An Ounce of Prevention

RORY

When I wake up, I’m still being held in Everett’s arms. I know he hasn’t let me go, and I’m almost overwhelmed with a sense of being loved and cared for.

He’s sitting with me in our bed, and the doctor is here. I have a dizzy sense of déjà vu. Am I somehow going to learn that I’m pregnant all over again?

The doctor smiles at me. “Welcome back, young lady. You gave your mate quite a scare. I’ve been checking you over while you rested.”

Everett’s arms tighten around me, and I remember why I’d passed out. I’d done it, I’d saved Andy, but at what cost?

I put my hands on my stomach, wishing I could feel the baby growing in my womb, could know that they were all right. There isn’t even a bump yet.

“Well, Doctor? How is she?” I can tell that Everett is almost out of patience. He gets so wound up whenever something happens to me, even more wound up than usual, my poor fretful Alpha.

I wish that I could do something to relax him, but it’ll have to wait. Everett almost never relaxes unless we’re in private. Plus, right now, I’m nervous too.

The doctor looks over the results of my tests. “Fit as a fiddle. Her blood sugar’s a little low, but that’s not unusual.”

“Really? Everything’s fine?” I ask. I’m lightheaded with relief. The jolt I’d felt before passing out had been so intense… I close my eyes, thinking of the baby.

~Not even born yet and I already can’t imagine life without you. ~I hope I won’t have to worry about… her? Him? I don’t know yet what they’ll be. I’ll go with them until we know more.

I hope I don’t have to worry about them like this a lot. Everett and I will try to keep them safe, but our lives aren’t exactly quiet.

The doctor pats my shoulder, pulling me from my worries. “You’re all right. Nothing wrong with you or the baby. Just get some rest, and you’ll be perfectly fine. Pregnancy takes a lot out of a person.”

He tells me to start taking a prenatal vitamin, gives us a few more reassurances, and leaves with a promise to check up on me again soon.

For a moment, it’s quiet, and I enjoy the sound of Everett’s heartbeat. I know it won’t last, and sure enough, Everett shifts so we’re sitting face-to-face before a minute goes by.

He kisses me fiercely, holding my face in both of his hands, then pulls away and presses our foreheads together. “You scared me to death, little one. I thought I was going to lose you.”

Guilt sours my stomach. I’m always worrying him. It’s not like I want to, but it’s impossible to deny that trouble haunts me. “I’m sorry. We’ll be more careful next time.”

He jerks back, and his eyebrows draw together in anger. “Next time? You can’t do that again, Aurora! It’s too dangerous.”

There he goes again with “can’t” and “I forbid it.” I love him, and I appreciate his protective nature, but I can’t stand it when he goes all controlling Alpha on me.

“I’m fine! The baby is fine! You can’t stop me from helping people.” I glare right back at him, gesturing to our perfectly healthy child to point out how ridiculous he’s being.

He stands up, pacing a little. He can never stay still when he’s upset, especially if Chaos is aggravated too. “I don’t want you hurting yourself trying to heal others! You’re too self-sacrificing.”

“What other way is there? We can’t go around killing everyone unlucky enough to be possessed. I can save them.” I stand too, stumbling a little. I’m still woozy, but I want to face him as an equal.

He grabs my shoulders, looking into my eyes earnestly. “And what about you? What about us? Doesn’t that matter, too?”

My heart hurts. I feel torn in two. “Of course it matters! But Nemesis is doing this because of me. It’s my fault she’s attacking people. I’m the only one who can help. Please, can’t you understand?”

He shakes his head. “You know I’m very proud of you. You’ve become a strong and thoughtful Luna. But I can’t ever like the idea of you risking your life. Chaos and I are in total agreement about that.”

I want to lean into his embrace, to let him hold me and wash the world away. But I can’t. “You agreed to let me come with you to investigate the possessed rogues. Why is this different?”

“That was part of your duties as a Luna. Plus, I could protect you, Lucius and Ace could protect you. When you go to the spirit realm there’s nothing I can do.” His voice is rough with emotion.

“This is my duty, too. I’m not just a Luna, or just your mate, or even just a human. If I turn away from my powers, then I’m shirking my responsibility.” I feel tears welling up in my eyes.

I try to blink them away, but I can’t. This is all so much. I’m always ten steps behind, hurrying to try and catch up. When will it finally end? Will we ever just get to be happy?

Everett pulls me into a hug. This time, I let him. “Don’t cry, little one. We don’t need to discuss it any more right now.”

“Okay,” I say, my voice small. The argument is far from over, but I’m too tired to want to continue. I hate fighting with Everett.

He brushes my tears away with his thumb, blue eyes soft. “To me, you’re Aurora. You never have to be anything more or less than that.”

“Thank you, Everett.” I kiss him sweetly and we go to bed holding each other close, our baby between us, a promise of the future. For now, that’s all that matters.

The next day gives me something to focus on, at least. Ace took a day off to go and check on Freya. I’m desperate to know if she’s all right. The texts I’ve been getting from her haven’t helped.

I’m waiting in the pack house, trying to read, but mostly just staring at my book. I practically jump on Ace when he returns. He looks tired, but he smiles at me, so things can’t be too bad.

He gets himself a sandwich and a coffee and lets me drag him to a secluded corner where we can talk. “How was Freya?” I ask once he’s wolfed down half the sandwich and all of the coffee.

Ace’s face pinches like he’s in pain. “She’s…she’s not doing great. It’s worse than she said. She kept trying to tell me that everything was fine, but I could tell something was wrong.”

“Was it like with the rogues?” I can barely breathe imagining my lively, sharp friend with the empty eyes and mechanical motions I saw in the rogue wolves.

He shakes his head, swallowing the last of his sandwich. “She wasn’t blank, she was totally acting like herself, just exhausted and nervous. She was too weak for a walk, even.”

That sounds pretty bad. What does it mean that Freya’s sick? If she’s not possessed, then what is it? I know it’s connected to Nemesis, but I can’t figure out how.

Ace winks at me, probably trying to break my bad mood. But it’s what he says next that does it. “The good news is, I brought her back with me.”

I stare at him with my mouth hanging open. “What? Are you kidding? Why didn’t you tell me sooner!”

He laughs. “I wanted to surprise you. She agreed that she needed to take medical leave from school. She’s staying with me.”

“I should go see her!” My best friend, here, where I can keep an eye on her. It feels too good to be true.

“She’s sleeping, so she’s not up for visitors. Maybe later?” He gives me a weak smile, then stands. “Sorry, I have to run. The Alpha needs me on urgent business.”

I watch him go, feeling completely helpless. I decide to go to the library again. There has to be an answer somewhere, and I’m going to find it.

EVERETT

My warriors should be back any minute. I sent them out to survey the portals the second Ace returned home. He might have looked tired, but I knew he needed a task as badly as I did.

I’m desperate for something to do, something concrete that can be done to protect my mate, our baby, and my pack. For now, listening to reports from my scouts will have to satisfy me.

“What’s the situation?” I bark as soon as Ace has closed my office door behind him.

Ace runs a hand through his hair. He looks stressed. “It’s just like we thought. Nemesis and Xander made the portals so they could use them to escape. That’s why they were all hidden.”

I pace behind my desk. “We need to find every one of these portals. I want teams looking around the clock and warriors posted at each one. We have to make sure no one goes in—or out.”

Ace lifts his eyebrows almost to his hairline, letting out a low whistle. “That’s a lot of people to commit.”

“I know. But we can’t have Nemesis using them against us. It’s worth the resources.” I make sure to sound decisive, confident. Privately, I hope I’m making the right decision.

Ace dips his head respectfully. “Of course, Alpha. It will be done. Do you have another job you need me for?” He sounds hopeful. I don’t have the heart to deny him.

“I thought I would pay a visit to the rogue Aurora saved. It’s time to see what he knows. Would you like to accompany me?”

“Very much.” Ace rolls his shoulders and flexes his fingers like he’s hoping the rogue will need some encouragement to tell us what he knows. Chaos rumbles in agreement.

Neither of them will get their wish. As good as it would feel to burn some energy on a deserving opponent, Aurora knows this rogue. She won’t want him hurt and he’ll likely cooperate.

When we get to his cell the rogue is sitting up, finishing a bowl of soup. All of the color has returned to his face and he’s moving smoothly. You wouldn’t guess that he’d been poisoned recently.

He stands but stays well back from the bars, eyeing us warily. “What do you want?”

I still can’t stand rogues. I doubt I’ll ever be able to. I growl. “I’m the Alpha of this pack. This is the Gamma. We’d like to ask you some questions.”

He looks from Ace to me and back again like he’s assessing his chances. “What about?”

Ace steps forward threateningly. “Our Luna saved your life, you know. You ought to cooperate.”

His aloof facade wavers at the mention of Aurora and he sits back down heavily on the bench. “Fine. What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” I say, crossing my arms. “You know something happened to you. Tell us every detail.”

“I don’t remember much. It’s all foggy.” He stares into the middle distance, haunted.

Foggy isn’t good enough. I glare at him. “Try. Was there a woman? A man?”

He laughs hollowly. “By ‘woman’ you mean the evil goddess? Yes, I don’t think I’ll ever forget her, not for the rest of my life. She was horrible, so full of hatred…”

He lapses into silence and it seems we won’t get anything further from him. I turn to leave, disgusted. “What a waste of time.”

He calls after me. “Wait—there was a man. He’s working with her.”

I turn around, furious. “What did he look like? Do you know his name?”

The rogue looks taken aback, but clear-eyed. He frowns. “I’m not sure…he was pretty young-looking, with freckles. His hair was black and his eyes were green.”

Xander. It was him, it had to be. But how? “The man you describe is meant to be dead. Explain yourself.”

He grips the bars. “I can’t tell you anything more than that. I wish that I could.”

I can’t help but sneer at him. I’m sure a warrior would have done better. “Fine. Tell the guard if you recall anything else.”

He calls after me again. “Will you let me go?”

This time I don’t turn around as I give my answer. “Soon enough.”

RORY

I find nothing in the books. There are still so many to look through, by the time I find what I need it might be too late. I did get an idea while reading, though.

I need to see Mariah again. I learned so much from her last time, maybe one more visit will give me all of the answers. Plus, I want to find out what frightened her so badly last time.

This time, I tell Everett where I’m going. If he catches me sneaking out again, he’ll definitely lock me in the pack house and I wouldn’t even blame him. We need to trust each other.

He’s not happy, but he can’t make too much of a fuss since I’m not going behind his back. “Bring a guard with you, at least.”

I kiss him. “I will. And I’ll be back as soon as I can. You can call me if I’m not here by tomorrow morning.”

“If you’re not back by tomorrow morning, I’m sending an armed search party after you,” he grumbles. He calls one of his warriors and we set off. I feel his eyes on me until we’re out of sight.

Mariah is waiting for me when I arrive, just like last time. “Hello, Rory. You have new questions, this time. And you brought a friend.”

She looks at the warrior with distaste. I hurry to reassure her. “He can wait outside. It’s just a precaution for travel.”

She gives a brief nod. “You are wise to be cautious. Many things can find you out there. Come inside, then.”

I follow her in and sit at her table. She doesn’t offer anything to drink, just sits across from me, folding her hands in front of her.

She seems nervous, glancing around the room. “Our time is short, Rory. Ask me your questions quickly. I will tell you all that I can.”

I barely know where to start. “We figured out how to get rid of the Nemesis shards. They leave a person when they’re—when they die. Even if I revive them after.”

She frowns. “Yes and no. Death does release the shard from a person’s body, but it doesn’t destroy the shard. They can survive without a body for a few hours.”

“What? So she can just come right back?” I think of Andy back home. Has he already been retaken? Are they in danger?

She holds up a hand, like she can sense the frantic rush of my thoughts. “No. She can’t possess the same person again, but she can find another host.”

“Then how can we ever destroy her for good?” Was I doomed to chase the shards of Nemesis’s soul for the rest of my life?

She looks thoughtful. “It’s an interesting question. If you can gather them all together and contain them so they can’t find a host, they will fade.”

“How do we do that?”

She shrugs. “That, you’ll have to discover on your own.”

I open my mouth to ask her another question, if she has any idea where I might start looking, but she stands abruptly.

“I’m sorry, Rory, but you have to go now. It’s not safe for either of us for you to stay.” She puts a hand on my shoulder and urges me up and out.

“Don’t come back until this is over. I wish you luck. Goodbye.” She gives me a quick hug, then darts back inside her house and slams the door.

Dread settles in my stomach. Mariah knows so much more than I do, seems so confident in her magic. I only just met her, but the loss of her help stings.

I’m alone, again, against an enemy I don’t know how to defeat. I feel small and cold. So many people are depending on me. I’m supposed to be a mother. And I don’t know if I can manage it.

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