Chapter Forty
Iclosed my eyes in disbelief. “Is that bad?” Toya leaned over and whispered. I just nodded.
“This isn’t the end. The goddess has a plan.” I told her and I hoped it helped a little with the pain of everything she was dealing with. “She wouldn’t do this to you unless there was a reason.”
“I know. And I think this is the reason.” She whispered, her voice growing lower.
“Why?”
“Because everyday Vince commands me to come to the pack house. To sit next to him and Derek.”
“What the fuck?” Wendy’s eyes grew wide. “That’s torture.”
Lynn sniffled and, for the first time, I could hear how much this was killing her.
“It is. But only because he refuses to accept my rejection. Even though my wolf has accepted her fate and is trying her best to recoup, he won’t let the link die.
He calls to us, every night. And makes us come stand next to him every day.
The bond on my side is shattered, but my wolf is still in pain.
” Lynn took a deep breath. “Anyway, I didn’t call you to complain. ”
“It’s okay if you did.” I offered.
“Thank you Amy. I really appreciate it.” I could hear her kick something. “And I might start taking that offer. But back to Vince and Brandon.”
“How was he there?” I leaned closer to the phone. “The king ordered all students to stay on campus.”
“Did he actually command you?” Her voice held a question.
I looked at Wendy and Toya and both shook their heads. “No.”
“Unless the king actually commanded each of you personally, then it wouldn’t stick.
Even if he did a mass command, a little known fact is that even mass commands wear off eventually, depending on how many wolves are there.
Obviously the king has more power, so it would last longer, but a couple thousand people, over a couple of months, it would wear off for sure. ”
“But why would he risk going home?”
“The kudzu. He came to grab the kudzu. Which is why I am out in the middle of the forest at two in the morning, warning you.”
I sat frozen. “He got it for me?” Both Wnedy and Toya growled.
“I overheard a small snippet. He thinks that if he can get you to go into heat, he can get you pregnant and then you would mate him to keep your reputation.”
I laughed. “Like he cares about my reputation.”
“He doesn’t, but he knows you do.” She huffed out a breath. “Brandon came and grabbed the kudzu. But it was Vince that sent warning bells off in my head.”
“What do you mean?”
“When Brandon was here, Vince pulled him aside. I overheard a little of their conversation. This is the plan for Brandon to mate you, but it’s also the plan for Vince to get his hands on your dad’s money and pack lands.” A growl ripped from my throat. The first in months.
How dare they? Nix’s voice was soft but livid.
They will suffer. Megan’s voice sounded rabid. She was ready to kill them.
I closed my eyes and felt the tears fall. You guys are back. Give me a minute.
“I’ll keep an eye out and not drink or eat anything he gives me.” I offered, distracted now.
“Good.” There was a snap in the distance. “I have to go, but I will let you know what else I catch.”
“Okay. Thank you for warning me. And Lynn?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll explain later, but I need you to know that our pack is okay.”
“Swear it.” Her voice was a little desperate.
“I swear it. And Lynn, protect my mom.”
“With my life.” Then she was gone.
“Amy? Are you okay?” Wendy wiped the tears from my face.
“Nix and Megan. They are back.” I closed my eyes and ran to the edge of my forest, where my wolves were waiting for me. I dropped to my knees and wrapped my arms around them. Their bodies had grown too thin. “Are you okay?”
Nix shivered as she placed her head on my shoulder. “Tired. But alive.”
“Exhausted.” Megan agreed as she curled up at my knees, placing her head on my knees. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” I whispered as I slipped my fingers into her coat.
“I couldn’t tell you.” She closed her eyes.
“That’s on me, little one.” Nix wavered as she collapsed next to Megan. “I commanded your silence, and we could have died. I would have died if you hadn’t supported me.”
“Never do that again.” My words held anger. I didn’t know how I felt until that moment. “You jeopardized everything. Your lives, my life, everything.”
Nix huffed. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“We are a team. We work together.” I leaned over my two wolves and whispered my truth. “I thought you hated me. I thought you turned on me...I thought you left me.” I could feel the panic those words induced in me.
“Never, Amy. I would never abandon you.”
“Me either.” My two wolves fell asleep at my feet, and for the first time in a long time, I felt whole.
I opened my eyes to find Wendy and Toya staring at me expectantly. “What’s wrong?”
Wendy glanced at Toya, and she turned back to me. “We just wanted to see if it worked?” I stared at her for a moment, and she smiled. “Your wolves? Are they okay?”
I smiled and opened my mouth, but instead of words, a yawn large enough to crack my jaw hit. “Yes.” I smiled softly. “They are tired, but alive.”
“Thank the goddess.” Toya sat back and went back to my hair. “Now, your wounds?”
“The Mara. I didn’t know she could hurt me.
But as I ran away from the caves, she grabbed my hair.
She was dragging me back into the caves and I knew I couldn’t let her pull me too far back or else I would get lost. So, when my hand shifted to my claws, I sliced through my hair, but she had already done some damage. ”
“Some damage?” Wendy scoffed.
“You are missing a huge chuck. And I know it will grow back fast, but you aren’t healing properly right now, so I don’t actually know that.” Toya paused with her fingers on a tender spot. She traced a rather large circle. “This is how much you are missing.”
I felt my eyes widen and cut to Wendy, who was just nodding. “When I was finger combing your hair, there were a few shallow cuts, but mostly that chuck looked like it too, not only hair off, but skin.”
I nodded. “Well, I got away.”
“Ruining your hair in the meantime.” Toya tsked and kept cutting. “Hopefully, I can salvage what’s left and you like your new cut.”
I just chuckled. “I’m sure it will be fine.” I closed my eyes, leaning my head against my arms.
“What happened to your back and arm?” Wendy prompted me.
“She was able to catch up a few times. She clawed my back and grabbed my arm, trying to stop me from getting to my body.” I shivered as I remembered the pain of the first slice down my back.
“I think she was hoping to slow me down enough to get here first.” I turned my head to look at Wendy.
“She almost made it. She lept passed me at the last moment and I thought she was going to get here first, but then something happened.”
“What?” Toya ran her fingers through my hair, almost styling it.
“The Goddess came.” I closed my eyes and remembered the last few seconds before I slipped back into my body.
The Mara lept passed me. I could feel her hair trail down my arm and she shouted in joy as she dropped next to my body.
She tried to slip in, and I screamed out.
‘No.’ But then a hand pulled her back. “She made it to my body first. And she was slipping in. But the goddess grabbed her shoulder. She tried to fight, before she realized it was the Goddess.” I scrunched up my face, remembering her scream.
“But the Goddess pulled her back and the Mara froze.” She stopped mid scream, and then she crumpled.
I opened my eyes and looked at Wendy. “She started to sob. Beg really. She begged the Goddess to give her my body.” Her words bounced in my mind.
“What do you mean?” Toya’s hands stilled.
“The Goddess pulled her back and shook her head. She told her that my body wasn’t hers to have.
” I swallowed past the lump in my throat.
“She howled and collapsed at her feet. Her voice was raw with pain as she screamed back. The Mara, the woman, begged the Goddess to give me to her. That she had walked for over a thousand years, alone and lost, and this was the first time she had the chance to live again.” I shivered.
“What did the Goddess say?”
“She told the woman that she had been looking for her for a very long time, and that it was time for her to come home.” I could hear the wail in my mind when she said that. “The Mara still begged. She didn’t want to die.” I felt Toya wrap her arms around me.
“It’s okay.”
I shook my head and I whispered. “She was terrified and I couldn’t tell you if she was more afraid to wander for another thousand years or to die in truth.
” Toya’s arms tightened. “But the Goddess knelt and hugged her to her chest. And then she told her that even if she was afraid to die, wasn’t the wandering worse?
The darkness, the cold, the loneliness.” I looked over my shoulder and met Toya’s eyes.
“In that moment, if I didn’t have you, my mom, my dad, I would have given it to her.
My body. I would have let her live again. ”
“Amy.” They both admonished me, but I felt a tear fall.
“In that moment, I felt her loneliness. It was this cavern, so deep, so dark, there was no end in sight. And she lived in it for a thousand years.”
Toya leaned over and kissed my head. “Let’s stop talking about it.” She pulled back a little more and fluffed my hair. “Wendy, hand me the blow dryer.”
Wendy got up and handed the cast aside dryer. But I turned. “You don’t have to.”
Toya pulled me back like my mom used to do when I was little.
“Sit still. You can’t go to bed with wet hair.
And you can’t get sick. We have a long day ahead and need to be up in a few hours.
” She clicked on the hair dryer and Wendy came over and whispered in Toya’s ear, then she slipped her shoes on and left.
“Where is she going?” I yelled over the sound.
Toya leaned closer and spoke directly in my ear as she continued to blow dry my hair. “She needed to grab some things from our place. She will be back in a minute.”
I just nodded because I was too exhausted to ask. I leaned against my own knees with my eyes closed as Toya dried my soaked hair. It was the most peaceful feeling I have had since I was a child.
I hadn’t realized how tired I was until Wendy was shaking me awake. “Amy, it’s time to go to bed.” I lifted my head and wiped my eyes.
“What happened?”
She smiled as she wrapped her arms under me and lifted. “You fell asleep.”
“Where is Toya?” I automatically wrapped my arms around her neck, like I did when I was five and my father took me to bed. “And when did you get this strong?”
Wendy laughed and carried me to my room. “Toya is changing. And you made me this strong with all your grueling workouts.”
She placed me at the foot of the bed and walked around to pull the covers down. I realized belatedly that she was in a tank top and sweatpants. “I’m sorry for keeping you two up so late.” Wendy came around and picked me up again. I wanted to fight, but my eyes could barely stay open.
“Don’t be.” She slid me into my bed, pulling the covers up. “I wanted to be here.” Then she walked around the bed and slipped in next to me.
“Wendy?”
“Yeah, Amy?” She snuggled into the middle of my bed, and I wanted to laugh.
“What are you doing?” I could hear my words slurring.
The bedroom door opened, and Toya came in, wearing a tank and some shorts. “We are sleeping here.”
I cracked an eye. “You don’t have to.”
Toya just shook her head as she slid in next to Wendy. “You are foolish if you think we are leaving you after everything that happened today.” She pulled the blanket up and we all settled into a cool silence.
I rolled over to face them. “You forgot to turn off the light.”
Toya rolled to face me with a grin. “You’re a bitch, you are lucky I love you.
” She slipped out of the bed with mine and Wendy’s laughter chasing her.
She clicked off the light, and the soft recessed lighting across the room flickered to life.
“Wait, you have a night light?” Toya slipped back into the bed with a smile on her face. “A grown woman with a night light.”
A soft chuckle escaped me. “Normally, I turn them off.” I pointed to a button built into my side table.
“Normally?” Wendy cracked her eye.
“If it doesn’t bother either of you. Would it be okay if I kept it on?”
Wendy opened both eyes and faced me fully, and Toya popped up on her elbow. “Amy?” Wendy’s soft voice had this calming effect.
“I’m okay.” I could hear the lie in my voice, but I pushed on. “Or I will be okay. But tonight, tonight I’m five again and afraid of the dark.” I laughed, but I felt the sob hit me. In an instant Wendy shuffled over to Toya’s side of the bed, and Toya had come around to my side.
“Move.” Her voice was soft, but she pushed me into the middle of the bed without giving me any way to say no. Then she slid in behind me.
“This isn’t necessary.” I tried to argue, but when their hands wrapped around my middle, I felt the tight ball of panic that I had in my chest ease just a little.
“It might not be,” Wendy started.
“But it makes us feel better, too.” Toya finished.
I sighed as Toya pulled the blankets up around me again.
I settled into their arms, and when I closed my eyes, the Mara didn’t jump out at me.
I felt safe and I guess I needed this more than I thought I did.
Their breathing was already soft and slow.
I had thought they had already fallen asleep. “Thank you.”
Toya snuggled in closer. “You are our best friend, Amy.”
“We will always be here to help you.” Their words comforted me, and I finally fell asleep.