Page 41

Chapter FOrty

Michaela

“ I’m not sure about this, Markis. Can you even trust her?”

I grin at my father’s words. Say what you want about the man, but he’s no dummy. It’s been 20 hours since we rushed away from the Deep Woods pack. They’ve had a conversation similar to this one at least three times already.

“Relax, Khalif. I told you once before, I’ve always been able to control your daughter.”

I didn’t expect any other response from Markis. He always thinks he’s in control, even when it’s obvious he isn’t. That’s how I knew my plan would work. If I made Markis believe that he still had a hold on me, he’d never second-guess my motive. His ego has always been his greatest weakness.

“She practically admitted to hiding the spy for him to find,” Chikae adds his two cents in. “Plus, she was ready to leave those wolves. She killed their Luna in front of them. That should be enough to let you know she’s back with the plan.”

So far, everyone has proven true to themselves. Chikae will always dick ride the most powerful man in the room. And even though my father knows he’s right about me; he will fold under pressure.

“I guess you’re right,” Khalif says.

I shake my head and laugh. Some things will never change. The slamming of a door somewhere in the house draws my attention away from my eavesdropping.

Currently, I’m locked away in an upstairs room in this mansion of a cabin. Being a conduit means I can borrow or absorb other’s abilities around me. I simply pull from their energy and use their gift. It’s how I’m able to manipulate emotions like Marley. And how I could communicate telepathically with my sister after showing up at the pack that night.

The downfall of my gift is, I don’t get to keep the ability unless I drink from the person. Some powers I have are because I’ve taken them from other magical beings. Like the gift of knowing some spells and what plants and rituals to use for certain things. During my time with Markis, I collected those from numerous witches I killed. I took compulsion from another vampire when I was sixteen. While at the academy, I took wind bending from another student. I was in my twenties when I got psychokinesis. I developed sifting from Markis when we mated. And the reason I can hear a conversation from downstairs in the study all the way up here in my prison room is because I now have the hearing of a wolf.

The moment I think of him, pain rears back up in me, causing the burning sensation in the back of my eyes to occur.

“You’re just like him. A waste of life…. I hate that I ever touched you. I hate that I ever allowed you to touch me. You are everything I said you were….you don’t deserve my love, and you damn sure didn’t deserve Elizabeth’s…I.. fucking… hate you.”

I keep telling myself he only said those words because he thought I betrayed him, but the saying goes, a drunk tongue tells no tales. You can say the same about words spoken in anger. Whatever he said, he meant.

I didn’t deserve redemption. I tried to tell Liz that. I tried to make her see that not one of the gods was going to forgive me.

Placing a hand to my flat stomach, the pain of what I will lose hits me again. I guess I didn’t truly deserve this blessing either.

The stomping of three separate sets of footsteps against hard wood floors drew my attention. Climbing up from the window seat I was resting on, I turn to greet the intruders. The locks on the outside of the door turn. I cross my arms over my chest as the door opens.

The twins, Kozani and Kavita, walk in first, both glaring at me. I wink at them. Mother steps in last, carrying a tray with flutes of blood. She places the tray down on the storage bench at the foot of the bed.

When she stands up straight, she looks me over as if I’m covered in shit.

Since tonight is supposed to be Markis’ and my re-mating ceremony, I’m in a traditional vampire wedding gown. The off-shoulder black dress has a sheer black bodice and long sleeves. It’s adorned with intricate lace and dark red roses, seamlessly blending into a full, flowing skirt. Markis had the dress custom made and brought with him. Proving what his plans were from the start.

My make-up is smoky and dark. My curls are straightened, parted down the middle and hanging to my lower back. On the surface, I’m the picture-perfect example of a royal bride. On the inside, I’m dying.

“Markis always did have great taste,” mother says. “Although luxury can’t take away from those hideous wolf markings or that horrendous odor.”

Kozani and Kavita both laugh.

“Seriously, Mizani, you should shower. You smell like wet dog.”

She knows I’ve showered. I smell like a wolf because I’m mated to one. She knows this as well. She’s trying to bait me. I won’t fall for it.

“I’m not hungry.” I say in response to the tray of blood she’s placed out.

Her light brown eyes narrow. “Is that what you’re doing? You know you must feed before a mating. Are you refusing to eat in some type of protest?”

I grin. “No, I don’t want your offerings because I can smell the sedative in it.”

Her face falls. The two in the room with us snarl showing their fangs. Not even on a good day could these two beat me. I don’t know why they’re trying to show off now.

Mother recoups, her face going back to neutral. Enzo once said he thought I was an Empath because I could hide my emotions behind a neutral face. Sadly, that is a gift I inherited and not absorbed.

Mother looks me up and down again. “You are such a disappointment.”

Her words do not phase me.

“Your father and I did everything we could to give you a proper title in this life.” She gracefully walks over to the large standing mirror in the room. She runs a hand down her maroon dress.

“Do you know that when my mother was a young girl, mothers often drowned their useless female children when they were born?” Her narrowed gaze finds me in the mirror. She’s still looking for a response from me. She shrugs before turning back to face me.

“I was going to go that route when you were born. But your father said that we could get a good deal for you when you were old enough to bleed monthly.” She walks over to me, standing a few inches short of being eye to eye with me.

“You’ve strayed so far from who you were meant to be. Living and mating with wolves,” she spits the word wolves out. She lifts my hair from my back and places it over my shoulder, purposely covering the wolf markings down my arm.

“Honestly, if I were Markis, I wouldn’t want you back in my bed.”

The two in the room chuckle at her remarks.

“He wouldn’t take her back if he could find Toraya,” Kozani says.

He didn’t notice the smile fall from his sister’s face. But I noticed.

“Lucky for you,” mother says mockingly toward me.

I watch them all, glancing from face to face. Finally, a giggle erupts from me. It quickly turns into a full out laugh. I laugh so hard I have to hold my side.

“What’s so funny?” mother snarls.

“You,” I say, sobering flicking my hair back off my shoulder. “Why do you think I never killed you and father?”

She looks shocked at my question. Almost like she never even considered it was an option.

“What?” she asks.

Retaking my spot on the window seat, I face the three in the room.

“The only reason your head has remained attached to your body all these years is because I didn’t want to deal with the council.” I shrug. “But now, they have stripped you of your title and made you public enemy number one. They couldn’t care less what happens to you. So, by all means, keep going.” I say, waving my hand out in front of me for her to keep talking. “Fuel this animosity I have for you. It will make it so much sweeter when I stand over your dead body.”

Her face pales, which isn’t easy to do for a black vampire. She quickly spins on her heels and rushes out of the room. The twins follow, locking me back in the room when they’re gone.

I chuckle as I kick my feet back up on the window seat and turn to stare out the window.

The door below in the downstairs office slams shortly after.

“She just threatened to kill me,” mother sobs.

“Now dear,” my father says. “She has always threatened to kill us.”

I chuckle at that.

“No, but I think she meant it this time.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Markis says. “In a few hours, the moon will be high enough in the sky and we can break her bond with the wolf. Soon as we reinstate ours and I get the power of the fey, Mizani is going to ground. I won’t need her after I’ve received the power. I will use her ability to track down Toraya and my offspring, and the three of us will rule this world.”

So that was his plan. This time, I laugh loudly. He is going to be very disappointed tonight.

“And we will have our place, right?” father begs for whatever scraps Markis will give him. He doesn’t know that the moment Markis deems him and the rest of my family as useless, he will kill them too.

“Of course,” Markis replies. The deception was so thick in his tone you would think my father would recognize it.

The house goes back to normal. Soft conversations go on all around me. My mind focuses on my little sister. I know Chayton and the pack are taking care of her. By now, Tech has revealed that Liz was never really dead. Hopefully, she passed on my message and left to find shelter. I have seven hours before my plan is put into effect.

I thought I’d be more nervous facing my death, but Ms. Cheryl was right. No one should live forever. At 450 years old, it sure felt like I’ve lived forever. If you can call what I was doing living. It felt more like existing. Moving blindly through a world that only saw you as something that could be used and discarded. My ability to be loved was based on what I could provide. People took from me but never valued me.

As I sit here in this window, staring death in the face, I feel more alone than I’ve ever felt before. Placing a hand to my flat stomach, I think of the baby I will never meet and that will never get to be. The one person I’ve always felt would love me unconditionally will never get their chance at life.

“I’m sorry, little one. But I have to.”

A gentle nudge presses against the barrier in my head. It’s Enzo’s wolf. He’s been doing this since last night. He’s trying to communicate with me. I never thought I could love an animal the way I love that wolf. It hurts my heart to cut him off, but I have to. Because I can’t have one without the other and the human has let me know how he feels.

The heavy footfalls heading toward my room have me turning in that direction. I don’t have to guess who it is; I know the cadence of that walk. I spent many years listening to it and waiting for it.

The lock on my door clicks and the door swings open. Markis walks in. He’s wearing a black gothic inspired suit. The only color in the suit is the deep red rose lapel pen that matches the rose appliques on my dress. His locs are barreled twisted back into a low ponytail.

“You look beautiful, Mizani,” he says, looking me over. The lust in his eyes curdles my stomach. I don’t know how the hell I’m going to redo this bond if the sight of him makes me sick.

“As do you, Markis.”

He grins, showing off his perfectly aligned teeth. He walks further into the room where there is an old record player. Clearly, whoever this house belonged to was into jazz and had a firm belief that vinyl makes it sound better.

The smooth sound of Coltrane plays through the speakers.

“It’s been fun catching up on all the changes in the world,” Markis says, swaying to the music. “The best has been the technology and the music.” He holds out his hand for me to take.

Reluctantly, climbing to my feet, I walk over to him and place my hand in his. He immediately pulls me into him and dances with me. This was once our favorite pastime. It goes without saying this doesn’t hit the same way anymore.

“However, admittedly, the greatest benefit of all this is the availability of indoor plumbing everywhere.” He chuckles.

“Yes, that’s been my favorite as well,” I admit.

We sway to the music in silence a little longer.

“I’ve realized something,” Markis says. He stops dancing and pulls back so that he can see my face.

“All the years we were together searching for the Key, I never really asked what you wanted out of all this. I know what I want, and I know what we wanted together. But what is it I can give you, Mizani? I don’t want to look over your desires anymore. I did that once before, and it caused you to doubt me. To doubt us. Tell me, my love, what can I give you?”

I stare up into his handsome face. His perfectly shaved beard and mustache showcasing his full lips. The chiseled jawbone that could grace the cover of any magazine and those deep brown penetrating eyes. I take in every inch of the beautiful man and then burst out laughing.

Markis’ brow pinches. He lets me go and takes a step back.

“I’m sorry,” I say, sobering, wiping the smile off my face. “I just can’t understand how I ever fell for your bullshit.”

He frowns.

“I told you once before, I am not that young girl with a crush on her mentor, Markis. Your head games do not work on me.”

Like a cobra striking, he reaches out and grabs my neck, pulling me into him. His face transforms from handsome to the monster I know him to be.

“You should be thanking me for being kind to you. You’re the reason I was sent to ground. I have a good mind to kill you now and say forget that damn fey power.”

I choke out a laugh. “Yes, but then how will you find out what happened to your precious Toraya and baby?”

Every ounce of his anger and fury fades as he stares down at me. He shoves me away and I go tumbling back to the window seat. Thankfully, it breaks my fall.

He tries to dive into my head but comes up against my solid wall. His growl of frustration causes me to laugh.

“I guess the re-mating ceremony is still on?”

He snarls and takes a step toward me, but stops. “Once the ceremony is complete, you and I will have a long talk about your behavior, wife.”

“Ex,” I say. “I am your ex-wife until midnight.”

This time, he smiles. “Yes. And once I seal the deal, I will circle back to your little dog pack and slaughter that mutt you called yourself mating.”

Fear coats me, but I hide it under my neutral appearance.

“Do as you please with the wolf,” I shrug. “Did you not witness his heartbreak? He’d much rather help you kill me than die for me. You’re wasting your time.”

Even though I say those words with a lack of any emotion, they hurt like hell because they are true. Deep down, he probably wouldn’t care what happened to me.

“ You don’t deserve my love and you damn sure didn’t deserve Elizabeth’s.”

Enzo will move on. He will find a female wolf that will be everything he ever wanted. He will have full wolf pups, and he won’t miss the short time he was mated to me. There is a much better deserving mate out there for him.

“No, there’s only you.” Enzo’s words pop in my head so loud and clear I glance around the room. How the hell did he get past my barrier?

I don’t get to question this because a lone howl goes up into the night. No, please no. Turning to the window, I press my face closer, trying to find him. I know that wolf howl. I know it like I know my own voice.

“Zo,” I whisper his name when I spot golden glowing eyes through the trees. A swarm of legion members that have been guarding the house make their way toward the trees where the howl came from.

To get back to Chicago, it would’ve taken us about twenty hours. Markis didn’t want to risk missing the full moon, so he opted to hunker down in a cabin he found in Montana. We were only an hour's drive away from Chayton’s pack. Enzo must have tracked me somehow.

“Zo, go back. I have a plan. Don’t risk this. You need to stay and protect Elizabeth.”

“You don’t get to make plans without me while carrying my pup.”

Even though I’m startled, I should have known Liz would tell him about the baby. I again place a hand on my still flat belly.

“Sacrifices will have to be made. Your job will be to figure out who will be the sacrificial lamb.”

My child is the sacrifice I’m making in order to save everyone.

His growl is prominent in my head. “My child will not be a fucking sacrifice. Nor will my mate.”

For a split second, I forgot Markis was in the room with me. However, his grip on my hair reminds me he’s here. He drags me off the seat and makes me stand.

“You betrayed me?” he snarls down in my face.

Although, I did not set this up, and I don’t think this is a good idea, I don’t miss the opportunity to rub this shit in Markis face.

“Now you know what it feels like.” Crossing my arm over my chest, I release my blade. As I knew he would, he expected the move. He shoves my arm down just in time, sending the sharp end of my blade into his shoulder and not his neck, like I wanted.

He groans and releases my hair. I remove my blade from his shoulder and shove him to the ground as I take off for the door. I needed to get downstairs before Enzo made it into this house. They needed my help to fight off the legion.

“Mizani,” Markis yells so loud through the house, the pictures on the wall seem to rattle. I don’t stop moving.

One of Markis’s new disciples jumps out in front of me. I don’t even break my run as my blades slice his head off. Another disciple comes rushing out of one of the rooms near the staircase. He lunges for me. I jump on top of the iron banister railing out of his reach and then slide down to the bottom. I jump from the rail into a tuck rolling on the floor and then pop up on my feet. Chikae comes around the corner. His eyes widen when he spots me.

He turns to run, but I flip my wrist over and send out a pike that clips him in the back of the neck. He drops to the ground.

My mother screams as she watches her eldest son hit the ground. Father grabs her and pulls her behind him.

His weak nudge of compulsion presses against my brain. He’s trying to convince me to turn around. I roll my eyes as I walk toward them.

I stop beside Chikae. Extending my blade, I stare directly at my father as I place my foot on my brother’s back and then bring my blade down, removing his head from his neck.

His and mother’s screams fill the cabin like the choir in an opera.

Kozani runs from the kitchen and heads toward me. I waste no time spearing him in the neck. His twin comes up behind me. I spin around just as she attempts to attack me from the back, bringing her brother to the spot I once was. She slices through his neck. While she stares in horror, I quickly send her to meet him.

Soon, I’m surrounded by about ten members of the legion. All their swords are drawn as they stare at me.

“Do not kill her,” Markis shouts on the stairs. His shoulder has healed, but a blood stain shows where I stabbed him.

“Don’t kill her,” he reiterates with a sneer. “But make that bitch bleed.”

I lift my chin. We shall see who bleeds.

I spin around causing a whirlwind to form, stopping, I then send it out at the legion in front of me. It sends about five of them flying against the wall. One of the legion still on their feet charges toward me. Using psychokinesis, I pick up the bookcase across the room and slam it into him.

I go between every power I have absorbed over the years, using them like second nature to fight off these vampires. When the last body falls, I stand in the middle of the corpses breathing heavily.

The pain in my head is sudden, but not unexpected.

“You bitch,” Markis snarls as he walks toward me. “After all the years I spent loving you, you betray me. I gave you everything you have.”

I try to move, but he has control of my mind and will not allow it. Fighting against him, I attempt to push him out. One of the reasons I seldom use the gifts I’ve collected over the years is because it takes a lot out of me mentally. Which means I’m more susceptible to Markis.

He goes through my memories. As fast as I put a wall up, he breaks it down. Nothing is safe.

He stops on my last memory of Toraya. It was a few months before he’d gone into hiding. She’s kneeling in front of me, her body shaking, the rain pouring down onto her long blonde hair. I’ve chased her for days through the countryside of Spain.

“Please, Mizani,” she begs. “Don’t do this. He will hate you.”

I chuckle. “You think I give a fuck about him hating me? You both smiled in my face while you defied my bed behind my back. He gave you the one thing I’ve always wanted—”

“It’s gone,” she shouts, cutting me off. “I lost the baby.”

I smiled. “I know.”

I’d never do anything to risk the life of an unborn child. I had plans to wait until the bastard was born to kill its bitch of a mother, but fate had other plans.

She shook her head at me, her red tears mixed with the rain. “I’ll die knowing that he loved me and not you.”

“No,” I laughed. “Markis loves no one.” I place the images into her mind of Markis fucking Kavita and Venette. She gasps right as I cut her head off. I wanted the last thing she saw to be how he had played her, too.

“I see you discovered all of my little secrets,” he growls as he continues to go through my mind. He sees when I found a young Tech looking malnourished. He witnessed me watching over him. Next, he sees my entire friendship with Elizabeth play out.

“Your friend was pretty,” he chuckles. “I would’ve loved to fuck her. I would’ve put in time with her and taught her to resent you just like I did all the others.”

He’s not lying. Kavita, Venette, and Toraya were all once my friends. Eventually, they turned their backs on me.

He finally comes to my relationship with Enzo. He pulls up the night of us camping. The memory of the way Zo made love to me that night, and how his wolf was so on the surface I could feel him too, plays in full view. I pay attention to every detail. The gold in his eyes, the way his brows pinched, and his teeth dug into his bottom lip when he stroked inside me. The soft moans he made as he brought my body to euphoria.

“He could never fuck you like I can,” Markis growls at the memory before trying to rip it out of my head.

However, pulling that memory up and thinking of how happy I was in that brief time and knowing what all I have to fight for gives me the strength I need.

“You’re… right. He…fucked me…better…” I shove him out of my head with all my strength.

Markis flies back into the wall. He hits it with a thud and slides down. I fall to my knees, catching my breath. Okay, where did I get the energy to do all that?

“From your mate.” The door crashes in and my big black wolf comes rushing into the cabin. Blood covers his black fur. I guess he had no problem handling the legion outside.

Behind Enzo is the white wolf, Torak, Chayton, Zyion, and a few more of the scouts I’ve grown to know. They all came…. for me.

“Of course,” Chayton’s voice appears in my head. “You are a member of our pack. And we protect our pack.”

Though the words may seem simple to them, they meant everything to me. I’ve spent the entirety of my life feeling like the odd man out. I never belonged anywhere. Not with the legion, not with my family, and not in the cult Markis had created. It wasn’t until I connected with a pack of wolves that I felt at home.

“Kill them,” Markis shouts. “Kill them all.”

Davorin, Florin, and Venette rush into the room along with a few more of Markis’ followers.

Davorin goes for Enzo. He leaps on his back, slicing into his thick fur.

“Zo,” I shout.

“Focus, Michaela,” Chayton says as he faces off with a younger vampire. “Trust us to handle ourselves.”

He’s right. The biggest lesson you learn when in the legion is to trust your partner’s abilities.

I turn around just in time to come face to face with my younger brother.

Kofi flashes his fangs. “You killed my brother.”

Releasing my blades from my cuffs, I smile. “Don’t worry, I have plans to reunite all of you assholes tonight.” I charge him.

He tries to use his weak psychokinesis against me. I dodge the object he tosses at me. Ducking underneath it, I come up slinging my blade like an uppercut. The end goes through his chin and comes out through the top of his head. I pull out my Katana and slice through his neck.

I’m hit in the back hard and I go rolling across the floor. When I stop, my mother is on top of me, swinging blindly in rage. Her long nails slicing at my face. She’s fighting like a scared cat. I guess I did just kill her favorite child.

Using my psychokinesis, I sling her body off me and into the wall. She hits the surface with a thud.

“You whore,” she snarls. “I hate you. I should have drowned you.”

“Yes, you should have.” I tell her. Lifting my hand, I pick up the glass vase on the ground near her body. Making a fist, I crush the vase into sharp pieces. I then move my hand toward her, sending the shard of glass into her neck. Slowly, her body falls to the ground, leaving her head still attached to the wall by the glass.

A whimper to my right has me spinning in that direction. Torak is facing off with my father. Father has the wolf in a bear hug, squeezing him. Fury builds up in me. Turning my wrist over, I send a spike into my father’s back. He howls and releases Torak. He spins around and glares at me.

“So it has come to this?” he asks. “You finally get your chance to take on your father. Well, come on. Let’s see it. Father and daughter. You’ve taken away everything I love. Come on,” he shouts.

I shake my head at him. “I’ll leave that to your daughter’s boyfriend.”

His eyes narrow. He goes to turn but never makes the full rotation. Torak’s gray and black wolf leaps onto my father, ripping his head off. He looks up at me with those glowing blue eyes. I not my head in thank you.

Suddenly, he cries out, crumbling to his knees. The other wolves all do the same thing.

“You mutha fuckers thought you won,” Markis gloats. “You can’t stop me. I am invincible.”

He turns to face me. I charge at him. We go back and forth. Every attack I attempt, he blocks it. He dodges every swipe of my blade. No matter how hard I fight, I can’t land anything. I try another opening, thinking I have an in. He leans back, grabbing my outstretched arm. He pulls me forward and places a kiss on my cheek before shoving me away. I hit the ground hard, tumbling into a wall.

He tosses his head back and chuckles. “Let me guess, you were relying on the Huntress to kill me?” he looks to the wolves that are lying on their sides. I turn to face the familiar golden eyes of my mate.

“I can’t beat him,” I tell Enzo . “He trained me. He knows every move I will make. Just let me form the bond. It’s the only way.”

“N….no,” his pained voice sounds like a whisper in my head.

Markis walks over to Enzo. He looks at me before placing his foot on Enzo’s leg. He presses down, sending the sound of crushing bone through the room. Enzo’s wolf lets out a growl that tapers into a soft whimper.

Markis laughs as he looks down at him. “You thought you were just going to come in here and kick my ass and take my bitch? Not going to happen, wolf.”

The long Katana from Markis’ cuffs extends.

“Markis, no,” I plead. “I’ll do it. No complaint. I’ll give you the fey key and then you can put me to ground. Isn’t that what you want?”

He turns to glare at me.

“I won’t fight you. I’ll give you what you want. Don’t kill him.”

He looks back at Enzo, before turning back to me. He then laughs.

“You love him?”

I don’t respond because the answer is obvious.

“Okay,” Markis says. “We’re not waiting until midnight. We make the bond right now.” The blade disappears into his cuff. I’m grabbed up from the floor by Talon and another vampire I don’t know. They shove me up against a wall.

I keep my eyes on Enzo.

“This is the only way.”

“No,” he growls as he tries to stand.

“Stay the fuck down,” Markis shouts. Enzo collapses back to the ground. This time his wolf writhes.

“Markis, please,” I plead.

He marches over to me and backhands me so hard I spin in a full damn circle before collapsing to the ground.

Enzo

Seeing him put his hands on my mate has a snarl coming from deep within me.

“When a sifter is manipulating your mind, it is the memories that are most important to you that will be your weapon. You have to find that powerful memory. One that stays with you, something that brings you peace and happiness. Lock on to it and it will always be your defense against a sifter.”

Her words that day in the kitchen play back in my thoughts. I think of the memory of Ana that first popped into my head that day. However, I have newer memories—better ones. I think back to the first time I saw Michaela. The first moment she spoke to me and I was rude to her. I think back to the time I found her on that step cleaning the blood. Her sadness caused me to see her for the first time.

I think of the night we mated and our ceremony. Seeing her in that white gown. I think of the week we spent with her in heat. The laughs, the battles, the orgasms. Of course, my mind goes to the night of the camping trip. The memory he tried to steal from me. I think of her face and hearing her tell me she loved me for the first time.

The moment I lock onto that memory, I can feel his hold on me slipping away. It’s as if his grip slowly loosens.

“Find a memory,” I send out to the pack . “A memory so strong that it brings you peace and happiness. Focus on it.”

Slowly, I can tell the others are regaining their control. Chayton’s the first to free himself. Alarick is next, and then Torak and the others. When I finally climb to my feet, I’m not in wolf form anymore. I stand up and face Markis as a man.

Markis turns to me and glares.

“How did you do that?”

I grin. “My mate taught me.”

He snarls, grabbing Michaela off the floor by the neck. I take a step toward him.

“No,” Alarick stops me. “You cannot beat him in human form. Don’t risk yourself.”

He’s right, my human is no match for that vampire. Hell, I’m not even sure if my wolf could defeat him, but I know who can.

“It’s your time, Baby Girl,” I say into Michaela’s head. Now that she’s too tired, she can’t block me like she had been doing. I had to fight like hell to get that first message to her.

“I can’t,” she replies. “You saw what happens when I try.”

“What did you tell me about my gift?”

Her brows dip. “You’re a scout. You’re made to fight vampires.”

“Exactly. You have a mate with the ability to fight vampires and you have the skill. Take it from me,” I tell her. “Take whatever you need from me. Use your gift to borrow mine.”

Her eyes widen.

“Take mine too,” Chayton says, joining our conversation. “ We’re your pack. Use us. Finish this.”

“You heard him, Baby. Use us, because I’m not leaving this cabin without you and my pup.”

A single red tear slips down her cheek. I wait to hear her response. However, I don’t get one verbally. Suddenly, I feel a little weak. I sway on my feet, but don’t go down.

“Talon,” Markis yells. “Start the ceremony. You can stand and watch me reunite with my mate.”

He turns to face Michaela. She smiles as her eyes glow light brown. Her blades shoot from her cuffs and into his chest. He shoves her away. She spins around, her dress twirling like a ballerina, when she stops, she holds her blades out at her side with a smirk.

“You want to try this again,” Markis snarls. “This time, I’m going to kill you and then your fucking mutt.”

He charges her. She runs toward him. Before they can crash into each other, she leaps into the air as a vampire and comes down as a petite brown wolf.

“Oh fuck,” I say out loud.

“Mine,” my wolf pants in my head.

“How the hell is that possible?” Chayton asks . “And can she loan the ability to Liz for a day?”

I don’t respond to him because I can’t take my eyes off my mate. Markis tries to charge toward her again. She moves like a blur around him. She darts out of his path in wolf form, only to turn into a vampire to slice into him. They play cat and mouse for a while. He tries to grab her, and she moves between forms like a blur, taking slices out of him with each transformation.

A few of the other vampires look around nervously as if they are going to step in, but a simple growl from us has them staying put.

When Tech first suggested the plan, I thought he was crazy. Something so simple couldn’t work. But he was right. We didn’t need to run in guns blazing with a bunch of complicated strategies, we just needed to give Michaela another reason to keep fighting.

A whimper from Markis has me tuning back in. The vampire is so bloody and weak, he drops to his knees. His black tux is tattered and covered in blood.

“Mizani,” he calls out to her. “Please. If you kill me, you lose your chance at what you want. Only I know how to use the power of the fey to get you what you truly desire.”

She slowly walks over to him. Stopping in front of him, she squats down to get eye level.

“Turns out, I don’t need a key to have a baby. The wolf took care of that.”

Markis’s eyes widen and he turns to me.

I smirk and wink at him. She lifts her arm, and with quickness, her blade slices through his neck, cutting off his head. His body falls to the ground. The five remaining vampires once again look around the room nervously.

“You should run,” Michaela says without looking at them. They take off out the door.

“Don’t let them make it out of the woods,” Chayton commands the scouts with us.

They all transform and rush out after the vampires.

Immediately, I feel my strength returning.

“Thank you. All of you. You didn’t have to do this. I promise my sister and I will get out of your hair.” she says.

“What are you talking about?” Chayton asks with his brow lifted. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Right,” Zyion adds. “You’re one of us now.”

She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “That’s sweet guys. But really, I need to leave.”

Silence fills the room.

“Hey, can you guys give us a minute?” I tell Chayton, Torak, Zyion, and Alarick.

They all look at me with somber faces.

“Make this right,” Chayton demands in my head before walking out of the house with the others.

Once the home is empty, I turn my attention to Michaela.

“Come here.”

She looks down and then back at me. Yet she doesn’t come to me. My stomach knots. But I deserved that.

“We don’t have to do this, Zo. We can discuss what we’re going to do about the baby. I have no plans of keeping you from him or her.”

“How the hell are you going to keep me from a baby that’s living with me?”

Her gaze narrows.

I chuckle. “You really think you’re about to give me the we’re not going to be together speech?”

“You said—”

“Yeah, I said a bunch of shit that I didn’t mean. I run my hands over my head. “I wanted you to hurt, Michaela. I thought you’d played me and killed my Luna. Hell, I’m sure if the tables were turned, you’d have killed me.”

She looks away and the hint of a smile plays at her lips because she knows I’m right. If I’d have pretended to kill Liz in front of Michaela, she wouldn’t have allowed me time to leave Dark Woods before she would’ve come after me.

I’m not liking this distance we have between each other. I step over the many dead bodies to get to her.

“You don’t believe me?” I question. “Check for yourself. Look back at that night in my memories and see how I felt as I said those words.”

Her approach into my memories is as gentle as a breeze. A drastic change from her ex’s heavy handling. She pulls up the night of the attack. Everything I said plays back in my head, but this time she can sense my feelings and how no matter how angry I was, I couldn’t stop loving her.

I push forward. “Even though I didn’t mean that shit, I still said it and I’m sorry. I used what I knew would hurt you as a weapon, but none of it was true. Baby girl, I don’t regret touching you. I think about us together more times than I can count. Hell, thinking about it is what saved my life against your ex.

“And you’re not like him. You have proven to me and everyone else that you are the most giving and selfless person in this world. A world that has never deserved you. You look at everyone else as if they are the blessing to your life, but you are the true blessing and gift.”

I get down on one knee in front of her.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m on my knees in front of you, Michaela Keane. I am begging you to give me another chance. Do I deserve it? No. Hell, none of us do, but I’m pleading with you to stay with me. I said some stupid fucked up things that I didn’t mean, and I will forever have to live with. But please, allow me to love you fully, wholeheartedly, and to the standard that you deserve. It’s time for you to rest, Baby Girl. Put down your armor and your shield against the world and let your mate give you a soft life.” Her red tears track down her face.

I wait for her to answer my request. My words were sincere. I want to give Michaela the life she deserves. If I had it my way, she would never fight in another battle. But I also know that isn’t who she is. Michaela, like me, was made to fight.

“I don’t know, Zo. You hurt me. I vowed I would never let anyone have the power to hurt me that way again.”

“Beg,” my wolf snarls. “Beg harder.”

“Baby, I know I hurt you and I am so sorry. Tell me what you need to make you believe what I say is true? Please, Baby Girl. Whatever it is, I will do. I love you, Michaela. I love you more than anything in this world. I love you enough that if you truly want me to leave you alone, I will. It will kill me physically, but I will give you whatever you want.”

More tears fall down her face. I meant what I said. If she truly wanted out of this bond, I’d give it to her. Now, I’d probably follow her around like a lost puppy, but I give her the out.

She looks away. I hold my breath.

“My bathroom could really use an upgrade,” she looks back at me with a teary smile on her face.

I let out a deep breath and jump to my feet. “Woman, your ass is about to get a brand-new cabin. Come here.” I grab her and pull her into me.

My lips find hers. When I pull away, I look down at her. “I love you,” I say.

“And I love you,” she replies. “I want that life with you that you promised.”

“You got it. Forever.”

I pull her back into me. Standing over the headless corpse of her ex, we kiss. We kiss so long; Chayton eventually has to come get us.