* * * Eve’s POV * * * I come to with a thudding headache; I clench my eyes shut against the dull pain. My whole body is throbbing, and it stings something rotten, my wounds are slowly healing. I bite out a curse and try to move my left hand to inspect the damage - except my hand doesn’t move. I then try to move my right hand. Again it doesn’t move. Panic wells up inside of me, something is restraining my arms. My legs are also immobilised, which I realise when I try to move them. Why am I restrained? Restrained on a bed. Oh merciful Moon Goddess, please don’t let them abuse me, I silently pray.Everything is black. I can’t see, but my eyes feel physically fine. I wiggle my eyebrows and feel fabric rub against my face. I must be blindfolded, I think. The violent hum of electricity streaking through the air assaults my battered head, calling forth a grimace of agony. A steady dripping sound of liquid echoes all around me. When I try to focus on the sound, it seems to be coming from a
* * * Max’s POV * * * We’ve been searching, digging and following the damn concrete tunnel for bloody hours. Despite the valiant efforts of every single wolf here helping. Each wolf is determined to find my mate. The wolves in my pack, maintaining their focus and determination to save their Luna. Whoever had made the tunnel had known what they were doing. They had planned for the event that somebody could track it from above. It’s bought him a head start of multiple hours. A head start that could change the outcome of this hunt. It’s snaked around in direction multiple times, but it does have a general direction. That direction is away from the pack-land. Pity that we didn’t figure it out sooner, it would have saved us hours. Valuable hours that could have been spent saving my mate, valuable hours that I could have spent looking at my mate for the first time. But we’re now approaching the outskirts of the pack-land. The tunnel forms a T shape just outside of the Mountain View pack-
* * * Eve’s POV * * * I’m riding in the back seat of my body. I watch as Cora prepares a syringe of wolfsbane and then as she looks down with my eyes. Watching our claws elongate into deadly weapons. She walks us to hide behind the door. She uses my body to adopt a predatory stance, a hunter prepared to attack. The rhythmic sound of metal mechanisms unlocking has Cora crouching, the ding of the door handle turning has her leaning forwards, preparing to pounce. Slowly the door edges open a crack, its hinges creaking. She raises our left hand high, with our elongated claws poised for tearing flesh, and our right hand holds the syringe of wolfsbane. The door opens further, and the outline of a slight person enters the room, not bothering to look around and take stock of their surroundings. They turn and slowly and gently shut and lock the door. ‘That’s mistake number one. Always be aware of your surroundings’, Cora tells me, commenting internally. The person’s silhouette is walking i
* * * Eve’s POV * * * We’re floating in the blackness. Only this time it’s different. I’m floating in my human form and in front of me is the most magnificent creature I’ve ever laid eyes upon. The creature's fur is a deep grey, almost charcoal. Its eyes are a brilliant sapphire blue, and it’s on fire. Small flickering blue flames cover its entire body. “Cora?” I question, quietly and in awe. “Yes Eve. This is me within my true form. Within our true form.” She tells me.“You are truly beautiful. You are majestic. I’m honoured,” I say.“The honour is all mine, my friend. It’s a pleasure to finally look upon you with my own eyes.” She speaks truthfully. “Why are we here? Are we dead? Can we go back?” I ask her.“No, we’re not dead Eve. In time we can go back, but first we must heal. It’s the price we must pay when we exert so much power. One can only use so much power freely, anything more and it costs us. Using the maximum amount can kill us. We are lucky. Our bodies and minds mus
* * * Max’s POV * * * ‘Come on buddy, we can do this. We will find her; we will save her and we will cherish her. I need you. I can’t do this alone’, I say gently to Nate.‘You’re never alone. I’ll always be here for you. But don’t stop me when we find him’, he tells me. I feel him come forwards as he forces the shift.With his nose to the ground, Nate hunts his mate’s scent. Trying to ignore the smell of sex. He’s confused as there is another scent in the mix, stronger around the smell of sex. He follows his mate’s scent away from the sex and circles a bush once, twice, three times and a fourth slow circle. Raising his long snout into the air, he finds her scent. He has her. He tears up a tree from the ground, claws at another and then howls to the emerging moon. His howl tells the group he has found the trail. He howls again, hoping that somewhere in the distance his mate will hear him and know he is working to make her safe. His final howl calls his pack into action. He turns whe
* * * Jacob’s POV * * * I hang up my keys and remove my weapons from my belt. It’s been a long shift, monitoring the bay. But that’s a part of the watch. Monitoring the bay and making sure that any potential threats don’t sneak into the National Park via the water. It’s usually the human hunters that cause problems, occasionally a vampire feeding to heavily or rogue wolves looking for trouble. The nights are boring, it’s been almost two months since the last vampire had tried to trespass on our land. He’d claimed he was just passing through. But with attacks on the rise, we couldn’t risk that. We had dealt with him quickly. Had I been alone, he would probably have killed me. That’s why we hunt and fight in packs. Because it makes us strong. You would’ve thought that any trespassers would’ve given up long ago.“Thank you for stepping in at the last minute, Jake. I know you did the dawn shift. You must be tired man”, Jasper pats my back. “Not a problem. Just remember that you owe me
* * * Jacob’s POV * * * The alarm continues to sound, omitting its high-pitched shriek and the warning lights are flashing red, intermittently. I know they’ll be flashing in every room and along every corridor. ‘How has he found her so quickly?’ I ask myself.‘We have to get her out of here’, Christopher tells me. We pace from the cafeteria. We have to find Jasper. We have to let him know that we won’t be going to our station. I jog to his room, knowing he will be putting his combat gear on. Being without a wolf, means he needs armour, unlike the rest of us. He won’t heal the same as the wolves. Despite that, he’s a fierce warrior. He works harder than everyone at training sessions, always aiming to improve himself. I barge into his room, as I predicted. Jasper is putting on his armour. “It’s my father. He’s come for her”, I tell him.“Come for who? What’s happening?” He asks me. Of course he’d ask that. I haven’t told him about the young girl in my room. I haven’t told him I’d me
* * * Max’s POV * * * Those obsidian eyes are blinking rapidly as they watch me. Flickering from vacant to alert and intense.“Alpha Charles, you are to submit for questioning,” I tell him.“Alpha Charles can’t come forth,” Alpha Charles says with a raspy voice. His eyebrows crease as an intense look of concentration crosses his face.“Who are you?” I ask, trying to broach this from a different angle. “I am David... NOOO... sorry, control is difficult. He’s strong. I am his wolf,” the voice called David says.‘Jason, I need you to bring me Dorothy.’ I speak through the mind-link to my pack. “David, I know someone who may be able to help. Will you talk if we can help? Can you keep control?” I ask him.He begins rubbing his forehead and occasionally shakes his head. After a while, he speaks. “Yes, I can keep control. I will tell you what you need to know,” he says, grimacing as though it is truly exhausting.Dorothy comes jogging out of the tree line, slowing to a cautious walk, when