Chapter 5
After three days cooped up in the cabin, I was getting restless.
I tried to call Sean and Serenity a few times, but I wasn’t getting through.
War assured me it was probably a logistics issue on their end and that it was all hands on deck to make sure the Luna of the Blood Moon pack was safe.
Knowing the Nocturne vamps, they were relentless when it came to my cousin’s safety.
There was an uneasy pit in my stomach when I thought about my cousins. Sean was already in a vulnerable state of mind, and knowing that the very witch who’d done those things to him was free again had to have caused a setback. I just wanted to hear his voice and know that he was okay.
Gareth had disappeared each morning the moment the sun rose and then returned while I was sleeping.
I tried to catch him a few times before he ran off, but he was too fast and too sneaky.
Frankly, I was getting impatient, and this needed to get sorted out before we had to warn August that his cousin might go feral.
It happened sometimes. When something traumatic happened to a shifter, their minds could reject it.
The animal that lived inside of us might not know how to handle certain emotions the way our human half could.
There were stories of feral shifters who’d run off without a word and never return to their packs or society.
They lived as wolves full-time, content to turn their backs on the pain that caused it.
I guess I could understand where they were coming from.
There were some nights when the nightmares of what happened to me in Estelle’s holding facility were crippling.
Sometimes, I woke up in a cold sweat, struggling to breathe, feeling like the walls were closing in around me.
Sometimes, I’d feel the hot flash of fire ripping into my skin, and for just a split second, my mind would be back in that little operating room, strapped to a cold, metal table while the face of the glamoured doctor injected me with blue liquid.
Thane pushed a plate of scrambled eggs toward me while War was in the living room, flipping from news station to news station.
I’d already been forced to have a cup of coffee, a bagel, and a banana, but Thane just kept the food coming.
Any more, and I was going to burst. I screwed up my nose at it, moving to push it away. “Do you want me to puke all over you?”
He rolled his eyes, pushing them back toward me. “Eat. You’ll burn through it in the first hour if you don’t. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.”
I eyed the mushy eggs with disdain. We were going for a run today.
They were going to show me the perimeter of the property and point out potential escape routes should the worst happen.
I didn't argue with them because, after days of feeling stifled, all I wanted to do was run.
I managed to convince War to let me run in wolf form, even though he said it was risky and could possibly provoke Gareth.
He was out there in those woods, presumably sticking close to the cabin, but we rarely ever saw him.
I caught glimpses of brown fur through the trees sometimes when I looked out the windows longingly, or a glowing pair of eyes in the bushes as the sun set.
He was out there. Always close. Always watching.
I choked down my eggs, knowing he was right, and I wasn’t about to get outside and pass out in front of them. While I ate, I swiveled on the stool, watching Warrik change channels. The picture on the old TV was fuzzy and spotty, but he managed to get a few of the local stations.
It seemed like every breaking story was either about me or Estelle.
My mugshot was all over the place, and I couldn't help but cringe every time I saw my own shocked and stricken expression.
Everything happened so fast that day that I barely processed what was going on until I was already sitting behind bars.
“They could have at least edited the mugshot,” I grumbled, shoving the last bite of eggs into my mouth and chewing with attitude. “I’m not that pale, am I?” Holding my hand in front of my face, I inspected the bloodless pallor.
Thane snorted. “But pale looks so lovely on you. Especially when you blush.” I shot him a look, narrowing my eyes. He grinned. “See, like that. Delicious…”
Despite my glare, I felt my cheeks warm. Slapping my palms over them to cover any evidence that he was right, I hopped off the stool, grabbed my plate, and took it to the sink, keeping my back to the cheeky warlock. “So, when are we heading out?” I asked, perhaps a bit squeakily.
I stiffened as warm, strong hands encircled my waist from behind, and hot breath tickled my ear.
“Oh, how I love it when you squirm for me. You can’t hide those pink cheeks.
” He nipped at my earlobe, and it was all I could do to contain a moan.
“I can’t wait to see what other parts of you turn color under my touch. ”
War’s laugh boomed through the room as he flicked off the TV and stood up, crossing his arms over his chest. “Now who’s stealing whose thunder, little brother?”
Thane’s eyes lit with excitement and challenge. “Trust me, there’s nothing little about me. And unlike you, Warrik, I can actually back up my claims.”
My head was on a swivel between them. I had no doubt either of them could back up their claims. Both men were beyond capable of bringing any woman to her knees.
“I seem to remember otherwise...” War met my stare, his eyes licking up and down my body. “Isn’t that right, Trix?”
I shook my head. “You guys are ridiculous. You can put away your fucking rulers now; I’d like to go for a run sometime before next year.
” I headed for the bathroom, feeling both pairs of eyes on my back.
I paused in the doorway and faced the brothers.
“Are we doing this sharing thing for real?” I gestured between the three of us.
If Gareth were here, I’d have included him, too.
They eyed each other, some wordless conversation seeming to pass between them. Thane answered first. “I thought we’d made our intentions pretty damn clear before. Or do you think we go around spiriting away every pretty shifter that bats her pretty eyes at us?”
War grumbled, raking a hand through his dark hair, not that there was much of it in its buzzed state.
“What he’s trying and failing to explain is, yes, we’re doing this sharing thing.
I’ve lived too long to let my brother come between me and who I want, even if I have to deal with looking at his annoying-ass face every day. ” Thane sneered but didn’t argue.
My heart thundered, and I had no doubt that War could hear it. He could probably sense every drop of blood that swam through my veins at high speed. We’d never had a real conversation about what the fuck was actually happening here between the four of us or what happened that night.
Everything was happening so fast. I was a novice shifter girl in a strange city, following my famous cousin around like her shadow, when all of a sudden, three incredibly different Darkling males began to protect, kiss, fuck, and woo me.
I thought Serenity was crazy for taking on multiple partners at once, but it wasn’t unheard of.
There were a few mated pairs that later found out they had more than one bond out there.
I’d only ever witnessed such things in TV dramas.
There were many, many conversations between my cousin and me about the logistics of it all. She only had so many holes…
I cleared my throat when I realized that they were both watching me in silence, waiting for me to say something—anything at all. But I had nothing. What the hell was I supposed to say to a declaration like that? Welcome to the squad? Go team? Shit…
So I did the opposite of that. I turned tail and slunk into the bathroom of shame, closing and locking the door behind me. From the other side, I could have sworn I heard two low chuckles.
Snow stuck to the ground last night instead of melting halfway through the day. The air smelled crisp, my breath puffed out in hot clouds as I panted, and my muscles stretched with pleasurable pain. It had been too long since I’d let my wolf out.
Warrik ran ahead of me, little more than a blur of color against the snowy backdrop.
As a wolf, I could track and follow him as he led me around the perimeter of the property.
Before we left, I watched him drink a small vial of daylight potion and laughed while he tried and failed to hold in a gag.
I appreciated the shit he had to go through to operate during the daytime, but it was still funny as hell to watch.
I could smell where the property ended, telling me to stay within a strict boundary. There was also a very faint crackle of magic acting as a shield around the whole area. It wouldn’t stop a person from entering, but Thane would know if anyone crossed over it.
Thane opted to stay behind at the cabin to try and get a hold of someone in my pack.
Hopefully, he’d at least be able to reach August so that we could get some kind of update about my cousins.
Maybe they had more info on Estelle’s whereabouts and who the fuck helped her escape.
I knew there was still the whole Nightingale clan to contend with.
Witches and warlocks that had followed Estelle for centuries and who, despite her crimes, might still be loyal to her above the humans.
We must have run the perimeter of the property for two hours before I caught Gareth's scent. Not the lingering one that zigzagged through the trees all over the woods, left behind after days of wandering aimlessly, but the fresh scent of a wolf shifter closing in fast.
I kept my pace, powdery snow spraying up beneath my swift paws.
A dark shape leapt from the treeline beside me, and a second later, a russet-colored wolf was running alongside me.
Gareth was much bigger than me—almost twice my size, actually.
Serenity told me once that Gareth was technically an Alpha.
He and August were born with the same level of dominance as one another, but Gareth, being slightly younger, always let his cousin take the reins and never wanted to lead a pack of his own.
I understood why he felt that way, and had I been born an Alpha, I might have made the exact same choice.
There was no way I could bear the responsibility of so many lives.
August had done so for centuries, and he was good at it.
It was the role he was literally born into, but it took a special sort of personality to carry on for so long.
I recognized that capability in Gareth, but there were some scars that just ran way too deep.
Scars that changed a person and made them rethink their priorities.
We carried on deeper into the woods, skirting a small lake that served as the northern border of the property.
Across the water, I could just barely make out a few scattered houses.
More like lake cabins, with protruding docks and boats tied to them.
It was quiet out there. Even quieter than Blood Moon Pack lands.
We were higher up in the mountains than I’d ever been before.
Even the air felt thinner and crisper. I could easily stay in this place forever and be perfectly content.
I laughed, and in wolf form, it sounded more like a sneeze.
The thought of Trix from one year ago contemplating leaving society and living in the deep woods was laughable.
I used to live and breathe city life. I thrived on the hustle and bustle.
I dedicated so much of my time to civil rights, protesting, and fighting for equal rights.
I had friends in my activism groups who used to be like family.
I had a whole-ass life back in Noc City that I turned my back on.
I wasn't sure if I should feel guilty for turning tail and leaving. I just couldn’t go back to what I was before.
I wasn’t that girl anymore. The fun-loving, carefree girl who went to clubs alone and slept with whoever she wanted.
I wasn’t the girl with the megaphone marching in the streets, demanding that Darklings be treated fairly.
That spitfire of a woman was gone, and in her place was a broken shell of a person that tried to glue herself together, but some pieces would never, ever fit quite like they used to.