Intuition

EVERETT

The morning is dragging on as I sit, listening to Lucius talk about problems within the pack. Joining two packs together is a lot of work, and not everyone’s having an easy time adjusting.

The problems are more because of personality clashes than anything else, but it’s still my job as Alpha to mediate. And normally, I’m more than happy to do it.

Today, I’m finding it difficult to concentrate, and an uneasy feeling comes over me. Something is wrong, I can feel it. There is something inside me screaming that Aurora needs me.

I spring from my chair, catching Lucius and Ace off guard. They jump to their feet as well, ready and waiting for my command.

“What is it, Alpha?” Lucius asks, taking a step toward me.

“It’s Aurora. Something’s wrong,” I reply, feeling something pulling me to her. “I need to get to her.”

Without saying another word, I run out of the office, leaving both men confused and unsure of what to do. She said she was going to the orphanage, so that’s where I go as I hurry out of the pack house.

It doesn’t take long before I find her. She’s on her back, collapsed in front of the old pack house. I rush to her side and kneel beside her, brushing her hair out of her face.

Her eyes are open, but she doesn’t see me, doesn’t seem to know I’m there. She’s horribly pale, and the look on her face is one of pure terror. My heart drops.

“Aurora, can you hear me? Say something,” I whisper to her. If someone’s done anything to her, attacked her, I will find them, and they will answer for it.

She doesn’t answer. I softly kiss her forehead, and she doesn’t even blink. I look for injuries and find a bump on her head. Did she get it when she fell, or did someone hit her?

I shake her gently. “Please, say something. Tell me you can hear me, little one.”

When she still doesn’t respond, I gather her in my arms and carefully lift her. She feels stiff, frozen in fear from something unknown to me.

I glance around us but see no clues about what might have happened. My mind fills with possibilities, but I push them away. I need to get her somewhere safe. Quickly, I race back to the pack house.

As I approach, Lucius and Ace are waiting for me. They clear the path to our bedroom while I carry Aurora past confused and concerned pack members.

When I get to our room, where we had shared a few precious moments only hours ago, I lay her on the bed and pull the covers over her. I sit down beside her and take her delicate hand in mine.

Lucius and Ace stand watching with looks of concern. “What happened to her? Is she okay?” Lucius asks, while Ace puts a supportive hand on my shoulder.

“I don’t know,” I grit out, hating to admit it. I should know what happened. I should know what to do. “It looked like she fell. If she doesn’t wake up soon, I’m having the doctor come.”

Inside me, Chaos howls in anger. Frantically trying to get to our mate. I struggle to keep him contained and calm. He scratches and claws, refusing to back down.

After a few minutes, Aurora stirs. I hear her soft, sweet voice, and a wave of relief washes over me. I lean closer. Her voice is weak and shaky, but I can hear her clearly.

She mumbles the two names I’d hoped never to hear again. “Nemesis… Professor Xander…”

A chill runs down my spine like a bolt of electricity coursing through my body. Instantly, I feel on edge. I glance over at Lucius and Ace, who exchange worried looks.

She goes quiet again, staring off into space. By her side, I sit holding my breath as I wait for her to recover. Her hand feels so tiny in mine and her face is still pale.

Slowly, Aurora comes around, and relief washes over me. She sits up in bed and squeezes my hand gently, smiling at me. My heart melts at the sight of her beautiful smile.

“What happened, little one?” I ask. “Did someone attack you?”

She shook her head. “No…or at least, I don’t think so. I was leaving the orphanage when I felt an awful chill and a sense that I was being followed. I heard voices, but there was nobody there.”

“I tripped and hit my head on a rock. And then I saw faces looming over me. Everett, it was her. Nemesis. And… him,” she says hesitantly.

“Xander,” I growl, and she nods. The room is silent as we process what she just said. Xander’s missing body has left a lot of unanswered questions and uneasiness lingering in the air.

“What does that mean? Do you think they are still alive?” Ace asks, shifting his gaze from Aurora to me.

“We don’t know anything for sure. We can’t start jumping to conclusions. Aurora hit her head when she fell,” I reply. “We should keep this between us until we know more.”

“That’s true. It could have been the injury that made me see what I did,” Aurora chimed in. My little mate is being so brave, supporting me in reassuring the pack.

The possibility that Xander and Nemesis were alive and still a threat is real, but having the pack living in fear would help no one. By the look on Aurora’s face, I know there’s more to this.

“What is it, little one?” I ask, stroking her hair.

She looks at me, her eyes filled with fear and welling up with tears. She takes a deep breath to calm herself down. I brace myself for whatever she’s about to say.

“Some children at the orphanage are sick. Nellie doesn’t know what to do about it. They’re afraid they are going to die,” she says, pushing the tears away.

“Sick? What’s wrong with them?” I ask. This is serious, or Aurora wouldn’t be bringing it to me like this. Something affecting our pups is important to us all.

Aurora tells me everything she learned at the orphanage, including that whatever this is isn’t contained to just those living there. No one’s come to be about it, at least not yet.

“Have you ever heard of anything like this? Should we tell the rest of the pack?” she responds, looking at us, hoping to hear a rational answer for what might be going on.

“No, I haven’t,” I say, frowning. I look at Lucius and Ace, but they shake their heads. Illnesses that only affect werewolves exist, of course, but nothing like this.

“We wait to tell the pack until we have more information. Right now, we can’t even tell them how to protect themselves against whatever this is or who it may affect.” I state my decision firmly.

They all accept my judgment. Inciting panic will only make matters worse. Ace suddenly grows quiet and I watch as his face changes from a look of concern to fear.

“Ace, what is it?” I ask, standing up and walking toward him.

“It’s Freya,” he says. He’s turned his head, looking out the window, toward where Freya lives in New York. She’s going to school there. I don’t know how he doesn’t go mad.

“Freya?” Aurora says, jumping out of bed. “What about Freya?”

“I don’t know. I think something’s wrong with her. I’m worried she might be in danger,” he replies, struggling to stay calm.

I know that feeling. His wolf is panicking. He wants to get to his mate. I exchange looks with Aurora and Lucius, who are thinking the same thing. Could it be the same strange illness?

If Freya is sick as well, there is something odd happening. A human being affected by the same illness as a werewolf is strange, even if she is Ace’s mate and my Luna’s best friend.

He hasn’t admitted it yet, but we all know she is. If she needs help, we need to help her. I can see Aurora has the same idea.

“I will try to get a hold of her and see how she’s doing,” Aurora assures him. “If something is going on with her, I will let you know immediately.”

“Thank you,” Ace tells her, still looking worried.

“Do you think Xander and Nemesis are behind this? It can’t be a coincidence that Rory saw them,” Lucius says, bringing the conversation back to the immediate problem.

“I’ve had some warriors helping me look for Xander’s body, but so far we have had no luck,” Ace says, sounding disappointed.

“What if that is because he is still alive?” Lucius continues, “We need to stop looking for a body and start looking for him as if he is still alive.”

“You may be right, Lucius. It’s worth a try. We have to explore every possibility,” I admit with a sigh. “Aurora, do you have any idea where Xander would be if he were alive?”

“My guess is with her,” Ace says before Aurora can answer.

“With Nemesis?” Aurora asks, looking worried.

“No, Rory. I was talking about you. You were his target,” Ace replies, looking at Aurora and then me.

As much as I hate the idea, it makes sense. Xander did his best to get close to Aurora and then tried to kill her. He may still try to finish the job.

The thought fills me with fear and anger, but I refuse to let it surface. Keeping her safe is the most important thing to me.

“You’re right,” Aurora says, and I can see her steeling herself. “But that just means it should be easier to find him.”

“I’ll get in touch with Mia. Maybe she’ll be able to tell us more than the kids could,” I say, eager to put a stop to it.

“I’ll go to the library and see what I can find there,” Aurora says confidently.

Lucius and Ace leave to take care of their errands. The search for Xander must continue until he’s found. Now that everyone has their orders, I know I must leave Aurora.

“I will be back as soon as I can,” I say, taking her in my arms again.

“I will be okay. I’ll get the books and take them to our room to read.

“I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.”

“I’m not leaving you, I promise,” she replies as she wraps her arms around my waist.

With her in my arms, I feel complete. She is my entire world and I will die before I let anyone take her from me.

RORY

When I enter the library, I am reminded of Professor Xander and his promises to help me. I was foolish to believe him. It’s because of my poor judgment that this is happening. I have to fix it.

The guilt I feel is overwhelming. The pack is in danger, and I am powerless to protect them from whatever might happen. I remember Mama’s words and focus on the task at hand.

My trip to the library is brief. I look for as many books as I can carry that might help me find some answers. When I gather them all together, I head straight back to our room.

I try to read, but I can’t focus. Knowing that Professor Xander and Nemesis might still be a threat keeps me on edge and unable to relax. I keep dropping my book, more than normal.

I try to call Freya twice, but both calls go unanswered. The fear inside me is growing and I can’t shake it. Sitting on the bed, surrounded by books, I pray to find the answers we need.

After three books and still not finding anything, I feel my body growing tired. Thoughts of danger and fear bombard my mind, and I am left feeling hopeless. My eyes drift shut…

~A voice calls me. It’s not familiar. It’s deep and resonant and throaty, but it knows my name. “Aurora… Aurora… Come to me… Hear me…”~

~I’m flying over the pack lands, high enough up that all of the buildings look like toys. I zoom over the forest, drawn toward the voice. Somehow, I’m sure it doesn’t mean me harm.~

~I come to a hut, a familiar hut. I’ve seen it before, but not in the real world. In visions. It was one of the many things I saw that seemed unimportant, but it’s important now.~

~This hut is near my home. A woman stands in front of it, at once a white-furred she-wolf and a tall, rangy human with silver hair and coal-black eyes. I’ve seen her before, too.~

~She holds her hands out to me and I know she’s the one who’s been calling me. She wants to help me. Magic swirls and pulses all around her, around her hut, visible in the dreamscape.~

~I try to go to her, but I’m blown back, torn away by a frigid wind. A familiar, cruel laugh sounds in my ears. Nemesis is here. The she-wolf’s voice is gone, replaced by Nemesis’s cackling.~

~“Fool of a girl! Nothing and no one can help you. You’d think you would know better than to trust strangers by now. See what happens if you go!”~

~I’m flung to the ground in the main square of the pack lands. I stand up shakily and am immediately attacked. I stumble back from the blow to see that it’s Ace coming after me.~

~Ace’s face is twisted in a snarl of rage and his eyes glow yellow like Nemesis’. I stumble away from him and right into Mama, who twists my arm painfully. I gasp and beg her to stop, but she just sneers.~

~I’m surrounded by my pack mates, all yellow eyed and violent. I run, and they chase me. I hear the howls of joy at the hunt. Why have they turned on me? What did I do?~

~I run until my lungs burn, until my feet grow clumsy as they are in real life. I’m covered in scrapes and bruises, and they are still behind me, but I push on. I have to keep going, I must—~

~I’m in our room. The Alpha and Luna’s room, with the quilt Mama made for us on the bed. I don’t know how I got here, but I can’t take my eyes off of what I see on the floor.~

~There is nowhere left to run. Nothing left to fight for. I collapse to my knees, uncaring of the sound of approaching feet. Everett lies dead in front of me.~