Lover's Sacrifice

Lilac

Lilac couldn’t move, she couldn’t speak. All she could do was watch, captive, as Serena’s memory played out.

She couldn’t believe what she was experiencing. A life lived through another’s eyes. How had Serena cast her into the past like this?

She knew the witch had powerful magic, but this was beyond what she could have ever imagined.

Serena was in the middle of applying makeup in the bathroom. Nothing particularly exciting. But that was when a voice called out to her.

“Where are you, my mate?”

Serena smiled slyly in the mirror then turned to open the door. “In here, Zion. What is it?”

He poked his head in and grinned with a raffish, youthful charm that was so unlike the Zion of today.

Lilac could hardly believe this was the same man.

“I have a surprise for you,” he said with a wink. “Hurry up in there. We don’t have all night.”

He spanked Serena’s ass, and Lilac wanted to yelp because, in the memory, she could feel it too.

At last, Serena finished, stepped out of the bathroom, and walked downstairs.

She was about to turn down the hallway when she stopped in her tracks.

If Lilac had a voice, she would’ve gasped. Because, standing by the front door, was Lilac’s mate.

Kyril was younger but looked sadder. His hair wild and untamed. His eyes darting about in a way that revealed the near-feral lycan within.

Guards were escorting him to a dungeon nearby to be chained up for the night.

Even though he’d told her about this ritual, seeing it for herself broke Lilac’s heart.

“Kyril,” Serena said. “Are you sure you have to do this?”

“It’s the only way to keep everyone safe, Serena,” he said. “Don’t worry about me.”

She nodded as he was escorted out. Serena let out a sigh then proceeded down the hallway to find Zion waiting for her in their bedroom.

“Are you ready?” he asked, grinning.

“Well?” she asked. “You’re killing me! What’s the surprise?”

Zion put a hand into his jacket and pulled out an envelope. He handed it over, eyes filled with excitement.

As Serena opened the envelope, she was shocked to find two plane tickets.

“Are these...are we…?”

“Surprise!” Zion exclaimed. “We’re getting away. Just you and me, the way we’ve always talked about.”

“Zion!” Serena exclaimed in glee. “I can’t believe this! When are we going?”

“First thing tomorrow. I have to run an errand tonight for Jon, but I’ll be back before dawn. I promise.”

He kissed her, and although it was a very bizarre experience for Lilac, she couldn’t help but mourn for the joyful future these two had once had together.

Their love seemed like it had been so pure. It felt just like the kind she now shared with Kyril.

“See you soon!”

And with that, Zion bounded from the room, leaving Serena reeling. She pulled the two tickets to her heart and sighed with joy. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow.

***

As Serena lay down to sleep, Lilac wondered how much longer this memory would last.

Sure, it was enlightening to see how sweet the love life between Zion and Serena had been. And bittersweet to see how her mate had once lived without her.

But why was she here?

Which was when she heard it.

Distant screams.

Serena sat up in bed with a start.

She quickly grabbed a coat and hurried out, surprised to see everyone scurrying out of the pack headquarters as fast as their feet could take them.

“What is it?” she asked one of them. “What’s happening?!”

To Lilac’s utter surprise, it was the siren, Rhea. She looked terrified.

“We have to get out of here, Serena! Hurry!”

“But why?!”

A deep, terrifying howl shook the entire house. Serena had to hold on to the doorway not to fall over.

Lilac knew that howl well, and as a feeling of dread rose within her, she realized why she was experiencing this particular memory.

This was the night everything changed.

She was going to have to watch…

~OH NO!~

This was the last thing Lilac wanted to see, but she was powerless to stop it.

Instead of running with everyone out the back of the pack headquarters, Serena turned and ran toward the front door.

Rhea tried to chase after her, grabbing her arm. “Serena, leave him! The alpha is going feral!”

“I can’t, Rhea,” Serena said. “He’s my mate’s brother, my family. His wolf is hurting. Can’t you hear his cries?”

“In that state, there’s no helping him, Serena!”

And, deep down, despite Lilac’s feelings for Rhea, she wished Serena had listened to the siren. It might’ve saved her life.

“You don’t know him like Zion and I do, Rhea,” Serena said. “Kyril will never forgive himself if he hurts someone. He’s still trying to find his balance without his mate.”

“What if he never finds her?!” Rhea shrieked.

Even back then, she clearly lacked in the empathy department.

“He’s our alpha,” Serena said with a gentle strength that made Lilac care for her even more. “And I’m a witch. If anyone can help him, it’s me. I have to try.”

With that, she broke away from the siren’s hold and burst toward the source of the howling.

Lilac’s heart was beating fast, only it wasn’t her heart but Serena’s. The witch was terrified despite the brave face she put on.

Suddenly, she came to a complete halt.

She stood a few yards away from Kyril.

Except Lilac had never seen Kyril’s wolf look like that. His canines elongated, his fur raised, his eyes so dark and obsidian they seemed to swallow all light and joy in the world.

To anyone else, this lycan would’ve been an absolutely terrifying sight, but to Lilac, he was her mate.

He desperately needed her love. How she wished she could hold him.

Raising a shaky hand, Serena began to mutter a string of confusing words that sounded like a foreign language.

Her chanting grew louder, stronger with repetition.

The lycan bent down on his hind legs, growling, preparing to charge. Whatever spell Serena was trying to cast...it wasn’t working.

She kept her head held high and raised the volume of her voice as Kyril took one step toward her then another.

Lilac could hear it. Every thought racing through Serena’s mind. She didn’t want to hurt her alpha, but there was no denying the bloodthirst of his lycan.

He wouldn’t stop until he had killed.

And now, Serena knew what she had to do.

It was a risk, but one that she was willing to take. If it meant saving the lives of others, she had no choice.

At that moment, Lilac experienced the strangest, most uncomfortable feeling.

Her vision was doubling, her scenting quadrupling, like she was becoming more than one person somehow.

Serena’s muscles were spasming, her bones grinding and cracking under pressure as heat pooled from the cavity of her chest outward.

Nothing, not even shifting, felt like this...

Her spine was splitting into two. Her skull. Her arms and legs each growing another pair. And as Lilac fought the need to vomit, even inside the memory, she saw him.

Kyril was a blur of motion, running full speed, storming toward Serena. Murder in his feral eyes.

Just as Kyril was about to make contact, Serena’s physical body dodged him with a resounding tearing sound at the very last second.

And the next thing she knew, Lilac and Serena were tumbling to the ground, rolling away, gasping for air, as the taste of iron ensnared her senses.

For a second, Serena was worried if she’d even succeeded or not. But when she looked up, Lilac couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

Kyril was mauling a replica of Serena, a duplicate. There was no blood, no organs, nothing other than a ragdoll lookalike.

~An illusion…~ Lilac realized. ~She cast an illusion to fulfill his rage.~

The lycan was so consumed with Serena’s clone that she had inadvertently brought safety to everyone in the pack.

Serena was truly a hero.

She laid her head back on the ground and sighed with exhaustion.

~All is well.~ ~Everyone is safe.~ But then she heard him.

“Perfect....” a raspy voice whispered in her ear. “You’re exactly what we’ve been looking for.”

Flashing her eyes open, Serena saw a sight that chilled her to the bone. Hovering above her was a tall, pale creature with sharp fangs set in a huge grin.

A vampire.

Serena opened her mouth to scream, but before she could, a dark cloth covered her face and all went black.

***

Lilac ripped her arm away and fell backward, hyperventilating, panicking, absolutely terrified. She was back in her body, in the infirmary, in the present day.

But that monster she’d seen hovering above her face...that vampire...she felt like she could still smell its fetid breath, see its teeth gleaming in the moonlight, feel the black cloth as it covered her face and enshrouded her in darkness.

“Is this...is this real?” she asked, still breathing so fast she could barely speak.

It had been so long since she’d last had a panic attack, but now she felt like she was on the verge of breaking down.

Being trapped in another’s body, with their pain and stress and suffering on top of her own?

It was too much.

“Lilac,” she heard a calming voice come to her. “It’s okay.”

She looked up to see Serena kneeling over her, a sad smile on her lips. Behind her stood Kyril, a worried look on his face.

“Is she—” he began.

“Don’t worry, Kyril,” Serena said. “She just experienced...the past.”

Kyril’s expression darkened.

Reading Lilac’s mind, he knew what she had seen. He knew she’d seen him at his worst.

Lilac wanted to comfort him, to tell him it meant no difference because she knew his true intentions. Serena was alive, and it had all been a mistake.

“Kyril, wait—” she tried.

But Kyril hurried from the room before she could explain, leaving them alone.

Serena helped Lilac to her feet. “I apologize for overwhelming you. I didn’t mean to open that pathway. But I believe your mating bond forced it.”

“Serena,” Lilac said, shaking her head, still in shock. “Everything you went through, everything you did for Kyril.”

“We’re family,” Serena said with a small smile. “If Kyril and Zion were brothers once, maybe they can be again. And that would make us sisters.”

Lilac didn’t know what to say. She’d never felt so moved, so completely overwhelmed by a person’s sacrifice in her whole life.

Without another word, she embraced Serena, hugging her tight.

“Thank you, Serena,” she whispered, grateful beyond words. “For everything.”

Deep down, Lilac understood that if it hadn’t been for her, Kyril might have gone feral forever and that she would have never met her mate.

Lilac owed the witch her life. But how could she ever repay her?