Fear

EVERETT

My paws kick up the earth beneath my feet as I run—as fast as I can—trying to catch the scent of Nickolas and Victoria.

Lucius and Ace are close on my tail, ready to back me up.

But I can’t seem to detect a single trace of those fuckers.

~How could they have gotten away so fast?~

It doesn’t help that my senses are dulled from all the champagne I drank at the party.

~Serves me right for letting my guard down, even for just a few hours.~

I come to a stop at a crossroads, skidding in the dirt.

I’m trying desperately to figure out which direction to go when I hear Lucius mindlinking me.

~“Alpha,”~ he says. ~“I think it’s useless. They had too big of a head start.”~

I growl at him in frustration.

~“I’ll walk all night if I have to,”~ I mindlink him back. ~“I can’t just let those murderers roam free.”~

I decide to take the path on the left and hear Lucius and Ace continuing to follow me closely.

As I sniff my way along, Chaos rages in frustration.

~“How did we let this happen?”~

~“They slit our mate’s throat in cold blood.”~

~“I told you we should have killed them when we had them in our clutches.”~

He’s probably right. I should have served them up a taste of their own medicine and let them die on the floor of the dungeon.

But I didn’t want to let them off that easily. And now they’re gone and I have no idea if I’ll be able to find them again.

All of a sudden, I pause in my tracks as I catch a scent on the wind. And not the one that I was hoping for.

~It’s Aurora.~

~I’m sure of it.~

But her deliciously sweet scent is laced with something bitter…~fear~.

I abandon my path, darting in the other direction.

She’s out here somewhere. And she’s in danger.

RORY

I can feel sweat forming on my brow as the rogues creep in on me from all sides with disturbing grimaces etched into each of their faces.

They inch their way closer and closer, and a horrible thought suddenly dawns on me.

~If the spell that forced them to keep me safe has been broken…~

~Then does that mean that the charm that made me immortal has been broken too?~

The only way that I could possibly find out would be to die.

~But what if it’s just darkness after that?~

~What if I never wake up?~

I don’t want to test that theory tonight. I want to get back to my mate and the beautiful life that we were about to start together.

“Wait,” I say, holding up my hands in the air.

I know that I have no chance trying to fight them off with brute strength. But maybe…just maybe…I can try to reason with them.

“What’s the matter, little girl?” Red says. “Any last words before we have our way with you?”

“Yes,” I say, mustering all the courage I have left. “The charm that the Moon Goddess put on you might be broken. But I’m still related to her. And she will ~not~ be happy if you touch me.”

“Well, we’re not exactly happy with the Moon Goddess right now,” Red says. “We don’t enjoy being used as pawns in her little plans.”

“That’s sort of the whole point of being a ~rogue~,” Ian adds. “We don’t answer to no one. Not the Moon Goddess. Not the alpha. And certainly not you.”

~Well, shit.~

~This isn’t going well.~

~Maybe I ~do~ need to try to put up a fight.~

Everett has been trying to get me to work out with the guards, but I’ve definitely been slacking on my training ever since I found out that I was immortal.

Now, I have no idea how many more lives I have left. I really should have taken it more seriously.

But this is not the time for regrets. It’s the time for action.

I turn on my heels and try to make a run for it through the trees, back toward the packhouse.

But, of course, one curse that has not been broken is my curse of clumsiness.

As I run, I trip over a root and face-plant straight into the forest floor.

After a moment, I lift my head, coughing up a combination of dirt and blood.

Wiping it away, I wince in pain. I’ve split my lip clean open. My anguish only intensifies when I feel a pair of hands clamping around my neck.

Red picks me up off the ground harshly. “Good try, girlie,” he sneers. I hear Eden and Ian laughing at my futile attempt to escape.

“I’m a luna now,” I say as Red starts dragging me with him against my will. “You’re not going to get away with this.”

“Well, I’ve never heard of an alpha letting his luna wander off into rogue territory alone,” Red says. “He must not be such a tough alpha after all.”

“You’ll see what he’s capable of,” I say, trying my best to sound threatening. But in all honesty, my confidence is completely shattered.

Red has me tight in his grasp now, and I can’t imagine a way of getting out of it.

I wish so badly that I was a wolf so that I could mindlink Everett to tell him what was going on. Or at least get the chance to tell him that I love him one more time.

The mingled taste of blood and tears fills my mouth as I march my way toward certain death.

But all of a sudden, I hear a fierce growl. And then another. And then another.

I blink my eyes, clearing the tears away to find three imposing wolves standing in our path.

And not just any wolves…

It’s Everett, Ace, and Lucius.

~Oh thank Goddess…~

Everett howls loudly into the night sky and then comes charging toward us.

Red lets go of me, and in a flash, all three rogues have shifted back into their wolves.

I take the opportunity to make a run for it, dashing behind a nearby tree.

I peek around the trunk to try to get a glimpse of what is happening on the other side.

Three mangy rogues versus three wolves in their absolute prime.

It’s ~far~ from a fair fight.

Ace is fighting Eden. Lucius is tackling Ian. And Everett has taken on Red.

I can see unbridled anger in Everett’s eyes as he grips Red’s tail tightly between his teeth, thrusting him around like a chew toy.

Red breaks free for a moment and is about to sink his claws into Everett’s back when Everett gets the upper hand again.

He pounces on top of Red and bites hard on Red’s jugular, ripping it out with his teeth.

Red’s body drops, limp, to the floor, bleeding out until he stops moving entirely.

For a moment, there is a pause in the fighting.

Ian and Eden look at their fallen friend and then at each other. And then they make a run for it into the forest, disappearing from sight.

~They’re gone.~

~I’m safe.~

~And Everett is too.~

Everett shifts, and I see my mate kneeling over Red’s body, his naked human form covered in blood.

He stares at the carnage, an unreadable expression on his face.

I rush over to him and try to put my arms around him.

“Thank Goddess you came,” I say. “I didn’t know if I would make it through the night.”

Suddenly, Everett rises to his feet, rejecting my embrace. He looks over at me, and in the moonlight I can see that there is not even an ounce of sympathy behind his eyes.

“I told you to stay back at the packhouse,” he says.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I just thought I could help.”

“You thought wrong, Aurora,” he says. “You didn’t respect my authority. You were reckless. You almost got yourself killed.”

“I know, but I— I—”

I’m at a complete loss for what to say. My gaze falls to the ground as guilt floods every cell in my body.

“You’re not a wolf, Aurora,” he says. “Stop acting like you are.”

With that, he turns on his heels and starts walking back toward the packhouse. We walk in deafening silence as I follow Everett all the way back to the packhouse.