It took all my will power to extract myself from his arms. I booped his nose lovingly, “You know exactly what you do to me. Why don’t you, Trent, and Quinn go fishing? You three smelling like fish usually helps get rid of my urge to tear your clothes off.”
Owen threw his head back and laughed. “Does it really? I should stop fishing.”
“Don’t you dare! My poor lady bits will never get any rest if you don’t repel me. I have zero control.” I really had no resistance when it came to my mates. I mean, they just looked so damn good.
“Fine, fine,” Owen leaned forward and kissed the top of my head. “Go find Rose and I’ll see if the guys want to fish so you can rest.”
“Wait. How’d you know I was going to find Rose? You asked me where I was going.”
Owen merely shrugged. “It was a rhetorical question. When are you not going off to find Rose?”
“Fair point. I love you. I’ll be back in a little while.” Not being able to help myself, I quickly kissed Owen’s soft, sweet lips then forced myself to walk out of the cabin.
Rose’s cabin was across the field from ours, a few hundred yards away. Her and my brothers moved back and forth between a cabin here, and one with the Nyx pack, so they could get time with both packs equally. But when I went inside, nobody was home. Which was odd for this time of day. When they stayed with us, Rose was always sitting somewhere, trying, and failing, to knit together baby clothes. She said the light of the setting sun calmed her and she did better then. Maybe my brothers had finally convinced her to give up. She definitely needed to, because no amount of calming sun could make that woman knit well.
I saw a few scattered Lux around the common areas, but none had seen Rose for the last few hours. I was about to give up. Maybe they went back to the Nyx pack early. But as I turned to go home and just call Rose, a young teenager from my pack called out to me.
“I saw Rose about fifteen minutes ago, walking with her mates towards the river. They might still be there.”
“Thank you!” I shouted back, glad that I’d actually have Rose here to help me look through different pictures and finally decide on stuff. I was a terrible procrastinator.
I’d made it halfway toward the river, when a shrill howl filled the air. It was manic and filled with agony, immediately causing me to halt in fear. Not only because of what that howl sounded like, but because I recognized it. It was Erik. And something was terribly wrong.
I shifted immediately and sprinted in the direction of that agonizing sound. My paws barely touched the ground as I raced through the forest.
No. Please, no. Don't let it be Rose.
The stench of blood assaulted my nose, and my stomach filled with dread. Erik's sorrowful howl rang like a bell. Never before had I heard anything so unbearably sad.
When I saw his stark white fur mottled with blood, and Elias kneeling over a dark shape in human form, I knew my worst fear had come true.
"Rrrose!"
The cry came out half-growled, half-screamed as my jaws morphed back to human. I knelt next to my brother as he pressed in vain on a gaping wound on Rose's abdomen.
Someone had gutted her.
"I can't stop the bleeding," he sobbed, pained breaths wracking his chest. "She's losing too much. I can't stop it. I can't..."
"Rose? Rosie!" I touched her cheek, her skin pale and growing colder by the second. "Rosie, who did this to you?"
Her glassy eyes looked up at me and sharpened with focus for a second. When her lips moved, only a breath of a sound came out.
"You're going to be okay, honey." My hand trembled on her cheek. I was certain my forced smile was just as shaky. "We're all here. We love you and we're not letting you go. But we need to know, beautiful. Who did this?"
Her lips moved again, slower. Through the shock and panic of my racing mind, I tried my best to make out her words.
"...Ba...by..."
"Baby?"
Her chin dipped slightly in the weakest form of a nod.
"Elias, the baby!" I cried out with sudden realization. "Is the baby alive?"
"I don't know, I...I'm just trying to hold her wound closed!"
With what little remained of her strength, Rose stretched a bloodsoaked hand down to wrap around my brother's, her mate's.
"...Save...baby..."
He looked at her with red-rimmed blue eyes, full of love and pain. At some point, Erik shifted back and placed his hand on top of hers.
"Love, if he doesn't keep pressure on your wound..." Erik's sentence trailed off, unable to voice the unbearable truth hanging in the air.
"...Baby...is...future...everything..."
I leaned my forehead down to hers, still holding her cheek, while trying to be strong.
My sister, my best friend's life was slipping away. Even now, she was putting others before herself. Everything about this was so wrong. I didn't know what to do, how to deal. So I just stayed with her.
"I love you, my sister." I pressed a shaky kiss to her forehead. "We'll take care of your baby. Go run across the sky and chase the moon. We'll meet you there."
Her lips curved into the tiniest of smiles, a sign that she heard me. Then her jaw slacked and the light left her eyes.
"Rose?" Erik choked out.
She didn't answer and her body went eerily still.
"She's...gone," Elias whispered in disbelief.
But we couldn't just sit here and mourn her. I was going to do my damndest to carry out her final wish.
"Move your hands, Elias." The words came out robotically, like my body had shut down all emotions. "We need to get the baby out."
It was almost like instinct took over. I had barely any recollection of digging through the open wound in my best friend’s body, moving aside her now-defunct organs, and getting up to my elbows in blood. But no memory will ever be clearer than pulling a live, squirming puppy out of the carnage.
"Give me your shirt," I instructed Elias. "I need to clear her airways."
Erik shifted back to wolf form and used his tongue to help clear his daughter's nose and mouth. Her eyes wouldn't be open for a few weeks. Our pups were always born in wolf form, and as I rubbed the shirt over her tiny body, sleek black fur began to emerge.
"Look." I turned her over to show her fathers the small patch of white fur on her chest.
"She has a little bit of us," Elias whispered in a daze. "But she's mostly her mother."
I thrust the T-shirt wrapped puppy at his chest, reality hitting me like a cold slap to the face. "We need to tell the alphas now. Whoever did this must not have wanted the packs to merge. They—"
Erik's head snapped to the side, lips pulled back as he released a dangerous growl.
"I smell Nyx." Elias held the baby protectively against his chest. "They must have heard the howls."
My body froze. Pack Nyx would help, right? They'd want justice for whoever did this to their alpha's daughter. And Pack Lux would do everything we could to help, considering we were family now. So why was my gut clenched in fear?
The answer revealed itself as a small group of dark wolves came running up to us, with Dario leading the way. They shifted to their human form and all gasped in horror as one.
I couldn’t help the growl that escaped me as Dario had the audacity to approach Rose’s body. If anyone was responsible for this, it was him. I knew it in my bones.
“What’s happened to the alpha’s daughter?” he asked angrily, ignoring my warning glare.
The group of Nyx pack members began surrounding my best friend’s body, gently moving my brothers away from her and speaking to them.
“You would know!” I screamed back at him. “You never wanted her to mate my brothers! This has you written all over it, Dario!”
He jumped back, placing a hand over his heart as a wounded expression fell over his face. “I would never. She is my future alpha!”
“You wanted her for yourself, you murderous bastard!” I lunged at him, but was quickly grabbed and held
back by a couple pack members.
“Careful with your accusations, little wolf. You’re crossing the line by laying the fault on me.” Dario bared his teeth at me. “Colton, examine her. See if the beast who did this left any traces of evidence.”
Some Lux pack began filtering into the clearing, all wearing the same masks of horror on their faces, as the Nyx wolf named Colton began sniffing around at Rose’s body.
“I only smell her mates on her. No other scent.” He continued to examine her wounds, then the rest of her. He reached down and opened her clenched fist at her side.
“White fur,” Colton explained. He gave it a deep sniff, then turned and growled maliciously at my brothers standing behind him. “Their white fur. The scent is undeniable.”
“So what?” I argued with the wolf. “They're her mates, so you’re likely to find their fur on her!”
“But a clump this large, and embedded in her nails, suggests she was fighting for her life,” Colton argued back, turning his glare back on my brothers. Both of whom were obviously horrified that anyone would think they’d hurt Rose.
“They’re her mates! Killing her would be like killing themselves!”
“Enough! I think we’ve got enough evidence to bring to our alpha. If any other wolf had killed her she’d be saturated in their scent. Nyx! Grab these murderous traitors and secure the baby!”
“NO!” I tried as hard as I could to fight off the wolves holding onto me, but I wasn’t strong enough. I could do nothing as snarls and growls filled the air, and my brothers fought against the overpowering force of the Nyx wolves. I watched helplessly as their sweet pup was ripped from Erik’s grasp and taken away from us all.
My brothers shouted their pleas of innocence, yet still they were dragged away. It wasn’t until they were quiet in the distance that I was released. Dario ordered the two wolves to watch over Rose’s body, then turned to me. His grin was sadistic. I knew then, without a shadow of a doubt, he’d set up my brothers to take the fall for this.
“You will pay,” I told him coldly, vowing to myself that he wouldn’t get away with this.
“For what? I’ve done nothing.” He gave me another dark smile, then followed after the rest of the packs.
My brothers would not go down for this. I swore it.
CHAPTER 7
Emmaline
I felt nothing looking at the empty vessel in the casket. The cold, pale face looking peacefully asleep, the long black hair braided with strands of silver woven through, and the delicate hands laid over a single moonflower—none of it was Rose.
Rose was gone, her absence leaving a void in me like a black hole. She was up among the stars now, chasing the moon across the sky. Walking up to the body that used to house her beautiful, kind spirit felt like a charade.
Several pairs of dark, suspicious eyes followed me as I touched her cold hand. All the warmth and trust was gone between our two packs. Now there was only simmering tension and resentment, threatening to boil over. I was surprised the Nyx alphas allowed me and a small group of Lux representatives at Rose's funeral. There was still no word on the fate of my brothers. I could only hope Pack Nyx would be merciful.
At my side, Owen rested a protective hand on my back, a low growl in his throat as he faced down all the dirty looks from his packmates. The tension in the air was wound tighter than a violin string. Pack Nyx wanted blood, and that was what scared me the most.
"I won't say goodbye," I whispered to the body in the casket before we moved along. "But I'll see you again one day, sister."
Owen gently guided me back to stand with Trent, Quinn, and the rest of Pack Lux as everyone finished paying their respects. The dirty looks extended to my dark-haired fated mate now, standing tall and unfazed in a sea of fair skin and pale hair. I squeezed his hand, unable to voice my appreciation for him standing up to his pack, for never leaving my side.
Owen turned his head and brushed a comforting kiss on my temple. Behind me, Quinn rubbed my neck and kissed the back of my head. On my other side, Trent clasped my opposite hand and brought the back of my palm to his lips. The affection of my mates brought a calm feeling over me. So much was up in the air now, but with their love to support me, I could get through this. And maybe, eventually, I could even heal.
A silence settled over the gathering of mostly-Nyx wolves as their alphas, Rose's parents, stepped up to speak.
Rose's mother, her long black hair and black mourning clothes making her look like a young Morticia Addams, released a shaky breath as she opened her mouth.
"Our daughter, the future of Pack Nyx, was ripped away from us in a cruel act of violence," she began, her voice carrying to reach everyone. "As our ancestors have done for thousands of years, we will carry out retribution for her wrongful death."
My heart sank like a brick to my stomach.
"There is a silver lining to this, however." Rose's dad, a handsome man with crows feet at his eyes and wisps of silver in his black hair, forced a tired, shaky smile. "Before she passed, our Rose blessed us with a beautiful granddaughter. She is healthy and strong, a Nyx alpha to the core. We have lost so much, but our grandpup is a tiny seed of brightness and hope for the future of our pack."
He paused to allow a chorus of howls from the sea of dark wolves, mournful mixed with celebratory. I clamped my jaw, fighting the urge to join in and sing to the moon about my love for my dead sister.
Dario wiped a tear that I knew wasn't really there. I didn't even realize I was growling until Owen squeezed my shoulder and whispered to me to calm down.
All eyes fell on Rose's mother when the howling faded, her face growing stern and determined. My throat grew impossibly dry, my breath stuck in my chest. She had to know Dario did it, right? It didn't matter that he was part of her pack, everyone knew how jealous and creepy he was. A pack member attacking their own was all the more reason to punish him harshly.
"We have examined the evidence, conducted interviews, and discussed this crime against our pack with our council of elders, and have reached a decision," she announced.
My heart stopped. I was there! I screamed in my head. Nobody came and talked to me! Owen squeezed tighter around my shoulder.
"The life of an alpha is worth two betas," she continued. "Therefore, those responsible for her murder, Erik and Elias Lux, will be sentenced to death."
"No!"
Was that my voice echoing off the trees?
Three sets of hands clasped me tightly, holding me in place before I even realized I'd started to lurch forward. The shrewd, dark eyes of the Nyx alphas landed on me. There was no sympathy in those eyes. Their minds had been made up.
My knees buckled underneath me, and I slowly lowered them to ground with my head bowed.
"Alphas, please." My teeth chattered. "I mean no disrespect. I'm begging you, humbly, to reconsider. My brothers loved Rose with every ounce of their souls. They were fated! You've known all three of us since we were pups. Please, please, spare them. They are not responsible for her murder."
I lifted my head to see a small crack of sympathy on the face of Rose's father. "We did not make this decision lightly. But all the evidence points to them, I'm afraid."
"Bullshit!" one of my Lux packmates spat. "Emmy is right. No Lux wolf would murder an innocent, let alone his own mate! On the other hand, Nyx has some shifty characters in its ranks. Why don't you look at the shadows in your own closet before you take more innocent lives?"
"You shut the fuck up, you bleached piece of shit!" Dario snarled, his canines elongating.
"You're exactly what I'm talking about, creepy fucker!"
The world turned into a fast-moving blur around me. I couldn't make sense of anything, except for the flashes of black, white, and red zooming across my vision.
Wait, red...?
Something warm and wet landed on my cheek, and my surroundings exploded into horrifying detail. Wolves growling, biting, choking, bleeding. Black against white. Some already lay motionless on the gr
ound.
"Emmy!"
Hands roughly clasped the sides of my face and Trent's green eyes filled my vision.
"We have to get out of here! It's not safe, we have to fall back, deep in the woods."
"Okay," I nodded numbly. This wasn't really happening, was it? "Where's Owen?"
"There's no time," Quinn said urgently. "The Nyx wolves outnumber us, we'll be slaughtered."
"We can't leave without Owen!" I cried, panic taking over, as I spun around, looking for the beautiful black fur of my soulmate in the carnage.
It was awful, heartbreaking. All around me, wolves were tearing each other apart. All over a betrayal no one could see right in front of them.
A dark blur zoomed across the battlefield. I struggled to follow it with my eyes, as Trent and Quinn dragged me forcefully up the side of a hill.
"Owen!" I cried.
It was him, running around trying to break up fights. He pulled wolves apart by grabbing their scruffs in his teeth and wrenching the combatants apart. It didn't matter if the fur was black or white. My mate was trying to save lives.
"Owen!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
He paused and lifted his head. My heart leaped with relief as he started up the hill toward us. In mere seconds I'd have my soulmate back in my arms.
But my relief was short-lived, as a Nyx wolf grabbed his scruff and started hauling him back in the opposite direction.
"No! Owen!"
"We can't, love. I'm so sorry." Trent and Quinn held me back, pulling me deeper into the woods.
Owen struggled, growling and twisting, but another Nyx packmate helped pull him back. They were rounding up all of their own members and retreating toward the city.
My heart couldn't take anymore, and finally shattered. First my sister, then my brothers, now my mate—all ripped away from me.
As Trent and Quinn carried my sobbing, broken, dead weight deep into the safety of our territory, all I could cling to was what Owen said to me the night we first met.
Would the moon have bound our souls together if we were not meant for each other?
To be continued in The Shades of Wolves.
Coming soon from K.B. Everly and Crystal Ash!
Bound to Change: A Limited Edition Spring Shifter Romance Collection Page 42