Chapter 4
The guys gave me the bed to myself. It was warm in the cabin but not stifling. I slept on and off for an hour or two, but eventually, a rustle or a clunk from the forest beyond would wake me in a cold sweat.
This time, it wasn’t a noise that jarred me from my nightmares.
It was the soft brush of thick fur against my bare legs.
I blinked sleep from my eyes, trying to gather myself and remember exactly where I was and why.
The room was empty, the only light coming in from the window being beams of moonlight casting the room in a blue glow. The fireplace was almost embers now.
Hot breath puffed across my thigh, and my entire body went utterly still. But it only lasted a moment before a familiar scent hit me.
Gareth.
I peered down my body, noting the way I’d haphazardly shucked the heavy quilt off of me sometime in the night. It was replaced by a massive russet-brown wolf the size of a fucking horse. Yep, it was Gareth alright. He was draped over me like a lapdog, his breathing slow and deep.
Despite the fact that he was so heavy that I couldn’t move without waking him, I managed to smile down at him.
Reaching out, I brushed my fingers through his thick fur.
Slowly. Carefully. I paused as he grunted in his sleep.
Holding my breath, I waited for him to jolt awake and probably growl or snap his teeth in my face for touching him.
But that never happened. A slow purr filled the room, and caused my body to vibrate.
I continued to pet him, my eyes straying back to the window.
I peered up at the moon, wondering if Selene herself was watching over him tonight.
If she’d somehow brought him back here, knowing that I'd do whatever I could to make sure he knew he was safe.
It was a promise I made to myself there and then.
This wolf. This bodyguard. This pain in my fucking ass would never know another day of pain at my hands.
“It’s the first time he’s stopped moving since you were taken,” Thane whispered. He and War were seated in individual armchairs in the dark. Thane swirled his hand in the air, blue magic crackling at his fingertips, before leaping toward the fireplace. The logs lit, casting the room in a dull glow.
War ran a palm over his tired face. There were dark circles under his eyes, making me wonder if either of them had gotten any rest. “He must have run the perimeter a thousand times in the last twenty-four hours. Maybe that’s a good thing.”
“I need to talk to my cousin,” I whispered, knowing both of them could hear me. Gareth stirred slightly, but only nuzzled closer to me. My fingers sifted through his fur softly, trying to keep him calm and relaxed.
“She’s supposed to—” Thane started to say, but I shook my head, cutting him off.
"No, not Serenity.” I met his eyes. “I want to talk to Sean. Maybe he knows something that can help Gareth. After we were rescued from the holding facilities, Sean had trouble staying in his human form, too. It took months for him to hold it long enough to remember how to function.”
Remembering my cousin that way was still physically painful.
There were nights when the entire pack would fall silent as Sean’s howls of pain and anguish filled the air.
The pack doctor and his amazing mate, Kate, tried to help him.
They worked with Sean day and night for nearly a year, and he still struggled sometimes.
Things were better now. Not perfect, but manageable.
Sean had his own little cabin on pack lands to himself, but nobody saw much of him.
Gone was the outgoing, bubbly cousin I grew up with.
In his place was a hardened, jaded man who’d seen the worst of humanity and managed to live through the aftermath.
If anyone could help Gareth through this, I’d bet it was Sean.
War nodded, a contemplative look on his strong, handsome face.
His beard had grown thicker over the days since I’d seen him, as if he’d stopped grooming it.
“We have a satellite phone that’s untraceable.
You can call Sean in the morning if you want, but it has to be brief.
We can’t take any chances with Estelle on the loose. ”
Just the thought had my stomach bottoming out. “There’s no reason she’d come after me, right? I mean, I was just one of hundreds of stolen Darklings.” Even as the words spilled out, I could anticipate the response.
Thane sighed, running a hand through his pale hair.
“I wish it were that simple for you, love. Unfortunately, you, Serenity, Sean, and Loxley belong to two very powerful families. Three if you count the Blood Moon pack now. If she’s going to fuck with any of her victims, it’ll be one of you.
If I know that witch, she’ll want to make it a spectacle. ”
That caught my attention. “You knew her personally?” I asked Thane.
He nodded solemnly. “I was her bodyguard once upon a time. Back in my early days as a soldier,” His eyes were unfocused, as if he were remembering an entire lifetime.
He probably was. Unease settled inside me at the thought of him being so close to that monster.
“Please understand, Trixie girl; the whole world was swayed by her. Even before she was your uncle’s political rival, she was a figurehead in the Darkling community. A highly respected, ancient witch.”
My eyes flitted to War, shrouded in shadow save for the flickering firelight. “And you? Did you know her, too?”
He nodded. “From a distance, yes.” That was all. Curt. To the point.
“And neither of you ever suspected?”
Thane laughed. “Suspected what? That she might harbor some ill will toward the humans who persecuted our kind for centuries? No, never,” he waved me off, shaking his head.
Silence fell between us as he stared into the fire and I stared at him.
Then he said, “I don’t think anyone starts out plotting the downfall of an entire species.
” His eyes flitted to mine. Haunted, and tired.
“It’s a slow process. One too many injustices that just pile up higher and higher until eventually, it fucking bursts.
That’s how villains are created. That’s when the ones who committed those injustices turn around and point their fingers at you and call you a monster. ”
I swallowed thickly, my hand pausing on Gareth’s head.
I had to admit, it wasn’t the first time the thought had crossed my mind.
There was a small part of me that resented the humans.
Even the ones who weren't actively trying to push my kind to the fringes of society.
A part of me hated them, and it was that part of me that scared me sometimes.
“You need sleep,” War said, his soft yet deep and resonating voice breaking me out of my thoughts. When my eyes refocused, I realized he was towering over me, having moved with incredible speed and stealth for a man his size. Vampire or not, it was impressive.
I settled back into the pillow behind me, once again skimming my fingers along Gareth’s fur. His breathing was more shallow now, but his eyes were still closed. I wondered if maybe he was actually away and listening right now, only pretending to sleep.
War bent down, placing both of his large palms on either cheek, gently cupping my face.
His eyes were still dark, but they were a normal color, one gray and one green right now, reflecting my own face back at me.
“Sleep while you can. Thane and I won’t let anything happen to you.
And I suspect neither will he.” He nodded to Gareth, who continued to purr softly against me.
War’s lips captured mine in a sweet, soft kiss that I leaned into.
We melted together as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
As if I’d been waiting for exactly this to allow myself to settle.
My body unlocked, starting from my head and working its way to my toes.
I hadn’t realized exactly how tightly wound I still was after everything.
When he pulled away, I wasn’t ready. I wanted to stay in that kiss just a little while longer.
Thane was watching us from his perch on the armchair, a contemplative look on his shadow-shrouded face.
When he noticed me staring, he winked and then waved his hand toward the far window, blue magic dancing along his fingers.
The glass lit up with blue and silver, undulating like the aurora borealis.
“Get some sleep, love. The place is warded, I promise.”
I smiled, sinking further into the bed, letting the warmth of my three protectors settle around me, wondering, as I slowly drifted off to much-needed sleep, how the hell I wound up in this situation.
This shit was Serenity’s expertise, not mine.
But alas, as sleep took me, I couldn't wipe the grin off my lips.