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Chapter 24
It didn’t take telepathy to discern Liz and Kobi’s clear concern as all four of them converged again, following Ada to her own personal office, the placard next to it denoting her full name (‘Miss Ada Summerfeld’) and her certification to sign all documents relating to Werewolf affairs. There wasn’t time to explain the full breadth and width of what had just happened behind closed doors (and between entirely too-open minds), so Declan just flashed a small but encouraging smile before they all sat down.
Ada slipped quietly to the other side of her desk without meeting anyone’s eyes, her steps quick and economical. Marcus acted much the same but with an added level of unease, his movements anxious and almost feral, especially to Declan, Kobi, and Liz, who were used to his mannerisms – it was heartbreaking to see him reverting, even just a little bit, to the painfully shy thing he’d been at the start of their relationsh
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Instinctual Chapter 25
The color was washed out of the world, and Marcus was standing in the doorway to the worst memory of his life.Their bodies lay strewn across the floor like wheat after a threshing, artistic and macabre all at once. All twelve of the Werewolves who had been his pack, his second family. While the house around them seemed leached of all vibrancy, the blood was such a bright and lurid color that it stood out like a field of scattered fiery lilies - the color so sharp that it stung Marcus’s eyes and burned itself into his retinas, so that even when he squeezed his eyes shut the image remained. It was like his eyelids had never closed. Choking on grief and sadness, he tried to stumble back, but when he hit the door his hands couldn’t find a door-knob to turn. The blood was starting to spread like a stain - a tide - and Marcus felt his anguish turn to panic. Twisting away from the sight within the house, he began fighting with the doo
Instinctual Chapter 26
As they stepped out into the midday sun, Declan smiled wanly at the sight of Marcus scratching at his inner arm. Declan’s own right forearm was still a tad tender, but he could understand why the court had demanded that the chips be inserted subcutaneously. For any human person of interest, a tracking anklet would serve just fine, but when it came to a person who could also transform into another animal entirely, the idea of fixed anklets was ultimately tossed. The subcutaneous chips would at least stay with their wearers through every change in shape, and while it was less effective for actively tracking someone (by dint of the fact that the chips were obviously smaller), the court had decided that this was safety enough. Having the word of three Alphas, saying that they’d watch Marcus, helped.Marcus, of course, disliked the whole idea on principle, and Declan would have felt terrible for him if he didn’t find the Omega’s disg
Instinctual Chapter 27
Before today, Declan would have been able to count on one hand the number of times he’d heard his father swear, but now he’d have to count on two hands, because the news about Aunt Clarissa hadn’t gone over well.“My sister tried tokillyour Omega?” The cursing had petered off, but Leander’s head was still in his hands as he tried to process this.Unsure what to address first as he sat next to his father on the back porch, Declan decided to awkwardly remind, “Well, technicallyshewas my Omega at the time…”The shake of Leander Fen’s head cut Declan off, tacitly making it clear that that made no difference - attempted homicide was still attempted homicide. “Damn,” the older Alpha muttered into his hands, adding another swear to the list and making Declan jump involuntarily. He’d known that this conversation was coming from the m
Instinctual Chapter 28
“So,” Melba said, as she rolled out the dough for her pie-crust. She was aware of Leander washing up in the sink behind her, covered to the elbows in flour from helping her make said dough. “Your sister has made some poor life-choices.”Leander puffed out a sigh that sounded like he was dragging it all the way up from his toes, a long and gusty breath. “That’s one way of putting it. She’s honestly lucky that my son didn’t turn her in on an attempted murder charge.”“Or try to kill her.” Out of everyone in the pack, Old Melba was the most qualified to talk about killing and death. She’s seen the most of it. “I’ve seen Alphas makes themselves judge, jury, and executioner before.” Melba listened as Leander made an unhappy sound before she added more gently, “Your son is a better man than those others, however. His capacity f
Instinctual Chapter 29
If Declan had been a gambling man, he’d have betted that any intimate interactions between Marcus and himself would have to be initiated by the latter. Marcus had been hurt too many times and much too badly for Declan to be surprised by his distrustfulness and chronic hesitancy. Just a week ago, Marcus had been afraid of just about everything related to his own kind, to say nothing of how afraid he’d been of Alphas in particular. It was still all too easy to remember the way that Marcus had watched him, fear a sickly scent on his skin and acid-sharp adrenalin dilating his pupils. Now, as Marcus’s mouth landed on Declan’s without warning, it was something else entirely making his pupils dilate. Sometimes, Declan though that Marcus worried too much about the nonconsensual empathic link they shared, because while Omegas had a natural understanding of emotion, most of it was Greek to Declan. Now was no different
Instinctual Chapter 30
Things happened quickly after that. Holt was like a hound on a scent - a particularly vicious yet well-spoken hound, somehow managing to maintain manners even as he did his job with ruthless efficiency. With this one witness stepping forward, the case against Marcus was already becoming shaky, and Holt was monopolizing on that like the lawyer he was. It was becoming increasingly clear that the new evidence was going to trump the old: Marcus’s initial blood test had shown no drugs in his system, making his claims to ‘not remember’ anything seem fraudulent. However, Werewolves all had a notoriously swift metabolism that worked hand-in-hand with their healing abilities - meaning if blood wasn’t collected fast enough or tested correctly, false negatives were easy to come by. The new witness was coming with the blood sample that he’d stolen and preserved reportedly with great care, and Holt was already tentatively optimistic that this blood would sh
Instinctual Chapter 31
The case for Marcus’s innocence was building momentum, and Holt was riding at the head of that momentum like some sort of shark at the crest of an incoming wave. The news that Marcus had been drugged was just the start - next, Holt demanded to talk to the investigator in charge of the initial case, and suddenly the case against Marcus began to look as shady as fuck. “Looking at the records, I see that you had Marcus’s blood taken immediately for testing but not any of his deceased pack's blood,” Holt said, long fingers splayed over the pile of files that he’d acquired copies of. His cognac-brown eyes flicked up, sharp despite his otherwise pleasant expression. He smiled with a flash of too-white teeth that somehow managed to look more dangerous than the mouth full of canine fangs he was capable of wearing. “Ignoring for a moment how mishandled Marcus’s blood samples were, can you tell me why no other samples were taken?” The investigato
Instinctual Chapter 32
It was fitting that the day was a dreary one, because chill and stormy fit Marcus’s mood pretty accurately as he prepared to see the graves of his pack for literally the first time - and to see the dead bodies of two of them for the second time. The thought of them being dragged up out of the earth, rotted by time, had him sucking in a shuddering breath and fervently reminding himself that he didn’t need to see that part. Then again, he didn’t necessarily need to be there for the exhumation at all, but Declan had had a point: Marcus needed closure, and even if this was the most fucked up way to get it, it was something. Declan had just left, looking collected and powerful next to Holt’s greyhound frame. Marcus trusted that everything would go well on their end; he trusted Declan with his memories, although he felt a twinge of regret at the thought of not getting to see Simon. He hadn’t seenanyonefrom his old life in years, so mayb
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