Gasps erupted around them, wolves cried out in shock and horror, but Raine heard none of it. She only saw Matthias how his face had drained of all color, his body shaking with a fury that made the walls feel like they were closing in. Raine’s knees buckled beneath her as the world spun violently, she stumbled back to lean against the wall so she could take pressure off her throbbing leg. It hardly even mattered in the face of everything because Silas was dead. And somewhere, deep in her gut, Raine knew…Ronan was lying. No one else moved. Silas’s body lay still on the floor, pale and lifeless, a pool of crimson slowly spreading beneath him. His skin already looked cold, the last remnants of life long gone. He looked so different now, a far cry from the man she knew, the man shed seen hale and hearty just a few days ago. Now he was gone, a body unmoving on the cold, hard tile. Matthias still hadn’t spoken a word. He hadn’t even moved since Ronan laid the body down. Raine’s heart
She could tell something was wrong the minute she opened her eyes. At first, when she woke next to Matthias’s naked form, she’d been so confused and temporarily disoriented, then the events of the night before had come filtering back, memories of the man moving above her, teeth and tongue erasing all evidence of what had been done to her, and making her forget about anyone else’s touch. In that brief moment, Raine has forgotten all about her unhealthily body, her wolf’s absence and the new life growing inside of her. A life she knew was hers and Matthias, sure of it in a way she’d never been of anything before. She knew this child was Matthias’s, she just didn’t know what it meant for their relationship now. He was her mate’s father. If anyone in the pack were to find out that not only had she been cheating on her mate with his own father, she also had the galls to go ahead and get pregnant for him, both of them would be doomed. As alpha, Matthias might not have had much to lose, b
Killian was pissed, but that didn’t matter, because so was Ronan. In the space of less than three days, he’d discovered more things about his family than he’d thought was possible. Not only, did it seem like he had a third sibling now, it would also appear that everything he knew about his mother was false. Killian hadn’t spoken to him since the incident, which was fine, because Ronan hadn’t been expecting correspondence from the man for a long while. They’d just have to put a pause on all their plans in the meantime. That was fine, Ronan could live with that. He didn’t even really need Killian to be able to fulfill his plan in the first place. As long as he had Selene, and support from Thalia, he was sure he could rally enough forces to back up his plan when the time came. All that was left to do, was get rid of the competition. The thought brought with it, a shiver of fear and something that was a awful lot like regret as he gazed up at Silas, walking ahead of him, shoulder
Matthias jerked back from Raine, his face red, when they had heard the creak of the door. His heart leapt into his throat, and Raine froze. Then, they heard Lyra’s voice drifting in from the hallway. “Yeah, I just want to check up on Ronan’s mate, I’ll be down to the clinic later.” Lyra said. “Just let me grab the chart first.”Raine held her breath, her heart racing, she hoped Lyra wouldn't come in because she'd be able to tell something had happened between them. Matthias glanced at her nervously, he looked like he’d wanted to say something but eventually didn't. The door clicked shut as Lyra walked away, down the hall. Both of them exhaled loudly, the relief almost making Raine laugh. “That was close,” she muttered, finally meeting Matthias’s eyes.“Too close,” he agreed. “I’m locking the door.” He said as he stood.“What?” Raine whispered, watching him. He locked it, and turned back to her. His expression was serious, but there was something soft in his gaze that made Raine’s h
MATTHIAS POV: Raine had been back in the pack now for almost a week, yet Matthias couldn’t bring himself to go see her. He was a coward yes, and running from his problems would truly get him nowhere, but anytime he got close enough to the room where stayed now, he couldn’t bring himself to push open the door and walk in. He just couldn’t bear to look at her, and see the extent of damage done to her by her captives. He’d gathered enough from Lyra to know just how bad her injuries had been—from wolfsbane poisoning to broken bones and multiple unidentified scars scattered across her body. Lyra had claimed she had no clue who had done the damage, and Ronan was refusing to look at him, much less even speak to him, so there was no way of knowing the truth from either of them. The first and last time he saw her was on a random afternoon. He was walking past the corridor and realized the door to the room was wide open. She’d been on the bed, curled on her side, the blanket draped up to
RAINE POV: The last thing she remembered before going under was the heat of Ronan’s chest against her skin, Matthias’s frantic gaze as he shook her with so much fear and panic, and the silent fury in Killian’s gaze when she met his gaze as Ronan carried her past him. It’d been terrifying and cold, Raine had never felt that much fear around that alpha until then. She woke up now, surrounded by various familiar scents. After two weeks away from home, it was enough to push her to tears. The bed beneath her was familiar, because it was hers and Ronan’s, the sounds of the pack outside the pack house walls was achingly familiar as well, and all the scents mingling about, faint now because her abilities were still nonexistent, soothed an ache in her chest that’d been festering for weeks. She shut her eyes tight against the sensations and just let herself feel. When she woke again, it was to find a familiar figure hovering in the room, dressed in all black, Raine at first confused the fig