Balance

by Leia Stone

  She gave me an evil glare. “Sorry for burning down Safe Haven,” she said and threw me inside, shutting the door behind me.

  What? No!

  I didn’t even have time to process her comment. The room I had just been thrown into was full of female werewolves. I lay on my hands and knees, looking up at them. The room was made up of four solid cement walls. Looking behind me I saw that the thick steel door was shut and I heard it lock. Shit. We were trapped.

  I scanned the females who lay on bunk beds or sat on the floor as they stared at me with a mixture of pity and curiosity.

  Movement to my right caused me to turn. I was happy to see it was Sadie approaching me. Never thought I would be glad to see my husband’s ex-girlfriend.

  “How nice of you to join us,” Sadie joked and reached out a hand to help me up. Her normally olive ethnic skin looked ashy and reddish. Her hair was messy and her eyes looked haunted. What the hell were they doing to these girls?

  “I figured you might be getting bored by now. Thought I could keep you company,” I said, grabbing her hand and giving her a sly smile.

  Taking another look at all of the wolves, I saw now that most looked terrified. They were all wearing white doctors’ scrubs but at least looked clean and well fed.

  “Everyone, this is Aurora. She is the reason you’re here and also, probably the only one who can break us out of here.”

  I rolled my eyes at her introduction. Way to make them hate me right off. Sadie was too good at being a bitch sometimes. “I killed the black witch,” I announced to everyone. “Your pack bonds should be working now. Try to contact your Alphas and mates.”

  Sadie’s eyes widened at my declaration, then a concentrated look fell over her face. She began laughing and tears rolled down her cheeks. “I can hear Brett!” she said. The others began smiling, clearly lost in their own mental conversations.

  I nodded. Prudence had messed with their bonds. Now that she was dead, her magic was dead too. A thought came to me.

  ‘Kai, I’m inside. All of the girls are fine. I killed Prudence. Have Sylvia try to find me now. A finder spell should work. The magic has been broken.’ I didn’t tell him about Tara being tortured, best to keep that quiet for now.

  ‘You killed Prudence?’

  Surprise went through the mate bond. Well, technically I think the Devi killed her, I don’t think I was that much of a badass on my own.

  Then I thought of what Layla had said before tossing me in this room. With dread, I asked Kai about it. ‘How’s Safe Haven? Layla said she burned it down? Tell me it’s a lie.’

  She might have just said that to piss me off. Safe Haven was everything to me. It took me years to start it up and get enough donations to keep it running. It was my one good thing to offer this world.

  He was silent and I saw that all of the girls were engrossed in their own mental conversations.

  ‘Kai?’ My stomach knotted with apprehension. If it was true, I couldn’t handle it.

  ‘Yes, they burned it down an hour ago. Right after you were taken. I just got the call.’

  No! I sagged to my knees.

  ‘Was anyone hurt?’

  ‘Almost everyone got out.’ Kai’s answer was cryptic.

  Tears rolled down my cheeks, ‘Almost?’ I needed to know, I needed to hear it.

  Kai was silent. ‘A mother died saving her two children.’

  Anger flooded my body as mist leaked from my skin and the ground began to rumble. The cement floor cracked and the crack raced up the wall reaching for the ceiling.

  “Hey! Do you want to bury us alive, stop that!” Sadie screamed at me, snapping me out of it.

  A TV on the wall flared to life and Tara screamed. She was lying down in some type of plexi-glass cage. Thousands of small silver needles shot into her skin as a vampire stood over her pushing buttons on the plexi-glass coffin.

  I ceased the shaking immediately, calling back the mist and calming my magic. My hand flew to my mouth as the needles retracted and Tara was left panting, eyes rolling in her head.

  Sadie shook my shoulders. “Get your shit together. You can’t do that stuff here. If you fight them, they hurt her,” Sadie told me.

  Oh shit, what was I thinking?

  “I’m sorry,” I muttered.

  Safe Haven, everything I worked for, gone. A mother’s life, gone. I would have to deal with it later. I stuffed it all down in my deep, dark place and promised to deal with it when I had a chance.

  A blonde girl stood. “I say so what! If we all rush the door next time it opens, we can fight them off. Let them kill her so that all of us can go free,” she roared.

  Sadie stalked across the room and stood before the girl. “That’s my friend in there!” Sadie bellowed. Sadie and Tara had been in the same pack in Seattle for a while, they must have become close. The two girls stared into each other’s eyes. A dominance battle. This was a disaster waiting to happen. Ten werewolves in a room, all from different packs. No Alpha. We needed to be working together, not tearing each other apart.

  I strode over to them, knowing this would come to blows if I didn’t intervene. These girls were both dominants.

  “Enough!” I snarled and let power ooze from my voice. “We’re all on the same side. No one is getting killed. Not Tara, not you. No one. I’m getting us out of here.”

  The blonde girl broke her stare to look at me, and laughed. “Oh yeah? How you gonna do that?”

  I squared my shoulders. “I’m working on it,” I told her.

  She rolled her eyes and turned her back to me. My wolf didn’t like that. I grabbed her arm and spun her around to face me. “If you rush the door or do anything to endanger Tara, I’ll rip your head off. Are we clear?” My voice was animalistic, as fear flashed in her eyes.

  With this many wolves in a room, my dominance was ramped up. There was no leader and I felt the need to fulfill the spot.

  She continued to stare at me, no doubt curious of how dominant I was. After a moment she began to sweat, her breath hitched, and she lowered her eyes and nodded. “I don’t want to hurt your friend. I just want to get this freak out of my belly and go home!” She grimaced and pointed at her stomach.

  I looked at Sadie, eyes wide. “What is she talking about?” No. Don’t say it.

  Sadie gave the girl a look of pity. “She is carrying the queen’s baby.”

  Shitty shit shit.

  The breath whooshed out of me as my mouth hung open in shock. There went my hopes that none of them had been impregnated yet. I glanced at her baggy clothes and saw the hint of a bump. Oh God. Then I scanned all of the girls. One of them was still in wolf form. She must have refused to shift.

  “Anyone else?” I needed to know just what we were getting into.

  “Not yet. Just me,” the blonde said, bitterly.

  My mind was racing. How far away was Tara? The next room? Another floor? Could my magic reach that far? Could I protect her somehow? Could I protect her while also killing Layla? I doubted it as I tapped my foot nervously. Sadie tugged at my arm, leading me into a corner to talk privately.

  “We need to get out of here,” she told me, looking vulnerable. Her eyes had dark circles around them; she looked weak. She looked worse than the rest. This was not the usual Sadie I was used to.

  “We will,” I told her with confidence. God, please let that be the truth. I was already feeling claustrophobic under these tons of rock.

  She gave me a weak smile as I looked closer at her arms; they had pink prick scars.

  “You look gorgeous,” I joked with her and she laughed. The laugh sounded hollow and her face looked haunted.

  Then I became serious. “What happened? Give me the scoop.”

  She rubbed her arms. “Every few days they switch out which one of us gets tortured. I was first, then Tara, who knows who will be next. They’re very careful not to kill us. They won’t hurt blondie because she is pregnant with the queen’s spawn.”

  Oh, shit. Now I knew why
Sadie was so affected by seeing Tara in there. She knew what it felt like firsthand.

  “There are multiple floors to this place. It’s an old cold war bunker or something. All of us have had our lady parts checked out. One girl was already pregnant with her mate’s child. They aborted it.” Sadie’s voice shook as she delivered this last news.

  Evil bastards! My hand went to my mouth. Suddenly, I feared they would find out I was pregnant and take my baby. Tears lined my eyes and my throat constricted.

  Sadie nodded. “They don’t care. They want baby growers. If you aren’t of use to them, they kill you. If you fight back, they hurt one of us. They have us trapped!” She pounded her fist on the wall.

  Shit. I turned and scanned the girls. Some sat together, some alone. The one wolf who hadn’t changed was staring at me.

  “What’s her deal?” I gestured to the wolf.

  Sadie shrugged. “Refuses to shift. Been like that for days.”

  I frowned. “No one has talked to her? Is she okay?”

  Sadie rolled her eyes at me. “None of us are pack, so obviously we can’t talk to her while she is in wolf form. I’m sure she’s fine. The vampires have left her alone.”

  Something Sadie said gave me an idea, a crazy idea. Oh, Kai, you aren’t going to like this.

  “When will they switch out Tara? How is it done?”

  Sadie lowered her voice, “I’m pretty sure they are listening. One time we tried to plan a break out and they were ready.”

  Then she leaned in and whispered so soft I wasn’t sure I heard her. “Camera’s in the vent.”

  My eyes went wide as I nodded and glanced around the room. My gaze settled on the air vent in the ceiling and the red glowing dot that lurked there. Shit, these bastards were smart; they had thought of everything. I lightly squeezed Sadie’s arm and then walked off to the opposite corner of the room to be alone.

  ‘Any news?’ I asked Kai.

  ‘Sylvia said your location is still blocked. She thinks a spell has been put over the building which would live on even after Prudence’s death. Spells put on people or living things die but not objects. I don’t understand it. How are you? Are Sadie and Tara still okay?’

  I sighed. Okay, I was stuck in a room, being watched by a camera, I had no weapons, back up wasn’t coming and Tara was being used as a very clever way to keep us all in line. Shit. Think, Think. This was all up to me.

  ‘Sadie is fine. She’s with me.’

  He noticed I hadn’t mentioned Tara. ‘And how is Tara? I can’t reach her. It feels like she passed out.’

  I sighed. This would kill Max. Kai would never forgive himself for not being able to protect her. ‘To be honest, Tara is being used for torture if any of the females act out.’

  Kai’s rage shot through the mate bond. I had expected that.

  ‘I have a crazy plan, Kai,’ I told him nervously as I chewed a fingernail and kept my eyes on the red dot in the air vent.

  ‘Okay,’ he said with trepidation, waiting for me to explain.

  I looked around to all of the girls, and nodded, this was the only way. We could be stuck here for years if I didn’t stop this sick game, if I didn’t do something drastic.

  ‘I love you, Kai. I promise to get all of these females out of here safely and kill Layla. I’ve got this, it’s my destiny. Don’t worry about me,’ I told him confidently.

  ‘Aurora, why are you saying goodbye?’ His energy bristled and I felt him border on panic. God, I hated this.

  I didn’t want to tell him my plan, for fear that somehow with his Alpha power, he could stop me. I also didn’t want to give him a chance to talk me out of it.

  ‘I love you, Kai. Do you understand that? Do you know how much you mean to me? You made me trust men again. You’re everything to me.’ Tears began to well in my eyes. It was true, after my father’s abuse, I never thought I would trust again.

  ‘Aurora, don’t scare me!’ Kai said weakly and I felt him grab hold of our pack bond and pull tight. He knew what I was planning so I needed to act quickly.

  I wasn’t sure if we would be able to communicate after I did this. Closing my eyes, I felt for my pack bond, my mate bond to Kai, my Alpha, my husband. It was a strong, thick, glowing white rope. I yanked at it and it pulled taut.

  ‘No!’ he roared as I pulled harder and felt his Alpha power saturate me, trying to gain control of me.

  ‘They need an Alpha if we are going to survive this; they need a pack. It’s the only way.’ I told him and pulled as hard as I could, ripping the bond and snapping it in half. A scream ripped from my throat as I fell to the ground panting, pain saturated my being. My skin felt as if it was on fire. Oh God, it hurt. It hurt like hell! I felt hollow, empty, vulnerable, alone. It was like an instant depression took hold of my body. My hands shook with the strain of going rogue. I tried to take small, deep breaths and regain composure. Holy Shit. I was a rogue wolf.

  I listened in my head. Nothing. Static. I felt for Kai; he was there, the mate bond was still there, but it was damaged. I felt his horror at what I had done but I couldn’t hear him, only feel him. Wiping tears from my eyes, I turned to face the females who were all staring at me. No doubt my scream had gotten their attention. Sadie was watching me with yellow eyes.

  “You wanna be my second?” I asked her cryptically, hoping the vampires watching the cameras didn’t know enough about werewolf packs to know what I was up to, or to care.

  She looked at me incredulously as it dawned on her what I had done. Finally, she grinned. “I’ve always wanted to be a second,” she said and closed her eyes.

  The other females were looking at each other in confusion.

  Sadie was quiet for a few moments and then suddenly cried out and grabbed her chest, bending on one knee. Her eyes watered as she took a shaky breath. It said a lot to me that Sadie was willing to rip her pack bond away from Shamus and Brett and join me. She knew I was more dominant than her; we had already worked that out in our pack with Kai. She extended her arm to me wordlessly, giving me the power of the Alpha and asking to join my pack.

  I smiled and gripped her forearm with my right hand, pulling her in for a hug to disguise what I was doing from the vampires watching on the camera.

  “Blood of my blood,” I whispered as I transformed my left hand into a werewolf paw and swiped her arm, drawing blood. Then I swiped my own and pressed them together between us. Closing my eyes, I saw a floating white wisp of energy in my mind’s eye. Reaching out and taking hold, I grabbed it as it slithered past me. It was strong and pulsing in my hand. Sadie was very dominant, a good second. I pulled the wisp closer to me and bound it with my own white wispy cord, braiding it like a thick rope. Pack. I let my wolf take charge, she knew instinctively that this was how you created a pack.

  All of Sadie’s feelings for me rushed through the pack bond. She was jealous of my relationship with Kai at first. She wanted me to know that she had loved him first, longest. She had always wanted him as her mate, but now that she had Brett, she wouldn’t want it any other way. She respected me and wanted Kai and I to be happy together. Now that she had gotten to know me, she thought Kai and I were perfect for each other. I pulled away from her embrace as our arms healed.

  ‘Alpha,’ she said, using our newly formed pack bonds to communicate, her lips quirked in a smile.

  I nodded. ‘Second.’ I never in a hundred years thought Sadie and I would be head of our own pack. The universe had a funny sense of humor.

  She gave me a wolfish grin and I could feel that she was wolf born and had no special gifts.

  “What’s going on?” the blonde girl who was pregnant said, stepping closer.

  My arm had already healed; the vampires watching the cameras wouldn’t know what was going on. It looked like Sadie and I were old friends and shared a long hug.

  I looked around the room and ever so slightly flicked my eyes to the camera light in the small air vent. Then I locked eyes with the blonde. “It’s a shame we can’t
communicate together, like a pack.”

  She frowned, then realization dawned on her face. She nodded and looked at the others.

  “Go rogue,” she whispered. I think I had my third, she was already giving orders.

  One by one, the girls saw what was happening. They bowed their heads in concentration and then cried out with the pain of ripping away from their packs by force. Leaving their mates, their beloved Alphas, it hurt, I knew it did, but in the end it was for the better. As a pack we could be stronger, take care of each other and have the upper hand. They looked at me like lost puppies.

  I went one by one and gave them each a hug bringing them into the pack. I didn’t have time to focus on their thoughts, their rank in the pack or anything yet. I wanted to bring us all together first in case the vampires caught on and split us up. I came to the last girl, the wolf who wouldn’t shift. She had been crouched in the corner watching us the entire time. Eyes yellow, fur standing on end.

  I lowered my voice to barely a whisper, I was pretty sure the camera had a microphone but it couldn’t be that good, all the way up in the air vent. “I won’t force you, but I’d be honored if you would join our pack so we can get the hell out of here.”

  Her eyes flared yellow and then she winced, letting out a little yelp as I assumed she went rogue from her pack. She panted and then rolled over to show me her belly. I took that as a yes.

  Reaching out, I swiped her lightly, disguising it as a belly rub and brought her into the pack. The second her energy merged with mine, I jumped back in shock at what I felt, what she was showing me.

  ‘You’re changed. Your gift, it’s incredible.’

  She looked at me with big yellow wolf eyes. ‘It’s horrible,’ her small, submissive voice said.

  ‘How does it work?’ I asked.

  ‘When I touch someone while I’m in human form, I wipe all of their memories. It only works when I’m in human form, so I stay a wolf all of the time.’

  My mouth hung open in shock. I could feel her deep loneliness, her longing for a mate a best friend, anyone who could touch her. Her madness at staying wolf all the time; she felt like a dog. I wanted to hug her. That must be a hard life, I rested my hand on her wolf and patted her fur.