Ethan was withering in our grip and I knew we would have to wait until it passed. Like wolf’s bane, the pain through the bond was slowing down the healing process and there was nothing we could do. Darci ran forward. “What happened? What’s wrong with Alpha?” She asked. “He’s okay. Let’s get him somewhere he can lay down. I’ll explain everything after. A few of them put down their jackets and Leo and I lowered Ethan to the ground. When we got up, we stared into the other’s eyes until I exhaled a deep breath. It was pointless to start this now. We would have to wait until we got home to question him. Right now, we had the battle in front of us, we had a war at hand. We needed to be ready and we needed everyone who could fight. He proved his loyalty when he helped me bring Ethan out. I started by filling in Darci about what had happened and what Ethan was going through. She nodded her head and took in every detail. When I was done updating her, it was her turn. “Fill me in. Is the oth

“There was a way?” I asked. “Oh yes, you stupid girl. Isn’t that what I said? It’s taken you six fucking lives to figure it out but look at you,” Olivia starts laughing cruelly. “You figured it out.” There was something wrong with her, something wrong with her voice. She didn’t sound right, she didn’t sound like her. “Now look at you. Did you get what you wanted in the air? Was it all worth it? Which did you like? Was living in the dark better, or did you like the short time you had in the light?” My brows furrowed and I could feel my forehead wrinkled as her words registered. If what she said was true, no, I couldn’t let myself listen. I couldn’t let myself go there. I couldn’t wonder what her words meant. “Come into the light,” I whispered. I saw her leg first as she stepped out of the darkness and the rest of her body followed into the light. She wore a black silk dress. The face I looked at belonged to Olivia. She looked the same but the way she was looking at me wasn’t right.

What was that?I wanted to write it off as a dream or a nightmare but I knew better by now. My dreams, my visions of the past, and apparently the ability to speak to the dead are too spot-on to be a dream. No, it was the truth and it was about time I stopped running from it. Shane was my mate, Shane is my mate, and despite the bond pushed on me with Ethan he always was. Questions of what-if scenarios and possibilities that can no longer happen flit through my mind and I want to laugh, but I can’t even smile. My gaze is locked on him and I can’t even find the will to scream or cry. My chest felt cold and hollow as if a piece were missing. I felt the need to claw the space that held my heart but I didn’t move. I felt weak, so weak. I wanted to die and end the pain I was feeling but did I deserve that reprieve? Did I deserve to end it?If I had known that the curse could be broken would I have wanted to break it? If Olivia had somehow regained her memory during this life as I had and if s

Please, please, please.My feet start moving towards the hallway. Please be okay. I can’t leave without him. I won’t leave without him. I don’t know what to do about Liam but I know I can take him. I can. My panic goes up a notch when I’m standing outside the door I went through last night. The door that leads down to the dungeons. I don’t let myself think too much about it as I wrench it open. I’m hit with the stench of blood and my heart starts to beat even faster than it already was. Goddess. The stench is strong even from all the way up here.Please, please, please.When I get to the bottom of the stairs, Liam isn’t anywhere in sight. I squint through the darkness and my foot bumps into something. I look down and a scream dies in my throat when my gaze lands on Liam’s mangled body. His eyes stare without seeing, his neck is bent at an unnatural angle, and his face is unrecognizable but I know it’s him by the color of his hair.I rush past him, unable to stomach it anymore. The door

I’d been so wrong. I had no right to search for him but I had to, needed to. He stands to his feet and towers over those around him. My fingers twitch with the need to touch him. My feelings are overwhelming as my rock, my love, and my home takes a step toward me. I’d been so wrong. I had no right to be here, I had no right to want him, I had no right to be by his side but I needed to. I wanted to be by his side. My heart hurt from everything I’d done, hell, it hurt now even as I wanted him. It hurt from the betrayal of sleeping with Shane to what happened last night in the dungeons but that didn’t stop me. I was selfish. I ran for him. His eyes softened and he opened his arms for me. I cried as I ran into his embrace. He pulled me in, holding me close, holding me tight. The bond wasn’t there anymore, I couldn’t feel it. There weren’t any tingles on my arms, back, or shoulders where his hand was but my heart felt warm despite all of the cracks and the pain. He dipped his lips to the