Skye's POV Willow sobbed into my neck. Nico's arms squeezed tighter. My heart threatened to burst. There was so much I wanted to say, so many questions I needed to ask but my brain and mouth refused to cooperate."Did you bring anyone else?" Casper asked. Nico turned his head but refused to loosen his grip on me and Willow. "I've been building an army," he grinned. His words brought reality crashing back down. I finally had everything I'd ever dreamed of. A pack who protected and loved me. A mate who would die for me and parents who adored me and a war hung over me, promising to take it all away."Not now," Maddox growled. "No war. Not tonight. Kayla needs time to reconnect with her family. Alaya is no more a threat tonight than she will be tomorrow.""Every second we waste..." Casper started. A low, menacing growl from Lena cut him off. "You can give them tonight. Blake and I will welcome any newco

Skye's POV "Skye," Maddox said cupping my face, "If I do this and anything goes wrong..." he dropped his gaze as his voice trailed off. His sweet face twisted in anguish."Then don't let it go wrong," I growled. "Alaya will not take the cure willingly," he said lifting his gaze to meet mine. Tears glittered in his blue eyes. "I will need to get close to her and you saw what she did at White Castle."The horror I witnessed in White Castle was burned into my memory like a grotesque scar. The terror and agony etched onto the faces of the mangled bodies. The heavy, sickening scent of blood and fear lingering in the air. A heavy, Lycan proof cell ripped to shreds like it was nothing more than paper. My stomach lurched at the possibility of Maddox getting anywhere near close to the thing that caused it all."Ask someone else to do it," I begged, gripping his hands in mine. I squeezed so hard, so desperately, I never w

Maddox POV Warriors crammed into every inch of the entrance hall. Some spilt out of the kitchen and office, others piled on the balconied landing behind me. Hundreds of warriors, stood waiting for me to address them. Skye stood at my side at the top of the staircase. Casper, Serena, Blake and Lena stood behind me. The silence was sickening, deafening. Even the birds in the trees beyond our fortified walls stopped their singing and listened. Our families were secreted away in Greystone Manor. Whisked away amid tears and goodbyes to safely live another day. We all knew some of us would not live to see them again. My Gran took it hardest of all, wringing her hands in her apron and sobbing hysterically as she was forced into a four-wheel drive and taken away to safety. She knew as well as I did what needed to happen. Only I could force the cure into Alaya. And I would not survive it.Skye gripped my hand, her palm damp from the t

Maddox POV Alaya stormed towards me her amber eyes locked on Henry's lifeless corpse and his blood-soaked son still standing over him with his fangs bloody and dripping. She didn't care who got in her way, her own warriors or mine, they were all fair game.She tossed their bodies aside as if they were nothing more than ragdolls. They smashed into trees or slammed into the ground their bones snapping and cracking as they landed. The anguished wail tearing from her lungs never waned. Skye tried to slow her down throwing the ground beneath her thick, heavy paws into the air. The earth rumbled and shook. Warriors, ours and Alaya's fell down crevices opening in the ground, their bodies buried by the debris raining from the sky.Willow's coven chanted spells, desperately trying to slow the beast down. I readied the syringe and rushed towards it, jumping over fallen trees and broken bodies. the beast fell to all

Skye's POV Words spewed from the mouths of my friends and my family. My pack, our pack, Maddox's and mine but they made no sense. Maddox was lost. Not gone and yet they insisted on spewing lies at me instead of looking for him. On holding me tight, suffocating me with their grief instead of scouring the lands for him. He wasn't gone. I refused to believe it.We won. Maddox told me we won. Those were the last words he spoke to me before he was lost. Maddox would not lie to me.He promised me if he didn't make it our bond would slowly fade along with the mark he left on my skin but I felt it more than ever. He needed me. He was out there, lost and broken and he needed me."Skye," Blake said holding his hand to me."He's here," I said, "he's right here." I clasped my hand to my heart."Gage has called for transport back to Greystone. We can't stay here."Everything inside me boiled with rage an