Violet's Shadow, page 13
“My pack. Help the others. I can’t fend them all off on my own, and I don’t know how long I can keep it up.”
“Yes, Alpha, and…” Sofia trailed off, and Violet moved toward her.
“Say it. Tell me what you see.” No clue how she knew Sofia knew something she wasn’t sharing, but she knew it nonetheless.
Biting her lip, she swallowed and then spoke. “Each pack has its own shadow color. Almost like a frequency band because we communicate telepathically as wolves. At least that’s how I view it while I’m a wolf.”
Violet touched Sofia’s arm and shifted just her eyes into her wolf. She could see exactly what Sofia was talking about. Clear as day, two colors of shadows appeared. “I see it. Go. Tell the others to separate Mathias’ pack from ours. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Without giving it another thought she closed her eyes and opened herself to the entire courtyard.
With her eyes closed she could see the shadows of each of the Shadows in the courtyard. Faint purple for her pack and green for Mathias’.
Shading the others took all of her concentration and it took some trial and error on what she could do.
She was saving her pack. Eradicating one errant Shadow at a time. But she couldn’t shade them if they had a hold of any of her pack members. She had to wait on the enforcers to separate them and then it was up to Violet to remove them.
Dealing with a group on the east end, several toward the west got away. They’d shifted and were running as fast as they could. Clearing her mind, she started to shade closer to them to take them out.
“Enough,” a voice from her nightmares yelled.
Whipping her head to the side, she found it. Him. A green shadow wrapped around a violet one.
“Mathias.” She whispered his name as he approached. She knew what she would find when she opened her eyes, but it still shocked her enough she gasped and took a step backward.
Torn clothes, hanging off a familiar body and her mother’s face, battered and bloody with a gun pressed to her temple. Duct tape sealed her mouth, and her wrists taped in front of her looked painful. Mathias wrapped his huge hand around her throat, using her as a shield. His mouth and throat were bloody from ripping apart his enemies. Her family.
“Mama?” A name she hadn’t called her mother since she was small slipped out. A name she used when she still believed in fairy tales.
Her mom tried to move forward, but Mathias squeezed hard, making her grimace.
“What? No heartfelt greeting for dear old Dad?” Insincerity dripped from every word.
“Sperm donor. Nothing more.” Violet sneered at him and felt the familiar presence of Rayden at her back and then he stepped beside her, ready for anything.
She slipped her hand in his, knowing they didn’t have very much longer together.
“Why are you here, Mathias?” Rayden growled in his direction. “You aren’t welcome here and you know it.”
“Revenge!” he yelled. No hesitation. No pause.
“And how do you think you’re going to accomplish that? By killing Veronica?”
His creepy laugh sent shivers up Violet’s spine because she knew there was no reasoning with a madman. She’d just have to outmaneuver him.
“Perhaps.” Mathias laughed again. “But let’s make it a bit more interesting. Shall we?”
“Interesting?” Violet asked as she stared at the man who ran through her veins.
Violet’s heart dropped when he spoke. His voice low, menacing, completely certain he held the checkmate between all their players on the board. “Your mother or your mate. One of them is going to die and you get to choose…which…one.”
Chapter Twelve
“What? You didn’t think I was just going to hand her over, did you? Do you know how hard I’ve had to search for her? And find this shit hole?” He licked her mother’s cheek, making her want to gag. “She was the key. Knew she was. Knew it didn’t matter how many years she’d been away. She’d always be able to find her pack.”
“What do you mean? Why was she the key?”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” His smug satisfaction boosted her resolve to best him at his own game. “This place was her idea. Moving everyone here. Sending out the beacon from the enforcers. But she figured out a way to exclude us.”
“You did that yourselves. You got yourselves kicked out of the pack.” Rayden nearly vibrated with unleashed fury beside her.
“I was grieving. For my sister. Who. You. Killed. How was it ever grounds to remove me from the pack?”
Rayden opened his mouth to speak, but Violet touched his arm, lost in a remembered vision for a second. “Rayden didn’t kill her. Didn’t even have anything to do with it. Not really. But you did.”
It was not a question. She saw it. It was completely different than what she’d caught glimpses of before.
Caro.
She’d been seeing her in her dreams since she was so small.
“You convinced her she should mate Rayden. That she even had the potential was a possibility because of your ‘gift.’ But it was more than just simple encouragement. She was your spy, but didn’t know it. She didn’t know who you really were.” Violet sucked in a sharp breath and held her chest. “You used your gift to determine who she would mate in the pack and you killed him.” Several people gasped and the name Michael rode the hostile air between them.
“I most certainly did. My sister deserved something better than to clean the bathroom alongside that man.”
“So you killed him? Just like that? You really are a monster.”
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree I’ve heard.”
Violet took a step closer, and Mathias’ grip on Veronica’s hair tightened and he dug the muzzle of the .45 into her throat. “About the same time I got this one pregnant with you. I knew you’d be extraordinary, but even I couldn’t fathom what you’ve been able to do in such a short amount of time. So I’ll even sweeten the deal. Your mother and your mate can both live, but you have to come with me. You’ll never see them again, but they’ll be unharmed.” He stared at her with soulless eyes. “Choices. Choices.”
Violet watched his shadow deepen in green intensity. “You’re almost as easy to read as Pinocchio. Lies. Almost everything coming from you is nothing more than lies. And my mother figured it out. You wanted to use her. To track her here after the beacon went out, because you were her mate. No. You are her mate.”
Tears spilled over Veronica’s eyelashes and she finally closed her eyes.
Violet wanted to go to her, to hold her close and tell her she understood. But she’d have time later. She would. Fate wouldn’t be so cruel for her to finally understand and make her leave before she could say she was sorry.
“She sure lucked out, didn’t she? Mating a catch like me.” He yanked Veronica’s hair hard, jabbing the gun under her chin. “Then she fucking ran away. Stole you. We could have ruled the world, and you ran away.”
Everything Violet had thought of her mother was wrong. She’d done everything to keep her safe. Everything to keep the pack safe. Violet had to get his attention off her mother, but how?
An instant of a familiar face flashed inside her head. “Caro.”
“What about her?” Mathias shrugged. “Just another Shadow taken out before it was her time to die.” The words were right, but the emotion behind was…flat.
Another scene filled her head.
Caro, in the bathtub, her wrists slashed. Lifeless eyes. So sad.
“You can thank, your mate, for that one.”
Rayden growled and made a move to step forward, but Violet squeezed his arm and held him back.
“All this time you’ve made him believe it was his fault. All this time you’ve let him shoulder the blame for something he never did—could never fix.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re probably just as big a nutcase as the white-eyed chick behind you.”
Hannah’s presence settled her again. Gave her strength. And there was something in Mathias’ voice feeding her as well.
Fear.
She had the distinct impression he was thinking of his prophecy when Hannah stepped forward.
“Rayden couldn’t have mated her. And Caro was never going to mate him and you knew it.”
“I knew nothing of the sort.”
Another lie.
“It couldn’t happen because you killed her mate. You knew it was her mate and you killed him just so you could distract Rayden with your own sister. And then you messed with her head until it drove her mad? She killed herself because of you. It had nothing to do with Rayden. Nothing at all. And you’ve let him shoulder the guilt until now.”
Rayden stared at her while she spoke and then turned on Mathias.
“She was my ticket to power, but was too fucking weak to handle the pressure.”
“You did that. You signed her death certificate when you put a bullet in her mate’s head. You had to have known this. Even you can’t be conceited enough to think you’re more knowledgeable than fate.”
Mathias eyed the gun in his hand, then sneered at Violet again. “Perhaps.”
Another vision of her mother hunched over made her grab her stomach. “She found out.”
Rayden pulled her close. “Who found out what?”
“My mother. She found out about Caro. She went into labor because of it. Of knowing she was going to have to kick out her own mate. Then…” Visions she’d never seen before filtered through her mind. “Then you attacked, while she was in labor with me. You attacked. Instead of being at her side and praying for the life of your baby, you attacked. And she gave the order to evacuate. To get to the new location. The location only one wolf knew of at the time. She almost died trying to save the pack and deliver me. And as soon as she could, she shaded with me. As soon as she knew the beacon was sent to everyone who was still a part of the pack.”
“Fucking bitch kicked me out of the pack no less than an hour before the beacon went out. Her own mate.” He shook her mother like a rag doll, and her mother looked so weak. “She abandoned the pack to save you. Nothing was more important than saving herself.”
Hate oozed off him, and Violet had a hard time not choking on it.
“You’re wrong.” It was Rayden who spoke.
“Wrong about what, pup?” Derisive contempt bled from every word.
“Veronica. The Alpha. She left everything behind. Her family. Her home. Her friends. She sacrificed everything to keep you away from the pack and Violet. She couldn’t risk you finding them. It’s one of the most selfless things I’ve ever known.” He nodded in her mother’s direction as a show of respect.
Moving his focus to Rayden, Mathias bared his teeth. “Should have put a bullet in you centuries ago. No worries. I won’t make the same mistake twice.” He leveled the gun at Rayden, paused for half a heartbeat and then pointed it…right…at…Violet. “Her dead and I’ll go. I’ll leave you all alone. In peace. Just give me the girl and all this ends.”
Her mother’s eyes changed. A fire lit behind them she’d never seen before, and she widened her stance. Preparing for…something. “You have no honor. You have no pack. And your word is worth less than the dirt beneath your feet. The rest of your defectors fled as soon as they knew you were outnumbered.”
Mathias seemed to discover he had been abandoned. He was it and there was no one else there to save him. “Suit yourself.”
Rayden stepped in front of her, preparing to take a bullet. I choose you, my mate. I choose you.
There was no time to think. No hesitation allowed if she was going to save him. Save Rayden. She’d already seen the vision. Mathias would shoot because he was trapped in a corner and he didn’t have anything left to bargain with. There was no doubt in her mind what was going to happen, so she grabbed Rayden around the middle and pivoted to the side. Twirling both of them in a pirouette just because she caught him completely off guard.
And everything went in slow motion as Veronica reared back and head butted Mathias in the nose.
The sound of the gun firing. It was hardly any noise at all.
Truly.
So quiet. A small pop highlighted by Mathias screaming like a girl as blood poured out of his nose.
Rayden and she tripped, going down in a tangle of limbs as several other people screamed behind them.
Automatically, Rayden kept rolling until she was pinned beneath him, protected by his body. He looked her over, feeling her side to make sure she was okay.
They both looked over, and Veronica had already ripped the tape from her mouth and had Mathias’ gun aimed at his head.
His look of horror when she pulled the trigger transformed his face.
All she could think was there was not even a twinge of emotion for him when he slumped to the ground. Just…nothing. He was a monster who would never hurt anyone again. Her mother deserved better. Better than him. Maybe now she could find it.
Rayden cupped her cheek and stared into her eyes. “I chose you. Not the pack.” The way he said it made her heart swell. “You couldn’t die.” He shook his head to emphasize his point. “Losing you isn’t an option.”
He kissed her.
The brush of his lips against hers had emotion clogging her throat. It was reverent and perfect, and for a few precious seconds, everything was right in the world.
Then a stabbing pain lit inside Violet’s chest, causing her to suck in a sharp breath. Then she felt it. Blood. Leaking from her side, soaking her clothes and probably the ground beneath her.
“What is it? Violet? What’s wrong?” Dawning realization morphed the peaceful look on Rayden’s face into something she never wanted to see in person. Not ever.
“Didn’t. Move. Fast. Enough.” She couldn’t breathe. The bullet probably nicked her lung as well as her heart. And her legs were numb too. Her spine.
The pain. It wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. Maybe knowing it was coming was okay.
“No.”
A single whispered word from her mate shredded what the bullet didn’t and nearly broke her in two.
“You couldn’t die.” A wheezing breath escaped her lungs. “Couldn’t live…in world…without you.”
“No, no, no.” He ripped off his shirt and pressed it to her side. “This was my choice. Mine. And I choose you.” He gathered her to his chest, and she didn’t even have the strength to lift her arms.
To hold him tight one more time.
To not even have a goodbye. That was cruel.
Shadows were yelling all around them, rushing past them in a blur of skin and fur, but she couldn’t see anything but Rayden. Didn’t want to.
Someone took her hand and a flash of white obscured her vision for a moment.
Hannah.
Violet tried to squeeze her hand, but all that happened was a small flick of her fingertips. “Gonna. Miss. You.”
“Don’t talk. Save your strength. You can’t die. You can’t. I won’t allow it.” Her vehemence on her behalf tilted Violet’s lips upward.
Rayden relaxed his hold on her. “I love you, nsyr. Nubr.” My mate. For always.
The last part was a whisper in her head, and she tried to hold on to it, but she was so tired.
Tears fell onto her face from Rayden as he petted her cheek.
“Tiytd,” she vowed and she meant it.
For a last word it was fitting.
A hitching breath filled her chest one more time.
Blackness encroached, overtaking her peripheral vision, slowly swallowing the world, until only Rayden remained.
He chanted two words again and again as he rocked her. “Kibr tiy. Kibr tiy. Kibr tiy.” Love you.
Seeing his face crumple in pain, shattered her as the darkness took her sight. Knowing she saved him was her only comfort.
I chose you too. And I’d do it all again. I wouldn’t change a moment of my life because I finally found you. That’s what she wanted to tell him. What she wanted to say. But she couldn’t find her way back to him in the void.
Belonging. That’s what she held most dear. But saving him? He was worth every sacrifice.
Her heart stopped. One hard thump thrummed in her chest and her entire body went limp.
The absence of it pulsing inside terrified her of what came next.
The shadow of death didn’t make her wait to find out.
Chapter Thirteen
“No. No!” Rayden raged, and he shook her for a second after she went limp. Then he crushed her to his chest, unwilling to believe she was gone.
Someone touched his shoulder, and he knocked it off, growling at no one in particular. They were going to try to take her from him. He knew it. They wouldn’t have her. She was his and his alone.
Tiytd.
She’d said the word with her last breath.
Yours.
His name. Someone spoke his name, and he snapped his teeth as someone gripped his arm.
“Rayden. Listen to me. I need you to put her down. There’s still time, but we have to hurry.”
Veronica.
The Alpha.
She’s the one who tried to tell him to let Violet go. His gaze flipped up to hers and he knew the fiery red she had to be staring into.
Her gaze locked with his.
“As your Alpha, I order you to put her down. Now.”
He fought the direct order, gritting his teeth as his muscles obeyed her command. Laying Violet gently on the ground, cradling her head until the moment he was forced to let her go, ripped him apart.
“Stand up. Back up. Morrison, Vinson, Freeman. Hold him. I only have one shot at this.”
“Shot at what?” he heard someone else ask.
As soon as he stood, the other Shadows were on him, dragging him backward.
And he fought.
He fought to get to her.
To his mate.
Veronica knelt by her daughter, lifting her head so she could hold it in her lap. She stroked her hair, her cheek, with tears streaking down her face.
