Merle
Iopen my eyes to the world whizzing by and me riding a motorbike. What is this? Where am I? I’ve never ridden a bike before, so I grab the handles. I open my mouth and squeal. The bike wobbles dangerously, and I realise I’m about to die.
“FUCK!” Jay howls out of my mouth and takes control of the bike.
He stops it and gets off, yanking the helmet off our head and tossing it to the ground so hard it bounces off into the forest beside us.
“GOD FUCKING DAMNIT, RAVEN!” he shouts. “What the fuck were you up to now?”
Raven, wherever she is, has gone and doesn’t answer his summons.
My mind is white with fear, and my body is reacting badly. I can’t stop shaking. My breathing is coming in sharp gasps.
Where are my alphas?
Where am I?
I wrap my arms around myself, whimpering in sharp, desperate sounds now that the danger is done.
I whip my head around, but I don’t recognise anything. There’s thick forest with trees all around me and a concrete road. I turn and turn and turn, but every direction I turn in looks like nowhere I have ever been. I don’t recognise it. Where are our alphas? Where is home?
Where am I?
A scream works its way up my chest and into my throat. There are no landmarks, nothing but trees and a road.
Oh, god. I’m lost. Lost in the woods. Again. Like before.
My breathing gets faster, more violent as I fight for air. Spots dance in my vision.
Just walk, Raptor says into our minds. Keep going the way she was riding.
I look up the road then back the other way, unsure which way to go. I see the bike and turn away from it, looking in the way we were heading. It looks exactly the same as the other direction.
I press my hands to my sternum, digging my nails in, trying to get the pain to stop the panic long enough to think.
They will come for us, Kestrel says.
They will never find us. We will be dead. How could she do this to us? I scream inside.
I let out a choked sob, and then I start running.
Jay stays present enough that I don’t feel alone but doesn’t speak, though I can feel him stewing.
“We’re going to be out here alone tonight. They won’t find us. We need to think about how to be safe,” Jay growls, forcing himself in beside me.
Have faith, Kestrel says calmly.
I sniffle, but I’m out of tears. I’m exhausted and thirsty. My stomach has given up growling, and my feet are sore.
“It’s almost sundown. We’ll be out here all night. What about bears?” Jay snaps. “Do we need to worry about being mauled by a bear?”
I can feel Raptor rise and give me the impression she’s ready to stab a bear, except I don’t think she’s capable of stabbing a bear.
We’re going to die.
I let out a keening sound.
“Looking for someone?”
I startle hard and turn in a slow circle, my heart racing. Hope making the world swim. Did I imagine it? Was it real?
Please, oh, please…
He steps out of the trees. He looks so beautiful, his white hair swept back, danger in every line of his body.
I’m safe. I’m home.
Sage. My Sage.
I rush to him, throwing myself into his arms. He lets out a whoosh of air and slowly embraces me back, holding me tighter when I start to cry.
I cling to him, digging my fingers in and holding him tighter, so tight he can’t get me off, though he doesn’t try for long. He strokes his long fingers down my hair and holds me while I sob into his chest.
“I’m going to guess you were taken against your will?” he asks softly. “It’s okay, Merle. It’s okay. You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
He lifts me up, and I wrap my legs around his waist and bury my face in his neck.
I nod my head.
“Raptor?”
I quickly shake my head.
“Raven, then?”
I nod, hurt that she would do that to us.
“Don’t worry. We’ll make sure she can’t do that again.”
I can sense Raven listening. Her dark, logical mind analyzing his words and their intent. Of all of us, Raven is the one who won’t be caged, not by someone who loves us, and not by an enemy. She was born to be free.
I don’t know what he intends to do, but for the first time, I find myself at odds with one of my alters. I hope Sage succeeds, and she can never do that again.
Sage shifts his weight, holding me closer, murmuring nonsense words.
“Its going to be all right, Merle.”
I sniffle and bury my face in his shirt, inhaling his scent, one that now means safety to me.
A few minutes later, I hear a car, and Sage starts walking. It stops, the doors open wide, and they pour out. All of them, except Roseland, who just watches with a shuttered expression.
I get a strange flip of my stomach, like he’s watching because he’s waiting. What is he waiting for? What does he know?
But then Rolly is there, touching, purring, and I forget everything but that sound and his scent. King takes his place, kissing me, and I forget everything but my alpha. Blaze even comes up and touches my chin, tilting my face up and staring into my eyes.
“I was worried,” he admits.
I curl into Blaze’s arms, feeling the rightness of it steal the last of the unease that has been pressing on me.
“Come on, let’s go home.”
I let out a happy whine. I’m safe, with my alphas.
They found me.
I don’t know what Raven was up to out there, but we are back where we belong.