Ivy’s gaze slammed from one to the other as they argued until finally, she broke through their voices and gasped, ‘Get help.’
Mariella surged out of the spring and began to run down the hill, calling for help.
Water lapped around Ivy, the push of it battering at her, making her lose her contact with the wall—the only thing keeping her upright. She began to slide down as the waves caused by Mariella’s departure faded. It was so warm. So gentle as it moved against her, around her. She could just sink down and down and—
‘Ivy.’
Paul’s arm slipped around her shoulders, pulling her up, holding her against him. Support. Comfort. She wanted it. Longed for it. She looked up at him, her vision swimming as if she was drunk. ‘Thank you.’
‘Don’t thank me. I’m so sorry, Ivy.’
‘Why are you sorry?’
‘This is my fault.’
‘What are you … talking about?’ Why was it so hard to get the words out?
‘Hubris. I’m being punished for it. You’re being punished for it.’ He brushed damp hair off her forehead and cupped her face. ‘I thought I was saving you. I thought I could change things.’ He barked out a laugh. ‘But Fate truly is a bitch.’
She reached up and touched his dear face—dear face? The thought surprised her but she couldn’t deny the truth of it. She loved his face. ‘Don’t talk like … that. The Fates … will hear you.’
‘Ivy.’ He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. ‘It’s way too late for that,’ he said against her skin.
She wanted to ask what he meant, but her mind was such a muddle now and her lips suddenly refused to form words. She was sleepy. So sleepy. Her eyelids started to close.
‘Ivy! Stay with me. Don’t you leave me. You can’t leave me.’
Her wolf whimpered inside her, clawing just under her skin as if wanting to get out, but somehow unable to manifest the change.
There was shouting, running feet. Water splashed around her, over her, lapping up to her chin,
‘Ivy!"
Stellan? That was Stellan. Why did he sound so panicked? He was never panicked. He was a guardian. They were trained to keep their cool.
Why wasn’t he keeping his cool?
‘What’s wrong? What happened?’ More voices, more splashes, more water lapping over her. She coughed as some got in her mouth, the mineral taste buzzing under her tongue.
Paul’s arms tightened around her.
‘No, don’t move her!" That was Mariella’s cry, coming now from behind them.
‘But she’s sick. We have to get her back to Abby. She’s probably having a relapse.’
Stellan’s hands were on her, pulling, and then they were yanked away.
‘Hey!"
There was growling all around—Luke and Jackson and maybe the other wolves who’d come today—so much violence in the air. And power. It sparked around her, shooting slivers of lightning across her skin, sinking into her pores. She moaned as the power sank into her, firing through her veins and down to her hand.
‘Stop!" Paul’s voice just above her head, his anguish screaming through her as his arms tightened around her. ‘You’re making her worse.’
‘Ivy. Ivy.’ Stellan sounded like he was fighting somebody—something—his voice strained. ‘Let me take her to Abby. She’s going to die if you don’t let us go now.’
‘Paul’s going to die if you make her let go of him.’
‘What?’
The word was shouted from multiple lips, violence a threat away.
‘Why would you want him dead?’ That was Luke. ‘Is that why you came here? To kill our only Pack Warlock? Do the McClunes want war?’
‘No. You misunderstand. She is the only thing keeping him here.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Look. Look at his skin. Look at where she’s touching him. He’s done something to damage his soul. He was turning into a shade—but she’s keeping him here. Healing him.’
The water stilled around them as Stellan and the others stopped thrashing against whomever—or whatever—was holding them. ‘What the holy fuck.’
She would have giggled if not for the fact she had no control over her body now, everything inside her pushing towards Paul. She could feel it so clearly now. She had no idea how or why, but there was an echo of a bond and she had linked to it, was channelling her wolf-energy into it.
Her wolf was giving itself up to save Paul. She was giving herself up to save Paul. To save the pack. He’d damaged his soul—was that what she’d been feeling?—and she, for whatever reason, was the only one who could fix it.
‘What is she doing?’
‘She’s giving her lifeforce to save him.’
‘How? She doesn’t have the ability to do that. No wolf has the ability to do that.’
‘They do if they’re mates.’
Paul jerked as if punched. ‘No. It’s got nothing to do with that.’
‘There is no true bond, you’re right,’ Tony said, eyes unfocused as he used his powers.
‘But the tear in your soul is where a bond might be,’ Mariella continued. ‘There’s one in her too. You said she was sick recently?’
‘What did you do, Paul?’ Stellan asked. ‘What the hell did you do?’
He stared at his friend. What could he say? How could he explain? ‘You don’t understand. I did it to save her.’
‘Does it look like you’re saving her?’ A menacing growl rumbled in his friend’s chest. ‘Are you the reason she was so sick? That she was in a coma? You were with her the night she fell ill. But I never thought … How could you do this to her?’
‘I didn’t do it. I tried to save her. She was going to die. I couldn’t let her die.’
‘Enough!" Mariella snapped. ‘We don’t have time now for twenty questions. We have to get them back to Iris and Abby as quickly as possible. Maybe together we can stop her giving her lifeforce to save him.’
‘How do we do that if we can’t separate them?’
‘Lift them carefully. Tony, Frankie and I will create a cushion of air around them as you lift. Josie, can you please monitor their auras? Let us know if there are any unexpected fluctuations.’
‘I don’t know what I’m looking for.’
‘I think you will know if you see it. Now, on three. One, two, three.’
Paul wanted to help, but he was unable to move, unable to use his powers. Magic sparked around him and Ivy as the McClune Pack Witches wove a spell of air around them, a bubble of protection to make certain they weren’t jolted as Stellan and cohort lifted them and carried them down the hill.
Ivy was semi-wound around him now, almost lying on top of him as they were carried, her arm lying across his chest where it grabbed his forearm. He curved his free arm around her back, gripping tight. Her free arm lay across his stomach, her fingertips grazing across his abdomen, the hard muscles under the firm skin twitching. Her head lolled on his shoulder, tucked under his chin.
It felt so right to have her there. But it was wrong. So wrong. He wanted to stop her from what she was doing, but didn’t have a clue how.
It was too difficult to get them onto the back seat with the way they were ‘attached’, so they ended up in the boot of one of the 4WDs after Siobhan and Chloe had laid the back seats down flat. Stellan, Luke, Tony and Mariella crowded in with them to keep them from moving and to keep the bubble of cushioning air around them.
The car moved off over the bumpy dirt road. Ivy moaned as they were jolted.
Mariella said, ‘We have to float them.’
‘Okay.’ Tony’s voice sounded strained, but a moment later, they rose to float a few inches above the carpeting of the boot.
‘Can you keep that up?’ Paul asked them.
‘We have to,’ Mariella said, her voice as strained as Tony’s had been. ‘But you need to hurry,’ she shouted over her shoulder at Jackson.
‘I’m trying,’ Jackson called back.
&nb
sp; Ivy muttered something and Paul bent down to listen. ‘… in your arms. Warm … right … like way you smell.’ Her head lolled on his shoulder and her eyes rolled up into her head.
He tightened his arms around her. ‘Ivy. Ivy. Stay with me.’
‘What’s wrong?’ Stellan said, voice panicked.
‘She’s falling unconscious. Can’t you do something?’ he asked Mariella.
‘I don’t know what to do.’
‘You have to stop her from doing what she’s doing.’ His gaze searched for his friend’s, begged.
Stellan reached for Ivy’s hand, but Mariella stopped him. ‘Don’t.’
‘But he looks more stable now.’
‘That’s only because of whatever she’s doing. I have no idea what will happen if you take away the link between them. I haven’t ever seen anything like this before.’
‘But it’s making Ivy weak,’ Paul muttered.
Mariella’s chin wobbled, her facial muscles twitching as if fighting back tears. ‘I am sorry to say this, but she is one wolf in a pack of many. You are the one and only heir to the Collins line. I cannot stop her from doing whatever she’s doing if it means you die. Not even if it means she will die.’
‘No. She can’t die. She was supposed to live.’
‘What did you see, Paul? What did you do?’ Stellan asked.
He shook his head, firmed his jaw. ‘It doesn’t matter. I can’t take it back.’
‘Stubborn warlock. Whatever you did is killing you.’
‘That wasn’t supposed to happen.’
‘And you won’t tell us what was supposed to happen?’
‘No. At least, not to you. Not here.’ His head bobbed a little, trying to make them see he couldn’t discuss this in front of Ivy. Even if she was unconscious.
‘Idiot.’ The whispered word vibrated in his chest.
‘Ivy?’ Relief gushed through him, making him dizzy.
‘You’re awake.’ Stellan leaned forward to touch her brow. ‘What did you say, Ivy?’
‘Idiot.’
There was silence and then a choked laugh. ‘Is she calling me or you an idiot?’
‘Paul,’ she said. ‘Although … you too.’
Stellan choked out a laugh. ‘Brat.’
She smiled then closed her eyes again. ‘Sleepy,’ she said.
‘You need to keep your eyes open, Ivy, okay? I don’t know what will happen if you lose consciousness.’
Ivy nodded. ‘Hard.’
‘Please, Ivy. For me.’ He knew he shouldn’t ask, but he was desperate.
‘Okay,’ she slurred, shifting her head to look up at him. ‘Talk to me.’
He had no idea what he said—babbling nonsense—but he talked more than he’d talked for years.
‘How long?’ he heard Mariella whisper to Stellan.
‘Ten minutes.’
Suddenly Ivy jerked, her eyes flaring wide.
‘Ivy? What’s wrong?
‘My wolf? I can’t feel my wolf.’
‘What?’ Paul said sharply. He looked up at Stellan, at Mariella and her coven mates. ‘You have to do something. She can’t lose her wolf. She won’t survive.’
‘I’m not bonded to your pack.’
‘Please, do something.’ A sob escaped him, tears wetting his face.
‘I’ll try.’
‘Drive faster,’ Stellan yelled.
The car jerked and bumped along the road, those in the back with him and Ivy doing their best to not bounce around while keeping as much energy on ensuring he and Ivy were in their stable bubble.
‘We’re here,’ Jackson yelled soon after.
Car doors slammed and the boot opened and then they were moving again on their cloud of air. He was impressed that Mariella and Tony were still able to keep up the spell. They must be stronger than he’d realised. Then Abby and Iris were there hovering over them, shooting questions at everyone as they ushered them quickly inside.
They were taken into the loungeroom instead of an exam room and were laid on top of the table there. Mariella gave Iris and Abby a quick rundown about what she’d seen Paul then Ivy do and how they came to be here, her voice thick with exhaustion.
‘That was quick thinking, girl,’ Iris said. ‘I thank you on behalf of Pack McVale for keeping a calm head. Sam’s report of you is true.’
‘Thank you. But I didn’t do much of anything other than making sure they weren’t separated. I just didn’t know what was going to happen if they did.’
‘From what you said, it was the right thing to do,’ Abby said. ‘But how was he fading? You mention a shade?’
‘Yes.’
‘You have to help Ivy,’ Paul said, frustrated they were concentrating on what had happened to him and not the wolf in his arms.
Iris’ worried gaze met his. ‘I need to look at what you’ve done first. Abby, can you look at Ivy’s wolf and see what’s going on there?’
‘Will do.’
‘Link hands.’ A circle of people surrounded them—Iris, Abby and the McClune witches and warlock—and then a strange humming sounded in the air as power sparked to life around them.
Ivy jerked in his arms a few minutes later, a growl in her throat.
‘There you are, girl,’ Abby said softly. ‘Don’t hide away. Come out and let me see what’s happened to you.’
‘Don’t let her change,’ Iris said.
‘I won’t. Just enough for me to see, gorgeous wolf. There.’ Paul looked down to see Ivy’s wolf in her eyes, the prick of her claws a welcome sting on his skin. Thank the Goddess. Thank the Goddess.
‘What is this?’ Abby said, eyes closed once more. ‘It looks like—’ She gasped, eyes snapping open. ‘Do you see this, Iris?’
‘I do.’
‘How is this possible? When did this happen?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘What happened?’ Stellan asked.
But Iris shook her head. ‘I need to speak to Paul and Ivy first. Thank you everyone for your help here, but Abby and I have this in hand. Jackson and Luke, please take Mariella and her friends to the hall and make sure they are fed and given a place to rest before they flame out. Stellan, perhaps you can go and get your parents. Ivy is going to need their support when we’re finished. But tell them not to come in until we are done.’
Stellan nodded and ran out.
Mariella bent over the table, her fingers brushing his hair from his sweaty forehead, and looked him in the eye. ‘I wish you well.’
‘Mariella—’ Paul began.
She shook her head. ‘We can speak later. For now, you need to concentrate on doing what Iris and Abby say to fix what’s been done.’
He stiffened. ‘That’s impossible.’
‘You have to try.’ Her fingers stilled on his forehead. ‘So much pain. So much guilt. I wish I was the one who could heal you, but—’ her eyes flickered to Ivy, ‘—I don’t think that is destined to be my role in this world.’ She sighed, smiled sadly and then left with the others.
‘Fuck,’ Paul said.
‘Language,’ Iris remonstrated. ‘Now, let me see if I can alleviate this power drain and then we will talk.’
Paul’s arms tightened around Ivy as she made a whimpering sound. ‘Stay with me, Ivy.’
‘This might hurt,’ Iris said.
Ivy screamed.
Chapter 10
‘Can you pull back a bit, Ivy?’
She blinked her eyes open at the question. She’d floated away after Iris had poked at the broken thing inside her, the pain an echo she could still feel. ‘What?’
‘Try and pull back the power you’re feeding into Paul.’ Iris’s face wavered over her as her eyes focused.
‘How?’ She didn’t even know how she was doing it, so how could she change how she was doing it?
‘Close your eyes and think about pulling back.’
‘But what about Paul?’
‘We’ve got him. He won’t fade away just yet.’
‘Yet
?’
‘We’re still not sure what he’s done, but we’ve got him for now. You can pull back.’
‘For now?’ She shook her head, thoughts suddenly much clearer. ‘If whatever you’re doing isn’t a long-term solution, then I’m not going to stop. I’m not putting Paul in danger.’
‘You have to.’ Paul’s voice vibrated through her head—she was still lying against his chest. She should feel embarrassed, but she didn’t. It felt too right.
‘No. You can’t make me do something that will hurt you.’
‘Ivy, please. For me. Save yourself. You have to save yourself.’
She moved her head to look up at him—whatever Abby and Iris were doing had made her feel better. He looked better too despite the direness of their uncertainty. ‘We can’t lose you,’ she said. She couldn’t lose him. Her wolf couldn’t lose him.
‘It is very honourable of you, Ivy,’ Iris said. ‘But the danger isn’t as great as it was when you were brought in and you can’t continue to feed your life energy into Paul. The pack needs you too.’
‘Why? I’m not anything special. There are dozens of maternal wolves more special than me. The pack does need Paul, though, if it is to survive.’
Paul began to push at her. ‘No. You have to stop.’
‘Paul. Cease struggling,’ Iris hissed. ‘You’re making this more difficult.’
‘But you have to make her stop it, Aunty. I can’t lose Ivy.’
‘You already have, you stupid boy,’ Iris snapped. ‘You cut the mating bond.’
Ivy stilled, the words ringing in her ears. Mating bond? But that couldn’t be. They weren’t mated. And yet … Images flickered in her head of kissing him and touching him and there being so much joy it filled her soul.
‘This wasn’t supposed to happen.’ Paul’s words brought her back with a snap. ‘She was supposed to be fine. She wasn’t supposed to remember. I changed it.’
A chasm opened up inside her, one dark and deep and filled with pain. He’d rejected her. Somehow, they’d mated but he’d rejected it. Her wolf howled and she couldn’t help but let out a sob. ‘You don’t want me.’ She wanted to pull away from him, crawl into a dark corner and die. Would have if she could have.
‘No. Don’t go, Ivy.’ Paul’s voice was a rough whisper. ‘You don’t understand.’
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