SYLVIA “Except for what you need. Someone to love you.” I said as I watched him snarling into my face, more wolf than human. “I don’t need love, you stupid bitch! Do you see my face? This is what so-called love did to me!” The sudden release on my clothes had me sprawling on the table, my face almost hitting his plate. “This is how much my father loved us. He ruled us with an iron fist. We feared him and I learnt that fear was much more powerful than love.” Drake pulled my face up by my hair, my neck bent so far back I could hardly breathe. I grabbed at his hand, trying to release his fingers. “Then one day he was drunk and high on drugs. He raped my sister while my whore of a mother watched. I killed them, all three of them, ripped them to pieces when I transformed into my wolf. And I liked it.” He laughed, a monstrous sound. “Are you satisfied now, my curious little mouse? Have you heard enough? Are you still feeling

“Tell me you love me. Tell me you feel sorry for me.”Those words kept echoing through my mind as I hovered in the twilight between consciousness and oblivion. This was it. I was dying. This time it went too far.  Too late. Too late.“You can’t give up now, Sylvia. Hunter is coming for us.” Kira’s whispered words did little to convince me not to give in to the darkness. I wanted it. Needed the nothingness to embrace me. Tired, so tired of being in pain, being broken over and over.“Let me help you. Let me heal you. I am strong. Give in to me, stop fighting me for control, Sylvia.” Kira insisted.“There’s no hope for us. He’s won.” I sighed.She growled, deep and guttural, it vibrated through my bones. “He will never win. Never. You have fed me your anger and your hate for Drake. It made me strong, you have no idea. The Moon Goddess gifted me with a new body. You are

SYLVIAI dreamt of Hunter, of him holding me, kissing me, making love to me. So clearly, so vividly. Then it turned into a nightmare. It wasn’t Hunter but Drake who was caressing me, Drake whose lips and hands were everywhere on my body. I screamed myself awake.Bathed in sweat I tried to sit up on the bed only to find that my hands were cuffed to the steel headboard.“Damn you, Drake!” I yelled out my frustration, straining on the cuffs, but it was useless. I wasn’t strong enough.“Finally. I thought you were never going to wake up. We have to move, unfortunately. Your little Prince is being troublesome. In fact, he’s getting to be a real pain in the ass.” Drake stood in the doorway, holding something in his hands I couldn’t make out.Hunter searched for me. Hope surged through me. If I could just mind link him, but Kira was still out of it from the wolfsbane and I doubted if

SYLVIAI peered into the darkness, but all I could see were shadows. The wind whipped my hair into my face as I leaned on my hands and knees to see over the edge of the ledge. My heart raced from fear, as much as I hated the dark, I feared heights even more.“Hunter?” I tried linking with him, but now there was just silence. Worry gnawed at my insides. Something happened to him, I just know it.“Don’t say that! He is strong. He is coming for us.” Kira piped up. She was super excited and running around in my mind. I knew she would love to shift and go and look for Hunter but thanks to Drake’s torture device we couldn’t. We needed to find a way to remove it. Maybe if I tried shapeshifting again. I could snap the collar.“No,” Kira shook her head, “don’t try that again. We couldn’t afford to get hurt now.”I shivered from the icy wind licking at my ba

SYLVIAWe met Alpha Damien and the rest of his warriors at the foot of the mountain. The descent wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. Hunter helped me where the going was treacherous and I kept my focus on him and not on the yawning abyss. Kane joined us with Nina. He gave Hunter a bundle of clothes which he quickly put on.Nina ran to me when he put her down, but stopped in front of me, her eyes wide.“Mama, blood!” she pointed at my hand. Dried blood covered my hand up to my elbow and my face and T-shirt were also blood-spattered.“It’s okay, Baby. Don’t be scared.” I bent down to her. “See, I’m fine. I just really need a shower.” I laughed, trying to make light of the situation.She frowned; her little face scrunched up. “Where is Daddy?”I looked at Hunter, unsure of how to tell her that I killed her father. He turned Nina to look at him.