Page 28

Leanna Avery

I slam forward against the door as the claws dig into my chest, right over my heart.

“You should have let him kill me,” Vivian’s voice whispers in my ear gleefully. “I’m going to kill you first and then that bastard child of yours. And I’m going to make him suffer the most.”

She moves her fingers around, and I let out a gasping scream, my body stiff with agony.

“Did you think that if you showed me mercy, it would change anything?” she hisses, her breath hot against my ear. “You are and always will be a slave, Leanna. It doesn’t matter whose fated mate you are. You are a slave, and you are my substitute. You were never good enough to have my face, and tonight I’m going to cut it right off of you.”

She retracts her claws and forces me to turn around. I try to fight back, but my injury is too grievous. I can barely move. She plunges her hand into my stomach, and I make a choking sound, blood pouring from my mouth.

“I did everything to seduce that filthy barbarian. He should’ve considered himself lucky that I was even giving him a fraction of my time. How dare he treat me so callously? Bella was a smart one. She knew your worth. She found me. My father had arranged everything. The Silver Ring Organization was going to protect me.”

Silver Ring Organization? I think dimly. What is she saying?

“But I had to come back. Of course I had to!” She sneers. “Let you be queen of the North? You’re not worthy of being a queen. Did you think you could raise your status? Did you think you could be better than me? In a higher position than me? You, who would lick my shoes if I told you to?”

She laughs angrily before grabbing my head and slamming it against the door. “You ungrateful, greedy, little bitch. How dare you pretend to be me? You were supposed to die in my palace, not become that barbarian’s mate.”

I try to summon my wolf, but I can’t feel it. It’s like our link has severed. I feel so weak!

“Once I’m done with you, I’m going to destroy all the research you’ve been doing, and then I’m going to kill that spawn of yours!”

Her words barely register on me. The only thing I comprehend is that she wants to hurt my child. It’s difficult even to draw a breath, but I don’t care. I’m not going to let her hurt Finn.

My body feels sluggish, as if she’s drugged me with something.

But most of the impact is on my wolf. I can’t feel it anymore. I force the panic aside and lift my knee to hit her in the crotch. I’m unable to use much force, but the surprise of the attack has her stumbling backward, forcing the withdrawal of her hand from my stomach.

Blood gushes out. I wrap my arms around my waist and begin running down the corridor. More like stumbling. My legs are barely able to hold my weight. Without my wolf, I can’t feel the mating bond, and it is sending me spiraling. My wounds are fatal, and I know it.

“You bitch!” Vivian catches up to me and grabs me by my hair, pulling me back and throwing me to the ground.

I may not be able to shift, but I can still use my claws. I slash her on the arm, and she jumps away, crying out in pain.

Where is everybody in this palace?! Where are the guards?!

With no other way out, I hobble back to the lab and quickly press my hand on the fingerprint scanner. Vivian is already rushing toward me. I know the door won’t close in time. I stumble in as soon as it opens and grab the closest thing to me, smashing it against her head as she enters. She goes down like a ton of bricks, and I search for the lights.

My hand hits the switch, and when light floods the lab, I look around in a dazed manner.

It’s a wreck.

It looks like a tornado tore through this place, destroying every single thing inside. All the screens and equipment that Maya purchased are broken. All the vials and the cooler where they were stored have been shattered.

What is happening? How did Vivian escape? Who trashed this place?

I need to call for help. I can feel the life seeping out of me. Without my wolf, I can’t seem to heal at my usual pace. I’m not going to make it, I realize.

Tears burn my eyes. I wanted to see Finn grow up. I wanted him to be loved. Cedric and I were finally happy. We were going to be a family. I wanted my home to be overrun by children.

As I grab the edge of the marble counter and try to look for something to raise the alarm with, I see a still figure on the ground. A few more steps, and I recognize Jerry lying there, face-down in a pool of his own blood.

“No,” I moan, falling by his side. I try to shake him, but I’m too weak. His body is growing cold. “Jerry,” I whisper hoarsely.

I can’t get words out properly. My own body is starting to shut down.

The door is open. The smell of blood should alert somebody.

A hand wraps around my ankle, and I’m being dragged toward Vivian. My head lifts weakly, and I see her crawling toward me, a deranged look on her face.

“You think you can get away from me?” She spits at me. “I have to kill you. You have become a thorn in the organization’s path. And you have become far too arrogant for me to let you live. You forgot your place, Leanna! It was always beneath me! You are not—You can never be better than me!”

She’s clutching a shard of broken glass, and she sinks it into my calf, dragging it down. I let out a shriek of pain, and she laughs.

“Scream all you want! Nobody is coming to save you. Your mate is gone. That barbaric beast is long dead. Just like his parents. The Eastern Kingdom has finally managed to wipe out the entire Northern royal family. Those arrogant beasts!”

I kick her in the face, and she falls to the side, blood spurting from her nose.

“You’re lying!” I shout at her, blood spilling from my mouth. “Cedric is not dead!”

“He is!” Vivian laughs before her next attack. She leaps at me as I grab a scalpel from the floor next to me. I stab it in the air, getting her straight in her right eye.

Her scream of agony is satisfying. I scramble away with what little strength I have left.

I have to get to Finn! Surely, Cedric is okay! He has to be! He’s the strongest shifter I know! He’s not going to die easily. He’s alive.

I have to believe that.

“I’m going to kill you!” Vivian’s enraged scream makes me look back at her, and she’s holding the same knife I just stabbed her with. She lifts it over her head, her eye bleeding, the scalpel aimed at my heart.

I slump to the ground. That’s it. I don’t have any energy left.

She’s really going to kill me, I think dazedly, my vision blurring.

As she brings down the scalpel, a foot comes out of nowhere and kicks her in the chest, sending her flying into the air. She crashes against the cabinets at the other end of the room.

I try to look up, and I feel myself being gathered in somebody’s arms. The scent is familiar, but my eyes are too hazy to see.

Has help arrived?

“S–Save Cedric. Help him.”

With that, my body goes limp. Darkness consumes me, the last bit of my strength finally fading.

Someone’s calling my name, but it’s too late. My eyes close.

I draw my last breath, dimly hearing the death rattle in my lungs.

There is a strange warmth by my side. Almost like something warm and furry is curled up on my hand.

I want to pet it, but I have no energy. Then I feel an odd, wet sensation, as if a small tongue is licking my hand. My fingers twitch.

I hear a cry in the distance, and then the heat is gone.

I fade away once again, missing the warmth.

Someone is stroking my hair.

Soft words are being spoken to me. I want to open my eyes, but my body feels too heavy.

I can feel the love in the voice, a woman’s voice.

I stir once again.

The voice vanishes, and my heart quivers at the loss.

I’m floating in the dark, empty, alone.

It feels like an eternity. I have no sense of self. I just exist in this place, my thoughts and hopes and dreams empty.

There’s a pulse, one of warmth.

I must have imagined it.

But there it is again, a desperate call, a yearning.

In the darkness, I see a thread. It’s dull, but it looks like it’s trying to glow.

Like a switch.

On and off.

It exudes warmth.

It’s glowing, the light surrounding it growing stronger. I want to touch it.

Hesitantly, I wrap my hand around it.

A wolf is howling in misery.

Love, pain, yearning.

I pull my hand away.

They’re not my emotions. I have no emotions. I barely exist.

Unable to help myself, I touch the thread again, wanting to feel those emotions that are not mine. This time, I find it difficult to let it go. The thread doesn’t burn my hand; it permeates my palm with a golden warmth that begins to spread all over my body. It feels like my entire existence is being filled with light.

It’s too much.

I have to let the thread go.

But something isn’t letting me.

I want this to stop.

It’s too much.

“Leanna.”

I know that name. It’s my name.

The sound of a child crying.

“Mom.”

The crying makes me feel uneasy. I don’t like it.

I’ve become distracted by the sounds. When I lower my gaze to the thread, it has begun to wrap around me.

“Leanna.”

The name keeps echoing in my ear, as if somebody is calling me. It’s getting harder to resist.

“Leanna, wake up. It’s time.”

The pulse that passes through me this time is incredibly strong, and I feel myself jerk forward, dragged toward something, out of the darkness.

When my eyes open, I find myself in a familiar room.

This ceiling…I’ve seen it before.

I try to move, but I feel so weak.

Where am I?

There’s something cuddled by my side, and my eyes move to my left. I see a small wolf cub sleeping.

“Finn?” I struggle to speak, and my voice is scratchy.

My son starts, and then he sits up on his hind legs, staring at me. Before I can try to say anything else, he throws his head back and starts howling at the top of his lungs.

I hear loud footsteps. Panic fills me. But when the door is thrown open, two familiar faces burst in at the same time.

Cedric.

Harriet.

Cedric makes a beeline toward me, but Harriet pulls him back. “No!” Her voice is a shout. “She’s too weak. Stay back.”

Weak?

I can’t talk. My throat feels like paper.

She approaches me and brings a small bottle to my lips, ordering, “Drink.”

I take a few sips and then sigh in relief.

“Don’t speak,” she says sharply. Her eyes are glistening with tears.

She opens the bedside drawer next to me and takes out several potions, forcing me to drink every one of them. Her touch is gentle, and I gulp them down thirstily. They taste like nothing, but my throat is so parched that they feel good.

When she’s finally done, Harriet murmurs, “Give it a few minutes. You’ll be better soon.”

She has one arm wrapped around my shoulders to support me, and soon enough, I feel my strength return.

“What happened?” I ask roughly. “Why am I here?”

Harriet looks at Cedric and nods her head. My mate is by my side in a heartbeat. “How are you feeling?”

His voice is hoarse, and he looks like he hasn’t slept in days.

“I’m tired. Where am I?”

“In the palace,” Cedric tells me. Finn’s wolf crawls into my lap and curls up. His body is trembling. I touch his fur and stroke him. He whimpers but does not shift into his human form.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s been like this ever since he saw you,” Harriet tells me sadly. “He refuses to shift back.”

“Finn.” I touch his nose, his forehead, forcing him to look at me. “Finn, I want to see your face.”

He whimpers again, and Cedric says, “Give him some time. He hasn’t left your side in days.”

“What happened to me?”

Everything is very hazy right now. My memories are in chunks and bits, all over the place. I need somebody to help me piece them together.

“You don’t remember?” Cedric asks cautiously. “Vivian attacked you.”

Vivian.

Her very name sends a shock to my system. And then the memories start flooding back. The attack. Jerry.

“Where’s Jerry?”

“He’s fine,” Harriet assures me. “He woke up two days after the attack. You took two weeks, my dear. The royal healers have been working on you around the clock. You nearly died.” She wipes her eyes. “We didn’t know if you would ever wake up. Your injuries were life-threatening, and whatever Vivian gave you, it temporarily disconnected you from your wolf.”

“Is Vivian—”

“She’s dead,” Cedric says bluntly. “She died far too easily. But not before she answered a few questions.”

“I see.” I don’t know what else to say. I feel so tired. “Can I go to sleep for a while?”

Cedric and Harriet exchange a look, and the latter nods. “I’ll bring up some food first. You can sleep after you eat.”

Cedric sits by me after she leaves the room. “I thought I was going to lose you. I never want to go through that again.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, my head still too foggy for me to actually feel anything.

When the food arrives, Cedric feeds me every bite with his own hands. He tries to give some to Finn, but my son is only willing to eat if I feed him myself. He still doesn’t shift back, however.

When I’m done eating, my mate lies down with me and brings Finn to sleep between us. Harriet enters the room, removes the dishes, and turns down the lights. “Sleep. You all need some rest now.”

I don’t know what that means, but surrounded by my family, I feel safe, and I let myself slip away.

It takes me another whole week to recover. Information is fed to me in bits. But by the time I’m walking around, nobody has told me what happened in the lab. And every time I ask questions, my attention is diverted elsewhere. I do get some answers, though, especially about why the palace guards were nowhere to be seen. They had been drawn away by the enemy.

I finally manage to track Jerry down, and I sit with him. The royal healer looks like he has aged twenty years. With Finn in my arms, I study the healer. “What happened, Jerry? I need you to tell me. No more hiding the truth. Where is Maya? Why hasn’t she come to see me yet? Why is everybody avoiding talking about her?” I haven’t been allowed to leave the palace building, so I haven’t been able to go to her cottage.

Jerry buries his face in his hands. “Maya is gone.”

“Gone?” I stare at him, confused. “Where did she go?”

Jerry is silent. “Cassian.”

“What about Cassian?”

Then, Jerry finally tells me what happened that fateful night.

“Maya called me to the lab. She had gotten the test results. We managed to find out how the victims were being kidnapped. They were being given a specific formula that was able to disconnect them from their animal, something that should be impossible.” He looks at me intently. “The same formula was given to both of us. That’s why you weren’t able to heal properly. I reached out to the intelligence unit, and it turns out the person who was in charge of Harold’s medical examiner report was Cassian. He deleted those two pages. The two shifters who died while looking into this case had apparently come far too close to the truth. They were able to figure out that Harold’s file was accessed by Cassian, who was studying Harold’s lineage. All of the shifters who were kidnapped had lineages that went back to a very specific time period.”

“I don’t understand.”

A voice from my left says, “Cassian was a member of the Silver Ring Organization, the same group that killed Cedric’s parents. He was also the one who sidetracked the guards and helped Vivian escape.” I look over, still reeling from all this information, and see Erik standing in the doorway. He enters the room. “It’s good to see you up and about. I’m sorry I haven’t come to visit. I’ve had my hands full, what with the Eastern royal family being murdered and all.”

“Murdered?” I gape at him in alarm. “Why is this the first I’m hearing about it?”

“You’re still too delicate right now,” Erik says gently. “And ‘murdered’ is the wrong word. They were executed. The Eastern royal family was in cahoots with the Silver Ring Organization. From what we understand, the Eastern royals had been working with this group for decades. They were kidnapping shifters. Vivian told us the gist of it. Her father and uncle were fully involved, as were most of the noble families of the East. We spared the only child from the royal family, an innocent boy. He will be the new king, and in the meantime, a delegate will be appointed to help him run the kingdom.”

Erik sits down beside us, looking exhausted.

“What a mess.” I look between him and Jerry. “And Cassian was working with them?”

Erik nods.

“I remember seeing him and Maya walking toward—”

“He attacked me and dragged Maya away,” Jerry says. “If you saw her with him, they weren’t out for a stroll together. He was taking her.”

“Oh no,” I groan. Bile rises in my throat. I could’ve stopped him. What have I done? “Have you found her?”

Erik shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Leanna.”

“We have to look for her!”

“It’s useless. Cedric sent his best trackers after them, and they came back empty-handed. The Silver Ring Organization has a base that we can’t find.”

“But we can keep trying—”

“We will. I will,” Erik assures me. “There is too much chaos in the three kingdoms, and you are far too weak right now. So, I will be continuing to search from here. You need to go back to the North with Cedric and work on your health and on your kingdom.”

“I can’t abandon my friend.” I get to my feet.

Erik and Jerry exchange a look, and then Jerry says heavily, “We believe she’s dead.”

Tears spring to my eyes. “You’re wrong.”

“I’m not wrong,” Jerry sighs. “Cassian said he was going to take her hostage and then get rid of her. He needed to know what she knew, and that was it. She’s long dead, Leanna.”

I break into sobs, unable to stop myself. This is my fault. I dragged her into this.

Two small hands cup my face. “Don’t cry, Mom. Please don’t cry.”

Finn’s voice jerks me out of my despair temporarily. My sweet boy has shifted back. I hold him in my arms, trying to swallow my sobs. I hear him crying, as well. It takes a lot of effort to force myself to calm down. This is not the time to grieve.

I look at Erik. “What about her mother?”

My voice is thick, and Jerry says, “I’ll keep looking after her. Even if Maya isn’t here anymore, I will keep my end of the bargain and give her mother the best life I possibly can.”

Erik puts his hand on my shoulder. “You should go home, Leanna. You barely survived. Cedric nearly lost his mind. Go back to the North and rebuild your life. Maya is gone, but your son is here, and so is your mate. From what I know of your friend, she would have wanted you to live a happy life.”

Two fat tears roll down my cheeks, and I nod. “I know.” I take a deep breath before asking, “Have you looked into how Cassian got involved in all this?”

“He visited the East for a study program,” Erik tells me. “It was for two years. When he returned, he began working for me. He had asked Jerry if he could work in the royal palace. Nobody suspected him because he was Jerry’s nephew.”

I look at Jerry. “And he tried to kill you?”

The healer’s face is drawn. “He didn’t say anything. He simply cut me down and told Maya he needed to use her as a hostage. I still can’t understand it. But I heard him tell her about the Silver Ring Organization. I couldn’t remember much, but what I did, I told Erik. Everything else Erik and Cedric found out was from Vivian’s uncle. But even that information was sparse.”

Finn is clinging to me, and I hold him tight. “If you want me and Cedric to go back, are you saying you don’t need our help?”

“I will always need your help, Leanna,” Erik admits. “But for now we have to put a pin in some things and focus on picking up the pieces. We have identified our enemy. But the Eastern Kingdom and the Northern Kingdom have taken massive hits. There have been enormous changes in the hierarchies. The kingdoms need time to recover and heal. And I need to do damage control here.” He looks at Jerry. “I’m going to increase security around the palace, and Jerry will keep investigating whatever Maya left him with. But I don’t think we are going to include any more humans in our world. She managed to get results, but the price she paid was far too high, even for us. We’re going to remember Maya and what she did for us for a long time.”

I look at the child in my arms. Maya would have wanted me to look after Finn. She loved him.

“Okay,” I murmur. “We’ll go home. If you need anything, please let us know.” I take a step toward Erik to hug him. “Thank you for being a friend to me all these years.”

He holds me for a moment before backing away. “I hope to be invited to your mating ceremony.”

I smile at him sadly. “Of course.”

I look down at Finn and stroke his hair. “Let’s go home. We’ve been here long enough.”