0046
Dane
"Shit, shit, shit!" Raven panics, frantically searching through the cupboards, pulling out small bottles and tubs, looking for something.
"Neah, breathe," I beg. She was in agony. I could feel it. I could feel her slipping away.
She lets out a harrowing gasp. Spluttering blood all over me, just as more blood starts to drip from her nose.
"I can't find it! Where is it?" Raven cries
"Raven," My voice drops to a whisper. "Raven, there is nothing we can do."
"I have it, where is it?" Raven sobs as she tears through another cupboard
It had been a long time since I had seen Raven cry like this. The fear, the panic, the unknown. She hadn't reacted this badly when Salem rejected her. In fact, she hadn't been like this since our parents died. "Raven, stop!"
"No, it's here, there is still time!"
Neah's rapid heartbeat had slowed. It was barely beating and her breaths were growing shallow. She was in agonising pain and blood was now leaking from the inner corners of her eyes.
"HERE!" Raven turns around and jabs a huge syringe straight into Neah's heart
Her heart stops completely.
"What the fuck have you done?" I growl at my sister
"It's an antidote!"
"There's no antidote for this!"
"I paid a Witch in the city to help me make it." Big fat tears are rolling down her cheeks. "After you guys were almost poisoned, I had to find something. It has to work. It has too!"
I stare at my sister. An antidote was just not heard of, not for Blood of Wolfsbane. If there were one, every Wolf pack would have it readily available.
'Listen.' Aero mutters
Her heart slowly starts to beat.
Faint, but nonetheless beating.
Neah's lungs are beginning to fill properly too as she sucks in oxygen. She coughs a little, bringing up less blood than before. Raven keeps her distance, afraid to come any closer. "She will need to rest." She mumbles, refusing to meet my eyes.
"Why would he do this? He has spent all his time telling us about Lycans, begging me to keep his sister safe. Why would he do this?" I mutter more to myself than Raven. "Where is he now?"
"With Eric, they are on their way to the city to try and track Trey and his bitch."
"I don't know him, but hasn't he been in the dungeons for ages? He wouldn't have had access to any of this. And you said he grabbed her wrist. She wasn't injected in her wrist." Raven moves to another cupboard, pulling out wipes.
" She steps towards Neah, "May I?
" I give her a nod and she starts wiping the blood from Neah's face as it finally stops leaking out. "That was pure Blood of Wolfsbane, not leaves that had been left to marinade. That's fresh from the stem, I'm certain you told me that it only lasts so long this way. Like I has to be used immediately."
She was right, I had.
"It doesn't add up. Who else has she seen recently?" Raven asks
"Eric, Klaus. Shit!"
"What?"
"Veronica, she saw us coming from the dungeons, she fell into Neah."
"No, surely she wouldn't do this. Surely.....Actually, I don't know why I'm even defending her."
"Does anyone else know about the antidote?" I ask
"No, well, just you now." She combs Neah's hair back, trying to wipe the blood out.
"Keep it that way."
Raven scowls at me, her eyes widening. "You are going to tell Veronica she killed her?"
"Well that was her plan, wasn't it? I might as well let her think it worked."
"I assume you are...."
"Of course I am. She isn't spending another night with air in her lungs."
Pressing my hand against Neah's forehead, I could feel that her fever was retreating. I didn't want to leave her, but this had to be done.
"Don't let anyone in and do not speak to anyone." I tell Raven
Walking out of the hospital, I link some of the pack as I make my way across the grounds to where Veronica had conveniently bumped into us. There was nothing on the ground, nothing buried in the snow, but she already knew that it would be a mistake to drop something.
I link her to meet me.
She was hesitant at first, which is unlike her. But moments later, she appears. Seemingly happy about the blood splatters on my shirt.
"You wanted to see me?"
"I've been thinking about what you have said."
"Oh?" She flutters her eyelashes at me. "Have you realized she is not the one for you?"
"I have thought about a lot of things since your return."
Her fingers immediately go to her hair, twirling a strand of it as she focuses on me. "I knew it, Dane. I knew she wouldn't be enough for you. I knew you just felt sorry for her."
"But that's the issue, isn't it. I'm mated to her. I can't do anything with you while I'm mated to her. I can't kiss you. I can't run my tongue over your sweet skin. I can't claim you and I definitely cannot fuck you." Her brow dips a little in confusion, "Is she not dead?"
"Now how would you know about that, Veronica?"
"I.....I..."
"So it's okay for you to stutter but not Neah?" I had heard Neah's thoughts on the interaction.
Her eyes widen as she tries to back away.
"Oh no. Not this time." I grab her shoulders, holding her firmly in place. "I told you, desperation doesn't look good on you. I warned you to stay away from Neah."
"You owe me!"
"No, not anymore."
Lifting her off the ground she kicks and screams. Fighting to get out of my grip. "Dane please, I did this for us."
"There is no us. If you had just left things alone, I wouldn't be taking you to fight for your life."
"Please, no. We protect our own, she isn't one of us!" She screams out
"It's like you said, Veronica. You needed a pack, but we didn't need you."
I drop her at the edge of the forest where many of my people had already shifted into Wolves and are eagerly waiting. "No, please Dane."
"You made Neah suffer, I think it's only fair you get to suffer too."
Tears are running down her face. "I'm sorry. I won't do this again. I won't. I will leave. Please!"
"Run!"
I take a step back, removing my shirt, watching her slowly turn to the forest. "Thirty-second head start."
"I'm sorry."
The others are growling at her, digging their paws into the soil as they hunched down, ready to pounce.
She backs away into the forest, running as fast as she can. I could hear her sobbing as she moved, she didn't shift and sticks to running on two feet. She most likely knew there was not a single hope of her getting out of this.
Shifting into my Wolf. I walk back and forth in front of the others. They had all been chosen to hunt now because they would be on duty during the pack run, keeping an eye on Neah.
As soon as I give the go-ahead, they charge ahead of me, quickly picking up Veronica's scent. Their legs power over the uneven ground, quickly turning when her scent moves in a different direction. I could still hear her and already knew that she wouldn't make it far.
I'm quickly linked to say that she is surrounded.
I could hear her begging them as I slowly made my way towards them.
'Piece by piece.' Aero growls
Veronica's face is stained with tears. The mud in her blonde hair suggested that she had tripped over at some point. Her eyes move between all of us as she begs for her life. It wouldn't make a difference, her death is certain.
I give the Wolves the go-ahead.
They lunge at her like they would a deer or a stag.
Her screams filled the forest as they began tearing flesh from her bones.
It doesn't take long for her screams to become silent as her heart stops beating. Her eyes are frozen wide as they continue ripping her apart. I hoped that in her final moments, she felt the pain that she put Neah in.