by Julia Laque
There was a gust of wind. Evangeline turned a tearful face to the place her great grandmother had been standing, but she was gone.
The realization she was alone now brought back her senses. “Jason!” She ran toward the Blacktail, crouching over him. His long hair covered his face, and she brushed it back, caressing his cheek as the tears continued to pour.
She had to check for a pulse, but finding out he was truly dead was like watching him die all over again and her body shook violently as she wept. Slowly, with unsteady breaths, she pressed her ear to his massive chest. He was still very warm. Was it a good sign? And suddenly, she heard the wonderful sound of a feeble heartbeat.
Evangeline inhaled sharply and shot up to stare hard at his face. She grabbed for his wrist and checked for a pulse there. It was weak, but still going.
“Jason? Jason, can you hear me?” she said. Her voice strained with fear.
He didn’t move.
Trembling hands covered his body and she knew he was alive, but for only so long. Looking back only months ago in similar surroundings, she lifted her head to the heavens and thought cynically, some fucking déjà vu!
****
The sound of his phone beeping woke him out of a deep sleep. The annoying tone told him he had a phone call or text.
Adam reached for it in the dark with a curse. Who the hell was calling now? Didn’t everyone know he had two infants in the house and sleep was a precious commodity?
When the little light on his phone came on he turned to check it didn’t glare too bright on Evangeline.
“Babe?” He reached over when he didn’t see her and realized she wasn’t in bed. She must be in the boy’s room.
He got up, pulling on his boxers to go help Evangeline. “Shit.” His addled brain remembered he had a message. There were two phone calls from Jason and a text. Get to the woods by the Wolcott’s now! Trouble!
“What the hell!” Adam dashed into the hall and into the boy’s room to let Evangeline know he had to step out. His sons were both sleeping peacefully, but their mother was not there. Running down the stairs, he searched around in the living room, kitchen, but she wasn’t there.
He checked his phone to see if she’d left him a message but there wasn't one. With a sinking feeling, Adam ran outside fully prepared to shift and trek like mad to the woods. At least then he could check if Evangeline had gone to her parent’s house. The instant he set foot outside his eyes slammed on the most terrifyingly disturbing sight, and his heart plummeted to the pit of his fucking gut.
Jason’s large naked body climbed up the front stairs with an equally naked Evangeline, cradled in his arms, her cheek lay on his chest and she appeared to be sleeping. One of Jason’s hands held her thigh and the other was precariously close to her breast.
Several things went through his head at once, but before he could entertain one of them, he lashed out. With a ferocious growl, he snatched Evangeline from his beta’s arms. Adam panted hard as he glared at his best friend, baring his teeth, fuming with anger and betrayal.
Jason spoke fast. “A witch took off her clothes and tried to kill her. I tried to help, but she cursed me. When I came to, Evangeline was lying on the ground. I came straight here.” Jason stared dead into his face, avoiding Adam’s naked lover lying still in his arms. “I don’t know what’s wrong with her. Nothing is broken and as far as I can sense there is no internal bleeding.”
Adam calmed some. There was no reason not to trust his best friend, but fuck… How the hell was he supposed to react to his lady in another man’s arms, naked? He slowed his breathing and looked from Evangeline’s pale face to Jason’s, grasping the situation.
Jason misunderstood. “I had to check her for injuries, but I swear—”
Adam shook his head at him. “Were you hurt?”
Jason flinched. “Don’t worry about me, it—”
“It matters. Were you seriously hurt?”
Jason gawked at him. “The witch pulled some torture shit on me, yeah, but the last thing I remember is being knocked into a tree. Who the fuck cares? I’m fine! Not a scratch.”
Adam’s face drained of all color. “Because she healed you.”
“What? Why would the witch—”
“No. Evangeline healed you.” Adam rushed her inside and up to their room. “Call Dr. Moros.” He called over his shoulder. “He’s back in Boston, but I need him here as fast as possible.”
After two hours of watching her sleep, Adam woke her up anxiously. “Babe? Babe wake up!” He sat next to her hip, shaking her shoulders gently. “Eva!”
Lids opened over brilliant green eyes. “Are you okay? How do you feel? What the hell happened? Why the hell did you go to the woods in the middle of the night?” His voice was rising as she stared all around her, collecting her bearings.
She whispered frantically, cutting him off. “Jason? Is he all right?” She started to get up and called again, “Jason?”
Adam pushed her carefully back down. “He’s fine.”
Her face told him she didn’t believe him and then there was movement at the door. Evangeline looked straight ahead, her expression turning from apprehension to relief.
“Jason!” She released a deep sigh and shut her eyes, leaning back against the headboard. “I was so scared she’d…I thought you were…” She heaved a shaky breath.
Turning to look at his friend, he saw Jason staring solemnly at Evangeline. It was the first time Adam had ever seen his friend really look at her. There was a haunted look in his eyes now and the emotion emanating from him was clear. Jason was full of gratitude and remorse. Evangeline had saved his life, but at a price.
He shocked Adam again by addressing her, something he had never done. His voice was wrought with severity. “You shouldn’t have done it.”
Lifting her head slowly, she looked at Jason, her face grim and Adam saw a new woman now. A woman who was mother and mate and he couldn’t be more in love with her.
She had risked her life to save a member of his pack, his best friend, and he knew they would all be eternally grateful to her. She said weakly, “Don’t,” shaking her head at him. “Do you honestly think I could have left you out there?”
“You’ll never know how incredibly thankful I am for what you did, but,”—he glanced at Adam—“I should have sacrificed myself for you. Not the other way around.”
“You did.”
Jason said nothing and simply glared at the floor.
Adam turned to her. “How are you feeling?”
“Just tired. How are the boys?”
“They woke up when you got home, but Lydia got them back to sleep.” Concern for her was making his head throb. He could sense her body’s weariness as if she were a wilting flower. “Why were you in the woods, alone, in the middle of the night?” Adam tried to keep his voice calm, but he sounded severe.
“I was sleepwalking. Although…I guess it might have been a part of the spell.”
Adam listened to her with forced patience, gripping her hand in his.
Evangeline stared listlessly at nothing. “I was dreaming about the jackal. I thought it had taken the boys and then someone was calling me. Then all of a sudden I was in the woods and this woman was talking to me. She said she was a witch and my great grandmother. Her name’s Cassandra and she was really angry with me for having the boys.” Evangeline took a deep breath. “She said I was a gifted witch, but I’d ruined my powers by giving birth.”
Adam’s skin was on fire, but he needed to hear everything. “Go on.”
She flushed slightly. “My robe disappeared in thin air and she studied me…said I was a fighter, but…” She closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling hard.
“But what, babe?”
Evangeline looked at him now, her face grave. “But, I would die anyway.”
Adam’s eyes flashed and his nostrils flared. He moved his head toward Jason, but glared at Evangeline’s legs under the covers. He didn’t want his countenance to upset her
, but anger poured through him like lava. “Thank God you were there. How did you know where to find her?”
There was a pause until Adam turned all the way around to see if Jason was still there.
Jason stood motionless. The nervous energy around him was peculiar.
“What?” Adam urged.
“Cyrus called me.”
Both Adam and Evangeline stiffened, but he was sure he was the only one with roaring in his ears.
Jason offered answers to questions both he and Evangeline were thinking. “Her blood…you know…he could sense she was in trouble. He called from London, just said Evangeline was in trouble and for me to haul ass.” Jason sensed Adam’s next question and hesitated before he spoke. “He told me to tell you,”—Jason stared at Adam—“he wouldn’t call you if you were the last man on earth and his entire coven was on fire.” Jason turned to Evangeline. “And he told me to tell you he was mistaken.”
Fucking prick! Mistaken about what?
Jason shrugged.
Adam felt his body burn with hatred for the fucking king, but a reluctant part of him was grateful the man could still sense when Evangeline was in trouble. Jesus, if Jason hadn’t gotten there in time…
He turned and saw Evangeline gazing lethargically at the foot of the bed and felt it then. She wasn’t telling him something, but he wasn’t about to pressure her now after all she’d been through.
He bent and hugged her firmly to him, kissing her tenderly on her lips, cheeks, forehead, and back to her lips. “Get some rest, my love. If Dr. Moros isn’t here in the morning, we’re going to the hospital.”
Evangeline was about to protest, but then gave up, a sure sign something was wrong. Moving down into the covers, she looked over at the door again. “I’m so happy you’re okay, Jason.”
His beta nodded.
“And Jason?” Evangeline called.
He looked to her, warily.
“Thank you for saving my life.”
Chapter Nineteen
Dr. Moros returned Adam’s call immediately the next morning. He was back in Boston, busy as ever, but would return to Wilmington in a day or two. He advised Adam to take Evangeline to the hospital, which Evangeline had downright refused, convincing her mate she was just fine.
The truth was, she still felt weak and tired. The lies began to pile on top of each other then. “I think I’m getting a cold from walking around naked in the woods,” she told a concerned Adam the next day.
Having no desire to get the boys sick, Lydia took the twins to the Wolcott house while Evangeline tried to regain her strength. “Please go with Lydia, honey. I don’t want the boys to feel neglected,” Evangeline told Adam later.
“I just called, they’re sleeping. I’ll check on them in a little while. I want to make sure you’re okay.”
Evangeline forced a smile and lied once again. “I’m feeling much better. I think if I eat, I should be fine.” It felt strenuous to even talk. Fact was, she was feeling a hundred times worse. The effort she was making just to stay awake in Adam’s presence made her woozy.
He brought her a sandwich and soup in bed and told her to get some rest. She slept the entire night away and woke up to a note on Adam’s pillow.
Checking on the boys. Be back soon. Love you.
Evangeline sighed, thankful Adam was with their sons. She got up warily, her body aching in places she didn’t know existed. Her legs throbbed under her weight as she limped into the bathroom. Bathing was no easy task. She washed her hair and body in slow, feeble movements.
Too tired to dress, she threw on her old purple robe and walked down to the kitchen, not bothering to turn on the light. The gray sky outside cast a gloom in the kitchen, which felt fitting.
She started the coffee maker and took a cup out of the cabinet. As she waited for the pot to fill, she sat at the kitchen table and stared out the window to face the truth of her condition in quiet solitude.
She was dying.
Evangeline took a deep breath, fixing her tired eyes on a single leaf barely clinging to the branch it hung from.
The truth should have made her scream, cry, go completely hysterical, but all she felt was a raw numbness as she stared out at nothing, listening to the coffee brewing on the counter.
Her great grandmother had been right. Giving birth had weakened her, and healing Jason had sped up the process of her impending end. She couldn’t blame her children or Jason, though. She wouldn’t. No one was to blame. Given the chance to go back, she would have done the exact same thing. Evangeline loved her children unconditionally and there was no way she could ever live with herself if she’d let Jason die.
Her mind sped back over the years. She should have known this gift of hers would eventually kill her. She passed out way too much for someone who can heal. Hadn’t her recovery after she’d healed Adam taken almost two days?
Oddly, she wasn’t afraid of death. She was scared for her children and for Adam. What would they do without her?
Pity, the likes of which she had never known filled her, making her choke on the wretched sensation. Instead of the past, it was the future she would never know flashing before her eyes now. She saw her boys taking their first steps, uttering their first words, heading out with back packs on their first day of school as Evangeline and Adam watched fondly with matching wedding bands on their fingers.
Anger came then, flooding her to a boiling point. Her head throbbed at the injustice of it all. She had only just found true happiness. She was incredibly lucky to have experienced what she did in the past few months, finding love, having two healthy baby boys was a blessing. Why would God take this away from her so soon?
Her body seemed to vibrate with fear. She let silent tears fall without moving and just then, she didn’t feel like the twenty-two-year-old woman she was. She felt ancient.
How on earth would she find the strength to tell Adam? As big and strong as he was, she knew this news would kill him. She wondered, with a sense of dread, if Adam would be capable of taking care of the boys after she was gone.
God! Never in a million years did she think she would die so young.
The doorbell rang. It resounded in her ears, but Evangeline didn’t stir. She debated answering it, knowing if it was Adam, he would have just walked in. She didn’t want company right now. All she wanted was to suffer in peace and be left alone.
The doorbell rang again and then she heard three hard knocks.
Evangeline rolled her eyes and hung her head back. Getting up gingerly, she walked toward the door. Fighting the urge to tell whoever it was she was dying and to leave her the hell alone, she wiped the tears from her cheeks and neck and attempted a brave face.
The bell rang two more times, but she was too tired to even tell them to wait.
With a dizzying effort, she opened the door.
“Evangeline!” The ferocity on the man’s face made her recoil slightly.
Staring hard at the tall figure, her eyelids feeling extra heavy, she wondered if she were dreaming. “Cyrus?”
He stared with wide eyes, his hands gripping the sides of the doorjamb. “Invite me in,” he demanded.
“What?” She mumbled. What was he doing here?
“Damn it, Evangeline, invite me in,” he repeated.
She stared confusedly at first, then, “Oh.” Vampires had to be invited into a human’s home, but this was a wolf’s home, she thought. Evangeline noticed Jason stood behind Cyrus. Apparently, he’d convinced the beta to let him on the premises. Since there was no wooden stick in his chest and his head was intact, Jason must have disabled the security traps to let Cyrus pass.
Jason’s eyes were stern. “You don’t have to let him in. You know Adam wouldn’t—”
Cyrus didn’t look at Jason, but he spoke through gritted teeth. “I told you I’m not going to hurt her or your fucking alpha. Something is wrong. She’s…” Cyrus paused at the look Evangeline gave him. He spoke to her now. “Just let me in.”
Ev
angeline nodded weakly and whispered, “Come in.”
Jason made a face and followed Cyrus in.
She knew Jason would have never let him near the door if Cyrus hadn’t given him the heads up the other night. Evangeline hoped Adam would see this point of view. Cyrus was clearly concerned for her and had no intention of hurting anyone, at least she hoped. She was too weary to think straight.
Needing to sit down, she walked stiffly to the living room, very aware of Cyrus at her back. Reaching the sofa, she sat down as if she were ninety years old.
Cyrus hovered over her. “We need to talk.”
“Okay,” she said, leaning her head back to look at him.
“Alone.”
“Whatever,” Jason said. He stood leaning in the doorway, his arms crossed.
“Feel my fucking emotions, wolf. Am I going to hurt her?”
Jason didn’t answer.
Evangeline had had enough with the male testosterone to last her a lifetime, a very brief lifetime, she thought bitterly. “It’s okay, Jason. We’re just going to talk.”
Jason gave her a long, assessing look, and then sighed. “Holler if you need me. I’ll be right outside.” They stared for a moment. The night they had saved each other’s life had formed a strong bond between them. Not to mention she was his alpha’s mate and mother to, possibly, the future alpha. His loyalty to her was heartwarming.
“Thanks, Jason.”
He nodded at her and walked out. She heard the door close behind him as he stepped onto the porch and she could almost picture him texting Adam right now.
“He’s lucky he saved you the other night.” Cyrus muttered looking toward the door then back to her. “You look like hell.”
She gave him an exasperated look. “Thank you. Did you send Jason away to insult me?”
“No.” His tone was deathly serious. For a moment, she thought he was about to touch her, but then thought better of it. “It’s happening much faster than I thought.” He walked away to sit in the armchair facing her.
Evangeline stared blankly at him. Folding his hands, he rested his elbows on his knees, studying her. “What do you mean?” she asked, but comprehension wormed its way through her. “You knew about my powers, didn’t you?”