Page 71 of Witchblood

This was a fight we weren’t winning. I wasn’t sure what the strategy was, but the Volkov didn’t look any worse for wear. Liam, however, only stood from sheer willpower. He wobbled and the Volkov barely had to swing at him before he’d fall over again. It was all a game now wasn’t it? The Volkov playing with his prey before he tore us all to shreds.

I’m going to sever our bond. Run, Sebastian. Go to another continent if you can. I’m not sure there is anyone strong enough to defeat him.Liam whispered through my mind.

No. I wasn’t going to run. And his tugging at the bond hurt. Genuinely hurt like he was cutting something inside me. The pieces of himself, I supposed. Pieces that had melded with mine. But we were two halves of a whole now. Inseparable. Isn’t that what I’d feared most? Being Liam’s downfall. Yet here he was battling the monster of all monsters to try to save me.

Run. He told me again.He’s not your Apa right now. He’s just a mindless monster.

The words stung. I’d been thinking so hard about the Volkov’s monster and how it was a separate thing fromApa.Apawho had loved and cared for me like I was his own. Who’d given me the chance to stand on my own, while quietly protecting me in the background.Apawho had fought this monster inside his soul for so long I wasn’t sure he even knew how long.

Oberon lay bleeding only a few feet away. His battle withApahaving failed. He was alive. I could see his chest rise slowly, strained, but visible even in the black shroud we’d been thrown into. HadApaspared him? Or had he simply not noticed that Oberon was alive?

Pain tingled along my entire bond. Liam wasn’t tugging at it anymore. He didn’t have the strength. I wasn’t sure how he was still standing. And then he wasn’t. He toppled over onto his side, breath labored, blood pouring from him, eyes narrowing.

Run. Liam commanded again. Not just me, but the reverberation ran through the entire pack. A true command, even if it was from their dying alpha.

Okay, I thought and ran toward the Volkov. I expected him to slice right through me, even in my larger fox form. We collided in a spray of limbs that sent us tumbling. I dug my claws into his torso for half a second before leaping off and landing over the top of Liam. I dug my nails into the dirt and growled at the Volkov who appeared momentarily confused. His eyes went in and out of focus, like the light pouring off me was too much for him. Not the Volkov.Apa.

I had no desire to kill him. He’d been the only parental figure I’d ever known. Was there a choice? A way to get him back? Liam was dying at my feet and I knew the pain of his death would kill something in me. A will to live perhaps. And ifApawas gone too, what did I have left? Nothing to look forward to, and no safety net to fall back on.

I’d spent the last year running, telling myself I’d been fleeing fromApa’sfailure to protect me from Felix. In reality, I’d been running from self-doubt. A fear that no matter what I did I’d never be happy. Never be safe. Never fit in. Never find a home.

OnlyApahad given me a home to the best of his ability. He’d been broken long before I was born. Now there was Liam. Offering everything I’d ever wanted, and willing to die to give it to me.

I could run and maybe survive. Or stand my ground, which probably meant death. But at least I’d die in good company. Liam’s eyes were dark as he lay at my feet. I wasn’t sure he could see me anymore, but I felt him. Funneled my energy into him like I’d felt Carl do before.

Apaleapt at me, claws outstretched. I shifted, fox to human. Fire demon of some kind, to vulnerable, tiny, me. Matted red hair, dusky skin, Asian eyes, and freckles. Unremarkable me. Would it be enough?

The jump floundered, falling short and landing hard, confusion on the morphing creature’s face. For a moment I thought I sawApain there. His calm features flowing through the monster’s before being replaced by a nightmare again.

“Apa,” I called to him as I knelt beside Liam. His bleeding had stopped but his breathing still labored. Silently I slid through Liam’s bond to feel the pack and call them back. Liam needed healing and his pack was strong even if the den had been weakened by the Volkov’s madness.

“Enough. It’s over.” All of it was over. Felix was gone. His madness finally silenced as it should have been years ago. Our relationship had been a blunder all the way around.Apagrasping at straws to save a son he’d already lost, and me enamored by the first person who ever spoke pretty words. All that was in the past. The fading of Felix as he lost himself to the monster. His many attacks on me, the final one which had opened the door to this new life.

Liam.

One kiss. A breath of new life. Hope.

Books often spoke of love being the greatest power in the universe. But love was a fragile thing, battered by emotions, pierced by pain, and often shifting to those who gave us hope. Liam gave me hope.

So I opened my arms and held them out wide. “Apa,” I called. “Come back to me. I forgive you. You’ve brought Liam into my life. Provided me with someone who will take care of me and bring me happiness. Isn’t that what you wanted? To save at least one son?”

How many of his children had he had to kill over the centuries? How many pack members or rogue alphas? He’d spent hours hanging out with me while I gardened or made tea. Often just humming and watching me work.

Perhaps it was the omega in me he felt. Or simply the lack of violence or anger within me. I didn’t battle my fox for dominance. We were a team, and most of the time that worked just fine. As much as his pack had taught me that being different was undesirable, it was who I am. Liam had asked me why it wasn’t enough. Maybe because I hadn’t let it be enough. No matter how long I’d run or how far I’d gotten. I’d never been angry withApa. Hurt. Confused. Afraid. But never angry.

“Apa,” I called again, watching the creature writhe before me like it couldn’t keep a grip on the shift. Another horror story they tell young wolves, that losing control can get them stuck in the middle of a shift. Perhaps the monster truly was just a malfunction of being an out of control werewolf.

I held my arms out and closed my eyes, hoping for all of us that he was strong enough. That, as Liam had stated,Apaloved me so much the rest of his pack feared he cared more for me than them. It didn’t matter to me. So long as I was with Liam in the end.

Liam who rested his head on one of my bare feet. He was healing. The pack racing closer and funneling energy into him. He was more than a little disgruntled that I’d overridden his command. Perks of being the mate of the alpha, I thought. Better than just getting the big house with the needy wolves attached. He must have caught my thoughts because a warmth wrapped around me. A hug of energy that smelled like Liam. Hope.

The sound of movement crunched through the grass and leaves. Something coming closer. I didn’t open my eyes to look at the death that wasApa. He’d either kill us or he wouldn’t. His choice, not mine.

Then real arms wrapped around me. Human ones. Naked and icy cold, but strong. Tears flooded over my shoulder asApalay his head down into the bend of my neck, breathing me in, with long deep sighs and trembling.

The darkness lifted. Sound flooded back into the world. I sucked in a deep breath, letting the tension ease away. I could feel them all now. Liam, Dylan, Carl, Toby, and even Oberon. All alive, exhausted from the power struggle, but breathing.

I dug into my soul and found that deep edge of peace that Liam had given me when we’d slept after I returned from Underhill. A well of safety and warmth which eased the last bit of tension in my soul. I let go of that feeling, which rolled outward, imagining a wave of sanctuary pouring over the field flooding the entire pack. Calm, peace, safety.