I stood back with Ethan and Kieran as Louis entered the room, walking slowly up to Lara. Her sister made no notice, still scratching and slashing at the paint on the walls. Covering bright pinks and purples with darkness and blood.
“It looks like a warzone,” Kieran remarked, his comment a tad too true. The slashes of crimson over black did resemble a warzone.
Both Kat and I jumped when Lara’s scream filled the room and hall. Louis had placed a hand on her shoulder, tearing Lara from her vision as she stumbled backward with her hands raised.
“Do not touch me,” she hissed, colliding into the corner of the room where she remained rooted in place.
I wasn’t sure what compelled me to move forward. Perhaps it was Lara’s mind-splitting fear, her psyche in two places at once, or my own inner compassion. All I knew was one moment I was standing with Ethan and Kieran, and the next I was two feet from a terrified Lara. I glanced between the two sisters, reading the different fear in their eyes. I felt both equally, and for that brief moment, I was both older and younger sister. Terrified for my life, and the life I thought lost.
Louis’s eyes hardened when she met mine, giving me a firm nod. I took that as my cue to move forward.
“I could never understand what you went through, but your sister and these people here-you can protect them. You can keep him from them, Lara, but you have to tell us what you saw.”
The words came smoothly despite the obvious tremor in my hands. I placed my hands on Lara, feeling my knees buckle as her fear washed over me. Years of it, stacked until details and memories became warped and fuzzy. She was neither here nor there, but everywhere at once. Trapped beneath Maverick’s thumb, a child in a cell, an adult freed, a sister after so long of being alone. Surrounded by real people, flesh and blood instead of visions.
The text about Lady Sarah briefly ran through my head, perhaps forcing my next actions. Much like feeding from someone’s soul, this held a similar connection. Only this time, instead of pulling and tearing with vicious claws and teeth, I was giving. Claws and teeth retracted, replaced by flesh and smooth skin.
Energy passed through me in a flood of warmth, resonating in my chest and thrumming down my arms into Lara. She no longer screamed, her eyes frozen but not clouded. Slowly, she blinked a few times. Her eyes darted around the room, at the painted walls and canopied bed, at her sister who she looked at the longest. Finally, her eyes traveled back to me.
“They found out you knew they were coming. Plans have changed; the three will be here in one hour, and he’ll be here in five.” Her voice wasn’t weak nor were her words whispered. They were spoken with clarity, not the dreamy tone from when we first met. “What did you do to me? I couldn’t tell the difference between what I was seeing and what was real. I can separate them now, the visions and memories. You’re her, you have to be. The girl with eyes of earth and water.”
A spasm of panic settled in my chest at what I might have done to her and the fear that it might wear off. But when I saw the blossoming joy and fear on Louis’s face, I couldn’t bring myself to fracture that hope.
“I think I am,” I replied, my voice just a tad pained. I stumbled backward as I let go, wondering how much energy I had given Lara. There was something nagging at the back of my mind, something I had to ask her. “How did he know that we found out? I thought he didn’t know you were here.”
Lara was silent for so long that I wondered if she might not answer, or if she’d sink back into her trauma and the memories and visions that once flooded her.
“My daughter knows,” she finally whispered, a shaky hand coming up to cover her mouth. “She works for him.”
Ethan caught me as I stumbled back, his hands gripping my hips to keep me standing. Kieran frowned and closed in as well, but it was Louis who first spoke up.
“I have heard the whispers, but I prayed they weren’t true,” she said, her voice mirroring her sister’s horror at the thought of Maverick having her niece, and the fear of what the woman had become under his influence. “We will do what we can to help her, but for now, we must take action.”
“What the hell are we supposed to do? If they’re an hour away, that means they know this place exists.” I frowned, leaning into both of the twins as I mustered up the strength for the upcoming hour.
“Trying to evacuate the town in time will not work,” Lara spoke before Louis had the chance, earning another look of stunned surprise. Her voice still held that distinct swell of kindness, a trait I was relieved she kept despite the horror she went through. “They have others following close behind, enough to cause much death.”
“Then what are our options?” Louis hissed, though not at anyone in particular. She glanced at Isaiah, whose eyes were just as pained.
“We will fight, and use that diversion to get Sophia, her mates, and friend out safely,” Peter said with finality, giving his mate a long look that made pain sear beneath my skin. “You and Lara will go as well.”
“Nonsense,” Louis spat, eyes hardening. “If you are staying to fight, I am as well. We go together, Peter. Do not forget your promise to me. Lara will go with them. I will not have her anywhere near that man, never again.”
“I am sorry, Louis,” Lara whispered, her eyes shimmering like sapphire watercolor. Whatever I had done to her, it cleared the fog from her mind and brought her back to the present. I hadn’t healed her of those invisible wounds. Of the bruises and slashes that trauma leaves, manifesting themselves in your dreams and thoughts. I hadn’t healed that part of her, and I wasn’t sure if I could. “I don’t want to leave you again, but I cannot go back there.”
“Do not apologize to me,” Louis shook her head softly, taking Lara’s hands in her own. Instead of cringing away, Lara returned the smile. “Stay alive, and free. You have spent long enough in a cage.”
The very thing that keeps this town safe from outsiders is the same thing that risks its exposure. Located in the middle of the forest, nestled in the mountains, there are at least six different ways for Maverick’s people to infiltrate the town.
Within half an hour, the entire town understood what would soon happen. They would play diversion while I escaped with my mates, best friend, and Lara in tow. Rather than send warriors out to defend those six entrances, everyone pushed further to the center of town. There, they would fight against any of the white wolves Maverick had sent with the three.
“I trust you will do everything possible to keep her safe,” Louis whispered into my ear, wrapping her arms around me in an embrace that smelled of sunflowers and shea. “I do hope we meet again, Sophia. Preferably in this life.”
After a teary goodbye between Louis and Lara, she and Peter left ten minutes later. They planned to converge with the rest of the town at the center, where they waited for Maverick’s white wolves. With Louis wearing my clothes and Peter wearing the twins’, they carried our scent throughout the town with them. There would be backup coming in around an hour or two from now, from the nearby cities within Peter’s territory.
Maverick now knew without a doubt that Louis and Peter were involved in the resistance. From this point forward, war would be declared on their pack as well. Should I fail and Maverick win, there would no longer be a place for them in the world.
Right on the hour mark, warning bells sounded throughout the entire town, echoing down deserted streets and back roads. Long and monotonous, they were the exact opposite sound of what my heart was making. Two conflicting beats that both carried the same amount of foreboding.
We waited ten minutes before slipping out the backdoor, keeping behind houses but out of the forest as we progressed further from town. If I listened hard, I swore I could hear the sound of snarling as white wolves fought one another to the death.
Each of us had showered before leaving, changing into clothes that didn’t carry our scent. It was a bit more difficult for Lara, who had lived in the house long enough for her scent to reach just about everything.
I knew something was wrong when we were half an hour away from town. Lara stopped in her tracks, her eyes going foggy for just a few short seconds. She blinked a few times and looked around, fear creeping and growing with every second.
“What?” I asked, taking her hand even though she hardly knew me. I couldn’t help but feel she might’ve known me fairly well, considering she’s been seeing visions of me since she was a child. “What is it? What did you see?”
“I shouldn’t have come with you,” her voice was feather soft, broken and fractured. That flicker of hope had burned out before it had the chance to become anything more than a small ember. A crack sounded in the forest, making Kieran whip around. “They’ve found us because of me.”
The first thing I smelled was body odor, masculine and thick with sweat. It was overbearing, and I understood why when a towering figure emerged from the forest. He was easily six feet tall, though completely bare in the muscle department. Shaggy bark-colored hair hung down to his shoulders, greasy and poorly brushed. Patchy stubble coated his chin, and sweat-stained clothes hung from his body. He was one of the least intimidating men I had ever met, but the Tracker wasn’t meant to look threatening.
“He caught my scent,” Lara croaked, her entire frame trembling.
I turned my head to Kat just as another figure emerged from the forest.
“Get her out of here when they attack,” I told her, my voice low and just barely audible. When I saw her eyes widen and turn defensive, I harshened my tone even further. I knew she could see it in my eyes, that I wasn’t asking. It was her first test as my Beta, the first test to see if she could suppress those Luna instincts and listen to a direct order. “I mean it, Kat. Focus on her, not me.”
Both Kat and I moved in front of Lara, making sure she stayed behind the towering forms of the twins. I could feel her trembling and taste her fear from a few feet away.
The next to emerge, coming to a stop just a few feet closer to us than the Tracker, was a petite-looking girl. She was young, with rounded features that could easily pass for eighteen. Even though there was a certain kind of youth to her, I did not miss the thick muscles along her arms and legs.
The last to step out was Havoc, who would have easily been one of the most beautiful men I had ever seen, if it weren’t for the sinister light in his eyes. It had nothing to do with the fact that they were a rich shade of crimson, which stood out brightly from his onyx hair. It was the glint of satisfaction in them when he noticed I wasn’t alone, that there would be others to take out before grabbing me. A washed-out band t-shirt and some torn jeans completed the look, though there was nothing salvageable within this man. A sociopath through and through.
Just as Lara had said, the Executioner and Tracker had finally come, and Havoc followed.