killer was a clever man who has always been good at manipulating situations…at hiding.”
A sense of dread tunneled up my spine, and Aldrich slammed back into my mind. Leave. Run away, Roux.
I ignored him, feeling hidden truths skim across my mind just out of reach. He was hiding something from me. This was my chance to find out what. “By…whom?”
The series of barks Aldrich let loose were too slow. I remembered what Mina told me about wolf pairings lasting even after death just as the sound of Aldrich’s voice reminded me I could use his power unhindered by the Wolf Moon. I remembered this as the image of Sandulf’s mate blurred with speed in front of me.
She appeared beside me, her mouth so close to my ear I felt the breath leave her lungs. “The Splitter, my sister. The Splitter framed and killed my mate to keep his knowledge. The Splitter. The man who is trying to kill you. Your father.”
Aldrich shoved her away from me, and she slammed against one of the pillars, slipping into unconsciousness. In one continued motion, he picked me up and ran, taking me to the safety of the trees before he let me go. “Are you whole, liebling? She did not harm you, did she?” I felt him trying to push into my mind, but I was so fragile he pulled away immediately.
“Mate, you must tell me. Are you injured?”
Devastated was the only word that came to my mind. “She was lying, right?” My voice broke with the unsteady words. “Even if it’s my…even if the Splitter is trying to hurt us, there’s no way that he’s my father, right?”
My mate refused to meet my eyes. They filled with tears. Again I sensed a shadow of uncertainty flutter over his mind, but this time he didn’t hide it from me. He knew. They all knew, could smell my father with every breath I took. I shuddered, remembering the anger in Mina’s voice whenever she spoke of how he treated me. The Splitter was supposed to be…more.
“He is the Splitter.”
Tears of betrayal stung my nose and eyes. “How long have you known?”
“I knew the first time I kissed you.”
The whole time. He had told me stories of the great and powerful Splitter and knew who he was the entire time. He’d kept it from me and now…the stirring in his mind caused me to gasp between tears. “And Granny? Did you know that she was the girl?”
He shook his head roughly. “No. Her scent was altered somehow, changed. Perhaps with…”
He trailed off, and I couldn’t force myself to ask for any more information. “You’re wrong, Aldrich. My father would never hurt me. How could you keep something like this from me?”
"Liebling, please try to understand. A great peace was built on the story of the Splitter. He is a paragon of good to many. What do you think would happen if the truth came out?"
I hissed, trying to keep my panting under control. "You have all thought he was trying to kill me from the start and said nothing? So people wouldn't freak out?!"
"No!" The sharp command of his voice made my heartbeat stutter. He immediately gentled his tone. "It never occurred to me that he would actually attempt to hurt you. He treats you poorly, yes, but it is a far cry from murder."
My body began to shake so hard, I thought my teeth would shatter. I shook my head violently, hoping to clear his words from my memory. He continued to speak. "Only the Undecided and I have been able to scent you thus far. We thought it would spare you pain if we kept it amongst ourselves. I never meant to hurt you."
My throat hurt from the need to scream at him. I took another step back. I knew the moment he realized I was about to flee.
He tried to reach out, to wrap his arms around me, but I was too fast. Deep down in the hidden vast of my mind, I felt a bright light call out and beckon to me. Aldrich moved closer, trying to soothe me, but even though he was speaking, I couldn’t hear his words.
Touch me, the light whispered. I can give you strength.
I swallowed. “You’re wrong about him. The fact that…if my father is the Splitter, it means he’s a good man. The Splitter is a legend. He’s a hero!”
“A good man wouldn’t have spent so many years making you feel like you don’t mean anything. You sleep in a closet, mate. A good man, a man at all, protects his treasures. You haven’t been cherished by a hero; you’ve been neglected and hurt by a coward who I believe is trying to kill us now. All things considered, he is no hero in my book, and I don’t trust him.”
The breath I took was heavy with the light which reached for me. I let it out sharply and closed my eyes when the tunnel of wind left my lungs and hit my mate.
Dizzied, I stepped back, watching him take to the air. His body smacked into the trunk of a tree. A rush of concern sliced through me, but Aldrich was up and coming toward me before I could worry too much.
“You are being unreasonable, liebling,” he whispered.
“No, you’re wrong. You’re so wrong, and I’m going to prove it.” I pulled hard on the light, which was Aldrich’s power, and crouched low, shooting myself into the air. He called to me, shouted my name, but I flew high above the treetops.
He’d chase me, but I knew there was no way he’d be fast enough to catch me. In the back of my mind, I heard his voice fading as I moved away. I know why you feel you must do this but…be careful.
Pushed with a mixture of fear and desperation, I reached town with more speed than seemed possible. Dodging my neighbors was also surprisingly easy…I simply moved faster than they could see.
And so, I found myself standing in front of the place I called home so quickly I hadn’t given myself enough time to cope with…well, everything. The walls I had left not too long ago seemed cold and unappealing. The same sense of foreboding I experienced at Grandma’s cottage snuck up my spine, but I pushed it away as swiftly as I recognized it.
“Daddy! I’m sorry I was out all night, but I’m back now!” I stepped across the threshold with a huge smile plastered on my face, expecting to be met with my father’s usual preoccupied silence. What I was met with chilled me all the way to my marrow.
Instead, he glanced over his shoulder and met my gaze. For the first time I could remember, this man who called himself my father met my eyes with his own. In those painfully still seconds, I found out where I got my stubborn chin and my straight nose. I recognized those features as if I were looking in a mirror. And yet…I stared into the blazing eyes of a stranger. A stranger who felt no love for me. “You’re still alive.”
I flinched at the ice in his voice; the tears I had fought back by sheer disbelief came rushing forward and gathered. The burn in my nose slid down my throat and settled as a dull ache in my breast. “W-why wouldn’t I be?”
My father stood up from his desk and turned to face me. The smile he tossed me caused me to tremble. “Well, after I sent the Hunters after you, I figured they could follow simple enough kill-on-sight orders. Perhaps I overestimated them. They don’t make Hunters like they used to.”
A high, keening noise choked my throat and escaped along with my tears. The years I’d spent desperately seeking his approval, hoping he would love me, went up in flames. My father, my own parent, wanted me dead.
The pain I felt made my voice strained and high. I sounded like the forlorn child I was when I whispered, “I thought you loved me.”
Cruel, icy laughter flew across the room and pierced my skin like arrows. “The only person I’ve ever loved betrayed me and stuck me with a constant reminder of what I’d lost.” I didn’t hear him moving, but when I lifted my head, I found him leaning casually against the door frame of the closet that had been my room. I saw all of my things had already been removed.
He never wanted me. “Why, then,” I gasped thought my tears. “Why not just g-get rid of me years ago?”
The Splitter shrugged lazily. “I thought about it. I even took you out in that little boat to do it, but then I remembered something that dog said before I cut him into bloody chunks. He said I needed a woman to find the Blut-kette."
My knees gave out, and I hit the floor hard. It had all been a lie. Every ounce of it had been a twisted game to him.
He continued talking, ignoring my whimper of pain. "I would have had one, too, if not for that whore sympathizer. You see, I have a little bit of a temper. When the girl refused to tell me what I needed to know, I accidently killed the mutt before I was ready. I intended to use the Blut-kette on him. As an experiment to ensure the little slut gave me what I wanted, but he just couldn't recover after so many slices. Pity."
I forced myself to focus on what he was saying and part of what he said caught my attention. “Sympathizer?”
Dark rage passed by the Splitter’s face. “I made the mistake of trusting your whore of a mother, and she ended up betraying me. She tried to save the worthless bitch from me, me. It was because of her that the girl got away. It took me all these years to find her again. She made me so angry I lost sight of my goals. I wasted precious time wiping her from existence. She is why we had to spend those years in that shitty little harbor town. I couldn't have anyone remembering me or finding her body, so we pulled a little disappearing act. Just long enough for memories to lessen. Skeletons to be buried, so to say.” He laughed at his sick joke.
By the time he finished spewing his hatred, I was trembling with the need to throw up. This monster had killed my mother. He’d taken my chance to be loved without a care and then kept me as a pawn. He continued talking, his moss green eyes darkening with perverted pleasure. I could tell he was only telling me to cause me pain. He enjoyed it.
“To be honest, that mongrel was never part of the plan, but I like to have backups. What was his name? Aldrich, of course. Well, old habits die hard, I suppose. Framing the first was so easy, why not try another? Not to mention I was itching for a good hunt. I wasn’t going to kill him immediately, no, but can you imagine what those flea-bitten dogs would have given to have the one thing that would save their precious Prince from a good old-fashioned burning?”
I steeled myself against his hatred. Against the thought of what he planned for my mate. “The Blut-kette. You murdered three people for some stupid legend? For greed?”
The Splitter twisted his face into a mask of rage. “I murdered no one. I put down an animal and euthanized two faithless sluts.”
Black venom tainted the green of his eyes. Muscles corded at the base of his throat as he spoke, and one eyelid ticked frantically. Spittle flew from his mouth and his crazed eyes darted about the room, but I needed him to talk. I needed to understand why. “What did Granny ever do to you?”
He took a step toward me. “She had it. She had it the whole time, but she wouldn’t tell me where it was. She wouldn’t give it to me no matter what I tried!” He panted under the weight of his rage. “Her death was her own fault. If she’d just given me the damned thing, I would have let her go.”
A small breath came out of me in the form of words. "So why…why kill me now?"
"What can I say? In addition to my temper, I possess a certain lack of patience. I was getting tired of waiting for you to find it. Quite frankly, dear, I'm sick of you. I hate everything about you, and I didn't think I could stand to be in your presence for another day."
Disgust, shock, and loss wove themselves through me with thick, heavy chains. The Splitter moved closer to me and all I could do was stare, frozen in one spot by a terror born of my broken heart.
He sank down on his haunches and wound a finger in the curtains of my red hair. His voice sang a deceptively gentle song. “Well, my little Roux? When you escaped my Hunters, I assumed the beast had taken you. The monster didn’t tear you apart, so you must have…” He trailed off and jerked back and away from me. Sinking deeper into thick, black despair, I heard his words but couldn’t make sense of what he was saying.
“Tarnished. Another whore.” He kept moving backward, and when he ground to a stop, I saw the glint of metal in his hands. “You let that monster have you!"
I stared down the barrel of his gun uncomprehendingly. In the back of my mind, I knew he was talking about my mate. My eyes fluttered closed as the sky began its blends of pink and orange that signaled sunset. Aldrich.
The shot rang out, and I jerked at the sound, expecting pain. Instead, all my body registered was a rush of air as something stepped between the bullet and me. Time slowed to a crawl as I heard the crunch of metal, and I opened my eyes to meet the warm gaze of my mate.
“I told you I’d protect you, liebling,” he whispered. Fur bloomed down his back, and he twisted to face the Splitter, a snarl on his anthromorphic face. I gasped aloud when the monster who claimed to be my father turned and ran toward the back door, the gun Aldrich had broken lying useless on the floor.
“Don’t worry, I will not allow him to escape.” Aldrich growled, not understanding my shock.
He went to give chase, but I held onto his tail, refusing to allow him to move. “No, Aldrich. We have to find you help.”
Impatient, he swung around to face me again, but whatever he was going to say was lost in the cry of pain that ripped through him. "Urgh!"
His unfinished Alpha form shuddered and fell from his body. Moments later he hit the ground hard, his muscles straining as the silver poison worked through his body.
After the first cry, he lay silent, shivering like a leaf in a tornado while sweat dampened his skin.
I was acutely aware of when he realized I was all but screaming in his face. Frantic is a gloriously descriptive word and the one I would have to use to explain what was going on with me. “I don’t know what to do. Should I suck the poison out?”
Almost immediately, Aldrich burst into life, sitting up and gritting his teeth. “You have…used my power. The silver will harm you as well. Worse so.” He hissed in pain but remained upright. “Remember what I said. All the risks and none of the benefits.”
His normally golden complexion was clammy with pain, and I reached out to hold him when he doubled over again. “I have to get you somewhere safe. We have to dig out those bullets or something.”
It’s too late,” he rasped. “The sun has set and the Wolf Moon is already in the sky. I can’t shift. No one will be able to. Leave me, liebling. Leave.”
I ignored him, a sob of frustration falling out of my mouth. There had to be something; I couldn’t just watch him die. “I won’t.” Standing, I pulled on his power. Pain shot through me, and I heard him hiss for me to stop, but I continued with the whole ignoring him thing. Bending down, I lifted him as best as I could, but even with his abilities helping me, he was all but dead weight.
“What are you doing?” His voice was shaky and laced with pain, but he gritted out the question.
“I told you already. I’m not going to leave without you, so stop struggling or we’ll both get caught.”
I was surprised when he stopped, but he had only passed out from the pain. “All right, then. Let’s get moving.”
I had no way of knowing if Mina would be home or not, but she was the only option I had at this point. I ran faster than I ever dreamed possible. It felt like I was flying on wings of fear and worry, barely noticing my feet touch the ground. I burst through her back door and almost immediately, Ulric appeared.
“Thank God you’re here, Rick. What can I do? He’s been shot. He was shot with silver just as the sun set.” Ulric swore heavily and called for Mina while muscling me out of the way so he could lift Aldrich onto his back. Even as a mortal, he had more strength than me, and I was getting tired from pulling on so much energy at once.
Mina rushed into the kitchen and assessed the situation with one look. “We have to get him to the Elders. Now!”
I all but screamed my refusal. “He needs a medic, not the Elders. He’s mortal.”
“And so are they.” Mina shoved me out the back door forcefully while Ulric followed.
The moon hung high above us, and I prayed that the bright orb was watching over us and not mocking our attempts. I kept silent as we marched, knowing each minute that passed brought my mate closer to death. I didn’t know where the Pack was situated, no human did, and the few who had tried to find out were always…dealt with. It occurred to me that, as I was not officially mated to Aldrich, I may be walking my last steps, but somehow the possibility was acceptable.
I collided with Mina’s back when she stopped. “We’re here.”
I realized we were in the woods. So many forests surrounded Harmony, so I wasn’t surprised, but this one was different somehow. A huge, lone tree stood before Mina. It was as if the other trees moved away to give this one a respectful berth.
“The Wolf Pack lives in an enormous tree?” It’d been a rhetorical question, but the tree undulated in response. Low hanging branches banded together to form a net above our heads and then righted themselves, leaving a stunning woman in its wake. Chestnut curls shimmered in the radiant light of the moon, and she crossed her arms over her rather impressive bosom before glaring down at us. I immediately disliked her, but I swallowed down my displeasure. “We need to see the Elders. It’s an emergency.”
The buxom woman raised an eyebrow and answered with so much disinterest I considered hopping up that tree and snatching out her hair. “You must be a human. You have no care for the traditions of the Wolf.”
I grit my teeth and took a step into the light. I felt Aldrich shudder in pain and snarled, “Yes, I am human and do you think I would be here if it weren’t important? I must speak with the Elders. Right now.” My temper flared. “Or do you care so little for your Alphas you would let them die before your eyes over some petty traditions?”
Her eyes widened, and I watched her seek out the shadows under her. The instant she found Aldrich, her entire demeanor changed. “Al!”
I thought she was going to jump down and go to him, but the tree breathed a sigh again, and she clenched her fist. “The gate will not open for just anyone. If you had closed your trap and let someone else ask for entrance, you would already be inside, but now only the Speaker may ask to be let inside the Hall. Prove yourself and do it quickly.”
I looked to Mina, unsure of what was happening. She pointed to her lips and then began to mouth words. She took a deep breath and mouthed screaming too. No, she wasn’t mouthing it. Her voice was being swept away by a strange wind. The moment she went to talk, it seemed as if the air was stolen right from her mouth.
The brunette snapped at me again. “The gatekeeper is awaiting an answer while Prince Aldrich pumps poison though his body. Answer!” Her attitude made me want to punch her right in the throat, but the woman was right.
I turned to the tree, not knowing what to do or say. I didn’t know anything about the Pack. All I knew, at that point of time, was Aldrich. He was all I had to offer. “It’s obvious Aldrich is important to the Pack. So much so, I’m sure he could have his pick of the litter, so to speak.” I pulled on the string that held the hood in place and stood naked from the waist up. I had meant to show them my mark, show them that he had claimed me, but…
A gasp sounded from all around me. My skin reflected moonlight as if I were covered with glitter. The shimmer made the dark skin where he marked me stand out in contrast. “That being said, I don’t know why he picked me, why I’m his mate, but I know I am. I was always meant to be. He took one look at me and saw so deep into my soul that he wanted to tie his to mine, and he…he’s the most caring, honest, stubborn man that I’ve ever met. He looked at me and knew I was worthy, so who are you to contradict his proclamation? I am his mate…now open this damned door and save him.”
The tree shimmered, and I watched each of the leaves slowly turn from green to red. A man stepped from the trunk and smiled at me. Short, brown hair cut in an unruly crop, a soft kind face, and warm amber eyes put me at ease immediately. His expression was serene, but those eyes of his were playful, sparkling with mirth and teasing. “Quite the impressive show, Roux. I daresay I’ve never see the tree blush before.”
My own blush killed the shimmer in my skin with red heat. I quickly retied the hood and caught a glimpse of Ulric and Mina. Both of them were on one knee with their heads bowed. I moved to do the same, but Aldrich grimaced and I moved to his side, pulling on his power to lift him up from the kneeling Undedicated.
Ignoring the echoes of his pain battering at me, I moved to stand before the man again. “May we see the Elders now?” I all but shouted the question. His agony was almost unbearable, and I was only getting a tiny little bit of it. “He’s hurt.”
The man with the kind eyes slid a look between us and then bowed. “I am Botolf, second of the four standing Elders.”
I gaped for all of a second. I don’t know why, but I expected someone…older. “Then do you know how to save him? You will help him?”
Botolf’s eyes never lost their glow of warmth. “I can do nothing for him…but you can. You can save his life.”
I shifted his weight eagerly. “What do I do? I’ll do anything.”
Botolf’s smile grew wider, and I saw a hint of Aldrich’s rakish grin in the corners of his mouth. “If you were a true mate, you could use your tongue to remove the silver from his body. There is healing in a wolf's mouth here just as there is with an ordinary canine.” He reached out to touch the place where my mark was covered by cloth. Even in a vortex of pain, Aldrich let out a growl before his fingertips could make contact.
Botolf laughed, and for some reason I found the sound almost…contagious. I cleared my throat. “What do I need to do?” I asked again and a little more pointedly this time.
He held up a fist and a skitter of wariness pounded in my blood. “Simple. Complete the ritual and make love with your mate and his beast. Accept him and heal him.”
As he finished, he opened his hand to reveal a palm filled with shimmering, pink powder. Mesmerized, I leaned in to examine it only to have it blown in my face.
“Hey—” was all I managed to get out before darkness swarmed my vision.