Chapter One

Liberty’s POV

“We will cross that bridge if we come to it.” Christian is here, his voice carries a bit of a warning and a lot of fear. I can hear his words but feel like maybe it’s a dream, or a memory. His presence, regardless of form, soothes me.

The salinity of Marcels blood wakes my taste buds, and my mind slowly rouses further. It’s definitely not a memory. Not a conventional one anyway. I have taken the place of Luna Serephena and my mother in my vision. Everything has come full circle and I’m laying here on the damp forest floor being fed the same blood that once sustained my mother, and in turn, me.

I’m surprised to notice the blood trickling past my lips is cold, tepid at best. I didn’t think it would be cool on my tongue. I mean, I never really gave much thought at all to what blood would taste or feel like, but I certainly would have expected it to be warm. I tentatively swallow as more of the life sustaining liquid pools around my teeth and gums then slides down my throat, I make every effort not to gag and choke as I swallow it down. I try to remain calm, the memory of my vision and Esme questioning how safe if would be, makes me pause for thought.

Marcel pushes his wrist gently against my elongated canines, reopening the wound and allowing his blood to flow more freely. I know that if I don’t feed from the vampyre I have come to consider a friend, I will die, and my pups’ safety will be a moot point. Someone is kneeling behind me, and my head is resting on their soft, warm, bent legs. I’m grateful not to be flat on my back, every swallow takes monumental effort as it is. My body feels broken and bruised but I’m alive and that makes the agony easier to bare.

Lottie is here, she came back from the islands, we had no idea she was returning so soon. She is the one who found me. The clouds lift from my memory and I take a moment to separate fact from fantasy. I’m almost one hundred percent sure she conjured a wall out fire out of thin air, she shouted three words, which I can’t remember, and flames shot up as if they erupted directly out of the ground. I’m even more certain I saw flames in her eyes. It was not the reflection of the fire which surrounded us, they were entirely different, like they were a part of her, raging within her. I have read about that, and the magic I saw flowing through her. It’s called Elemental magic, a power that can only be contained and wielded by an equally powerful being. I knew, the moment I laid eyes on her again, that something had been awoken within her.

I don’t know if I’m concerned, excited or kind of numb by the realisation, but I do know that I read about those traits in one place, and one place only. The Dragon Chronicles, or ‘pamphlet’ as Gabe called it, and now the name has stuck. Gabe and Hunter will never be trusted to name anything, because the names they give most things are either dripping with sarcasm or unnecessarily vulgar.

Between the Dragon pamphlet, the pretty boys and the dungeon, I think the two of them have used their quota. That’s without mentioning the talk I’ve heard around the barracks and on the training field, the air gets so colourful with the language it’s like walking through an ill-mannered rainbow. They all curb it around me for the most part, but I see and hear more than most people realise, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t find it a little entertaining. Not that I would ever admit it out loud. It’s reassuring to know that even with the threat of impending attack hanging over us like the executioner’s axe, they are all still in high spirits and it’s business as usual for the men who protect us all.

“The pups?” My voice croaks and cracks as I finally regain the ability to connect my mind with my mouth and am able to ask about the only thing that really matters to me right now. I can’t feel my legs or anything below my waist, and that terrifies me, but the thought of losing the pups I never thought I would have is far too much to even consider.

“They will be OK sweetheart. I will make sure of it. You just stay still and let Marcel’s blood help heal you. Doc is on his way, and he will have you fixed up in no time baby.” Christian leans over me, brushing my hair away from my cheeks, his face is only inches from my own. I haven’t opened my eyes yet, but I can feel the comforting warmth of his breath sweeping over my cheek. The air is thick and tangy with the scent of blood. Not Marcels blood, wolf blood, and lots of it judging by the overwhelming potency of it.  

“Where is Zander?”

“He was here, he got injured when we were fighting off the rogues. Lottie kept you safe. Don’t worry, he will be fine, in fact, he is probably already almost healed. Gabe and Uriel insisted on taking him to the hospital. He wanted to stay with you, but he had lost a lot of blood and needed a bone resetting before it healed out of alignment.” Christian answers my question with enough detail to satisfy but not so much as to overwhelm me.

“They weren’t rogues. It was the rebellion. They came to finish what they started.” I breathe a painful sigh of relief on hearing hear Zander is alright, I knew he wasn’t gone, I can feel his fretting over our mate bond. I can feel Christian’s too but being here with me seems to have abated it, even if only a little.

There is something else coming from him, confusion, or perhaps concern, but not for me or his brother. I can’t focus well enough to get a better read on what’s going on but there is something…off.

“What is it?” I ask. The pain in my back and neck isn’t getting any worse but it is almost unbearable, a distraction would be ideal and take my mind off all the reasons that keep coming to me for why I still can’t feel my legs.

“What is what?” Christian plays the fool and tries to brush off my question. He should know better by now, I’m not one for letting things drop, even if I am at a disadvantage right now.

“Whatever is on your mind. And don’t say me or Zander, because I know it’s something else.” I know that now probably isn’t the best time to open up a can of worms, but its better than laying here with my imagination running away with me.

“It’s nothing that can’t wait sweetheart. Just Gabe, he ran out here, assured himself that you were being looked after then he couldn’t seem to get away quickly enough. I didn’t pay much attention in the moment, but he hasn’t been himself for a while now.” Christian voices the same concerns that most of us have been having for a little while now. He just saw one of his Alphas get struck by lightning, now seeing me like this, it’s a lot to deal with, but accidents and injuries are hardly a rare occurrence in any pack and a Beta would have seen more bloodshed and broken bodies than anyone else in the pack. I just put it down to the stress of the situation and everything with Kendrick, but I have only known the man a matter of months. Christian knows him better than I, and I trust his judgement. The fact he thinks there is something going on with him is enough for me to be concerned.

“I think I can shed a bit of light on that.” Lottie pipes up quietly. I have so much to ask her, but I’m exhausted, and all the talking isn’t helping, so I lay and listen and remember Marcel’s words of warning, to let her tell her brothers about who and what she is in her own time.

“I think you have a bit more than that to tell us. What are you doing back here Lottie?” Christian snaps. I would like to think he didn’t mean to be so abrasive, I’ve never heard him or Zander, talk to her with that tone. I know they wanted her away from Pine Lake until the threat of war was over, but his reaction to her return is coarse, even for him.

“A lot has happened since I left here brother. I’m not the same child that you watched sail away, I’ve had to adapt and grow more than you can imagine since I left.” ha, she isn’t kidding. I cough a weak laugh and the motion causes a sharp pain to ricochet up my spine and bounce around my throbbing skull.

“Stop moving baby. The doc said you might have a spinal injury and you still don’t heal like you should.” Christian’s attention is immediately back on me, at least my pain has bought Lottie a small reprieve, I’m not sure it’s worth it though, my head feels like it’s going to literally split in two any moment.

“Gabe is my fated mate.” Lottie blurts it out like the words were just too big to hold on her tongue any longer. Oh, well… that is not what I expected to hear. Forget cutting the atmosphere with a knife, it’s like all the oxygen has disappeared from the air around us as Lottie and I both wait with bated breath to see what Christians reaction will be.

I might not know Lottie as well as I would like, but we grew close quickly. I know she is like a little sister to most of the guys here, Gabe and Uriel in particular. It is rare to find our fated mate, and from what I can gather, Pine Lake pack members travel even less than the vast majority of other packs, therefore stumbling across your mate is even less likely. It’s a sacred bond, one that is held in the highest regard and I doubt either of my mates will object to the pairing, but this is more complicated than two strangers discovering their Goddess gifted bond. There is so much history and sometimes the roles we find ourselves playing, become so deeply ingrained, it seems impossible to step into another role. No wonder Gabe has been off kilter, if he has known this whole time, but sees himself as the brother figure, I can’t imagine what must be going through his head.

“How long have you known?” I force my eyes open and see a brotherly look of concern on Christian’s face and his tone has softened considerably when  he asks her the question on my lips. That’s the Christian I know and love, the sensitive protector, not the overbearing asshole he can become on occasion.

“I felt something before I left, like something calling me to stay, but I didn’t know what it was.” Lottie’s response tugs at my heart. I remember when I first felt the mate bond with Christian and Zander, it was confusing and overwhelming. I wasn’t sure if I could trust it, and the feeling of not knowing what feelings were my own and what came from the bond was unsettling. I know the circumstances were different, but an emotional rollercoaster is an emotional rollercoaster, no matter the finer points.

“When he got here, just after you, it hit me like truck, I suddenly knew what it was, why I felt the pull to stay.” I try to tilt my head back ever so slightly, to look up at Lottie, and that’s when I realise she is holding my head firmly in place with one hand on either side, covering my ears. Well, that explains why everything is so muffled. I can cross possible partial deafness off the list of things to worry about when I took a mental inventory of my condition. If Doc is worried about my spine, I’m surprised they obviously moved me onto Lottie’s lap. I suppose choking to death on blood would have been counterproductive. Justice snorts mordantly as I think all the morbid, and somewhat pessimistic, thoughts you might expect from my mates.