The drive is only a few hours, Joffrey spends the rest of the time in silence as he reads his journal fervently, trying to come up with anything he can to help us get through to the temple. Laney sleeps on my shoulder and Monty continues to scowl over at me from time to time. But screw him. I did Laney a huge favor by not marking her. The guilt she would feel falling for her own mate multiplied by my heartache at losing her would have killed her. How could it not when I can see how much she adores me? I could never put her through that. And no, it has nothing to do with her being in my head and learning the shit I still haven’t told her. Okay, it might be a little bit, but it’s a tiny part of it, not a huge part. I can feel my wolf pacing in my mind, on edge with me and my plans. I have run out of time. There will be no looking through Joffrey’s journal for a spell to save me from the magic that will ruin me and Laney. The only choice I have now is to run as far as I fucking can wit

A feral angry sound echoes through the hall, coming closer to me. When I look up, I recognize the beast that is Falcon. The blood blade in his mouth as he pants and bleeds, limping closer to me. I watch closely as his crazed eyes, trying to gauge what he plans to do. I have no desire to die, but do I have a right to live? To rule? After everything, I was in the past. Just in the last life I was horrible. I was mean, and vicious, attacking and killing for the thrill it would give me. The things I did were unthinkable, unspeakable scarring the good left in my soul. I deserve to die. But if I die, what does that mean for the people fighting outside? I feel so conflicted about what to do. Are they better without me, or worse? Fuck! I wish I had someone who could tell me what I am supposed to do. If I take the throne and I destroy everything these people have, I could never live with myself.“Fuck!!!” I scream out, sobbing as I force myself to stand on my shaky legs. Falcon freezes before

***Laney POV***I can feel an invasion in my mind, a tapping into my thoughts, my feelings, all pieces of happiness slowly seeping away. Whatever it is slithers through me like a poisonous snake leaving nothing but slimy venom in its wake. This shouldn’t be what dying feels like. I shouldn’t be stuck in my head, feeling all the good in me dying. This leaves me with only one conclusion: I have to fight this invasion. But how?I struggle with the thought of how to fight back. How can I when I have been so cruel, so terrible in so many of my past lives that it’s physically hurting me? Every life my past self took lines up before me. Countless faces of men and women of varying ages. They stare at me in pity and I accept it, shit I need it. There has to be something to help me fight the pull. And this pull is so damn strong. Darkness always seems easiest. It always had. It’s easier to keep your eyes closed when there is nothing to see. Yet the light calls to me too, begging me to cling to

Rome struggles to get back up on her legs and Monty wastes no time swooping in to grab Rome and quickly brings her back to where the new line has formed. She is clearly injured, yet she refuses to sit out. No one can. We can’t afford to lose a single person before. Heavens knows what happens with Laney. Before she ascends? Before she dies? None of us know the fate of the future so we just do what we can to fight for as long as we can. “Is there a reason your captor is fighting with us, Luna?” The man I assume is Gregor asks Rome, fighting side by side with Monty. He glares at Monty for a moment before turning back to his victim, killing him with a single-clawed blow, severing his head from his body. “He is my mate.” She says proudly. “Not my captor. And I am not the Luna.” She hisses, getting her hands on a vampire, and uses her teeth to bite into their jugular, their black blood pouring out as she spits the taste from her mouth and drops them.I allow my wolf control, bounding into

I pause as he watches me with bated breath, his chest heaving up in down in sad anticipation. No matter how right he is, no matter how much I find myself unable to trust him. I find myself equally unable to say the words. Words that I know will break him and I and I’m just so fucking sick of breaking all the damn time. I sigh deeply and close my eyes, needing to be free of his ache and sorrow and just focus on how I feel for two damn minutes. “I need you to leave me,” I whisper and open my eyes.“What?” He says, his brow furrowing. “I am trying to ensure I do just that… But with this bond…”“Lachlan, you are free to do what you will. You aren’t drawn to me like you were under magic. You can walk away of your own free will. But it will be YOU deciding to leave me, not you deciding for me.” I say, my temper flaring.“I wasn’t trying to force you.” He breathes.“But you were.” I insist. “You have lied to me, you have betrayed my trust and even though I truly believe those were things yo