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I anticipated the shift this time but even with the small window of opportunity, I couldn’t stop it from happening. My wolf couldn’t stand and we laid there, our energy depleted to frighteningly low levels.
“Still you fight me.” She almost sounded impressed, but I wasn’t encouraged. “You are strong.” Her teeth flashed. “The harder you are to break, the longer it’ll take,” she crooned as I once again laid there as a man. I couldn’t recall how many times I’d shifted in a row, but it was too many.
“Stop,” I ordered and she let a startled laugh.
“You think you can command me?” I could hear her move, but couldn’t open my eyes. “You should thank me for your very existence,” she snapped and I managed to crack my eyes open a slit. “Without us, you wouldn’t exist.”
She forced me to shift twice in rapid succession and what little strength I had disappeared. I couldn’t even twitch a finger, but what terrified me was how dim my connection to Dru had grown. I barely felt her energy at all.
I could feel another shift coming and desperation gave me the strength to resist it. I was horrified to realize I’d been draining strength from Dru through our connection.
“What are you doing, wolf?” I heard her screech but withdrew into my mind, conserving my last bit of energy to do what I needed to save Dru.
Caleb, Dru’s soft voice came through, full of regret, but if was the last thing I heard I’d die a happy man.
Dru, I replied and her warmth blanketed me, disguising the fact that I was freezing.
You’re here, she breathed and something loosened in my chest.
Wouldn’t be anywhere else, I answered smoothly, not wanting to worry her. A surge of power went through me as her Gran tried to force the shift again, and as I resisted my voice cracked when I asked, What do you see?
Stars. They’re blanketing the sky, she answered, barely audible as her strength waned along with mine.
Are they as stunning as you? I asked, already knowing she outshined them all.
Far more stunning than I could ever be, she replied, but I could sense her pleasure at my comparison.
Somehow I doubt that, I contended, my voice fading as I fought the power slamming into me. Each second was harder to hold than the last and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could do it.
Caleb, Dru’s panicked voice fueled my determination. What’s wrong?
I need to break the connection between us, I answered, hearing my words slur. I didn’t have much time and I knew she wouldn’t be able to sever the bond. It might….hurt a bit, I lied, knowing it would be the worst agony imaginable, but also aware she was strong enough to withstand the abrupt loss of a Pack bond.
Why? She cried out, and I sensed her trying to reach me. What’s happening?
Nothing, I lied again, unwilling to tell her that her grandmother was slowly killing me and it was killing Dru as well because we were linked. Only one thing mattered and it was my strongest thought, You’ll be safe.
What about you? Her words blurred, unintelligible, as another surge of power threatened to take me. I knew there was no more time and I had to sever the bond between us now. With my next breath, I let go, mouthing the words I prayed she could somehow hear, “Stay safe, Princess.”
Words couldn’t describe the next moments, my thoughts scattered as I tried to remember who I was without her. The Pack bond I shared with Dom and the Navarre Pack flickered dangerously, threatening to extinguish and I knew once it was gone I would be lost. Breaking the bond I shared with Dru was worse than releasing my Pack and position of Alpha.
It was worse than dying.
The only thing that allowed me to endure the loss was knowing it was the one thing that could save her.
“Wolf, you will not escape me,” Dru’s grandmother screamed, spittle flying, and my eyes flew open. The Pack bond I shared with the Navarre Pack brightened, then glowed white hot as they reached out, sensing my loss and protecting me.
I rolled into a crouch, one fist planted on the ground as I stared her down, my wolf fierce behind my eyes as I growled, “She’s safe now. Do your worst, witch.”
The blast of power slammed me against the wall, my skull cracking loudly and I slid down the wall, my vision blurred as I looked at her, rage contorting her face, her hands held out as if she could ring the life from me. Everything stared to fade, my injuries fatal if I didn’t shift, but my body couldn’t go through another shift.
My eyes started to close, unwilling to have my last vision be of the bitter woman who choose to kill me, when I saw her fold and fall to the ground, as a white angel took her place.
