RIEKA I could feel Jacinda emotions washing over me like a tidal wave. She was in pain, not just emotionally, but physically too. For several agonizing seconds he didn’t speak, and it was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. I was certain that Jacinda would be the first one to suffocate. Emmett finally spoke, but his voice was rough and gravelly. “Could we please have the room, Alpha?” Aleksandr nodded and took my hand to gently pull be back towards the door. I could feel Jacinda’s fear, and I knew that no matter what happened once I was on the other side, I would still feel it. We passed Emmett, and he stared straight ahead past us, but his eyes still refused to land on his mate. As the door clicked closed, I could still feel Jacinda on the other side, and her panic continued to rise, so I prayed. ----- EMMETT I was unable to sleep all night. I stayed up trying not to think about her, but that was impossible. Her soft white hair that reminded me of the wi

RIEKA We rush over to where Dustin is lying flat on his back in the grass. His eyes are open and vacant, but at least he’s still breathing. Jacinda must have done something to him so they could escape. I just couldn’t figure out why. She knew we trusted her, and she had to assume that we had a plan. Emmett has always been loyal, and he knew the plan. He was the one who questioned us about whether or not she could really be trusted. Didn’t they know that we would figure this out. Aleksandr is shaking Dustin by the shoulders and lightly slapping his face trying to break him out of whatever trance he’s in, but it doesn’t appear to be working. Within minutes, some patrols rush over and begin lifting Dustin’s massive body to carry him back to the pack house while my mate paced back and forth cursing under his breath. “Aleksandr, talk to me.” He stopped pacing but didn’t turn to face me. His knuckles were white from clenching his fists so tightly, and I could see the tension in

RIEKA I was excited to bring Jericho and Gina into this. I knew without a doubt that they could be trusted, and I knew that Gina, especially, had a skillset that would benefit us in the current situation. The guilt about not telling Aleksandr exactly what I was thinking and what my plan was, niggled at the back of my mind, but I also knew that he had too much on his plate right now. It was finally my turn to protect him, and I would make sure that I did it the best I could. It took about 40 minutes before Jericho and Gina arrived to Aleksandr’s office. “Sorry it took us so long to get here,” Jericho apologized as he ducked his head in submission. Gina was holding his hand, trailing slightly behind him, but she smiled at me as she entered the room with her mate. Our friendship had really grown over the last several months and I was overjoyed to see her again. Even though we were friends, she knew to respect my position in the pack at a time like this. She remained quiet and al

ALEKSANDR The pack doctor didn’t want to wait to run the additional tests. Rieka was panicking and I wanted to comfort her, but my head hurt so badly that I could barely focus. “Let’s do whatever we need to do to make this stop,” I said through grit teeth as I pushed myself up to my feet. Rieka gasps and jumps up beside me. “Please be careful, Aleksandr. You have to keep your heart rate down or you’ll make it worse.” “I’ll link Luna Vasilisa and ask her to pull a car around,” the doctor replied. I wanted to growl at both of them not to baby me, but then I realized that standing alone had increased the pain. I started to wince and stopped myself because I didn’t want to further worry my mate. Instead, I gave a faint smile and took a few cautious steps towards the door. Rieka walked by my side with her arm around my waist as if she was helping to maneuver my body. The idea would have made me chuckle if I wasn’t in so much pain, but by the time we made it to the front of the pa

RIEKA My jaw almost hit the floor when I heard voices other than Aleksandr’s in my mind. ‘This is amazing! But how is it possible?’ ‘I’m not sure how it happened, but after resting for a short while, my head suddenly began to feel better,’ Aleksandr explained. ‘Not just from the headache going away, but my mind felt clearer and somehow bigger, more open, than it ever has before.’ ‘So, you created a group mind-link that includes me and the others?’ I questioned. ‘How did you know you could do it? Do you think you could have done it before, or do you think this is a new ability you’ve somehow acquired?’ ‘I don’t think I could have done it before but when my mind cleared, it was like I suddenly knew what to do and how to do it.’ I could hear the satisfaction in my mate’s tone. ‘However this became possible, it’s definitely going to make communication with the Luna much easier,’ Gina beamed as she winked at me. ‘Now that we can all communicate, and the alpha is feeling better,