Page 177 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)
AUDREY
I told Bishop and Cyrus — while ignoring the ache in my chest whenever I looked at Cyrus — what I’d overheard, and they hurried me back to the safety of the Residence. Somehow, I convinced Bishop, with Cyrus’s agreement, that we couldn’t bring what I’d overheard to the other members of the alliance. We needed more than just my say so. We needed proof.
Cyrus quickly dispatched Finn to call Deacon and Knox back to the Residence — since Deacon and Knox were out of even Cyrus’s mental reach — and we returned to the leader’s only alliance meeting, knowing we needed to buy us enough time to find that proof.
The rest of the day involved hours of discussion where I strained to sit still and look calm while trying to overhear snippets of whispered conversations, particularly among the merchants. But no one said anything that gave away more of the merchants’ plans, and I ended the day exhausted and frustrated.
I’d been completely useless, and on top of that, I hadn’t found a moment to look for Whil and ask about the smoke that had fluttered out of my mouth when I’d controlled the grimalkins. We hadn’t even taken a break when Deacon and Knox returned to the Residence. Cyrus had used his telepathy to tell them what was going on and to search Anakar for proof, and we hadn’t had to leave the meeting room.
Thankfully, the dinner ended early. I hadn’t felt sick to my stomach or seen any smoke all day so I let Bishop lead me back to my suite where we undressed, cuddled on my bed, and fell asleep.
A few minutes later… or had it been an hour? Two hours? More? My eyes fluttered open.
I took in the familiar towering tree surrounding me, the moist earth and the sweet scent of pine needles. I was in my old pack’s sacred grove.
A chill raced down my spine, settling hard and heavy in my gut. The last time I’d dreamed of this sacred grove, Sterling had tormented me, driving a knife into my greatest fears over and over again in an attempt to make me kill myself… because I was forever linked to that monster.
Whil had said she’d magically blocked the connection between us, but she hadn’t been able to break it, and that could mean he was invading my dreams again.
My pulse lurched, and I glanced around, searching for a way out of the grove even though I knew it was futile. If Sterling wanted me here, it wouldn’t matter if I ran. I’d always end up where I started. I’d always be trapped.
No.
I clenched my jaw, determined to stay calm. It was just a dream. Sterling might be able to control it, but he couldn’t affect my body in the waking world. I was still safe from him. We weren’t even in the same realm.
The bushes on the far side of the grove rustled, and I scrambled into the underbrush at the edge of the grove, instinct making me hide in the shadows.
A second later, Sterling and Royce appeared, each carrying a slumped figure over their shoulder, one male and one female.
The male wheezed, weakly struggling in Royce’s grip as if he were dazed, unable to do anything because his hands and ankles were tied, while the female didn’t move at all.
With a grunt, Sterling dumped the woman into the center of the grove. Her long dark hair swept away from her face and my breath stalled in my lungs.
Mila. The only person brave enough to become my friend in my old pack. Sterling and Royce had laughed about tricking her into thinking she and her mate, Porter, had heard the fated mating call because they’d wanted to isolate me. And it had worked. I’d been alone for almost a year.
The guys had said Porter hadn’t been involved in their plans, just another unwitting dupe, and Mila had been happy at her mating ceremony, so why was I dreaming of them now?
Or rather, why was Sterling making me dream of them?
Mila groaned and rolled onto her back, her eyes glassy and unfocused as if she were drugged and Royce dumped the man beside her.
“Porter,” she moaned, her gaze sliding to the man, her mate, who growled and rolled up to his knees.
“I don’t think so,” Royce snarled, grabbing Porter’s head and slamming his knee into his face.
Mila gasped and Porter dropped to the ground, moaning.
“That’s right,” Royce said, kicking him in the ribs hard enough to send him sliding across the dirt. “Stay down.”
Royce moved to kick him again, but Sterling growled, and a snap of alpha power exploded from him, making Royce freeze.
“I need their beating hearts,” he said, his voice filled with menace.
Fear rushed through my body, freezing my breath in my lungs, and Royce dipped his head in submission.
Shadows and wisps of black smoke swirled around Sterling and red flickered in his eyes. Another crushing wave of alpha power roared through the grove, and Mila and Porter moaned while Royce sank to his knees.
I inched farther back into the underbrush despite the wildness inside me rising up and defying Sterling’s demand to submit. So far, he hadn’t noticed me and I wasn’t going to draw attention to myself.
“Good,” he laughed, the sound sending more shivers racing down my spine. “Now step back.”
Royce scurried to the side of the grove, out of the circle of moonlight, and Sterling pulled a vial containing a red glowing liquid from his pocket.
Just like when he’d tried to sacrifice me to that monster, he dumped the liquid onto the ground and hissed, “Open, Gate of the Realms.”
Magic exploded into the grove, crashing against me and stealing my breath. Mila and Porter moaned and Sterling threw his head back and howled with laughter. The power twisted into a whirlwind, picking up dead leaves and small stones while pulling oozing strands of black smoke from the ground. It spun higher and higher, pouring into the night sky and blotting out the stars and moon.
Thunder cracked, sharp and loud, making me jump, and Royce’s gaze snapped toward me. I froze, praying he couldn’t see me in the gloom. My pulse roared, everything within me screaming to run, get away, stop reliving the moment when I was offered up to a monster. I didn’t want to watch Mila and her mate be eaten alive. It had been bad enough hearing it while the monster had been eating Merrick.
Except I knew the second I tried to escape, the dream would change and it wouldn’t be Mila and Porter being sacrificed, it would be me.
Lightning sliced through the darkness and Sterling howled with manic joy, drawing Royce’s attention. Porter heaved himself back to his knees and strained to break the rope binding his hands behind his back. Mila moaned and writhed, her breathing desperate, sharp gasps, her eyes clearer now as if the drugs were wearing off just in time for her to die.
Save them, Audrey, I screamed at myself . Save them.
No. Run!
Another crack of thunder shook me and more lightning sliced through the whirling smoke, tearing open an enormous column of shimmering air, a rip between my old realm and my new one.
Power poured through the rip, bringing with it the putrid reek of the grimalkins, and the smoke thickened. It embraced Sterling, while also rushing around me. It caressed me, resonated with something deep in my soul, and taunted me with how it had leaked from my mouth when I’d make the grimalkins run away.
I could feel the connection between us, the oozing smoke linking us together, the darkness growing inside both of us. Then Mila screamed, dragging my attention to the smoke tearing into her and Porter.
Sterling’s laughter deepened and enormous, leathery wings ripped out the back of his shirt. A flush rushed over him, turning all visible skin red, just like the monster he’d summoned, and thick, black ram’s horns grew from his temples.
“Yes,” he roared, fire blazing from his eyes as he stretched his arms wider and wider, his body growing bigger.
Thick long claws extended from his fingertips, longer and more vicious than a regular shifter’s claws, and with a manic grin, he slammed his claws into Porter’s chest, tearing into his flesh and ripping out his heart.
Oh, God.
Bile burned the back of my throat and my soul screamed at me.
Do something. Anything. Wake the fuck up.
I squeezed my eyes shut, straining to shut out Mila’s panicked screams, Sterling’s howls of laughter, and the roaring wind.
It’s just a dream. Just a dream.
This wasn’t really happening. Sterling wasn’t becoming the monster he’d tried to sacrifice me to, and Mila and her mate were safe with his pack. She’d escaped our old pack. She was free.
This was just Sterling torturing me. I needed to wake up and get to Whil. Have her fix the block.
But a part of me, a small, terrified voice inside me, screamed that I was wrong. This was more than a dream.