Chapter 89

Alyson

I want to fight him, I have the desire to push him off of me and clear across the hallway, freeing myself of his caging arms, but I can't. Simply, I am weak, I am wounded, and I feel as though my wolf and I have been severed for so long that any connection to my old strength is gone. This adversary is one I'll never be able to confront.

So instead, I close my eyes and picture bliss. I picture my mate and I happily living out our lives, having pups and being a cohesive pack, a perfect family, and nothing like this will ever happen again. It's hard to ignore the healer, his hands grabbing me everywhere, trying to steady me as though to penetrate my body with his.

That's when the world goes dark and blurry.

I disconnect to protect myself and to protect my mate.

My eyes flutter open after what feels like forever and the warmth around my body isn't what I anticipated. I'm somewhere new, no longer strung out on the floor of the hall, waiting to be used for that sadistic healer and his perverted needs. Instead I'm in a soft, plush bed, covered up to the shoulders with a white, furry blanket.

My body is somewhat sore, my back aching while I sit up, my head clear of the fear that once plagued my mind. I spot a husky figure stalking the room in a slow, lengthy pace. It's a deep black wolf, eyes red as the blood moon, the wolf daring to watch me as I examine it; both of us still and silent for a long moment.

"Olivera," I breathe, my voice raspy and hot. "Why are you in that form?"

I recognized him the minute I saw him, but his eyes are what intrigue me, so bold and crimson. They go unblinking, head lowered as he watches me with his paces finally ceased.

His wolf approaches, his heart rapid as I reach for his fur and find the pacing heart pounding from within like a ticking bomb. I brush my hand down his jaw, his teeth sharp but at bay, and he kindly watches me evaluate his wolf.

I feel my eyes well in tears in the remembrance of what was happening before I blacked out. "At least tell me he didn't do what I think he did—" I plead.

His wolf sighs, something so comforting in his eyes shifting to a modest gray color. I can tell he is trying to answer, but for some reason uninterested in shifting to speak to me. instead I reach for his face, brushing his snout and eyeing his teeth, sharp and docile. His gray eyes eventually go cyan, gentle, and finally he breaks.

He is kneeling on the floor, shifted to his daunting, pale presence, his breathing ragged. "I've been stuck like that since I found you," he pants, kneeling on the floor beside the bed, looking away. "I shifted and just began ripping into him endlessly. I—" he shakes his head. "I wasn't able to calm down enough to shift back."

I shiver, his voice so serene, so kind, that I hardly recognize this rogue Alpha.

"Why were you so mad?"

His eyes jerk upright to mine and he scoffs like I've offended him. "Alyson, I told you I would never let someone be treated like that, not like the elders treat my kind. That's why I've started this fucking mess and I'll be damned if I end up just like those horrid elders."

I cock my brow. "Why do you say that? The elders would never hurt me or anyone else like that. They are peaceful wolves and—"

"To your kind," he snarls, "but to my kind, they treat wolves just like the way you were about to be used; taken advantage of and abused and then killed off when their tests and their fun has ended. It's a ruse, dammit, I don't believe your ignorance."

My body twitches with the tone of his rage. "Is that what they did to—to—"

I can't produce her name.

He stares through me blankly, knowing what I haven't said and looking discant as he pieces her name together in his mind. "Yes. She was taken from me two years back, by some warriors that are meant to protect the elders. I searched for her for what felt like ages, but I lost all scent of my mate."

I watch his eyes shift back gray, the step before they shine red and he shifts.

I pray to the moon goddess that he doesn't shift back.

"I found out from an escaped rogue just what had been going on at the elders pack," he snarls. "They had been experimenting on rogues, the effects of wolfsbane in the blood of wolves, their ability to overcome the poison, and how much strength they had afterwards. It was obviously to incite fear in those who didn't fit into packs, and even when I broke through their torture chambers, I didn't find her. She was already gone."

I weep with his pain, feeling so somber at the thought of losing my mate in such a way.

"Please," I hum, my hands trembling. "Tell me it's not true."

"It's true, sweetheart," he huffs, his words crushed by the weight of his sadness.

"They had helped me, dammit," I breathe, my heart rattling. "They were there for my mating ceremony to my mate and they have never done anything that would resemble what you're saying…" I look aside, hearing the words of the moon goddess about Olivera's mate with her in that existence. She was trying to warn me about the truth. Her and Olivera must be right.

"You were blind but you know better now," Olivera hums, reaching for me even when I flinch back slightly. His hand crosses my cheek gently, his subtle fingertips grazing my jawline and forcing a chill down my spine. "Now you see why this war has begun."

I want to agree, but I still can't seem to figure one thing out. "Why me?"

He cocks his brow in impulse. "I've told you before, sweetheart. It has everything to do with you and your mate's standing with the elders. They care about you obviously, which is why I need to use you to draw them out so I can end this once and for all."

I sniffle slightly. "You'll be killed. You can't beat them, Olivera."

He shudders when I say his name. "I have to try."

Shaking my head, I feel like I've got no more tears left but still, they pour. "Please just let me talk to them. Please, Olivera, no one has to die or fight and—Ryan, he would understand! Just let him talk to them and—and—"

Olivera moves forward, something hazy in his eyes. "Don't cry, sweetheart."

Before I can move, or protest, I feel our lips collide at once.