Chapter 36
Sylvan
My mate. I found her.
Raspberries and violets rush over me. It’s the first time I’ve taken in her scent in so long that for a split second, my knees weaken. I found her.
Morgan’s magic rages through the cavern, chasing the darkness away. I made it just in time, but I’m not even sure she needs me.
Her eyes burn like two suns, her vibrant blue hair whipping around her. The dark figure in front of her screeches like a wounded animal as she lifts her hands.
I can’t take my eyes off her. I knew she was powerful. I’ve always wondered about her magic, and now I know.
Morgan’s magic is warm.
Like sunlight in the summer.
Or the perfect cup of coffee.
Or a kiss on a wound to make it better.
Her magic is simple, but it’s elemental and full of life.
This darkness doesn’t stand a chance.
“You’re alive,” she cries. “You’re alive.”
“So are you.” I found you. I finally found you.
She’s keeping the Shadow Seer down, but I don’t want her to be the one to kill him. I don’t want the blood on her hands.
Let me take him, Morgan, I tell her.
“Hurry,” she rasps. “He’s pushing back. I don’t know how long I can do this.”
Adrenaline kicks in. I’m still in my werewolf form as I lunge past Morgan. As I get closer, I realize the body on the floor belongs to a man.
He’s older, with a wrinkled face and eyes that remind me of the night.
I press my claws into the center of his chest, ripping through flesh and bone.
“Thank you.”
I bare my teeth and rip open his throat. I smash his chest cavity and while his heart never beats, I feel it when he finally dies beneath me. He goes limp and the tendrils of darkness turn to smoke, fading away.
We did it.
Morgan did it.
Relief floods me and I sit back, blood dripping down my muzzle like ink. I exhale, my head spinning.
The light disappears and the cavern returns to darkness—but it’s not how it was before. The evil is gone. I tilt my head back, looking up at the ceiling. Above us is the smooth surface of the lake, and the moon beyond, full and light.
A thud against the ground echoes behind me.
No, no, no. I scramble up and rush to Morgan, pulling her body against mine. I found you. I found you. I stroke her hair, holding onto the painfully slow flutter in her chest.
She’s alive.
I rock her against me, panic gripping me.
I found her. But why is her heartbeat so quiet?
“Morgan,” I rasp. “What hurts? Tell me. I’ll help you, I can help.”
“It’s about time, wolf,” she murmurs with a smirk. Her eyes can’t even open. “Do you think the Foxglove curse applies now? A price for power.”
Her voice is so broken. Another sob shakes me as I inhale her raspberry scent, holding onto her with everything I have.
For weeks, I have felt her pain, but seeing her now—I realize I was only getting a fraction of what she’s experienced.
By all accounts, she should be dead. But she’s not, because she’s strong. She’s so incredibly strong.
“There’s no curse, remember?” I whisper. “And if there is, you’ve already paid enough, Morgan. What more could the goddess want from you? You’ve already paid for your power. She can’t take you from me. She can’t. I just found you again, she can’t have you.”
She smiles softly against my chest. “I knew you would eventually find me.”
“I’m so sorry it took so long.” I shift back into the form of a man, holding her tighter as I kiss her hair. We’re both covered in filth and blood and dirt. I need to get her home. To my bed. Away from this place.
She weakly whispers my name, her eyes drifting shut.
“I’ve got you,” I whisper. “I’m gonna get you out of here. Okay? I’m going to get you out. You’re safe. You’re safe and you’re strong, Morgan.”
The darkness will never touch her again.
The Tenth Full Moon
Morgan is tucked against my side, and admittedly, I have been one of the most overprotective, ornery alphas to ever exist in the last three days. Every single person who has dared come into this room has been snarled at. Even Jarod, Cat, and Leo.
“I just need to give her another healing session,” Cassandra says to me. “Let me help, you idiot.”
“I should have killed you,” I snarl.
Cassandra blanches, but doesn’t budge. Reluctantly, I release Morgan, but I don’t leave. I won’t leave.
It’s been a month since Gideon died. Since then, we’ve rescued everyone in the caverns beneath the lake. The road to recovery will be a long and broken one for so many, but the reunions with loved ones will help guide them.
I’ve lost track of how many Morgan saved.
Jarod called in more pack members he trusts, and a team has formed to reunite omegas with their mates.
We’re also going to create an underground network to communicate with each other so that we can keep an eye out for more things like this.
None of us trust the Council to do anything.
I’m convinced that they knew this was happening, and supported it.
Cassandra kneels next to the bed and places her hands over Morgan’s abdomen and chest. A warming, healing light fills the room and my mate sighs in her sleep.
She hasn’t woken up yet. I know she will be okay, because I can feel her in my mind. She’s there, but she’s resting. She deserves all the rest she needs.
“Using that amount of magic took its toll,” Cassandra whispers.
“She’s never done it before, and with the abuse she endured in the cavern, it makes sense she’s been out for so long.
I know the full moon is tonight, but she’s going to be okay.
I think she’ll wake up soon. Her magic is .
. . It’s something else, Sylvan. I’ve never seen anything like it. ”
“Don’t tell anyone about it,” I murmur.
“I won’t. She’s been through enough. She doesn’t need the entire world scrutinizing her on top of it.”
I don’t say anything else as Cassandra finishes up and leaves. I don’t like her for many reasons, but she showed me the opening to get into the cavern under the lake, and because of her—I was able to get to Morgan.
I consider us even since I spared her life.
I draw Morgan against me again, pulling the blankets around us. Yes, another moon is tonight, but I have her with me. My mate. Her face turns and she curls into me instinctively, her nose pressing against my neck.
An hour or so later, I feel her eyelashes flutter. Every part of me becomes alert. Is she finally waking up? Is she finally back? Her heart rate kicks up, but I press a soothing kiss to the top of her head.
“I’m here,” I whisper, trying to control my anticipation. “You’re safe. I’m here.”
Her grip on me tightens and she starts to move. A soft sound leaves her throat and gently, I turn her onto her back so I can look at her.
Slowly, her eyes crack open. Naturally, her first expression is a scowl.
I’ve never been so fucking glad to be glared at in my life.
“Welcome back, witch,” I murmur.
Her expression melts into a smile. “I’ve been asleep for too long.”
A month, yes. I don’t break that to her yet. “No,” I say. “You’ve been resting. You needed it. Let me get your water, okay? And some—”
Her arms wind around my chest and she pulls me against her. “Don’t even think about leaving this bed right now.”
A soft chuckle escapes me, but then I’m drawing her into my arms and rolling her so that she settles on top of me. She winces, but before I can release her, she rests her head on my chest and straddles my hips.
“Is he dead?” she whispers.
“Yes. He’s dead.”
“And Verena?”
“Also dead. I killed her. I’m sorry.”
I feel her sadness. It’s deep, and I hate that for her.
“We were friends for so long,” she whispers. “We had a fucking sex toy agreement. I never would have expected her to be watching me for someone else.”
“I know, baby,” I murmur. “I know.”
“What about the other omegas?”
“We rescued those who were trapped. Some . . . Some were too far gone, Morgan. But most survived because of you.”
Morgan is quiet, but then whispers. “He killed your pack. I’m sorry, Sylvan. He said . . . he said you were related to the werewolf who helped close the Hex. I guess my parents sought your pack out to fight against him, and because of that, they died. I’m so sorry.”
I let that sink in. For so long, I carried the burden of their deaths. I assumed they died because of me. Despite the sadness I feel in knowing the truth, there’s also relief.
“I still don't know what is real about my childhood,” she whispers. “I have new memories now. Fragments of the past. I don’t think Maeve was as terrible to me as I believed for so long. Not that she was perfect, by any means. She should have never attempted to lock my power away, but…I think he was there.”
A growl tears from my chest. “You’ve been through too much.”
“We all have. The omegas that survived . . .”
“We’ve been working to heal them and reunite them with their families,” I say. “It will take some time.”
She sucks in a sharp breath. “We?”
I nod slowly, running my fingers through her hair. I can hardly believe she’s real. She’s awake and talking, and some of the first words out of her mouth are asking about others.
“I called in help,” I say. “I . . . I guess they are my friends.”
Morgan smiles against my chest. “Wow. You? Friends?”
“Apparently. I don’t know what they see in me.”
“I do.” She swallows hard. “Have you heard from your brother?”
I shake my head. He told me if I didn’t hear from him within two weeks, to assume he’s dead. It’s been a lot longer than that, but I refuse to believe it. Zach is a fighter. Wherever he is, he will be okay.
Morgan lifts her gaze to meet mine. “How long have I been asleep?”
“A month,” I say.
I can’t think about the first night. There’d been a few moments where I feared she wasn’t going to make it. The only thing keeping my sanity together was my friends and hearing her heart—a soft, strong, never-ending melody of hope.
Morgan wiggles on top of me. “A month? Are you kidding me?”
“Not at all. I’ve been here almost the entire time.”
“Fuck,” she says, shaking her head. “A month. And it’s . . . the full moon, isn’t it?”
“Morgan. Don’t even think about that right now,” I grumble, even though my cock immediately perks up.
“It’s been more than a month since you’ve touched me,” she huffs. I resist the urge to laugh. She was gone for weeks, now resting for weeks, and one of the first things on her mind is when we last had sex. “Do you even know how long I was gone for?”
She’s being sassy, but I can’t help but respond seriously.
“You were gone for thirty-nine days. Nine hundred and thirty-six hours, give or take. And you were in pain for at least six hundred of them. I never stopped thinking about you. I never stopped searching for you. I feel foolish that you were so close the entire time, suffering, while I—”
“Sylvan,” she murmurs. “This wasn’t your fault. Or mine, for that matter. Possibly Maeve’s. Definitely Gideon’s.”
I continue to rub the back of her head, enjoying the way she releases a soft whimper as I massage the muscles at the base. “I have never been so scared in my entire life. I thought I was going to lose you. But you’re strong. You never gave up.”
“Never,” she whispers. “And you never gave up. Even when I begged you to cut our bond.”
My eyes fill with tears and I give her a tight hug, pressing more kisses to the top of her head. I don’t know if I have the words to share how much I love her. How much I care about her.
“I will never leave you,” I whisper. “Never. I will never reject this bond, Morgan. I’m yours. Forever. Always. Yours.”