You Are My Dream #2
“You asked, babe,” Zack replied, kissing him hard. Taylor pulled him close, although there wasn’t much space left between them. The rest of us exchanged looks as Raven giggled, watching them.
“How old are you?” I asked her, standing up. Her reply was only to whistle and giggle again. Damon chuckled.
“Go home, guys,” he teased.
The three of us went over to the side. The party was still going strong, and I knew it would continue for another few hours.
“Aunty seems happier lately,” Raven said, looking over at Monica, who was sitting with Mom and Dad as Mom hugged her.
“Yeah, I think having more people around her has really helped…” Damon said guiltily. I knew he was probably feeling awful that he had to leave her often.
“You have work, don’t feel bad. No one realised we could have done more… I’m sure we can make sure Aunty always has someone around her,” I said, frowning thoughtfully.
“She’s aware that Dad isn’t here... but she’s coping,” Damon whispered, his eyes on his mother.
“Yeah, losing a mate isn’t easy,” Raven said quietly. All eyes were on Aunty Monica, but I wouldn’t deny that we were all thinking of our situation.
I realised Damon only had his mother… and Raven… she only had us. Her family was gone.
“Ooo, they are cutting the cake!”
I smiled, watching her. Dad had cut the cake, and Mom had fed him a piece a while ago, but it hadn’t been cut up for the rest until now.
Trust Raven to want some, but in the process, she left Damon and me alone with that mate comment hanging in the air.
I decided to ask him the question that was on my mind.
“Why didn’t you tell me you two had rejected each other? I swear I didn’t know, or I wouldn’t have said-”
“I know you didn’t. You’re not a sly person, Liam. You’re straight up. I knew you didn’t know, and Raven confirmed that. We did what was best, for all of us…” he said quietly, looking up at the sky, sighing deeply.
“It takes a lot. Thank you,” I said quietly, looking at him.
“It does, but that’s the difference between us… you’re an alpha, and I’m a beta.” He smiled despite the pain in his voice, but his words hit home. “We won’t ever be equal, no matter how much we say it.”
I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. I was an alpha, and it was in my blood to be possessive, but in the process, I had made him feel inferior. That was never the intention.
“That’s not true, Damon. My behaviour does not mean-”
“I love you, Liam. You are my Alpha, but don’t use that line. We both know we aren’t equal,” he said quietly, his eyes full of hurt, hurt that he usually masked so well.
“Guys, come here!” Raven shouted.
“Come on,” Damon said, patting my shoulder.
“Damon.” He paused, glancing back at me.
“Yeah?”
“I may have wanted her all for myself, but never once did I think that I deserved her more than you because my rank was higher than yours. I’ve always loved her since I was young, that was all I could think of.
That I loved her first... it was never because I was an alpha, and you weren’t,” I said quietly. I needed him to know that.
“Isn’t it the same thing?” He asked quietly. I didn’t reply, unable to.
If anything were to happen to me... maybe they could be together. Maybe that was why she was given two mates? I watched him walk off, thinking he’d once said he’d die for me... Didn’t he realise I’d do the same for him, too?
“Liam?” Raven asked, coming over and holding a plate piled high with two, no, three, large slices of cake.
“Yes, beautiful?” I asked softly as she caressed my face with her free hand.
“Are you okay?” I nodded.
“That’s a lot of cake for one bite-sized she-wolf,” I teased. She pouted.
“One was for you,” she said. I raised an eyebrow.
“Was it? Or were you planning on taking my share?” I asked.
“Not at all… I mean, you should offer it to me because I need to eat lots to grow… but that wasn’t the plan,” she said, blinking up at me.
Oh, it was definitely the plan. When it came to sweet treats, Raven could eat lots. I chuckled.
“Depends on what I get in return?” I asked.
“And now you’re bartering. Shouldn’t mates be willing to give up everything for the other?” She complained, sounding cute.
“I still want something in return.” I wrapped my arm around her as she did her best to keep her plate upright, and it was at that moment that I felt a wave of coldness wash over me.
Something wasn’t right.
I may not have had the ability to foresee like Kiara... but I had always been very intuitive. It was the same when we had pinpointed where the witch Endora was trying to resurrect was buried. I just… felt it.
I looked around sharply, the sound of Raven’s voice fading away, my eyes burning a magnetic blue.
I could see the kids playing together… Azura in Mom’s lap…
No, it’s not… I turned, scanning the crowd, watching Damon walk back towards the wall where we had been not long ago… and it was then that I saw it.
The flash of something out there, hiding in the trees, metres beyond the wall. My heart thundered in my chest as I saw the glint of metal, and I realised what it was…
Time seemed to slow down, my heart thundering in my ears as my eyes homed in on the man who was holding one of the deadly assault rifles we had designed only to use on the wendigos years ago… weapons that were meant to be locked away.
A weapon that was pointed towards us, with Damon being in its first line of range, eating his cake, unsuspecting.
My instincts kicked in and I pushed Raven to the ground.
“Get down!” I shouted as I rushed towards Damon in a flash, spinning him around and shielding him with my body as I heard the shots go off. Screams erupted in the air, and pain ripped through me, knocking the breath from me.
Pain, suffocating pain…
My entire back was screaming in burning agony, spreading through my entire body.
I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t….
The growls of wolves filled the air as Damon turned, his eyes wide in shock as he stared at me, catching me before I fell.
I said I’d die for you too…
My eyes stung as I realised this was it…
I never got to say goodbye to her…
Her piercing scream of despair ripped through my heart.
I had failed her. I wanted to see her… one last time to tell her I loved her… but I couldn’t link…
I looked up at Damon’s hazy face. He was saying something, panic and fear in his voice. I wanted to tell him… to take care of her…
I felt my heart palpitate before it seemed to slow. The agonising pain was fading… and darkness was surrounding me. Was this what death felt like? Was my time truly over?
Raven
My heart shattered when I felt agony tear through me as I watched Liam pull Damon away from the wall... watching my love take the rain of bullets, the smell of his blood and wolfsbane hung in the air, his pain and sadness washing through the bond.
A scream left my lips as I ran towards him.
All I could think of was the seal on his healing.
Many wolves rushed past, heading to the attacker, but all I could think of was my mate…
“Liam!” I cried as Damon placed him on his side.
“Fuck!” He whispered. He was shaking. I was about to look when he shook his head, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t look.”
“Liam, baby,” I whimpered, cupping Liam’s handsome face instead. His heartbeat was fading. I couldn’t think straight…
This can’t be happening…
He couldn’t heal! He can’t…
“He can’t heal! His healing is sealed!” I sobbed as if someone could fix this.
“What do you mean, Raven?” Damon asked urgently.
“No… no, Liam, wake up!” I cried, cradling his head to my chest.
He can’t die, or I don’t want to live anymore. Goddess, take me instead!
“Liam!” Aunty Red called. “Raven, what do you mean he can’t heal?” She looked ghostly as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“He got Delsanra to seal his abilities away so he wouldn’t hurt anyone if he lost control!”
“No wonder… I couldn’t sense his Alpha aura…” Aunty Red murmured. “We need something to lift him onto! To get him to the hospital!”
I stared down at him…
This was a nightmare…
It’s not real…
I couldn’t breathe… I can’t…
I don’t want to live without him…
I need him!
The pain inside of me was ripping me apart, tearing into me like a thousand beasts ready to kill, each passing moment more painful than the last. My head was pounding, my heart was squeezing…
I felt someone dragging me away from Liam.
“Let go of me!” I struggled, tears blurring my vision. I need him!
“He’ll be okay,” Damon’s soothing voice promised, but it was a lie! I could hear it in his voice, the broken tone of defeat.
The two doctors were shaking their heads and pointing at his back.
“…. can’t move him…”
“He’ll die…”
“It’s too late…”
No. No! It’s not too late!
“I need him! Let go of me!” I screamed.
I won’t let him go!
I twisted in Damon’s arms, slamming my elbow into his ribs as hard as I could, and broke free, rushing to Liam’s side. Aunty Red was sitting there frozen, her face ghostly white. I pushed through, lifting Liam’s head in my hands.
You are my world. I won’t be able to live if my world is gone. I looked at his handsome face, tears streaming down my cheeks. The fight isn’t over until we take our last breath.
I kissed his unmoving lips, and for a moment everything faded away…
The soft tingle of a dying bond remained…
There’s nothing worth living for if he’s gone.
I looked down at his neck, my heart pounding, my eyes flashing before I bent down, extracting my canines and sinking them into his neck, marking him…
I felt the flicker of the spark flare through us as I felt the bond becoming complete. His heart skipped a beat, picking up for a moment, and my heart leapt with hope.
“Please, Blue Eyes, look at me,” I begged.
“We need to get the bullets out. Just try!” Aunty Red was shouting. “Contact Kiara!”
“Luna, please, listen, he… there’s no hope,” one of the doctors was whispering. I stared down at him, begging him silently.
Wake up, baby... please, wake up…
His heart thumped, once… twice… and then…
It stopped.
I felt something being torn from my chest, agony slicing through me like a million lashes.
“No!” Aunty Red’s scream filled the sky.
I closed my eyes as pain I had never felt before wrapped around me…
I couldn’t breathe. The pain inside of me was crushing me…
Goddess... if you are to take him, then you will take me, too…
I opened my eyes as tears streamed down my cheeks, staring down into the face of the man I loved. Reality hit me brutally, wreaking havoc in my life in a way I never thought was possible, completely destroying me.
Only one reality rang clear in that raging storm.
Liam was gone.