Page 16 of Pack Rage
I eased to a seat next to her, hoping she was lucid, ready to move away if I set her off. She sounded fine, but I knew how quickly that could change. This close, I could tell she wasn’t fine at all. The stink of silver-tainted blood rose from her abdomen, apparent even over the Alpha’s residual funk.
“That’s how you hid yourself, and the boys—the Tenebris pack—in the woods.”
She nodded. “A simple spell that grew stronger over the years. Mama had only taught me how to hide myself, but I must have worked out how to make it bigger, over time. I don’t recall… much of the years after he threw me out.” Her eyes glinted bright gold as she turned to me, and the moonlight played on her silver hair. “I’m dying, baby. My wolf… I can feel her slipping.”
“No—” I began to protest, but she held up a hand.
“I am. If my wolf was closer to her mate, it might buy me a little time. But now…” She shook her head, an odd smile twisting her lips. “The silver that’s killing me, it keeps my head clear. Idon’t know why, but it’s true. I canthink, for the first time in so long. My wolf… I’m pretty sure the silver is what’s stopped her howling for him. I can hear something else now. The moon.”
“You can hear the moon?” That sounded like the crazy stuff she used to say.
But her face when she met my gaze was peaceful. “It’s calling me home, baby.”
I fought not to cry, but this was one battle I was doomed to lose. Instead, I hid my tears, hanging my head and allowing them to fall on my lap. It wasn’t fair. The silver in her veins had brought her back just to kill her.
“I don’t want to lose you,” I admitted. “I just found you again.” Her arms wrapped around me, and she tucked my head to her chest like she’d done a few times, long ago. I let go, allowing her to see the weakness I couldn’t show anyone else, while she hummed what might have been a lullaby into my hair, though I’d never heard it before.
“I was never there for you, baby, not like I should have been. I wasn’t able to keep you safe, not from the very start. When they hunted you… It broke me. I wish I could have stopped the Hunt. I tried—” Her voice cracked, and then it was me comforting her, my arms completing the circle.
“I’m done running, Mama,” I whispered after a long moment. “I’m not gonna to be the hunted one anymore.” I let out a long breath. “I’ve got to leave, though. I’m going to Eastern. To my mates.”
“Mates,” she echoed, and we both sat silent for a long moment. I wondered if this was what it would take to send her back into a spiral, into the version of my mother I’d known and almost feared for so long. “They’re… good to you?” she finally asked in a whisper.
“They are,” I replied just as softly. “They love me, and I… I love them, too, Mama. I’m going to Eastern to save them.”
“Of course you are.” She nodded, and her chin jutted out as she added, “And I’m going with you.”
“With me? Mama, you can’t. You’re…” I couldn’t say it. She already knew anyway.
Blue and red flames shone in the backs of her eyes as she straightened, sitting up. “I’m going to see my mate, too.”
Chapter 8
Connections
GRIGOR
“Damn, it stinks in here.” A man’s voice pushed through the agony that wracked me. “How much silver does she think it takes to hold one shifter?” The unmistakable feeling of a boot hitting my ribs punctuated his question. “How many silver spikes are in this asshole?”
Sixty-four,I thought.
“Huh. One fell out, looks like. Here ya go, fucker. I can’t believe you’re still alive.”
A stabbing sensation, followed by a wash of agony and nausea, almost sent me back into the darkness.Sixty-five.
I had no idea where I was, or how long I had been in this state, but I was so close to my final death, I knew that even one more splinter of silver might carry me away.
I’d done all I could to close off the connections I’d forged with my little blade, and her mates, Glen and Luke. They didn’t deserve to suffer with me. I deserved it, though.
After all the years of thinking myself stronger than any other, I’d let a moment of surprise and a well-crafted containment spell catch me off guard. Of course, I’d depleted my power almostentirely saving Luke and Glen. Then I’d cast the look-away spell over the house so she could rest and be safe. Like a fool, I’d cast one over myself as well and waltzed right into the Pack House, looking for Torran.
Instead, I’d found a creature I hadn’t seen in centuries. Her spirit was bloated like a tick, filled with stolen energy, pure darkness. Recognizing that might not have been enough to drop my guard, but this one had worn a face that was so like the one I’d bound my soul to long ago, I’d left an opening for her to strike.
My Anya had been born into a coven filled with witches whose line was so pure, and so evil, there was no mistaking them for any other breed. Anya herself had those same sharp features, the same red-gold hair, the eyes… but hers had always been filled with compassion, where Elina’s were as cold as deep winter.
Elina McDonnell could pass as a twin of my Anya’s coven sisters. The thing that haunted me was this: I had killed every single one of her line. Every last man, woman and child from that line of witches, who fed on misery and drew their power from blood sacrifices, willing or not.
All but one. Our son. Mine and Anya’s.
