VICTORIAI stare at Ajax who is grinning, looking healthier than ever.“How are you alive?”I can barely speak but I manage to garble the words out.He rushes towards me, helping me up, “I never died. When you ran away, Brian’s people gave chase. You gave me those few precious moments to heal and I took over the pack.”I can barely see anymore.I can see him mouthing something.“…ust me?”I don’t know what it is but I nod.Then he’s forcing a bitter liquid into my mouth. I’m too weak to throw it out but as he feeds me the potion, he yanks out the broke piece of spear within me. I scream silently as the agony overtakes me but then I feel the wound healing almost instantly.I go limp in his arms, struggling to breathe as he pats my back, reassuringly, “Just breathe through it. It’ll be over in minutes.”I follow his instructions and sure enough my visions grows clearer.However, the first words out of my mouth are a cry for my mate, “Max!”I yank myself out of Ajax’s hold,
VICTORIA“Impala,” I breathe in horror. “What the hell are you doing here?”I stagger back in shock and fear and Jacklyn smiles, “I brought him here. I mean he was your mate first. So technically you can’t be mated to Max.”“Max is my true mate!” I shout at her. “Impala tried to force himself on me! My mating to Max is valid!”Jacklyn sneers, “Doesn’t matter now, does it? Impala has decided that he wants you back or kill you, depending on how much you resist.”Max is in front of me, his shoulder bleeding but his stance is protective, “She’s not going anywhere with you, you bastard! She’s my mate!”“She was never yours,” Impala spits out. “That bitch was mine and I don’t like mates who run away so she will have to be taught a lesson. You, however, you belong to this big mouthed woman.”“That’s the deal,” Jacklyn smiles. “You take her, I take him.”“Have you gone crazy, Jacklyn?” Max growls.“Crazy?” Jacklyn looks offended. “I love you! I’m doing this for us!”“Victoria is my
VICTORIAIt’s like I’m reliving my worst nightmare as I hear screams of terror, of the people I had grown to love.“What have you done?!” I scream at Jacklyn. She smiles, “I made a deal. A deal to get my mate back.”I try to run past her but she steps in my path, “And just where do you think you’re going?”“You’ve lost your mind!” I hiss at her, terror and adrenaline pumping through my blood. “That is your pack, people you grew up with! You know what happens when another pack invades! They will kill everyone, man, woman, child! They will torture the women, you friends, your family-”“Well they deserve it!” Jacklyn screams suddenly, getting in my face. “They were all complicit in keeping my mate from me!”My breathing is hard as I stare at her, “You’re crazy! You think they will let Max live? You think they’ll keep him alive for you?”“They will,” Jacklyn sneers. “They don’t Max. They want someone else. But don’t worry. They’ve promised to chain Max and bring him to me. Once
VICTORIATears of horror fill my eyes, “Why would she do that?!”“Because she she knew the witch would help us track her down,” Max hisses. “What is this woman planning?”“Even so,” I cover my mouth. “Why do it so viciously?”Max doesn’t have an answer to that.My heart pounding with sick fear, I look at him, “She’s not going to leave us be. I don’t believe it.”However. Max looks unsure.“Let’s wait and see.”Two days later there is still no sign of Jacklyn.“She’s left the pack territory,” One of the group leaders of the search party reports. “We can’t catch her scent anywhere. Wherever she is, its not here. We’ve combed the woods.”Max looks relieved, “Maybe she’s truly left.”However, there is a niggling suspicion in the back of my head. I don’t think Jacklyn would leave. Her obsession with Max goes way beyond that. She tried to kill me twice. She has killed two people.“What about her godfather? Doesn't he know?” I look at Max.“He says he knows nothing,” Max takes
VICTORIA“How could you give me something that belonged to Jackyln?!” I ask Max, tearfully, “You knew what she tried to do to us!”“I thought she had a change of heart!” Max looks just as upset. “I would never have knowingly put you in danger!”“Grace!” I look at the red-eyed woman. “Go tell the Alpha everything.”Grace nods, eager to help and when she disappears, I turn to face Max, “Look.”He looks at my ring and I wince.It’s glowing red.“It is the cursed object.” I say, dread in my voice. “The more I try to pull it off, the tighter it gets.”I give him a frightened look, “Max.”His expression is tight, “Okay. We have two options.”“Waiting for me to take my last breath is too big of a risk. The other option is cutting off my finger.”I hold his gaze, “I prefer the latter option.”However, he shakes his head, “There’s something else we can try. Come on.”He wraps his hand around mine as he begins to drag me along with him.“There’s a jewellery maker in the pack. He
VICTORIA“Cursed?” I give the old witch a stunned look. “Cursed by what?”She looks unsure, “Whatever it is, I can’t sense it. But this is not a spell on you. You touched a cursed object some time ago.”I look at my mate who is frozen in place and then I glance at the witch, hope in my voice, “But you can fix it right?”She hesitates, “If it was another witch’s doing, then yes. But this is through some cursed object. There are two ways to undo it. Find the object and destroy it. Or, wait till you are on your last breath and your mate gives you the mating mark. I would suggest the first one. The second one can always go wrong.”My heart sinks and she reaches behind her and stuffs some of the herbs into my hand, “Keep these with you. Chew on a few leaves every twenty four hours and you will be able live. But this solution is temporary. You need to find that object and destroy it.”“Is there any way of tracing it?” Max asks, urgently. “We don’t even know what it is? Maybe if y