FINNEGAN
“It’s not that funny,” Cayden reprimands me as I grin back at him, but I can clearly see Artemisia biting her bottom lip to push back a laugh. “We were really lucky that the high court didn’t press charges!”
“Lucky that Giorgie made Ricky disappear, you mean,” I observe, making Artemisia gasp.
“We don’t know about that,” she defends her brother and I put my arm around her, pulling her close as she scoffs.
“And it might be better this way.”
‘I hope it was at least tasty to Drake,’ she says provocatively, making my grin grow.
Drake laughs, growling, ‘He tasted pretty good for an asshole.’
“What was that?” Artemisia asks, looking at me with big eyes and I take advantage of it to kiss her.
“Nothing. Don’t mind him. He is just fooling around,” I answer, moving my hand in a dismissive gesture as Drake wheezes a laugh in my mind.
Artemisia squints her eyes at me, her gaze studying my face and she is surely just about to look through me as Cayden clears his throat, getting our attention back on him. “Well, anyway, the high court decided that he was clearly involved in the scheme Matthew had put up, and wanted to harm us and exploit Missy’s powers. They even believed that the attack on the Gray Shadow Moon was just a setup by them, so… Guess we are off the hook.”
“Perfect!” I exclaim, grabbing Artemisia as I pull her onto her feet. “And Emma is safe too now.”
Cayden shakes his head, concentrating back on his papers. “Yeah… I guess she is safe now. But please don’t overdo it. We just made a new pact with Missy’s pack and we should really honour it.”
“Do it for me,” Missy pouts at me, flashing me her puppy eyes, and I click my tongue.
Leaning in, I kiss her cheek, feeling her shiver as I whisper. “Anything for you, princess.”
I drag her out of Cayden’s office and out of the house to reach the forest with fast steps. “Let’s take a run, come on.”
“But the pups, Fynn,” she sighs, and I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her close.
Tilting my head, I get her to smile at me. “Come on, princess. They are with your mother and if we are fast enough they won’t even feel hungry until you are back to feed them.”
She thinks about it for a second and pushes out a deep breath, signalling to me that I convinced her. “Okay, but only for a bit.”
“Yes!” I kiss her forehead, letting go of her for us to undress.
It still takes her a bit longer than me to shift, but it is worth every second that I have to wait longer.
Cassy looks majestic with her white fur and the violet accents around her back leg.
We still haven’t found out what her power really holds, but with the help of Emma, we will slowly get to know this too as this was certainly the reason why she had been abducted in the first place.
Corvina, Hendrick and the high court are working overtime to get as many details as possible.
We would have wanted to question the doctor who had been bribed to keep to himself what he had found out about my son, but as we got to him after we had transported Artemisia and Giorgio to the hospital safely, he had already taken his life.
Or Matthew had staged it to make it look like this and make his only witness shut up.
Drake moves towards her, rubbing his head against Cassy’s, getting her to purr happily.
“Let’s go,” I mind-link her and she agrees with me before we take off, running through the forest until we reach the lake.
After a dip into the water, we let the wolves fool around a little bit on the shore and finally run back to the pack house.
Shifting back to our human frames, we dress back up and walk back to the house.
She holds my hand as I wrap my arm around her shoulder and giggles. “Are you really going to keep lying to me and tell me that you have nothing to do with Rick just disappearing into thin air?”
“Oh, yes!” I grin, making her laugh again, and I pull her into me, kissing her head.
The only thing I regret is that I should have broken his stupid face sooner.
***
RICCARDO
“Damn it!” I cuss as I hang upside down.
The bastard had framed me completely. And trapping me on this tree, he chose to meet with the Blackwood alone, saving his sister.
But he will pay for this.
I try to pull myself up, but I can’t seem to reach the rope to loosen the knot around my ankle.
Groaning, I swing back and forth, hoping it would get the rope to rip or the branch to break.
“You shouldn’t have skipped core day,” I hear a voice from below and wiggle to turn around.
Finnegan Blackwood is standing there with a huge grin, and his t-shirt pulled up to show me his abs.
He seems to have gone through a fire, his clothes are scattered, his skin dirty.
Oh no, I have a bad feeling.
‘The Blackwood failed,’ my wolf growls in my head, making me gulp.
Fucking hell.
“Listen, Finnegan,” I start, shaking myself in the hopes the rope will finally snap. “I can make you a rich man. This is nothing personal. I was just… I was desperate because she is my mate, you know…”
A loud roar resounds, making me flinch.
Panic expands in my chest as I see him shift, but to my shock, he doesn’t shift into a wolf.
No.
He shifts into a different creature, looking more like a Lycan, but that’s not it. The monster is completely black, his huge mouth full of sharp teeth, and long claws.
I gulp, already knowing that it won’t end well for me. “I beg you, I really… I made a mistake and I’m sorry.”
The monster jumps, holding himself at a branch leisurely as he buries the claws of his feet into the tree. A long tongue links the non-existent lips before he bares his teeth to me.
“I don’t care about how sorry you feel. She is ours, and you will pay for what you have done to her,” he growls, his voice seeming like two people speaking at the same time.
“No, no…” I start, but he scoffs, making me shut up shuddering as he looks at me with his fully black eyes.
“Let’s see… Where should I start… Your heart, your lungs, your liver… So many snacks and so little time. What a bummer.”
He chuckles while my heartbeat skyrockets and I try to swing myself away from him, only for him to grab my leg, pulling me close as he chuckles.
“Bye, Ricky-boy. I would say that it was a pleasure, but it wasn’t.”
I scream, his mouth opening widely and his set of sharp teeth being the last thing I see.