ELLEN
I watched as Lanie and her mother reconnected after 15 years. Lanie had been through so much. I secretly hoped maybe my mother wasn't dead but just captured as well. However, I knew better. Axel was recovering well. Maddox had joined me at some point in the night and was sleeping on my lap, both of my legs were asleep, and I really had to pee when Lucy came to visit. I waited by his bedside for him to wake up so Lanie and her mother could have more time together and Axel wouldn't wake up alone. The brother I had always wanted. He was better than I dreamed of funny, kind, fierce. I hated the thought of him leaving to be the Alpha of the Mountain Moon pack, but I knew it was his destiny, and he would make an incredible Alpha.
"Hey, how's he doing?" Lucy asked as she slumped into the chair beside me.
"No change, but the doc said that's normal, and the poison is out of his system. It was just such a large amount. Liam is still asleep and can't h
LUCY Having my mother in my pack was weird. My memories of her are so different from the women before me. We are sitting in the gardening drinking coffee and talking about our lives. I can feel her trauma in her emotions. The things she hides and pretends didn't happen. I searched her mind when we first found her to see what she had experienced. They tried to recreate Astrid. She had so many children taken from her, experimented on and killed when they were not blessed wolves. How she hides all that pain, ill never know. She keeps the wall up high. Hidden from Lanie, for being an older sister is very oblivious to real life. The struggles we have faced and the hardships ahead. All she sees is Axel and her family. That's all she has ever wanted. I, on the other hand, have never felt more alone. Killian is great. I do love him, but he can't fill the void I feel. The never-ending emptiness. He does complete me in some ways, but in other ways, I don't know if I will ever be able
LUCY I sat on the terrace of our bedroom, waiting for Killian to wake up. I knew he'd be up soon for training. Axel and I had stayed out so late. Killian had been asleep when I came in. I was lost in thought, looking at the building I had destroyed with my outburst only a few months earlier. Almost rebuilt, but never the same. My mind wandered to everything that has happened in the last few months—snuggled up in a blanket with my coffee. I felt a strange sensation overwhelming my body. Was my heat coming on? KILLIAN I woke up choking on smoke. I rolled over to see if Lucy had come back. She wasn't in bed. I stumbled through the smoke, wondering what time it was. I tried mind-linking Lucy to see if she was still with Axel. She didn't answer me. I thought for a minute maybe she was in the shower. Where was this smoke coming from? I looked up to see her coffee cup on the ground outside, her blanket wrapped around her tightly. She was on the deck trapped. I
Axel grew up in a small town adopted by human parents when his mother died during childbirth. He never needed to look for his birth father because his foster parents were all he needed. Kade and Laurel treated Axel like the son they always wanted. He was given everything a boy could want. When Axel shifted for the first time, he had no idea what was happing to him. His body got really hot and itchy. He had this pounding headache for days. They lived on the forest side of town, so he decided to take a walk and get some fresh air, maybe take a swim in the river if that helped cool his aching itchy body.He stumbled over rocks and tree roots, the smell of the trees becoming stronger, and he could hear everything. The wind in the trees, the heartbeats of rabbits running and the rushing river seemed to be so loud he covered his ears. He did his best to breathe through the pain he felt all over his body. He laid on the ground next to the river, waiting for the pain to s
Lucy lived in a small town on the river's edge, along a winding river on one side and dense green forest on the other. She had been in foster care since her parents died when she was 3. Her foster parents weren't bad people just did it more for the monthly cheque than enriching an orphan girl's life. She had been with Frank and Lois since she was 12, the longest placement she'd had. They let her do what she wanted, never really caring if she came home at all. They'd never notice if left until the cheques stopped coming. Lucy's only friend was a boy named Axel, also in foster care. Although his family adored him and he had everything a 17-year-old could want his foster parents Kade and Laurel, couldn't have children of their own and Axel was placed with them at age 5. They were in their senior year of high school. Lucy was just waiting to turn 18 in 6 months so she could leave this small town and try and find her family, find out why they never came for her when her parents died. She
Lucy worked in a bakery before and after school, her foster parents paid for her clothes and phone, but she had to pay her car insurance and save for when she left this town. Axel worked across the street at the auto body shop. So he'd come over for coffee before his shift started after school. Sometimes Lucy wondered if he was checking to make sure Astrid was in check. She liked to lash out when Lucy was under any stress or anxiety. Axel would make Lucy train; the stronger she was physically and mentally, the better Astrid would stay in her mind and not come forward even a bit. Even though Lucy was small, she was fast and cunning. Lucy often wondered what would have happened to her if Axel had never found her in the woods that day. (FLASHBACK) Lucy POV After the social worker told me she had found my family, I was so happy, finally someone to love me. I couldn't wait to meet them, but when the social worker called and said they didn
Lucy decided to dress up and try to make it look as effortless as Ellen. Astrid was right something was up, and she was going to figure it out. No one would mess with Axel or Liam. Lucy just couldn't figure it out. What could this Ellen person want? Why she would pretend to be his sister made no sense. Did she know he was a werewolf? Or was it pure coincidence? Lucy put on a knee-length royal blue dress, and black flats curled her hair and tucked it up into a French knot. She left a few strands falling down to frame her face. Olivia's was the nicest restaurant in town, and the food was binge-worthy. Lucy and Axel ate there often since they were both food freaks. Plus, Axel's foster dad owned the place, so it helped they didn't have to pay for anything. Lucy walked in and spotted Ellen and Axel. It was strange because they did look like twins, female and male versions of the other, but if Astrid couldn't feel her wolf, what did that mean?Axel stood to
Axel was able to talk Ellen into meeting with Lucy again, this time with all the information. "Lucy, I am sorry I stabbed you; your wolf is crazed. I have only ever met one other wolf that was wild and untamed. She is currently in a supernatural recovery center," Ellen explained. Fear washed over Axel as he listened to the signs of what put this other wolf there. Lucy didn't belong in a recovery center, but Astrid might. Axel could take care of them. They didn't need anyone's help but his. Lucy asked so many questions about the other wolf she was excited she wasn't alone and that there might be hope for her to figure out what was going on with her wolf. Astrid started to talk to Lucy, telling her that she would not be caged, so do not even think about it. "Lanie and I were close all through school, and then she got her wolf, and she went almost mad. She killed humans whenever she got stressed and sad her parents died when she was five, so she had no one to help her.
Axel hadn't slept in days. He was so stressed out about Astrid being a Bennet wolf, he made Lucy train harder and harder. Lucy was exhausted, and she couldn't keep this up. Ellen had decided to finish her school year here with them to help train Lucy to prevent her from having the same fate as Lanie. Something else was bothering Axel. He couldn't shake the feeling, how odd it was that Lanie and Lucy both lost their parents, and they were both Bennet wolves. Could they be related more than just the name? He didn't want to bring it up to Lucy in case Astrid lost it again. Then Ellen had an idea. "I think we've been thinking this the wrong way. Have you ever trained in wolf form?" "Only running,It was only to tire Astrid out." Lucy explained,The more running she did, the better she stayed put and didn't force herself forward. "know a small spell I can temporarily put Astrid to sleep if she gets out of hand. Let's try training in wolf form," Ellen suggeste