by Lola Gabriel
Kiefer brought the knife down, slamming it into Ellery’s stomach. A cry of agony was wrenched from Grey’s lips as he saw the blade pierce Ellery’s skin, the blood running from the wound, the pain in her eyes. She couldn’t voice her pain; Kiefer wasn’t allowing that, but it was clear to see all the same. Kiefer removed the blade and slammed it down again. He was being careful not to hit any vital organs yet. It was clear to Grey he wanted to drag this out, to make them both suffer for as long as possible.
With each new thrust of Kiefer’s knife, a new wound appeared on Ellery’s body. Each time, Grey cried out his anguish in his quiet voice. He wasn’t acting now. The pain he felt with each knife stroke was real. Ellery was immortal, but she could still feel pain, and he saw it in her eyes each time Kiefer dug the knife into her.
The feeling of powerlessness and anger was overwhelming and Grey hovered on the brink of unconsciousness. He could just close his eyes, slip into peaceful oblivion. But he wouldn’t allow himself to do that. He wanted to feel every knife stroke with Ellery, hoping she would take some comfort in knowing he was feeling it right along with her.
Kiefer was slowing down now, his plunging knife strokes less enthusiastic. He raised the knife once more and plunged it into Ellery’s heart, bored of the game now. Grey cried out once more. Kiefer nodded in satisfaction, moving back from Ellery slightly, his attention focused on Grey now.
Ellery lay still, not moving a muscle. Grey had no idea if she was just playing dead, waiting for the right moment to get up and run, or whether Kiefer was still controlling her, needing to be certain she was dead before he released her from his magical hold.
He hoped it was the former. It was Ellery’s one chance at surviving this.
15
Ellery’s body was ablaze with pain. She had felt each stroke of the blade cutting her, and the final one, the one that plunged into her heart, had been almost unbearable. But she knew she had one up on Kiefer. He didn’t know she was a wolf. He didn’t know she would heal.
As he stabbed the knife into her heart, she had felt his control leave her. She was already starting to heal, and she was confident she was healed enough to move when the time came. She just had to wait for Kiefer to move away from the bed, to leave the room, and then tomorrow, he would pay. Boy, would he fucking pay. She had promised Grey she would hang back and let him and the pack take care of Kiefer, but that promise had been made before this happened. Now, she planned on ripping Kiefer apart herself, tearing strips of flesh off him one by one until he died in agony.
There was one problem with Ellery’s plan. Kiefer didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave. He moved back to the end of the bed, looking at Grey, grinning. His grin made her want to jump up and go for him, but she knew she had to get her timing just right if she was going to be able to take him down now. She needed him to be closer to her, because if she sprang up now, Kiefer would control her mind again and she would be powerless to stop him as he killed her for real this time.
“How does it feel to lose the only thing that matters to you, Grey?” Kiefer asked, a sick smile of glee on his lips.
“Fuck you,” Grey snapped at him.
Kiefer made a tutting sound with his tongue.
“Is that any way to talk to a guest?” he said.
“Fuck you,” Grey repeated.
“I don’t know that you’re my type,” Kiefer smiled. “But maybe I’ll fuck her.”
Ellery tensed her muscles as Kiefer stepped toward her. He was going to climb on top of her to torture Grey. He was making it almost too easy. But then he stopped after one step and threw his head back and laughed.
“She’s a wolf shifter, isn’t she?” Kiefer laughed. “You’ve turned her already.”
Ellery knew he had seen her healed skin. He wasn’t making it easy after all. She had to act now, even if the timing was less than perfect. She sprang into the air, but Kiefer was back in her mind within half a second and she felt herself being pushed back down onto the mattress.
“You thought you could fool me?” Kiefer said.
The amusement had gone out of his voice now and he sounded angry. Ellery couldn’t work Kiefer out. Somehow, abducting him for their own gain was okay by him, but making his working life harder wasn’t. And murder was fine, but thinking they could trick him wasn’t. It was some seriously twisted logic, the kind Ellery thought she could go crazy trying to figure out.
“Never mind,” Kiefer said, answering himself when it was clear Grey wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of a response. “In some ways, this really made our game more fun. You got to watch your mate in a shit-ton of pain, Grey, knowing there was nothing you could do to stop it. And now, you get to watch all over again as she dies. For real this time.”
“She’s immortal, you fool,” Grey snapped.
“Yes. Unless I kill her with silver or Ure. You think I don’t know the rules of our world, Grey? And bearing in mind you already know my original plan was to kill you tonight, do you think I didn’t come prepared?” Kiefer grinned.
He pulled a gun from his pocket. Ellery wanted to shrink away, but she still couldn’t move. Kiefer smiled as he raised the gun and pointed it at Ellery.
“The bullets in the gun are silver. It will kill you,” Kiefer said to Ellery. He turned to Grey. “Do you have anything you want to say to her before I blow her brains out?”
“I’m so sorry I failed you,” Grey said. “And I will always love you.”
Ellery felt tears in her eyes. She still couldn’t speak, but she hoped Grey could read the words in her eyes. She hoped he could see her apology for having blown her chance to take Kiefer out. And mostly, she hoped he could see the love she had for him shining out. This wasn’t the way she had pictured their time together ending, and in her mind, the end certainly hadn’t come this quickly, but despite everything, Ellery wished more than anything that she could tell Grey that she wouldn’t change meeting him and falling in love with him for even a second. If she was offered a do-over right now, she would still be right here by his side, even if that meant she had to die.
Ellery flinched inside, although Kiefer’s hold on her didn’t allow her to show it, as Kiefer released the safety on the gun. The click sounded too loud in the otherwise quiet room.
This is it, she thought to herself. Goodbye cruel world and all that.
The bedroom door burst open with a crash and a large, black wolf burst in, roaring. It threw itself at Kiefer. He tried, too late, to turn the gun on the wolf. The gun went off in his hand, but the bullet flew toward the ceiling, embedding itself in the plaster harmlessly and raining down a little dust on Ellery.
The wolf collided with Kiefer, knocking him onto his back. It leaned forward without a hint of hesitation and tore Kiefer’s throat out. The wolf spat out a mouthful of skin and flesh. Kiefer died instantly, which Ellery knew because the warlock’s hold on her broke and she could move again.
She sat up as the wolf turned back into its human form. Ellery was expecting to see Ariel or Luke. Her jaw dropped when she saw the woman standing in front of her.
“Lisa? What the hell?” Ellery exclaimed.
She had a hundred other questions she wanted to ask, but she was left momentarily speechless by what she had just witnessed. Lisa? A wolf shifter?
16
Grey sat stock-still on the bed even though technically he could move again. He was trying and failing to process what had just happened. When the wolf had burst into the room, he had known it wasn’t one of his pack, but he hadn’t known who it was. He had assumed it was one of the new pack members, thinking that maybe they were up pacing the halls and heard something. He never would have guessed in a million years that the wolf would be Lisa. Judging by Ellery’s reaction, she’d had no idea that Lisa was a wolf either.
Grey pushed his confusion to one side for a moment, reveling in the fact that Ellery was still okay. He was a little bit upset that he had been unable to protect her, but she was alive and safe and that was
all that really mattered right now. He turned to her, finally breaking through his stupor, and pulled her into his arms. She gripped him tightly, whispering in his ear, telling him she was okay. He never wanted to let her go again, but he forced himself to release her. He needed to know what was going on here.
Lisa still stood at the end of the bed, looking around awkwardly. Ellery pulled the duvet over herself, covering her body. Lisa glanced hopefully at Grey’s robe and he caught himself.
“Put it on,” he smiled.
She moved toward the chair his robe hung over and picked it up.
“And then I guess I have some explaining to do,” she finished for him.
Grey waited until she put the robe on and sat down in the chair she had taken it from. He nodded for her to start.
“Ellery,” Lisa said. “Before I explain everything, I want to apologize for not telling you the truth about myself. As I’m sure you’ve realized, I wasn’t being held captive with you because I was a woman with Sanmere in my blood. I was a wolf.”
“You’ve just saved my life. I can forgive you a lie,” Ellery smiled. Lisa smiled back at her. “I am curious as to why you lied, though.”
“It’s all part of my story. Can I just start from the beginning and when I’m done, if there’s anything I haven’t covered, I’ll answer your questions? Both of your questions.”
Grey nodded for Lisa to go on, taking charge of the situation, although he got the distinct impression that in Lisa’s mind, she was only really talking to Ellery and he was a bit of an afterthought. He supposed that made sense. Ellery and Lisa had been prisoners together, and had likely bonded over that shared experience in ways he couldn’t even imagine.
“I did suffer the same fate as you originally, Ellery,” Lisa began. “I was taken by Kiefer, turned, and mated to Alex. Only to me, at that time, it didn’t feel like a bad thing. It felt like I was being rescued. Kiefer didn’t have to do anything to make sure I wouldn’t be missed. It was a good ten years ago when I was taken. I was homeless, addicted to heroin. I had already lost everything and I had nothing left to live for. And then I was plucked off the streets and introduced to this life of luxury. I got clean and I felt this power inside of myself. Something I’d never felt before. I was strong, confident. And for the first time, I felt like my life mattered. It didn’t feel like I had been abducted and forced to serve Alex. It felt like I had been saved.”
Lisa paused for a moment, composing herself.
“Do you need a moment?” Grey asked. “I can go and grab you a drink or something.”
Lisa shook her head and went on.
“Over the next five or six years, I watched as more women were brought to Alex’s harem. And at first, I couldn’t work out why they all seemed so sad about it. I’m ashamed of how long it took me to see through Alex, but eventually, I did. I came to see that I had merely swapped one addiction for another, and when I saw that, I began planning my escape. I was given a lot more freedom than most of Alex’s women. He had no reason to think I would try to leave; I had always been grateful to him and it showed. I kept up the ruse and over the next few months, I really began to see what was going on. I began to hate Alex and Kiefer so much.
“I finally was able to break free and run. I spent the next two years running from the pack, and one day it hit me. While Alex and Kiefer lived, I would never be free. I returned to the district, ready to end them. I’d spent my time on the run learning everything I could about Matchmakers and about the whole system. I decided to take Kiefer down first. Except I was overconfident. I believed I was strong enough to fight his mind control, but I was very wrong. Kiefer took over my mind easily and returned me to Alex.
“I never let on that I wanted Alex dead. I told him I hated Kiefer for what he had done to me, and that was as far as my revenge plot went. Alex and Kiefer made a deal. Alex would keep me a prisoner and in return, Kiefer would give him a discount on his women. I was thrown into the warehouse with the other prisoners. That was almost a year ago. I knew I would never be chosen for obvious reasons, but the torture was real. If anything, I was tortured the most because the pack saw me as a traitor.
“To answer your original question, Ellery, when I was first thrown into the warehouse, I told the women there the truth about me. I thought we could work together and escape, but once they learned I was a wolf, they feared me. They ostracized me and I was alone. I soon learned to keep my secrets to myself and play the role of another woman in their shoes. At least that was less lonely.”
“Wow,” Ellery breathed. “That was quite a decade.”
“Yeah,” Lisa agreed. “It was. I did try to tell you when Grey and the others turned up to save us. You pushed me behind you and I tried to tell you I was okay, I was immortal too, but you were so focused on everything else, I didn’t think you’d even register what I was saying at that point.”
“I probably wouldn’t have,” Ellery admitted. “Although in hindsight, it was weird how Alex only questioned Ava’s status and not yours.”
Grey thought about everything he had heard. It all made sense except for one thing he still hadn’t been able to work out.
“I’m not complaining; you saved Ellery’s life and you have no idea how grateful I am for that,” Grey said. “But how did you know Kiefer was here tonight?”
“I knew you were planning on going after Kiefer tomorrow,” Lisa said. “I debated asking to join you, but I was afraid you would say no. And so I sneaked out tonight and went to hunt Kiefer down myself. He led me straight back here. I would have gotten to you sooner, but I ran into Luke in the corridor. I told him I couldn’t sleep and I was just pacing around. He told me I was in your private area and I should leave. Of course I had to, or I would have given myself away. I came back as soon as I saw Luke going back to his own room. Just in time, as it were.”
“Did it not occur to you to tell Luke what was happening? Ellery could have been killed before you got to us,” Grey said.
“I wanted to. But… it sounds awful, I know, after you and your pack risked everything to save us, but my main experience with wolves taught me that they were bad. I was afraid Luke would kill me because of my lies. Or lock me away and then I would be too late to take down Kiefer. I’m sorry.”
Grey thought about it for a moment. He was a little angry that Lisa had put Ellery in more danger by keeping quiet about what was happening, but he put himself in her shoes, and he had to admit he understood her reluctance to trust him.
“I understand,” he said quietly. “But here’s the deal, Lisa. Alex and his pack are the anomalies. Generally speaking, wolves live in harmony with humans. They don’t want to give themselves away and they certainly don’t want to harm humans or use them for their own entertainment.”
Lisa looked at Grey in surprise.
“Really? You mean you guys aren’t the anomalies? All of the time I was on the run, I avoided any other wolves I scented out because I assumed they would be like Alex.”
“Really,” Grey said. “I mean, some wolves are assholes. Some of every species are assholes. But generally speaking, we’re a peaceful lot.”
Lisa nodded and stood up.
“Well, if it’s okay, I’m going to leave now,” she said. “I did what I had to do and I guess I have to try and find my place in the world now.”
Grey smiled at Lisa.
“If you want to leave, you’re free to go. But if you’re looking for your place in the world, maybe you’ve already found it right here. If you want to stick around, you’re more than welcome to join my pack.”
Lisa’s face lit up as she beamed at Grey.
“I’d like that,” she said.
“Go on back to your room and we’ll discuss the finer points in the morning, because it seems my day just opened right up,” Grey grinned.
Lisa smiled again and headed for the door.
“Oh, Lisa?” Grey said. Lisa turned back to him and he grinned at her. “You owe me a new robe.”
She laughed as she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.
“Well, that was some night, huh?” Ellery said, turning to Grey once they were alone together again.
“Yup,” Grey said. “Let’s hope that’s all of the surprises out of the way and now we can just live in peace.”
He pushed the duvet off him.
“I’ll deal with Kiefer’s body and this mess in the morning. Right now, let’s go to another room, and I’ll show you what you have to look forward to every night for the rest of eternity,” Grey grinned.
Ellery jumped out of the bed and grinned back at Grey.
“Now that’s a plan I can get on board with,” she said as she met Grey at the door and wrapped her arms around him.
Epilogue
Six Weeks Later
Ellery woke up early and lay in bed thinking about how much her life had changed since the moment she had moved to Miami. The bad stuff was behind her now, and meeting Grey had made everything that came before that worthwhile. She still missed her parents terribly, but their deaths had been avenged, and she hoped that if they were looking down on her, they were happy for her.
The pack had welcomed Ellery, Lisa, and the other newcomers with open arms and Ellery soon saw that Grey had been telling her the truth. They weren’t just friends; they were like family to her.
Yesterday had been the happiest day of Ellery’s life. The whole pack had gathered to attend her mating ceremony to Grey, which again, he had been telling her the truth about. It was just like a wedding ceremony. She had even worn a wedding gown. Grey had looked delicious in his tuxedo, and it had taken a lot of willpower on Ellery’s end to make it through the reception instead of sneaking off with Grey early.
The night they’d spent together had been worth the wait, though, and Ellery was surprised she had woken up so early. They’d still been up at four, talking, kissing, making love.