The Dying Fate (The Umbra Chronicles Book 1)

by Willow Ravenheart

  "Don't test me!" Elliot growls, his jaw clenched tight enough that I can hear his teeth grinding together.

  I reach back and place my hand on Elliot's stomach in an attempt to calm him down. We really don't need Olcan rearing his ugly head right now or it could get nasty. His breath catches in his throat and he moves closer to me until he's pressed against my back. He wraps his large arms around my waist and I can feel a shiver that runs down his entire body. Denny really needs to shut up....

  "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Denny screams, launching himself at us, "Get away from her!"

  "Denny," I sigh, holding my hand forward, "leave him alone."

  "God, Macy," Denny groans before spinning around while gripping his hair, "you're still defending him! Can't you see what you're doing?"

  "I'm defending a friend!" I snap defensively.

  "So," Denny scoffs, "do you make out with all of your friends now? Am I next or is it Sebastian?"

  "THAT IS ENOUGH!" Elliot roars from behind me.

  He brushes past me and stands right before Denny, their chests nearly touching. I can see every deep breath the Shifter takes as he stares down at my small, all-too-human 'friend'. I don't know what's gotten into Denny, but I don't fucking like it.

  "What are you going to do?" Denny screams just before pushing Elliot as hard as he can. The large man moves a step back, but that's it.

  A look of panic covers Denny's face as he looks up into his. A deep, vibrating growl fills the air surrounding us and I know that my friend's life is in danger immediately.

  "I'll fucking rip your trachea out of your mouth, fucking Human!" he snarls, his voice vibrating even the blades of grass within the field.

  I rush to Olcan's side and slide my arms around his waist. I press my face between his shoulder blades and squeeze as hard as I can. He reaches out, grabbing Denny by the collar of his shirt to haul him close until their nose to nose.

  "Olcan," I beg, "please don't hurt him! He's my friend!"

  "So, friends talk to each other that way now?" he snarls as he tries to pull away from my hold, but I'm not letting go.

  "Macy," Denny says, a few tears creeping from his eyes, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of that!"

  I can feel my heart seize in my chest and I feel like I'm about to regret the words that are waiting to flow from my mouth. I let go of Olcan and walk to his side. Denny looks to me, his large brown eyes full of tears. I know that he didn't mean it, but that doesn't mean that it should have been said. I would never say something like that to him, mad or not.... I close my eyes before facing Sebastian who's kept silent the entire time.

  "Sebastian," I whimper, "can you take Denny home?"

  "Sure thing," he agrees as he pulls Denny away from Olcan's grasp, "we'll see ya at tha house."

  "No," I sigh, looking to my friend whose eyes grow wide in realization, "take him back home. Back to our house. Back to the bar. I don't care, but I don't want him here."

  "Macy!" Denny screams as he fights against Sebastian's iron grip on his arm, "I didn't mean it! We can talk about this! Don't send me away!"

  "Denny, I love you...." I whimper as Sebastian pulls him further away from me.

  I drop to my knees and the sobs break free at last. I can't control them as they flow past my lips and echo throughout the clearing. A set of hands grip my shoulders before wrapping around to pull me into a warm, hard chest as he sits behind me.

  "Don't cry," Olcan's deep voice rumbles from behind me, "he's just a human. He shouldn't worry himself with things that don't concern him."

  I spin around in his arms and slam my palms against his chest. The power of my thrust causes him to land on his back and a growl vibrates in his chest.

  "He's my friend!" I snap at him, "Why can't you get that through your thick fucking skull? I was human too before this fucked up shit happened to me. This is all your fault!"

  "I didn't do anything," he says with an arrogant smile, "Elliot was the one who kissed you."

  "Because you made him!"

  "When will you get it through your thick skull that I can't make Elliot do something that he doesn't want to do?" he chuckles, the sound of his voice making an uneasy chill run down my spine, "I can only push him to do something that he already feels strongly about. Elliot...he's the one who kissed you, both times if I might add. I just take over so I don't miss out on all the fun...like now."

  Olcan sits up and I notice the different way that his body moves in comparison to Elliot. His motions are smoother, like an animal that's about to pounce...and I feel like the prey right now. As he stands to his feet I begin to take a few steps back. The more space between us, the better.

  "You can't run away from me, Little One...." he chuckles as he stands to his feet. As his nearly seven-foot height unfolds, I decide to take my chances and run for it. If I get a head start, I'll get to the house before him and I can lock him out. That should give me enough time to call for help.

  I spin on my heels and take off, toward the house which is only a speck in the distance. Maybe if I get there fast enough, Sebastian and Denny will still be there and they can help.

  His arms wrap around me, pressing me against his rock-hard chest. I scream, kicking my feet as he picks me off the ground. His face presses into my neck, taking a deep breath before a deep, feral growl rumbles within his chest. I freeze in his arms, the panic in my chest causing me to lose my nerve.

  His arms let me go suddenly and I tumble to the ground with a tangled heap of arms and legs. A loud pained growl echoes behind me and I spin around, noticing the blood welling from Olcan's nose. He stares at me, his eyes swirling with the colors of startling blue and silver.

  "Leave her alone!" Elliot screams as he grips his face in his hands, his blue eyes never leaving me. I contemplate running to him, but decide to keep my distance in case Olcan regains control.

  I watch as he fishes in his pocket, his hands trembling as he pulls out a bottle of pills. He looks up, his bloodshot, blue eyes staring past me. He grabs his phone from his other pocket and tosses it in my direction before opening the cap to the bottle and swallows a mouthful of the pills.

  "Call Ronan and tell him where we are...." he says weakly before collapsing onto the ground.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I shoot forward, snatching his phone. Quickly, I search through the contacts before reaching the appropriate one. Elliot's eyes roll back into his head and I crouch down at his side and grab his hand. The phone rings twice before Alpha Ronan answers the phone.

  "Elliot, what can-"

  "He's in trouble," I blurt, cutting him off, "We are at the lake, right at the edge of the woods. He took some pills and he's passed out."

  "Who are you talking about, Macy?"

  "Elliot!" I scream into the phone, "It's Elliot! What do I do?!"

  "How many did he take?"

  "I don't know...he kind of just tipped the bottle back and swallowed...."

  "I'm sending someone now!" he curses and the line goes dead.

  I toss Elliot's phone to the side and run my hands up and down his sides. His breathing is erratic and his eyes are moving rapidly behind his eyelids. I reach out, pressing my fingers to the side of his neck to feel his pulse. It's way too fast and if he doesn't somehow calm down, his heart is going to give out.

  "Elliot," I whisper, my voice low as I dip down until my lips are just beside his ear, "you need to calm down."

  He leans into me, the side of his face pressing against my cheek. The electric shocks that I usually feel when we touch aren't present now, making me even more worried about him. I press my hand against his chest and hum a lullaby that my mom used to sing to me into his ear. This seems to calm him down a little bit and I keep on humming as I wait for help to arrive.

  It seems like I've been kneeling beside him for a century. My knees are on fire from all the small pebbles digging into my skin and my back aches from hunching over. Every time that I try to move, a groan vibrates in his throat and I am forc
ed to stay put.

  The welcome sound of footsteps crunching along the shoreline makes me look up. I recognize Jared from when I met Alpha Ronan. Hank runs up behind him, a panicked look on his face.

  "Hank, can you help him?" I ask as I place a hand on Elliot's chest to calm him.

  He gives me a brisk nod before dropping to his knees beside me and taking the bottle of pills from Elliot's hand. He opens the lid and checks the contents, a small curse leaving his lips.

  "What were you thinking you fucking idiot?" he growls as he shoves the pills into his pockets.

  He pushes Elliot onto his side and curses before sliding his hand into the man's mouth. A moment later, Elliot's eyes pop open and he lurches from Hank before climbing onto his hands and knees to vomit onto the tall grass. Hank talks him through it, a hand on his shoulders as Elliot heaves everything in his stomach. Jared steps forward and snatches Elliot to the side just in time before he collapses. About twenty small, white pills lay among the contents from his gut. I didn't realize he took so many!

  "What are those for?" I ask, pointing to the hidden bottle. Hank turns to look at me and then glances down to Elliot's now motionless body. Only the shallow rise and fall of his chest tells me that he's still alive.

  "That's how Elliot suppresses his Umbra. I take it that you've now met Olcan?" he asks.

  "Yes," I sigh, "a few times actually. Why can't Elliot control him? I mean, from what I've heard...it should be easy. Right?"

  A sigh escapes Hank's lips as he stands up and motions for Jared to help him pick up Elliot. I back away as Hank grabs him by the shoulders and Jared scoop up his legs. They pick his large body up effortlessly and I walk at Hank's side.

  "That is how it should be," he groans as he looks toward my guardian, "but it's not that way for him, sadly. It's something that he needs to learn to overcome, not suppress like he's doing now. That drug, we use it on fresh Shifters while they're learning to control their Umbras. One pill would have been enough.... What the fuck was he thinking?"

  "Then why is he taking it?" I ask, "Why can't he control Olcan?"

  "Because," Hank says, stopping to look at me, "Elliot was held prisoner almost all his life...."

  I stop in my tracks at Hank's words. How is that even possible? I mean, Elliot can't be more than a few years older than me. If what Hank says is true...that means that he was a prisoner as a child. Who in their right mind would do that to a helpless kid?

  "You can't be serious!" I scoff as I run to catch up with him. Their steps are much longer than mine and I'm nearly out of breath by the time I reach his side.

  "All I'm going to tell you is what I already have...." Hank tells me, "It's his story to tell. One which he will be filling you in on when he's ready. I've already said too much."

  I slow my steps and let them walk ahead of me. Sebastian tosses the door open, Denny right behind him. I can see the redness in my friend's eyes from where he's been crying. I can't help but feel bad about it, even if he did to it to himself. He pushes past Sebastian and runs to me, wrapping his arms around me.

  "I'm so sorry, Macy!" Denny cries into my hair, "Please don't make me leave."

  "Denny," I sigh, pulling away from him, "you can stay, but only if you apologize to Elliot once he wakes up. I'm a grown woman who can make my own decisions. We'll talk later, I need to help him."

  I shove past Denny and follow the men inside the house. They lay Elliot down on the couch and I rush to his side, noticing that he still hasn't moved a muscle. I crouch beside him and lift his head gently as I place a small throw pillow for him to rest on. Denny hands me a blanket and I pull it across Elliot's body. It barely covers his long, muscular body, but hopefully it will keep him warm.

  "What happened to him?" Denny asks as he kneels beside me.

  "He took some kind of pills that's supposed to suppress his Umbra. Problem is...he took way too many...." I tell him as I run my fingers through Elliot's long hair.

  "Why would he do that?" he asks, pressing his hand into my lower back.

  "Olcan, his Umbra, came out to play..." I sigh, pressing my head against Elliot's chest, paying attention to the rise of his chest with every breath. "he...he was a danger to me and Elliot downed a lot of the pills to keep me safe. I don't know what taking that many will do to him. Hank made him throw up, but there's no telling what damage they did.... Denny, I'm worried. What if he's hurt and it's because of me?"

  "Oh, Macy," Denny coos as he wraps his arms around my shoulders, "you can't blame yourself for that. He did what he thought was necessary to keep you safe. If he's willing to do something like that...maybe I can learn to be okay with the two of you being together."

  "We aren't together Denny," I sigh, "I'm in the middle of the last stage before the shift...or before I die, Denny. If you paid attention, you'd know that my emotions are all kinds of fucked up right now."

  "Oh shit, Macy, I didn't know!" Denny exclaims, his cheeks a flaming shade of red from embarrassment.

  "It's okay," I reassure him, "but next time...don't jump to conclusions so quickly. Sure, Elliot's a nice guy, but I'm not looking for a relationship right now."

  "I'm sorry I was such a dick..." he groans as he stands to his feet and walks into the kitchen where the other three men are talking about something with hushed tones.

  I look down at Elliot's peaceful face and push some hair away from his eyes. I'm kind of glad that the electrical shocks are back...it's weird to touch him and not experience them.

  A sigh escapes his lips and his face turns into my hand, causing my heart to flutter. God, Macy, get yourself together.

  "How's he doing?" Jared asks as he sits on the couch at Elliot's feet. I look over to him, noticing a flurry of tattoos that cover most of the skin on his arms. The tattoos cover several scars, the only reason I can see them is because they are thick and raised...like chucks of flesh were carved from him.

  "About the same I guess...." I tell him as I run my hands up and down Elliot's scarred chest. What's up with these men being covered with scars? I guess it's an occupational hazard that comes with being a werewolf....

  I lift Elliot's upper body and slip underneath him before letting his head rest in my lap. I run my fingers through his long damp hair and suppress a sigh. Elliot is definitely a different type of person. That wouldn't be a bad thing and I could possibly see myself falling for him if it weren't for Henry. I know he's gone...but he and I shared a once in a lifetime type of love and it's not fair for me to lead anyone on. I have no business entering a relationship when I know my heart can't be in it fully. I would feel like I was using him and it's just not right.... Elliot's too good of a person to use as a rebound.

  "Elliot's a good man...." Jared says after a moment, a knowing look on his face.

  I watch the man stand and notice the odd gait of his steps. It's something that I've only seen during some of my physical therapy sessions when I was in the hospital.

  "How did you lose your leg?" I ask, motioning to his right leg.

  "Rogue attack," he says before walking away.

  "Why is it gone? I mean...mine grew back."

  "This was after my first shift. Things also don't tend to grow back when you're as old as me...." he tells me with a shrug before leaving me alone in the room with a comatose Elliot.

  I look down to the man in my lap and sigh before lifting his body and slipping out from underneath him. He sighs in his sleep and I run my fingers up and down the side of his face for a moment before walking away. The front door is open and I walk through the doorway to watch the sunset.

  I walk back through the front door and glance at the couch, to the sleeping giant. He's truly a magnificent sight and I can't help the knot that binds in my stomach as I look at him. His confession hasn't been forgotten. How could I have been so blind to not notice that he had feelings for me? And what do I tell him? I can't lead him on and make him think that I feel the same. I don't. Sure, he's gorgeous and one of the sweetest and most caring men that
I've met in my life. But, this is just a side effect of Heat and I can't lead him on.

  Hank walks into the room and I lean against the kitchen counter as I train my eyes on Elliot's sleeping form.

  "What happened out there?" Hank asks.

  "Olcan surfaced and completely took over...." I tell him, "Elliot was scared that he was going to try to hurt me, so he took those pills. I didn't know what he was doing at the time or I wouldn't have let him do it. I'm fast...I could have run for the house and locked the door."

  "Macy," Hank sighs, "Olcan isn't that easy to deter. Once he gets a taste for something...he doesn't back off. Hell, he won’t even allow Elliot to have control of his own body when he shifts. Once they're in wolf form...it's all Olcan."

  "Really?" I ask, thinking of all the times I've caught him sleeping in my bed and the time he saved me from the rogues.

  "Yeah," Hank says as he sits on a bar-stool beside me, "that animal is a real fucked up little shit. I don't know what bad karma Elliot had coming to him, but it must have been bad to be paired up with an Umbra like that."

  "He can't be that bad...." I say, trying to be the devil's advocate.

  "Honey, you have no idea of the fucked up things I've seen that animal do. Sure, he usually has good intentions, but he's as feral as they come. Basically, Elliot is a good, law abiding Shifter with the Umbra of a rouge...." Hank tells me honestly as he glances at me.

  "Why is he like that?" I ask, trying to get a better understanding of what I'm facing.

  "Like I told you earlier, that's not my story to tell," he says, "What I'm willing to tell you is that you can trust the man, but the beast needs the most attention. I know this sounds hypocritical, but Olcan has the best intentions when it comes to the things he's passionate about. Hell, I don't personally trust the mutt as far as I could throw him. But, with that being said...he likes you and I just have a gut feeling that he wouldn't hurt you...."

  "Why hasn't anyone tried to help him?" I ask, feeling bad for both Elliot and Olcan.

  "It hasn't been for a lack of trying. Olcan just doesn't show any interest in anyone. Except you, that is. You're probably the only person who he would ever open up to...including Elliot."