by Ava Mason
Laughing, euphoric from my battle win, I nodded my head at him. Then Avery was next. He held me, kissing me on the mouth, then he leaned back, his face angry. “You’re lucky I didn’t blow the bastard’s head off with a rifle. Your friend Ashton had to talk me out of it.”
I couldn’t stop smiling and nodding. “I know, I know.” It was all I could say. Then Christian grabbed me, his hands already pulsing warmth. He was grinning and speechless, so I just hugged him close.
The rest of the pack scattered, with Garrett’s most devoted members jumping into their cars. Other members, the old ones I knew and trusted, ran for me. I was swallowed up in a mash of arms and legs and bodies.
I clung to my guys, needing their touch. I felt their healing warmth, their loving caress. And then I pushed against them, pushing the crowd away from me and fell to my knees. I scrambled towards Shayne and suddenly felt my necklace hang from my shoulders. I looked up as Easton clasped it around my neck.
Easton, always foreseeing, always knowing what I need.
Then I reached for Shayne, crying because I already knew that it was too late. But I was determined to try.
I closed my eyes, holding the diamond to my chest. It burned and throbbed and I felt the pulse of my blue magic as it surrounded me.
I directed it towards Shayne, squeezing my eyes tight, looking for a spark of life in his body.
But everywhere I looked was dead.
There were no magical lights, no glow, nothing to grasp on to.
Tears streamed down my face, but I didn’t give up. I couldn’t give up.
Fuck, I have to do something. He died because of me.
Hunter yanked on my shoulders and I realized that he was calling in my ear.
“It’s too late, baby. It’s too late.” He pulled me into his lap, wrapping my legs around his torso, and I leaned into him crying. He smothered me with kisses, ran his hands through my hair. “It’s too late, baby.” And then I realized that he was crying too, that he felt my pain. I opened my eyes to see my whole clan surrounded me, tears streaming down their faces, crying with me.
I sucked in a deep breath, trying to control myself. Feeling so fucking grateful that they were here with me. That they were still alive. That I didn’t have to shoulder this alone. Their warmth and love surrounded me, pressed into me from all sides, and I was lifted up, comforted, knowing that no matter what happened from here on out, that I had them.
They were my clan, my guys, lovers and friends.
Mine.
“Everyone calm down!” A loud voice ripped through the remaining crowd. I leaned back, looking around in confusion and saw the guy in the suit. Oh, shizzle. I forgot about him. His shoes weren’t even marred by the crowd or the dirt and they made their way towards me. I growled and pushed myself away from Hunter, standing up.
“You. You killed my dad.”
He shrugged, holding out his hands. “I could have.”
I suddenly noticed that there were several men surrounding the area, each with tactical gear and guns focused on the crowd. They were pushing people down onto their knees. A low rumble emerged from my throat and hair spurt through my skin. My necklace pulsed and throbbed at my throat.
“You have no authority here.”
He looked around innocently. “Well you yourself just admitted to the crowd that I’m the one who killed your father. If that’s true, that makes me the Alpha.”
I shook my head, and five soldiers moved towards me, all with guns trained on me and my guys. “I just killed Garrett.” I motioned towards his ugly, dead body. “I’m the Alpha here.”
He put his hand to his chin. “Well, I think we can all admit that he wasn’t the true leader of this pack. I was just letting him play Alpha for a little while.” His hand went to his pocket, and he pulled out his handkerchief, then wiped his brow.
My guys all moved at once and I felt their dragon magic pulsing from them. I growled and started shifting but he put his hand up, stopping us. “I wouldn’t try anything if I were you. These guns are not filled with bullets.”
I looked at the guns and my whole body grew cold as I realized that they weren’t rifles like I thought, but were the same weapons the guards in the museum had. Dragons’ breath. I stilled, knowing we would incinerate in seconds.
He smiled. “I thought you had mistaken them for the guns you Americans like to use.” He called us Americans but I couldn’t detect any accent.
He made a motion and his soldiers moved forward with the speed only a magical being can make. One of them pointed his gun towards Avery’s head while three others pulled out collars, exactly like the one that Dex had on him. They’d keep us from shifting or using any magical powers.
Easton threatened to move but one of the guards trained his gun directly at me. Giving in, Easton stopped. Smirking, a guard wrapped one of the collars around Easton’s neck, then slammed his gun into Easton’s back. Easton grunted and the guard kicked the backs of Easton’s knees.
“Kneel down.”
Easton fell to his knees.
I stared angrily at the man in the suit, wishing looks could kill. One by one, the guards clipped collars around their necks, then forced them to their knees. When they got to me, I didn’t make them force me but I fell to my knees voluntarily. The guard knelt over, clipping the collar around my neck and purred in my ear. “Good little pussy.”
“I’m not a cat, I’m a fucking wolf, you idiot.”
“Oh, I know.” He smirked again and walked off.
“Shut up, Walker.” The man in the suit snapped at my guard, and Walker nodded his head obediently, then turned to me, tipping his head. “Sorry, ma’am.”
I didn’t answer, and the man in the suit turned to the guard at his left. “Get her some clothes, will you?”
“Yes, sir.” The guard nodded, then ran past me towards the house. The rest of the guards prodded us with their feet to line up in a row, and I knew that they were corralling the rest of my pack into groups. Jerk-suit pulled a cigar out of his pocket and a pocket knife. He cut off the tip and, pocketing the knife for a lighter, lit it.
He took in a puff and I smelled the strong scent of Vanilla bourbon, as he strode back and forth between us.
My hands were now cuffed behind my back, but I didn’t bother reminding them that it was going to be hard to put clothes on while handcuffed. “You’re Elias, I presume.”
He smiled. “Oh, so you have heard of me.”
“Only in passing. Garrett didn’t talk about you much.”
“For some reason, that doesn’t surprise me.” He showed me his teeth in an attempt at a smile, then he walked to Shayne’s body, looking down at it sadly. He snapped his fingers at another soldier. “Get this body out of here. Treat it respectfully, let them mourn him if they wish.” Two guards picked him up gingerly, one by the head, the other by the feet, and I swallowed the lump in my throat. I felt the restlessness of my guys and knew that they were dying to do something.
I glanced at Garrett and nodded my head towards him. “What about him?”
He made a face. “I don’t really have any respect towards fallen Alphas, unfortunately.”
I growled, knowing that he was not just speaking of Garrett, but of my dad too.
He chuckled. “Calm down, little pup. I meant no disrespect towards your father.” He took another puff of his cigar. “Let’s just say, there’s no love lost between that guy and me.” He nodded his head towards Garrett. I felt a warm sensation of satisfaction that Garrett would lie for the vultures to take him. It’s not how I would’ve done it, but at this point it wasn’t my call.
Finally, Easton burst out. “What the hell are we doing here? What are you going to do with us?” His collar sparked to life and I knew that it was suppressing his dragon power.
Elias casually walked over to him, then leaned down, smiling in his face. “I’m just waiting on someone.” He straightened, then put his hand out, waving someone forward. “And just on time, too.”
We all spun to look behind us. My whole body turned cold as ice as the body of soldiers parted to reveal James walking through them.
He walked casually, not looking at us, but instead he smiled at Elias. “Sorry, sir. I was delayed.”
I froze in shock and my mind sputtered. What did he just say?
Then James walked up to me and leaned over, his hand going to the back of my neck. He whispered in my ear. “I’ll be expecting a prize for this, pet.” Then he unclasped my necklace and turned…
For a second I was confused… What the hell was going on?
And then, completing his perfectly enacted betrayal, he stood up and handed it over to Elias’ waiting hand.
THE END
A note to my readers:
I felt the need to write this note, to express my feelings about something that I’ve touched on in this book. When I first wrote about Sophia, I had no idea the kind of impact it would have on certain readers. Readers who have struggled with fertility problems, or problems having children. But I soon came to find out that you may have clung to her, wanting to comfort her, because you understood her.
I want you to know that I did not make the decision to heal Sophia lightly.
All of us struggle with something… Depression, thoughts of suicide, the pain of losing a loved one, abuse… these are only a few of the many things that can happen in our lives.
Are we better people because of it?
Would we be better people if these problems just disappeared? Magically, like Elizabeth’s ability to heal Sophia?
I cannot answer this question, nor do I want to. Everyone has their own story to tell.
I can honestly say that some of my own struggles have made me a stronger person. A better person.
Yet other issues make me weaker.
Either that, or I have not conquered them yet.
Whatever your story is, it is yours.
I chose to heal Sophia because this is Lizzy’s story. She would do the absolute most she could possibly do for her clan, for the people she loved.
And it isn’t fair.
I know this.
It isn’t fair that in fiction, problems can be magically healed, people can heal, hope for children magically restored, even when reality is nothing like this.
I don’t understand your exact pain, but I have felt devastating pain. Heart crushing, depressing building, hole swallowing pain.
If I could magically bring people back to life, then I would do it. In a heartbeat.
And while I can’t do this in real life, I can do one thing, and that is to heal Sophia in my books.
But it doesn’t take anything away from you.
I hope you know this.
I hope you are okay.
Rage of Dragons
Pre-rder the LAST book in the series (kindof) here!
Around Christmas, I hope to release a book on my own website that will be from Easton’s POV of view. A happily ever after of sorts. Interested? Sign up here to get a notification when if it becomes available.
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Copyright © 2018 by Ava Mason
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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