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Chapter 33
Declan
They're coming in more often, having their fun with me and then leaving me without healing any part of me. I don't want to say
anything to Ledger because we can't afford for him to get caught while helping me; we need him to get us home. They've also
given me another dose of wolfsbane and I' m afraid that if they give me anymore, I won't be able to han- dle it; I'm already
weaker than I've ever been in my life. If I can just hold out for a few more hours...
I feel myself being jarred but when I try opening my eyes, I can't. Maybe this is the end for me. I wish I could see Quinn one more
time, and tell her that I'm sorry I'm breaking my promise to her. I thought for sure I would make it back home to her and the pups.
I hope she stays strong for the kids; they will need her now, more than anything.
I feel weightless. Is this what happens when the Goddess Selene brings her wolves back home? I'm sure going to miss Duke, as
much of a smartass that he was, he was my other half and my best friend. Whoever gets him as their wolf in the next life is going
to be a lucky son of a bitch!
More jarring and I can still feel every painful mark the .hunters left on me. A woman's voice is near but I don't think she's talking
to me. Could it be the Moon Goddess herself that is coming to greet me? I wish I could open my eyes, so I can see her because
I've heard that she's very beautiful. Not that she could hold a candle to my Quinn, but maybe she's a close second.
Weightless once more, I can feel that it's coming to an end. Soon I will be able to watch over all my loved ones at once. I wonder
if Gavin will be there to greet me or if he's pissed at me for taking his mate as my own. I would hope that he understands why I
did it and that she was always meant to be mine.
More jarring but this time, I feel as though the pain is be- ing lifted and my eyes are fluttering, trying to open. There is pounding in
the distance, but I keep my concentration on opening my eyes. Just as I get them open, a big blur throws it- self at me, only it
smells very familiar. Then I hear it; it's the one thing that kept me going for hours after I last talked to her.
"Oh, my goodness, I'm so sorry, baby!" Her voice is music to my ears and her touch is even better. Did I die and this is what it's
like, you get to hallucinate your afterlife?
That's when I start hearing more voices, ones that are very familiar and shouldn't be in my imagination. My Beta's and a strange
woman, whose voice I remember from just a bit ago. My eyes open all the way and I fight to focus on everything. Lucky for me,
my mate is the first that I feast my eyes on.
"Am I dead?" I ask as I lift my hand up to push aside a lock of her gorgeous auburn hair.
Her giggle makes my body stir, "No, you're not dead," she leans in really close, "and once you've healed all the way, I will show
moment and I just gaze at her as she talks to who- ever it is that has her attention. I'm beginning to get jealous because I should
have all of it.
I feel high as fuck right now and I don't understand why. that is and I'm not liking it one bit. I don't feel in control of my- self, and
that can be dangerous for an Alpha. Suddenly, my mate's attention is finally back on me, and I watch as she straddles my lap
and moves her hair over to one side.
"We don't have much time, but we are alone at the mo- ment; you must drink from me, let me and Tala heal you, babe."
"Tala? Where is that gorgeous bitch?"
Quinn laughs at my question but then Tala's voice comes. out, 'I'm here, Alpha. You must drink first, so we can play lat- er.' The
wolf snickers.
"Yes, ma'am! Goddess you're bossy! Has anyone ever told you that?"
'Every day!' Quinn takes control back, "Drink, now." She leans in, bringing me her neck and showing me the mark that I've left
upon it.
I run my tongue over it and feel her body quiver just be- fore I sink my fangs into her. I wrap my arms around her body and hold
her tight to me as I continue to suck on her sweet blood. I can already feel myself gaining my energy back, and Duke, he's there,
yawning like he's been taking a long nap. My mate is truly healing us more than usual and I can't help but be thankful to her for
everything. I am truly blessed to be mated to her and I will always cherish her and never take her for granted.
I break free, "Let's go to our room. I need to thank you pri- vately, baby."
I hear her moan, but as soon as I stand up with her still wrapped around my body, our Beta stops us, "Not so fast! We must talk
war first and then make love." Spencer chuckles.
I growl, "Do you know what you're asking of me?"
"Yes, I know exactly how you're feeling, Alpha." The Beta glances back at Legend and I realize that he really does un- derstand,
so I let out a long sigh and sit back down, but I nev- er let go of Quinn.
"The council and the rest of the Shikari know that I killed my father, and they will come, not just for me but for all of you. We need
to prepare because I honestly don't know when they will come." Ledger stands in the middle of the living room as he says this.
"I thought they would be right behind us?" I question.
"I thought that maybe they would send some, but then again, it would be dumb to come unprepared, so I'm guessing that they
will be here within the next few days. We need our allies here for when they do."
"Exactly how many Shikari are there?" Quinn snuggles into me just a little bit more.
"In England, there are about five thousand spread throughout, but I can't say if they will have any other ones come in and help. I
bag that he brought back with us and pulls out two books, one much thicker than the other, "This was my father's spell book; he
read this religiously, so we do have a bit more help with it, but if the council has any hand in it, I'm sure they know all the tricks in
this book as well."
"Can I see that?" Quinn reaches her hand out for the book, "I wonder if I can do any of these with my powers. I'm not sure how
different they are from a witch's magic."
Ledger hands my mate the book, "It would be awesome if you could, because then there would be at least two of us that can
wield magic."
"That's not true, you have three others that can do magic as well," we all look towards the doorway to where Ledger's mother
stands, "Your sisters can do magic as well."
"I will not have my sisters in this war, they are too young." Ledger frowns.
"This is their war too, Ledger. They just got their freedom; do you think they will stand by and do nothing? Even Danika's magic is
strong, it may even be the strongest of the three."
"If we can keep them out of the fight and in a safe place and still be able to use their magic, then we may have a fight- ing
chance, but there will still be a lot of casualties," the Beta's mate states, "We need to be prepared for it, and I prefer none of them
are children."
"Most homes have a safe room in them," it's one of the things that Delcan made sure of after the slaughter that took my family
and the majority of the pack, including your mate's family," Quinn explains to Ledger, "Those that have no safe room are
welcome here in ours. It's plenty big, but will it be an issue if we put up some kind of wards to keep the Shikari out of the
homes?"
"Hm, I don't see why not, but my only concern is that they may know how to break the protection wards. It's still a good idea to
put them up, though, because it will take them a bit to be able to break them, especially if we do each one individual- ly. They
would then have to break them individually as well, giving us time to take them out if at all possible." Ledger agrees with Quinn.
"Spencer," I search the room for him, and find him typing away on his laptop, "Can you email our allies..."
"Already on it!" He grins with his eyes glued to the screen.
"And I've already texted my brother to have him call in all of Storm River allies that aren't in with Dark Moon yet." Cici in- forms
me.
I can't say just how proud I am of this pack. They started out with only a handful of members, and they already have well over a
thousand pack members, with about nine hundred being warriors, male and female. My mate has done an amaz- ing job leading
this pack, her father would be so proud of her. I'm sure both of her parents are looking down on her with so much pride.
"If there isn't anything else right now, I'm going to try and get a few hours of sleep now," Quinn yawns, "My eyes are like
sandpaper and I might as well get some sleep before shit hits the fan."
"Go get some sleep, Luna," Ledger smiles, "I think you're going to need to be well rested for when you wake up." He winks at
me, and I grin, knowing that he is one hundred per-
cent correct.