by Hana Blue
Something is wrong with Caireen. I have taken her back to Sitka, we shouldn’t be long.
I love you.
Aine.
Holding the note in my hands, I studied it. Wondering what could be wrong with Caireen, and why on earth she would drive her all the way back to Sitka. That seemed like an extensive trip for someone being sick. Certainly, there must have been someone here that could have looked at her.
Setting the note back down, I grabbed my coffee again, taking a sip. Mulling over the note a little before a sudden realization hit me. She was headed for that Alchemist. She would leave the cloaked area. Right on my mother’s doorstep.
Panic filled me instantly, causing me to shoot up. Leaving the sitting position that I was in.
“Fuck.” I cursed under my breath, raking my fingers through my hair.
Leaving the room quickly, I made my way back to the others. Unsure of what to say. Unsure if I was panicking over nothing. “Dad!” I called out frantically as I ran back down the stairs and into the kitchen. The note that Aine had left me clutched tight into my fist.
Damien looked shocked to see me running back in here, and he raised his eyebrows at me. I felt like a little kid off to tattle on the school bully. I had no other choice though. If she was going where I thought she was, she was in danger, and I would need all the help I could get to keep her safe.
“I mean, It’s nice to hear you call me dad again, but you look a little flustered.” Damien joked.
Still sipping his coffee as though my universe wasn’t out there walking headfirst into dangerous territory. Asking to be killed. Walking right onto my mother’s doorstep with a sign that says “Kill the blood born.” Strapped to her back.
“Read this!” I barked at Damien, slamming the note into his chest.
Every nerve in my body was alight with fear. Something that I wasn’t all too used to. That alone frightened me more. Causing me to feel like I would explode. All the things that could go wrong rushing my mind at full speed.
Taking the note from my hand, Damien eyed it suspiciously. Nodding as he read it. “Sitka? Why is she going there with Caireen?” Damien muttered.
“To see that damn alchemist!” I all but shouted back in response. I really thought that would have been the obvious answer, considering in the note she said something was wrong with Caireen.
Shrugging, Damien looked at me. “She knows it’s not safe there, she wouldn’t just drag Caireen into that.” He added calmly.
Raising my eyebrows in surprise, I looked at him like he was stupid. There was nothing about Aine’s character that had shown that she would avoid a situation like this. She ran recklessly into dangerous situations like they were luxury vacations constantly. Damien read the note over once more before looking at me with wide eyes.
“She wouldn’t, right?” He asked hesitantly, and I shook my head in irritation. “Of course, she would.” I snapped back.
Dragging in a deep breath, Damien cursed. “All right, grab the part of your pack you brought here, we will go see that alchemist.”
Nodding in return, I set out to the upstairs again, knocking wildly on doors left and right. Rousting my pack back up. The only thing on my mind, making sure that Aine wasn’t in danger, which I knew for a fact, she was.
Twenty Nine
In Plain Sight
AINE~
“Aster? Are you home?” I called out into the tiny house as we entered, Caireen only getting worse.
She struggled to follow behind me, so I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and walking her inside. Holding most of her weight up for her, since she didn’t have the strength to do so herself. It seemed with every passing minute of the trip, Caireen got worse. Spilling blood from her lips all over my car.
Normally that would have angered me greatly, but I couldn’t find myself to even be slightly upset with her. My heart was going out for her and all I wanted to do was take the pain away. To feel it for her so she wouldn’t have to herself.
My mind flooded with ideas of what could be wrong, but I couldn’t pinpoint it. Part of me wondered if this could be what I was going through when the bond hit between Dominic and I. The signs were very similar. What made me disregard that thought was the simple reason that she hadn’t come into contact with anyone new.
Every single wolf she had been around, she had been around before countless times. Not to mention, I wasn’t sure if what I went through was typical or not. To say that I wasn’t an expert on the situation was an understatement, to say the least. I had no clue. Hell, I had no clue what it was when I was going through it at first either.
“Aine?” Aster’s voice called out as she came rushing into the primary room, wiping her hands off onto the thick material of her skirt. Leaving grass stains in the shape of handprints all over its cream-colored fabric.
“Caireen!” She called out in excitement when she saw the both of us, her eyes lighting up for just a moment before concern took over.
This was the first time she had seen Caireen in years, and it was no doubt a surprise to her, seeing her this way after all of this time. Doubled over in pain, spewing all manners of liquids from her mouth all over her floor.
Hell, the last time she had seen her, Caireen was barely even a teenager. Now she was a grown woman of eighteen and on her deathbed.
Looking to me for the answers, Aster took on a worried expression. Waiting for me to offer some clue as to what was going on. I couldn’t speak though. I didn’t know what to say, and the stress that came from thinking my baby sister was dying made my mind cloudy.
“What happened?” She choked out, slowly approaching the very ill and very week Caireen that hung off of my side. Holding her hands out in front of her like she was approaching a wounded wild animal. Which, in a way, she kind of was.
Aster took a large gamble when she took on helping Caireen and me all those years ago. She had little to no experience with wolves, and at first, we frightened her. She knew all the lore; she knew the facts, but until us coming around, she paid no mind to our kind, and never dealt with us.
Compared to her, who in a whole was just a human who had a piece of knowledge beyond her kind, we were wild animals.
“I don’t know, she woke me up this morning in pain, she’s been vomiting up blood everywhere. I don’t know what’s wrong.” I explained the best I could. Struggling not to shout from the panic that was resonating in my chest.
I needed to stay calm. For Caireen’s sake. My emotions and panic would do us no good, and it might make it worse in the long run. However, that was easier said than done.
Loosening Caireen from me, Aster led her over to the couch where she helps her sit, grabbing her chin to examine her eyes. Looking at the way her pupils dilated intently. Caireen struggled to move her neck as Aster moved her, her body too weak to move at this point. Her complete body was trembling like she had been running a fever of 200 degrees.
“Caireen dear, what were you doing before you started feeling ill?” Aster asked, pushing Caireen’s face from side to side as she examined her further. Squinting her eyes as Caireen groaned out in protest to the aggressive movements.
“I was with April and Josh. We were training. Josh was showing me how to Morph back to human straight from the beast form. So, I wouldn’t have to shift to my wolf first.” Caireen choked out, even her voice sounding weak. Leaving her sounding far gentler than she always did.
“I was morphing back, and I had trouble. So, Josh mind linked to me and was forcing the shift to come on, I finally collapsed into human form, he reached out and grabbed me so I wouldn’t fall then I started feeling sick.” Caireen continued.
Aster nodded, the concern she was showing diminishing just a little. It almost seemed like she was trying not to laugh. Cocking my head to the side, I looked at Aster, hoping for some explanation. Since it was more than obvious that she knew exactly what was wrong now.
Turning to look up at me, Aster let her face take on a serious look.
<
br /> “Can I talk to you outside?” Aster asked me calmly, and I nodded.
Aster stood from where she was kneeling and lead me out the front door. Leaving Caireen there on the couch, coughing and hacking everywhere. Her body was writhing in pain and she collapsed onto her side, sinking into the cushions helplessly. Whimpering a little from the pain that she was enduring.
“What is it?” I urged Aster as she shut the front door. Unwilling to wait another moment without an explanation for what was wrong with her. I needed to know, and I needed to know now.
Aster snickered behind her hand. Amused by what was going on, which made me furious. I had been worried about my baby sister all morning, afraid that she was on death’s door, only to be met with Aster laughing about what was going on instead of explaining it to me.
Scowling at Aster, I crossed my arms in front of me. Making a deliberate show that I wasn’t pleased. Hoping that I could silently bully her into telling what was going on, sooner rather than later.
“She’s fine, first of all,” Aster finally spoke, interrupting her laugher.
* * *
DOMINIC~
Finally gathered outside the front of the house about thirty minutes later, Ethan, Dylan and I readied our bikes for the trip, while the girls stayed behind. Allea and Ciri decided it would be best if they stayed here so they wouldn’t slow us down. I didn’t think they would, but I appreciated the notion.
Both Allea and Ciri seemed to be fond of Aine, and they were doing what they thought best regarding us getting to her to keep her safe. I could tell that Allea deep down wanted to come but refrained from saying so. Out of the two of them, Allea seemed to connect the most to Aine. Showing the most respect I had ever seen out of her in all the time I had known her.
Fastening up the last buckle on my saddlebags now that they had all I needed for the trip, I mounted my bike. Ready to head back into the mouth of hell. The town that was my home, that somehow seemed less like home now, considering the dangers that lurked there.
The town that I ran from the sidelines, now a foreign place in my mind. My home quickly becoming this place up in the mountains. Here with Aine’s family. The thought of returning, and leaving this place wasn’t something I was enjoying, and I cursed Aine under my breath. Realizing that if she hadn’t run off, I wouldn’t have to leave at all.
Hell, I was even considering leaving my old pack for dead and staying here. Becoming one with Michaels pack and living out the rest of my life amongst the people who loved my Aine. I can’t do that so much if she’d dead, however.
I couldn’t believe that she would be so foolish. Well, I could. Since the first time I met her, she seemed to jump the gun. Pushing common sense and fear aside like it was nothing more than a stubbed toe. She had no problems walking straight into trouble. The night I marked her, being no different. She approached me, knowing that I wanted her dead without an ounce of fear. Ready to pick a fight.
It was something I loved about her, but right now, it made me furious.
Just as I was about to start up the engine, Michael and his son exited the house, waving me down. Dropping the kickstand again in irritation, I sat as patiently as I could on my bike, waiting as they descended the stairs.
“What’s going on?” Michael asked worriedly. Eying over the members of my pack, ready to leave.
“Caireen, apparently she is unwell, and Aine has taken her back to Sitka,” I explained.
Shaking his head, Michael muttered under his breath. “Aster.” Taking a deep breath, Michael looked back up to me. “We will come. She can’t be there without us to protect her, it’s too dangerous. If Caireen is unwell—-” Michael spoke but was cut off by his son that stood tall beside him.
“She’s not unwell,” Josh spoke up confidently. His face was hard and unwavering as he spoke. His gaze seemingly on nothing as he looked in front of him. He seemed off. Very unlike how he was any other time that I saw him. When he was joking around, his actions always playful and light. I realized as suspicious, to say the least.
Cocking my head to the side, I eyed over the boy once more, taking in the pained expression that he was hiding beneath the strong exterior. He looked like he was about to pass out, and his confident stance wasn’t one of just confidence, no. It was his way of holding back the bile that was obviously growing in this throat. I found myself chuckling softly, recognizing what I was seeing.
His face screaming the obvious signs that I displayed not that long before. The sweaty palms, the burning throat. The feeling of wanting to vomit, even when there was nothing left to expel. Leaving you spitting up blood as your body killed itself from the inside. He seemed about the right age to have the bond show, as long as his mate was in direct contact. Which it seemed she was.
“Yeah? All right, kid? Why would you say that?” I asked Josh bating him, hoping that I could get him to admit it, but he remained silent.
Michael looked over to his son curiously, but Josh’s eyes never left mine. Like he was challenging me to say exactly what I think was going on. A challenge I was most eager to accept.
“Tell me, how old are you?”
Josh swallowed hard. “I turn 18 tomorrow.” He replied sternly.
I nodded slowly, dismounting from my bike. “So, bout the age where you would develop the bond with your mate, right?” I asked coyly, watching as he physically tensed, almost like it was some sort of shameful thing. Like him finding his mate was some sort of sin, which was ridiculous.
Josh shook his head warningly at me, but at this point, I was having too much fun toying with him. Taking out my frustration of the situation out on him. “So, why don’t you tell me why you look like you will be sick, and my mate is dragging her sister off into danger to make sure she isn’t dying?”
Josh’s eyes widened, obviously unaware of the situation at hand. The situation that was transpiring because he didn’t act on this when he first felt it like he should have. I realized that sure; I didn’t either. But I had a reason. There was nothing to stop him from acting on it when it first hit.
Michael looked to his son in surprise. “Caireen is…”
Josh nodded. “My mate.”
“Get your ass in a car, kid. You’re coming with us. The sooner you mark her, the sooner my mate can drag her stubborn ass back here where it’s safe.” I barked to him.
Nodding solemnly, Josh agreed. “Ok.”
* * *
AINE~
“She’s what?!” I hollered out to Aster who couldn’t seem to hold back her amusement.
“Tell me Aine, how are you feeling lately?” Aster asked sarcastically. Reaching forward to pull my jacket from my neck.
“You seem to be right as rain, and would you look at that, a mark on your neck. Meaning I was right.” Aster chuckled before releasing my jacket from her grasp.
“That can’t be,” I remarked coldly, unwilling to accept what was going on with my sister.
Aster rolled her eyes at me, finding it funny that I was still fighting the plain facts that she was sharing with me. I couldn’t help it though. She was my baby sister. There was no way that she was old enough to find a mate. I refuse to believe that. She must be dying because it couldn’t be that.
“Well Aine, she’s eighteen now. She’s come to the age where the bond would develop. From the sound of it, I bet it’s this Josh kid she mentioned.”
“No.” I spat coldly. “She isn’t mated.” I then added harshly.
Aster laughed at me. “Why? Because she isn’t ready? Or because you aren’t?”
Rolling my eyes, I scoffed at her. “She’s not.”
Aster shook her head at me slowly. “Don’t be a fool Aine, it was bound to happen. I know you raised her, and she’s been more of a daughter to you than she ever was a sister. But you have to let her grow up, things like these, you have no control over. It’s nature, it will do what it pleases.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sighed. The sinking reality that I just rushed my sister ou
t into the open, out into harm’s way, all because I couldn’t stop and recognize what was happening with her. Realizing that we could have just stayed at home and let it run its course.
“Fuck me.” I groaned under my breath.
“Hey, think of it this way Aine, she’s a woman now, and you no longer have to take care of her.” Aster tried her best to comfort, but I wasn’t having it.
“Fuck off.” I groaned with a roll of my eyes.
I guess I needed to break the news to her and see if we can get her back home. But first, there was some place I wanted to see again before we left Sitka.
Thirty
Where It Began
DOMINIC~
Josh and Michael were the only ones who knew the way to where we were going, so we followed behind them. Apparently, they would lead us to a certain place as percussion. Keeping us out of direct contact with this person they keep calling Aster.
We traveled quickly through the wooded landscape. Our bikes crowding the back of the car they drove, staying right behind them, showing ourselves to be a unified group as we entered back into the only stomping grounds of ours.
That way if we were to be seen as we crossed into what used to be Echo pack territory, my territory, they would see us as a pack. Which made us less likely to be messed with right off the bat. No single wolf out scouting would want to take on an entire group, especially when they come from a pack that feared the hunters, and the group had two of them.
Looking to my side, I watched as Ethan, Dylan, and my father rode beside me. Faring well to the blasting wind that crashed into our chests. The closer we got to Sitka, the worse the weather got, and the sterner my father looked.
Damien looked visibly uncomfortable as he rode next to me. The daunting reality of where we were going no doubt troubling him. From what he had said, the last time he was in the heart of Sitka was when he rescued Aine all those years ago. The day that he crossed over to this side of the land, dropping her off to safety. Where she stayed for the rest of her life. Following one little promise that was given.