Chapter l378

Chapter 0378

A roar echoed across the balcony so loudly that I felt the tiles rattle under my battered, broken b*dy. Then, at once, a wolf appeared as if from nowhere.

Or maybe my senses were too sluggish. It was hard to keep track of what was happening. I was so tired and cold. I wanted to sleep.

Jane moved much faster. In a flash, she had me upright and was kneeling behind me, as if using me as a shield. She kept that knife to my throat.

Before me, the large Alpha wolf I knew was Nicholas snarled and barked. Behind him, Julian and Veronica came running.

“Stay where you are. All of you!” Jane called out.

Nicholas began to pace back and forth, all while not coming any closer.

Jane seemed twitchy. The knife nicked my n*eck, and a fresh pearl of blood trailed down my n*eck. Honestly, I was surprised I had any left inside of me to give.

“Wait!” Julian said. He held up both hands, palms forward. Horror was evident on his face. I must have looked like real hell for him to take on that expression.

And Veronica… I had never in my life seen her so pale and frightened. I didn’t know her eyes could go that round and big.

“Let’s talk this through,” Julian said.

“There’s nothing to talk about, middle-child,” Jane grumbled, but there was a hint of desperation in her too.

“Let Piper go,” Julian said, “And maybe you can survive this encounter.”

“You threaten me?” Jane said.

“I’m telling you the facts,” Julian countered. “If you kill Piper, Nicholas will go ballistic. Full scorched earth, you got it? He’ll be pulling pieces of your bones out from between his teeth for weeks.”

“So be it,” Jane said. “I’d rather die than to keep letting Piper keep living like a queen.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Julian said, and inched closer.

“Hold it!” Jane said. Another drop of blood escaped my skin. “I said not to move.”

Nicholas growled, loud and dangerous.

+15 BONUS

Julian stopped. “Okay, okay. Sorry. Listen. We can expel Piper from the games. We can send her and the kid out onto the street…’

Nicholas snapped at him. Julian ignored his brother.

“Just don’t kill her. Hell, you could even take her place here. No one would be the wiser. That’s what you want, right? Then you would get treated like a queen…’

As Julian talked, distracting Jane, I noticed slight movement in how Veronica was holding herself. It almost seemed as if… light… was forming between her hands. 1

My thoughts were slow, dragging through the quickly numbing pain. Else I would have known sooner that she was casting a spell.

“And I’m supposed to believe that you would let me trounce around in my sister’s place?” Jane said. “Where’s the security? No, I would have to keep Piper with me. Or… perhaps Elva…”

“No…” I whispered. It was the best I could muster at the moment. I couldn’t lift

my arms anymore.

Nicholas growled again. The eyes of his wolf were red with rage.

>>

“It’s something to think about,” Julian continued. He ignored another, harsher snap from Nicholas. This one drew blood on his hand. He only winced a little. ” But I have another alternative…”

“And what’s that?” Jane asked.

The light in Veronica’s palms sparked and danced. It became bigger and brighter.

“You can get f cked,” Julian said, voice suddenly icy.

The light snapped.

For the length of a heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then, Jane lurched forward and screamed.

And I suddenly felt… powerful.

My wolf, my old friend, rushed back into my b*dy, refilling the empty crevice that had laid barren for years and years. My wolf was warmed, welcomed, and

almost too much.

I was a thirsty woman suddenly drowning under a cascade of water. I held out my arms, looking for something to hold onto.

Nicholas lunged forward, teeth first. He snapped his jaw, shattering the

+15 BONUS

Jane was still screaming. Nicholas, growling, rushed toward her. She stood in an attempt to stop him. His teeth sunk into her shoulder.

I twitched on the ground. Julian and Veronica came to me. They knelt in my blood, ruining their beautiful clothes. I pushed weakly at them, trying to stop them.

Julian misunderstood and caught my hand in his.

“What’s happening to her? Is the wolf back? Will it heal… all this?” He sounded panicked. That wasn’t like him at all.

Why was he panicked? I couldn’t remember?

Oh, wait. Yes. The blood. The stab wound…

Odd, that all felt so very distant anymore.

But I wasn’t cold like I had been before. Now, heat pulsed through me.

I felt like I had died and was coming alive again, inch my inch.

“Piper?” Veronica said. She hovered over me, staring down. She wasn’t as frightened as she had been before. Her calmness eased some of the fear in me. Veronica knew what was happening. If she was calm, I would be okay. “Don’t fight the wolf. Let it in.”

I tried to do as I was told. I didn’t fully understand how to do it, but I eased some of my tensing muscles and forced myself to breath.

Julian squeezed my hand through it all. Or maybe I squeezed his. I had trouble telling for sure.

Eventually, the burning light within me ebbed to a dull glow. My wolf was there, present and consuming, but duller… Or maybe I was getting used to it again.

Either way, I felt strong enough to sit up.

“Are you alright?” Julian asked.

I opened my mouth to reply, when I heard growling from behind me. Nicholas was still fighting Jane!

Jane had swiped at Nicholas with the knife. He was bleeding from the leg and shoulder, but he was unrelenting in his attacks.

“Nick!” I called, scared for him.

He glanced back at the sound of my voice.

+15 BONUS

Jane lunged toward him.

“No!” I screamed.

Nicholas turned sharply in an attempt to dodge, but Jane hadn’t given him enough room. They collided.

Jane, suddenly off-balance, sl*pped straight over the banister of the balcony.

“Jane!” I cried and dove forward. I caught on of her arms with both of mine through the banisters. I was stronger now, with my wolf. I could hold on. I could save her.

Jane still held the knife in her other hand. She lifted it.

Did she mean to stab me? She couldn’t!

“Don’t!” I said.

“It should have been you,” she growled at me. There was blood on her teeth. Even like this, so near to dropping to her demise, she glared with open hatred. She said again, screaming, “It should have been you!”

Then she sliced at my hand.

I tried to hold on through the pain but she sliced again and again until…

The blood made it difficult to maintain a grip. Jane sl*pped out of my grip.

As she fell, she smiled, a vicious cruel thing that I knew would live in memory forever.

my

I turned away, eyes squeezed shut, not wanting to see the moment of impact.

Hands pulled me away from the ledge. Suddenly, I found myself against a very human chest. A pair of strong arms wrapped around me.

I held onto Nicholas, both hands clawing at his back.

“I killed her…” I whispered. “I killed my sister.”