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“I remember the day he took you to Bob’s. He was so full of hope that he could make a difference, stop the violence, but it would have never happened with Richard. Then he disappeared before he could try with Ryder. I know if they’d met things would be different right now. I’ll never understand what happened to him, whether he’s dead or if he…left us… None of it makes sense.”
“Do you think Father would have loved Chase?” I ask,
Mother kisses the top of my head gently. “To see you uniting the packs would have made him the happiest man on earth. You fulfill his dreams while Cole fights them.” She sighs, gently extricating herself so she can stand. “Your brother won’t listen to me anymore, the only choice now is that maybe you can make him see.”
She walks to the tapestry and pulls it to the side, revealing a secret passage. I gasp, standing next to her and shedding the blanket Cole put over me.
“This leads straight to the basement. It used to be a servant’s passage but I covered it when we decided we no longer needed to hide our servants as if they weren’t also people. Go to him, help him escape if you can. I want you to run, get away from here, have your child in peace.”
I look at my mother for what could be the very last time and my heart breaks, but she pushes me into the dark passage without another word. A few steps in I find an old gas lantern and light it, wincing at how bright it is in the dank hall. There’s spiderwebs everywhere, the disused path long forgotten, and I carry the lamp high as I push my way through.
The floor beneath my feet is worn smooth by years of servants passing through, it’s soft on my bare skin, even as the winding passage descends for what seems like miles. Finally the path opens up on a storage room, old casks and barrels fill every open space. I walk on finding an old wooden door and push it open. The sound of the hinges squeaking is so loud I freeze in terror. If someone hears…
“Who’s there?” Chase calls, and all thoughts of other people shatter.
I shove the door open, scattering a collection of empty boxes every which way. I scramble over them, not caring if I get hurt. The room I’m in now has a tiled floor, walls, and ceiling. It’s freezing here, meat is hanging from the roof in various places. In a dark corner I see the shape of a man and I step forward slowly.
“Chase?” I call out, and watch as his legs draw up underneath him and he fights against the chains to get to me. “Chase!” I cry out, lunging for him.
I collapse against his chest and he grunts in pain. He has new scars all over his body, scars from my people, and as I stare at them tears flood my eyes.
“Don’t cry, Ruby. Ryder will find a way out . He won’t leave me here to die.” He looks so brave, so sure, his square jaw set in determination. I set the lamp down and kiss his forehead tenderly. “You smell amazing…” he breathes, looking at me as if he hasn’t seen me in months instead of just a few hours. Looking at me as if this may be the last time he gets to. “You took the killing blow for me…”
“I’d do it a hundred times more. Chase, if I can’t be with you then I’ll die with you,” I say as I straddle his hips and pull myself closer to his body. “No matter what Cole says, this is how it’s meant to be. We can show him together. We have to.”
Chase sighs against my skin and my flesh prickles with goosebumps. He kisses my shoulder, his shaft growing hard between my legs. He slips inside me so easily, as if it’s meant to be, and I sink my body onto him with a quiet gasp. This is so right, so perfect. How can my pack not see?
Chase moans and throws his head back, thrashing against the chains, desperately trying to wrap his arms around me. I place my hands on his shoulders and rock against him, both of us looking into each other's eyes and knowing this is what true love feels like. I’m not looking for an orgasm this time, I want to feel him inside of me for as long as I can. I want to feel whole, complete, and with him inside me, I do.
I press my cheek to his head, moaning as I grab the lamp to show me how he’s chained. It’s a simple hook on the wall, had he had the strength or the ability to see he would have been able to release himself. I shift the chain, raising it over the hook, and as soon as it’s released Chase’s arm drops like a lead weight. I shift the lantern to the other hand, gasping as Chase wraps his free arm around my waist and thrusts into me hard.
His eyes are full of fire as I release his other arm and he grabs the back of my head and pulls my hair. I cry out in delight as he kisses my neck and takes control. He’s on his feet in moments, carrying me with him until my back crashes into the brick wall behind me. The moment changes from tender passion to desperate need, both of us moaning and crying out as he thrusts into me and fills me so completely.
“Kill them all! Not a single Dark Moon wolf will leave our territory unless in a body bag!”
I freeze as my brother’s voice floods my mind. Through his thoughts I can hear the gnashing of teeth, the taste of hot blood on his tongue.
Sex is forgotten instantly. It is time for war, time to fight.
Chase and I shift at the same time. We run up the stairs as one entity, busting down the door and running through the house. No one is here, even Jax is gone. The dark green walls seem to close in on me, the floor stretches as we run towards the door. It seems like we’ll never get there in time. When we finally pass the threshold of the view floods my vision and I howl in mourning.
Below the house wolves are ripping each other apart, each mind so full of hate and their own surety that they’re right and the enemy is wrong. Chase and I leap off the porch and into the fray, into the battle.
“Stop! It doesn’t have to be this way!”I scream to them all, but it falls on closed minds.
A large wolf crashes into me, knocking me down, and in moments Chase is on them. He rips their flesh, completely blind to what our purpose is here. I scream and launch myself at the other wolf, trying to separate them, but it’s no use. Whimpering, I crawl close to the ground, dodging wolves and being sprayed with blood as they tear each other apart.
The sound of yelping and snarling overwhelms my senses, and I’m lost in the turmoil of fighting. I look up, bodies jumping over me, battling, stepping on me. It’s a nightmare, and I watch through a sheet of red as my vision blurs with the blood of both packs.
“This must stop!” my mother screams, her voice carrying over the sound of battling.
I watch in awe as she moves through the fray and throws wolves bodily away even in her human form. The battle halts, everyone looking at the Luna in shock. She strides through with no regard to her safety, stepping over bleeding, exhausted bodies as if she doesn’t see them.
She looks straight ahead at the Alpha wolves caught in battle. Each has the other in his jaws as they snarl and roll in their own blood. She comes to me and helps me to my paws, digging her hands into my scruff as I walk forward with her.
The Alphas’ eyes are full of anger, so they don’t see us coming. Our focus is entirely on them, on ending this. It means that when lighting crashes to the ground with such ferocity the very air vibrates, my mother and I stop, stunned. Cole and Ryder break apart, eyes wide.
A shock wave of power flows through the clearing, waving over everyone and pulling them to their knees. Gasping and heavy breathing is all that can be heard for several moments. The earth is scorched and burning where Cole and Ryder were fighting.
