Page 35 of Rejected Pregnant Mate (Crystal Creek Wolves #2)

I woke to the creak of floorboards and a pain in my ribs like someone had driven a knife through them. The ground was cold, and when I put my hand to the ground to try and push myself up, it came away covered in dust.

Where was I?

When I couldn't sit up, I rolled to my back and opened my eyes.

There was barely any light filtering in, just a little bit of moonlight, but as a shifter, I could see better in the dark than most. As my eyes adjusted, I could see the off-white ceiling, unremarkable except for a long hairline crack about two feet long.

I couldn't stop staring at it, and that crack pulled at some long-forgotten memory in the back of my mind.

Oh yeah. I remembered how that crack had scared the life out of me as a little kid, because I was so afraid that it would split wide open and our house would collapse on top of me.

I knew this ceiling. I knew this house, even though it was dark and dust-covered. I was in my first home, my parents' home, the one I'd refused to enter since they died.

Panic shot through me like a lightning strike. I scrambled upright, breathing shallow, heart racing in my chest like hummingbird wings.

"No," I whispered, "No, no, no..."

I closed my eyes tightly at first, but the urge to look around was too much. The wallpaper was still curling at the edge of the hallway, and the family pictures hung on the wall. I was probably imagining it, but when I sucked in a breath, I was sure I could smell my mother's old perfume.

My body was screaming at me to get out, but my brain refused to let me.

I was stuck. Wrapping my arms around myself, I stood and walked down the hall like a ghost, hand trailing the wall as I went.

I found my old bedroom, exactly how I had left it before the fire.

There were even clothes thrown on the bed from where Samson and his wolves had packed my things to bring me after the car accident.

How had I gotten here? My head felt fuzzy, but I remembered the library, the dark parking lot, Jayce's wolf, Aaron, and then...fear followed by nothingness. I couldn't remember anything else.

The house was cold, and I shivered. I sat on my old bed, terrified, trying to collect myself. There was no way I'd come here alone, not when I'd avoided it for a long time.

I wanted Scott. I reached through our mating bond, and he was there, steady and sure, but with the sharp edge of panic.

I must be missing, I thought distantly. He's looking for me, I'm sure.

Then the panic went from his side of the bond and into mine.

What was happening? I clutched my head, squeezing my eyes shut as I tried to figure out what was wrong, but then something moved in the hallway.

I snapped upright and stared at the door.

Shaking, I reached inside for my magic, but it felt muted.

Weaker. So instead, I reached for my wolf, and she rose like the sun, warm and ever-present, to pace close beneath my skin, giving me the bravery that I wouldn't have had otherwise.

Keeping my shift just a breath away, I stood and made my way back into the hallway, searching for whatever had moved. It was all so familiar, but somehow muffled, like I was underwater. I reached the kitchen, and there they stood.

My mother. My father. Both of them stood by the stove shoulder to shoulder just like they used to do in the morning. Their backs were turned, but I'd know their postures anywhere. The pain in my chest twisted sharply, cutting through my fear for an impossible second.

"Mom?" I croaked, even as my mind screamed that they weren't real. That it was a trap. "Dad?"

They turned and showed me what I already knew.

Of course, it wasn't them. Their faces were wrong, too smooth, too pale, and their eyes endless black voids.

My stomach dropped, and I stumbled backwards, mouth open in a silent scream.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. All I could do was stare at what the dark magic had conjured up, unable to run or defend myself.

The creature wearing my father's face smiled. "Welcome home, Nayeli."

"I'm not—you're not—"

"You let us go," the other creature said, stepping closer, "You pushed us out. You didn't want us anymore."

"You're not them!" I finally managed to scream. The darkness in their eyes, slowly covering their entire forms, was all too familiar, and suddenly, I knew what was happening. "You're the darkness, aren't you? I felt you when I reversed the bond..."

The darkness took my mother and father over completely, and I watched as they split open to reveal nothing but pure blackness.

It coalesced into one entity, huge and towering over me, reaching out a hand that became more claw than anything.

I could see through it, like a cloud of smoke, but I knew if it touched me, it'd feel solid.

"You banished me, Nayeli. Why? I was with you from the beginning, the seed of your grief and your insecurity that you fed with your magic.

You started using your power without direction, too much, too fast, but I helped you.

When you tried to drive away all of the sadness, all of the wanting, you braided it in with your magic instead.

It took me from being a shadow in the corner of your mind to becoming so much more. We're almost the same now."

"You're not me!" I screamed. "I don't want this!"

"What do you want, then?"

I thought of Scott, the baby in my belly, and the slow, steady acceptance of my new pack. "I want to be free."

"You tore me out before I was ready, forced me out and into the earth, and it left you torn up inside. Just let me back in, and I can fix all those tattered edges, Nayeli. We're so much stronger together."

I took a deep breath. "No."

It roared, and the shadows whipped around us like a tornado.

I covered my head with my arms, but my strength was waning with each minute I was in the thing's presence.

I sank to the ground, closing my eyes, and tried to remember why I was fighting.

I thought of Kit, and Kiera, and Gwen, and I tried to find my strength.

I thought of Scott, his touch, the way he made me feel when we were together, and the warmth of his presence in my mind through our bond.

It was almost like he was there with me.

"Nayeli," Scott breathed, and I could feel his arms around me. "Nayeli, come back to me. I love you."

Mustering every last ounce of my power, I forced myself back onto my feet and visualized the pack bond. I was filled with his strength and love the second I brushed across Scott's thread. I focused on that and pulled myself free of the darkness's hold.

The darkness screamed, and I felt it reaching out to me, but I was out of its grasp.

I opened my eyes to see that I really was in Scott's arms. He was on the floor of my parents' living room, just like I'd been when I woke into the dream, the crack on the ceiling staring down at me.

The relief in his expression almost broke my heart, but there was a wildness there too, like he thought I might disappear into thin air if he blinked.

"Scott," I breathed, and he hugged me so tightly I couldn't breathe. His scent washed over me, and I started crying. "You found me."

"Of course, I found you, Nayeli."

"We all found you," Another voice, much angrier, added. "And now I'd like to know what the hell you did to my wolf?"

I peeked out over Scott's shoulder and saw Jayce, his arms crossed, looking uneasy. I couldn't blame him; the room reeked of dark magic. "Your wolf...you mean Aaron? I didn't do anything to him. I just saw him in the library parking lot."

"That's not what he says happened." Jayce's voice was tense. He was trying so hard not to lose his cool that he was shaking. I'd never seen him like this before.

"He said something dragged him into the woods." Scott's voice was equally tense, but I saw how he angled his shoulders to protect me from Jayce. "Something that came out of you and knocked him out."

I wanted to tell him he was being ridiculous, but it was the truth. My heart dropped, and I swallowed thickly, looking at Jayce with wide eyes. "I don't know what happened," I told him, "But I swear it wasn't me. I wouldn't hurt one of your packmates."

"He said there was magic involved," Scott continued. "And I could smell your magic on him, but it smelled wrong. Bitter."

The darkness. I could still feel it lurking, not inside of me, but all around us. "I can explain."

"You're going to explain how you're secretly wielding dark magic and losing control of it?" Jayce barked a cruel laugh. "Or are you just going to lie?"

"Let her speak," a third voice added. Joe, standing near the edge of the room, giving us space. He wasn't looking at me with accusation, just caution.

I sighed and turned back to Scott, who had pulled me into his lap like he feared I would disappear if he let me go.

I didn't know what to say, so I started at the beginning, the night of the car crash, the accident that killed my parents.

And how it had warped something inside of me.

Turned a part of me black. And when my magic manifested, I was still so lost in my grief that I'd accidentally fed that darkness, combining it with my growing power.

As I got stronger, so did the darkness, and it tainted every spell I'd tried to cast.

"But it's gone now," I insisted, motioning for Scott to help me stand.

"It forced me to come here, the epicenter of my grief and insecurities, where it would be strongest. It thought it could force me to accept it back in full, not just the little pieces of it that had been left behind when I broke our bond, Scott. But I managed to banish it."

"Then how can we all still sense it?" Jayce bit out.

"I banished it from my body, but it was still so strong that it managed to soak into the land here.

" I looked around at the house I'd loved so much before avoiding it, and was surprised to realize I didn't feel any panic being here anymore.

"But I know it now. I can banish it for good, if you give me the chance. "

"How can I trust you?" He snapped. "After what you did to Aaron?"

"Jayce," Scott warned. He stood next to me, hands clenched into fists at his side, jaw set. "Don't talk to her like that."

"Scott," Joe said, voice low. "She could be dangerous. If what she's saying is true, and she casts dark magic without even realizing it..."

Tired of the arguing and tired of the heaviness surrounding me, I raised my magic and called it forth.

For the first time, it answered me easily, glowing a clean, pure gold as it poured over me.

Before they could refuse, I let it wash over Scott, Jayce, and Joe, letting them see for themselves that the darkness was truly gone.

Joe stared at me in shock. Jayce looked...less angry, at least. And Scott was looking at me with so much pride in his expression that I couldn't stop the blush rising to my cheeks. I let the magic go, and it dissipated, leaving us alone in the center of the room.

"Now, can you help me banish the darkness from my family home?"