Chapter 0012
Violet
His howl was clear despite the growing storm, but I couldn’t tell how far away he was. The world was starting to fade around me, yet I had never been more certain that I would be fine than I felt right then. I looked back toward the Donovan house and saw the Twining River wolves getting closer.
Then, the trees behind me parted, and out walked a large hulking figure.
It was Theodore, leading a small group of wolves that were armored and much larger than the Twining River wolves.
Theodora
was covered in dark, sleek fur. It looked black, but it couldn’t be. Black wolves were a myth at best. Lightning cracked through the air, sending light scattering across the ground.
The Twining River wolves stopped. I saw Lucas come up behind them, smaller than most of them, and all of them were stunned.
Theodore looked back at me for a moment. His eyes flickered with red light before he turned back and shifted into his human form.
“If they try to move, kill them,” he said, approaching me.
He kneeled beside me, leaning over me and shrugging out of his jacket.
“You’re safe now,” he whispered, stroking my head. His lips twitched.
I wanted to ask what he was doing here and how he knew where I was, but I was too tired.
“Can you
shift back?”
I struggled to try, but I couldn’t. He pulled out a length of cloth and bound my shoulder.
“You need medical attention. The bullet is still in there.”
Once the wound was bandaged, he lifted me into his arms, cradling me against his warm
chest.
He turned back.
“Lucas,” Theodore’s voice cut through the night like a blade. It felt edged with compulsion, and I saw Lucas practically tumble out of his wolf form.
My heart quickened. By the Goddess, how has he done that?
“The only reason I’m not killing you tonight is because it would be a mercy. I’ll give you a week to figure out how you’re going to compensate me for injuring my fiance mere days before her Luna ceremony.”
+25 BONUS
I was stunned. The shock was enough to make the shift back, stretching Into my human. form. Theodore shifted me in his arms effortlessly. It made me think of my parents when they’d been happiest and how… utterly content she seemed in his arms.
I shifted a littl
from the pain and cold.
Lucas snarled, his rage
y contained. “She can’t be your flance! She’s mys
“Barely technically,” I said, struggling to keep my eyes open. “As soon as I file the end of our union with the Court, we won’t even be that anymore.”
“You wouldn’t–”
“I will as soon as I get it on record that you shot me.”
He paled. I could see fear in his eyes, confirming that it had been him who had fired. Then, Lucas’s expression shifted.
“Violet, darling,” he said. His voice gently. “You can’t do this. Just come home, and let’s–” “It won’t be home again until you’re gone,” I said, even as I felt the wolf in me, the broken ends of the bond, reaching out desperately. “As I told you, enjoy it while you can.”
He clenched his jaw. “You would be better off just coming home.”
“No, Lucas… you would.” My eyes burned. “You started this, and now, I’m going to finish it. You should prepare yourself. I’m suing you for conspiracy and for using our mate bond to manipulate me and steal from my pack. Once the court is done with you, and the papers get a hold of it, there won’t be anything left for you to rebuild. Twining River will go right back to where it started.”
This incident would play in my favor, at least for the conspiracy charges. Any good lawyer would be able to use it as a springboard to honor Darkmoon’s by–laws and the original
nants with the crown. The Donovan family, Darkmoon, would retain rights to everything I’d built as alpha of record.
At least, that is what I hoped, but the alpha king could still overrule it all.
Lucas’s face twisted, his mouth opening and closing as he searched for words.
“Think hard about it,” Theodore said quietly. “You can’t afford to offend me further.”
Theodore turned, carrying me through the rain with his warrior heading up the “Rest,” he whispered. “You’re safe.
rear.
I closed my eyes, letting the sound of his beating heart and the sound of the rain pull me into a deep sleep.
Chapter 0013
