Lunar Bound, page 30
part #4 of Sky Brooks World: Ethan Series
Sky’s scent was everywhere.
The Aufero in hand, the witch hesitated as he noticed Sebastian’s wolf entering the house. Before the witch could transport, I leapt onto his back, snapped my jaws around his neck. The delicate bones of his throat crushed easily. Fueled by his screams, I thrashed until I’d brought him down and ripped out his throat, then went back for more until I felt the last feeble beat of his heart.
While Josh and Samuel gathered the Clostra and the other objects from where they’d spilled onto the floor, I raced past Gavin’s panther to where I’d left Anderson and his wolves crippled and dying in the clearing.
As I stalked them, my snout low, I picked up the scent of Sky’s blood mixed with theirs in the grass. Revenge burned in my heart, drowning out the rest of the world.
The wolf Gavin had nearly killed lay still, his life ebbing with the flow of its blood. Leaving him alone for the moment, I followed Anderson’s whimpers to find him limping and stumbling through the grass toward the woods. One eye was gone and his tongue lolled from a mangled snout. I growled as I approached, letting him know that death was near. He flopped, whimpering, and showed his belly. I’d no intention of mercy.
When there was nothing left of him to kill, I found the third wolf hiding in the grass. Its leg was broken and jagged ribs jutted out from a gory wound on its chest. Having heard the sounds of what I’d done to his Alpha, the wolf at least tried to fight. I left his entrails strewn out in the grass.
Sebastian, Gavin, Winter, and Steven—all in human form—stood nearby, watching as I strode toward the last remaining wolf. All but Sebastian wore their horror in their expressions. Blood dripped from my fur that was draped with bits of bone and tissue. The last wolf was only a few heartbeats from death, but my revenge remained hot. Ignoring the judgment of my pack, I pounced.
“We have Sky,” someone kept repeating, the words barely reaching through the violence. “She’s with Jeremy.” The same voice called my name over and over. Only when I’d finally sated my fury did I realize it was Sebastian trying to calm me.
The remains of the last wolf were a puddle of gore beneath my claws.
Weighted by blood, I plopped onto the grass, panting. While the others walked away from the horror in front of them, Sebastian held my gaze.
“We have to go,” he said. “Sky needs you. Josh and Samuel took her and Senna to the retreat.”
My limbs too exhausted to rise, I changed into my human form. Still, it took an act of will to get to my feet. Gavin and Winter took one SUV, while Sebastian drove me and Steven in the other. Glancing over my shoulder periodically, I more than once caught Steven scrutinizing me as if we’d never met—perhaps it was the blood pooling beneath me on the leather seat.
I was too tired to care. Anderson and his wolves had gotten what they deserved. So would the rest of the Ares, once I knew Sky was safe.
I asked in a strained voice, “Ethos?”
Sebastian answered, his eyes on the road. “Escaped.”
For now.
The ride to the retreat was long and understandably silent.
As we crossed the yard to the retreat house, Sebastian said softly, “Clean yourself.”
Glancing down at my bloodstained feet, I knew the morning would reveal a path of bloody footprints. While the others went inside, I hosed myself down on the lawn until the water ran clear off my skin. Winter waited for me with a fresh change of my clothes in her hands. Her expression was somewhere between awe and fear.
Inside the entryway, at least a dozen were-animals waited, watching. I knew by their looks that word had spread. Good. Now they knew what I expected from them when we went after the Ares. Steven, Josh, and Gavin waited outside the infirmary doors, their worry plain. Ignoring them, I pushed through the swinging double doors.
I was met by the hum and whir of Dr. Baker’s machines that were connected to Sky. Her wolf laid unconscious on a table. In addition to the wounds on her flank and belly, another gaped on her back. Dr. Baker’s intense concentration was fixed on one injured eye where the slashes across her face were still raw. I gasped at the sight.
Sebastian appeared next to me. “She could lose the eye,” he whispered. “The next few minutes are critical.”
Let Dr. Baker work, he meant. My heart ached to go to her, but Sebastian was right. I remained at the back of the infirmary while he worked, unable to leave. I noticed Samuel for the first time, supine on a table. His hand and leg were bandaged. There was a thin cut across his cheek. His head rolled to one side to watch Dr. Baker’s efforts. His worry was plain. I wanted to thank him for his help, but couldn’t. Instead we watched together in silence while Dr. Baker did what he could.
Hours seemed to have passed when Dr. Baker informed Sebastian, “She needs to change.”
Sebastian and I exchanged looks. He and I were both dominant. Under normal circumstances, either of us could force a change. The severity of her wounds complicated the process. We’d need to work together. He pushed open the doors and brought Steven inside. After explaining what we were going to attempt, Steven pulled a chair up to the head of Sky’s table.
We’d need to wake her first.
I watched, anxious as he bent to her ear, whispered her name. Her eyes opened to slits among the swelling. She raised her head slightly, tried to look around, but she was dazed. After a moment, she seemed to recognize she was safe.
Steven gently stroked her fur. “You’ve been out for a while.”
She tried to change, growled when it was apparent she couldn’t.
Sebastian ran his hands along her side to calm her. His voice was gentle, a sign of just how severe her injuries were. “Skylar, sweetie. Lay here and take gentle breaths, okay?” He looked to me. “We need to change her back into human form.”
“I tried,” Steven said. “She’s stuck.”
“You have to be more dominant to force a change. It’s not an insult against you; I think we keep underestimating her dominance.”
I went to her side, bent my knee to whisper in her ear. “We are going to force a change. It will hurt and there really isn’t anything we can do right now to ease it, okay? I’m sorry.”
I eased my hand against her backside while Sebastian laid his over her front legs. Together we closed our eyes and concentrated. Slowly, painfully, her body responded. Ligaments and bones cracked as her body elongated. Somewhere between wolf and human, her cries became screams. Finally human, she lay shivering. Her eyes were nearly swollen shut. Her breath was shallow, wheezing, but she was conscious. With a delicate, trembling touch, she traced the open wound in her belly and cringed. Her neck bent slightly and her eyes fluttered as she tried to see the wound.
Somehow, I found the calm she needed, though my grip on it was tenuous. I took her hand and squeezed it gently, letting the calm flow through me.
I whispered, “Close your eyes, Skylar.”
She tried to rise, cringed from the pain, and collapsed.
“Don’t,” Dr. Baker pleaded to her.
A moment later, he gave her an injection to sedate her. Within seconds, she was mercifully asleep.
Unable to help her, I felt my rage returning, demanding blood. For a brief time, I held it at bay to be with her.
“Ethan,” Dr. Baker whispered, his tone urgent but compassionate, “I need to tend to her wounds.”
“Her eye?” The question caught in my throat.
“She will survive,” he answered carefully. “Her eye is questionable. There may be a great deal of scarring as well. The next twenty-four hours will tell.”
Sebastian squeezed my shoulder. “Ethan, we need to let him work on Sky.”
After a final, gentle squeeze of her hand, I rose and pushed through the double doors, slamming them outward into the wall. Josh and Steven waited in the hall, along with Gavin and Winter.
I growled as I strode past them. “Let’s finish this.”
They remained still, eyes tracking me as Sebastian caught my arm.
“Ethan,” he said, “where are you going?”
I rounded on him, letting the fury rise closer to the surface where my wolf was waiting for revenge. “None of this would’ve happened without Anderson’s involvement. We should’ve never let them exist in the first place.”
Sebastian’s jaw set, but he let the rebuke pass. We shared the fault for allowing Anderson’s pack to become dangerous, but I was looking to put blame anywhere I could.
“Anderson is dead,” he stated.
Not enough. “Not all of them.”
“Not all of the Ares participated in the attack outside the conclave.”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes. The Ares Pack will be disbanded along with all of the other independent packs.”
I yelled, jabbing a finger toward the infirmary where Dr. Baker was trying to save Sky’s eye, “After what they did to her, you’re just going to let them go free?”
I turned and strode toward the entryway as Sebastian followed. Other were-animals were gathering, drawn by my shouting. Josh transported to the door, barring my way. His eyes were wide with concern as he held up a palm, urging me to stop.
“Ethan,” he pleaded, “take a moment to think about this. You’re out of control.”
I brushed him aside. Before I could take another step, Sebastian yanked my arm, forcing me around. Amber shone in his dark-brown eyes, his wolf rising.
“What are you going to do?” he demanded.
“I’m going to hunt,” I sneered. “I’m going to kill every Ares I can get my hands on.”
I turned back toward the door. Sebastian slammed into me. Air fled my lungs as he drove me into a nearby wall. Drywall crumbled at my feet as he pinned me there, his arm like an iron bar against my chest.
His voice was steady, commanding. “You need to calm down.”
Blood rushed to my face, fueled by a rising rage I couldn’t control. I pushed back, but Sebastian was stronger. When that failed, I tried slipping out of his grip. His glare was as unyielding as his arm. He leaned close to me. I could feel the heat of his breath as he repeatedly yelled my name to get my attention.
“Ethan!”
My wolf drowned him out, howling from just beneath my skin. Only his command prevented me from changing. My useless struggle against his hold devolved into primal grunts and growls. There were limits to what he could accept from me. I slipped beyond the rules of pack hierarchy, my resistance growing more violent.
Then I was free. He relented, or so it seemed. His movement was a blur. Within seconds, I found myself on my knees, his arm cinched tight around my neck in a choke hold. Unable to pry loose his arm, I struggled to breathe. My cheeks burned. My head buzzed. The full of his weight pressed down onto the back of my neck until I fell forward onto my face and lost consciousness.
I woke to a raging headache, the stink of iron and concrete filling my nostrils. My eyes opened to find iron bars between me and the ceiling. Groaning, I rolled onto my side to find Josh outside the cage, leaning forward on the edge of a chair, wearing a concerned look. One of his hands was bandaged. Had he been injured fighting Marcia, or fighting me? The rest of the small room was bare. The cage occupied most of it. I was in the basement of the retreat, in a secure room we used for were-animals that lost control.
“This is the third time you’ve come to,” he said. “The other times you lost your shit again. You threw yourself at the bars until you passed out from stupidity.”
I didn’t recall.
I growled, rising to my feet. Josh straightened as I reached for the door. His magic filled the room as I tried to open it. Locked.
In a threatening tone, I ordered him, “Let me out.”
He glowered. Before he could answer, I heard the click of a door opening at the top of the stairs. A moment later, Sebastian walked down, followed by Winter and Steven. He stopped outside the cage, coldly scrutinizing me.
I gripped the bars between us. “Are they dead?”
“That’s not going to happen.”
Like the start of a bonfire, the rage started in my gut once more, building.
“Keep fighting if you have to,” Sebastian said, his disappointment plain. “But there’s work to do. I need the Beta of the Midwest Pack, not a bloodthirsty animal.”
My hands clenched around the bars, squeezed.
“Dr. Baker is going to bring Sky out of sedation later today. She’ll need you. If your selfish need for revenge is more important to you, you can remain here. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
Like an arctic breeze, his words snuffed the fire out of my anger, left me cold. Staring down at the concrete, I pressed my forehead against the bars.
Sebastian continued. “Anderson is dead, along with the entire Ares leadership. Most of those who fought us are dead or on the run. Their pack will be disbanded. The others will be allowed to live as long as they leave the area and never return.”
I swallowed my pride, nodded.
“The other independent packs will be given the choice to join us or be disbanded. This needs to be done now, before Ethos can exploit them.”
I let out a deep sigh before lifting my head to meet his iron gaze. “I’ll pay a visit to the Worgens and the others. I think I’ll stay clear of the Ares, if that’s okay with you.”
He considered for a moment before unlocking the cage. As the door swung open, he stepped aside. “We’re leaving in twenty minutes.”
Walking out, my muscles ached and groaned as if I’d just run several marathons. I stunk, too. “I’ll get cleaned up and meet you outside.”
I checked on Sky first, peering into the infirmary through the windows in the doors. If she woke up, I didn’t want her to see me like this. Nearly her entire body was wrapped in bandages. Dr. Baker saw me, came out to give me an update.
“Her eye is healing,” he said, to my relief.
“The bandages? Her wounds should be healed.”
“The scarring. I’ve used nearly all of my hellfire.”
He referred to the cream he’d invented for just such a purpose. Whatever he created it from, it burned like hell, but it hadn’t failed yet. The extent of Sky’s scars would put it to the test.
Horrified, I asked, “Will she be disfigured?”
“We’ll know tomorrow.”
His sad eyes lacked confidence. Scarring didn’t matter to me, but it would matter to Sky if the scarring were severe. All I could do was hope for her. I hated that. Once again, I wasn’t able to help her.
After I’d showered and dressed, I was on my way downstairs when I noticed dark-green eyes peering at me through a cracked door. For a moment, I thought it was Sky. Realizing she’d been noticed, Senna shut the door. The click of a bolt lock followed.
I rapped a knuckle against her door.
She snapped, “Go away!”
“You’re not a prisoner.”
“So I’m free to leave,” she said, disbelieving.
I smiled, remembering a similar conversation with Sky when I’d first brought her to the retreat.
“Ethos will come for you. Until we’ve dealt with him, you’re safe here.”
The door cracked open. Green eyes narrowed at me. “My family can protect me better than you can.”
I sighed. “No, they can’t. For the time being, you’re our guest. You’re free to roam the house, but not the grounds. No one will harm you here.”
Her scowl deepened. “So I’ve been told.”
She slammed the door shut.
Winter rode with me to visit the Worgens. She remained quiet, but I felt her penetrating gaze on me more than once. Of all the independent packs, we had the closest relationship to the Worgens. Rather than disband, they saw the advantages of joining the Midwest Pack. Integrating them was going to be a challenge, given their odd personalities and habits, but the skills they brought were invaluable.
Hours passed as we visited every one of the smaller packs on our list. Some joined. The rest were given a day to settle their affairs and move on.
We arrived at the retreat to find Sebastian and the others had already returned. Walking into the house, I noted the pack’s mood had lightened. Eager to visit Sky, I reported to Sebastian first. I gave him the breakdown of who joined, who fled. Arrangements were made to accommodate the newcomers.
When we’d finished, he informed me, “She’s awake.”
I hurried to the infirmary. Before I reached the doors, I could hear her voice inside cursing up a storm. Most of the words she used were either made up or misused combinations. I paused at the windows to peer inside. The exclamations were caused by Dr. Baker, applying a fresh layer of hellfire to her backside that seemed remarkably free of scars. It seemed the hellfire was doing its job.
His hands dipped into the cream jar, drew out a glob, and spread it onto her skin. Sky hissed before shouting.
“Crap-snacks, pickle-fudge, banana-monkey turds!”
I grinned, relieved to see her back to normal.
Crap-snacks?
Laughing, I pushed through the doors. “Some of the things you yelled out aren’t even curses. Are we making up languages now?”
“Let me put it on you,” she said, “and see if you like it.”
I dipped my fingers into the jar and spread the cream over my forearm. The pain was excruciating. My body tensed. My jaw clenched as I watched perfectly healthy skin bubble and dissolve, exposing a tender layer of fresh skin beneath. When it was over, I held back a sigh of relief under Sky’s intense scrutiny. After a moment, I admitted, “It does hurt.”
“Really? My screaming wasn’t a good enough warning? You had to see for yourself?”
“You’ll be fine.”
Dr. Baker crossed the room to his desk and began shuffling papers, giving us some privacy. I kissed her lightly, then pressed my cheek against hers. My lips brushed her warm skin. “How are you?”
“I feel better than I look,” she muttered. She pulled back slightly to meet my gaze. “We should remove the magic again.”
“I plan to, but I want Josh to do it.”
Removing the magic with the Aufero was risky. I didn’t want to put Sky through that again, and I knew Josh wouldn’t be put off this time. A hint of protest flashed in her eyes, but quickly subsided.
