24

R U B Y

I couldn't help wondering if somewhere out there in the darkness, someone was being violently attacked and drained.

I rested my forehead against the cool glass gingerly as I closed my eyes. Unfortunately, they popped open again within seconds when an image of frightening red eyes flashed through my mind.

"Fuck."

I swallowed, but my mouth was suddenly too dry to produce any saliva. What had really happened that night? Had I died? Did our mysterious savior bring me back to life? I remembered feeling like all the life was slowly draining out of me. I hated the fact that I could still feel the fangs in my throat.

Now wasn't the time to develop PTSD. From what Axel and Xavier had told me so far, I knew a war was coming. I fisted my hand and slammed it down against my thigh. That motherfucking vamp damn near killed me!

My lips formed a thin line as I stared into the darkness beyond the window. I was right to be afraid. Under these circumstances, it was nothing to be ashamed of. Nevertheless, I was determined to channel my fear into anger and anger into action. These creatures, these

vampires, had suddenly crawled out of a hole and were on a path that would turn this world upside down. We had to find a way to stop them.

I sighed. Who am I kidding? No matter how angry I got, I'd never be a match for even the feeblest vampire. Though they might have been weaker than usual, if two full-grown male werewolves were almost killed, I was toast. If I'm in this world now...I shook my head. No, I AM a part of this world now, and I need to be able to protect myself.

Being mated to two werewolves would only shield me for so long. There was also no doubt in my mind that the Council, that bald prick Olcan specifically, still wanted my head–or my brain, to be more accurate. I personally wanted to know more about the woman they were talking about, their Grand Elder, myself.

If I knew her like the Enchanteds thought I did, then I wanted to understand how it could be possible that I had no conscious memory of her. Maybe she was just someone I'd encountered briefly along the way? For all I know, she could be just a customer I'd served in the diner one day.

I started chewing on my lip nervously. Yeah, wishful thinking. What were the chances of me knowing a Grand Elder and having a powerful supernatural barrier placed in my mind while also being a just normal human girl who simply discovered the supernatural world by accident? Evidence of something greater going on kept stacking up, and I didn't like speculating what that could mean. There was still a slim chance this was all a strange coincidence, but I wasn't ready to bet the farm on it. In fact, it gave me a headache every time I thought about it.

I looked down at my open palm. Who was I before? Have I always been this person or was a part of me locked away? What would happen to me if I ever remembered my past?

Someone cleared their throat behind me.

I jumped around, a gasp on my lips. I blinked rapidly at Natalie.

She stood in the middle of the room, staring at me with a smile. "Hey, Redhead," she said.

I rushed to her. I hugged her tight and felt like my bones would crush with the way she hugged me back.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I have so much to tell you. You won't believe what happened, Natalie."

She released me and stepped back. "Try me." "Vampires," I said. "They're real. I swear I'm not

kidding…"

The smile on her face faltered. "I know." I frowned. "How?"

Natalie turned away from me. "Olcan was called away after you guys left," she explained as she turned back around to face me.

I tried not to smile when I heard that Olcan was no longer there. Considering the fact that I'd be returning soon with the guys, Olcan was one more complication I'd just as soon avoid.

"A pack was attacked," she explained. My brows dipped with a frown.

"They were all killed," she went on. "Women, children– every single pack member was brutally slaughtered."

I walked away from her this time, my hand over my mouth. "Jesus." I combed my hair back before my hand fell to my side. These vamps were certainly taking advantage of the element of surprise while they had it. The faster the news about their existence got out, the better people would be able to protect themselves. "We were attacked after we left the pack," I told her as I closed my eyes and pressed a finger to my temple. "One of them almost—"

Her hand came down on my shoulder as she stepped around me. She placed her hand at my neck, the spot where I'd been bitten. "I know that too," she replied sadly. "I'm so sorry."

I opened my eyes but avoided looking at her. I didn't want her to see me crying as I nodded. "You saw it?

"Yes."

"I-I can't even explain the pain. I—um," I swallowed, not wanting to think about it. "We were saved by someone. None of us saw him. Well, I kind of did before I blacked out. All I could make out for sure was his shadow, but whoever he was, he saved us and got us here."

Natalie's gaze shifted away from me.

I narrowed my eyes at her. This wasn't the response I'd expected from her. Maybe she'd seen that as well. Either way, I let it go. Something else was more important. "Did you know about vampires being alive long before I was attacked? I assume you saw the attack the night we left?"

She nodded. "Yes." She gave me a tight-lipped smile. Why couldn't she look at me?

"Yes, I got the vision the night you left," Natalie stated.

My eyes narrowed. She was lying, I could tell. And it had been confirmed by the awkward silence that followed. If she'd known and I think she did, why hadn't she warned Xavier and me? Why hadn't she stopped us from leaving? If I'd known it would be a choice between Olcan taking me to Romania or having my throat ripped out by a vampire, I think I'd have chosen Romania. "So, Mathieu already knows about the vampires and everything? We're leaving tomorrow to head back."

Moving away from me, she answered, "Yes, he knows. The Council is trying to keep what happened to that pack under wraps, but I spoke to Reika. She told me what happened."

I shook my head. "That doesn't make sense. If these vampires are out hunting, werewolves need to know about it. Xavier and Axel got their asses handed to them, Natalie. They had no idea what the scent had meant when they picked it up until it was too late. We were all almost killed! Xavier and Axel said most werewolves have forgotten how to fight vampires. That's why the wolves need to know what's happening, while they still have a chance to prepare. Not only that, but humans are being attacked as well."

She turned to face me, a vein popping in her forehead. "I know that, Ruby! I had a friend in that pack! I understand why the Council is trying to be cautious. They fear that wolves might start to panic. In fact, I hope they do panic. Then at least they will be on guard. Otherwise, they will be sitting ducks, ripe for the hunting," She sighed. "Whoever or whatever saved you had to be supernatural, and strong at that, to have killed the vamps that attacked you guys. If we're lucky, maybe they'll show themselves soon. "

"Yeah, Axel said the same."

The side of her mouth arched at this. I frowned. "What?"

"So, on a brighter topic," she said. "What's it like being around the two of them?"

I wasn't sure why I started blushing. "It's—fine. Okay, I guess."

"Okay? That's all you have to give me, Ruby? Really?" Her smile broke out into a grin.

I rolled my eyes and lifted my shoulders in a shrug because I had no idea what she wanted me to say. Actually, I knew what she wanted to hear, and right now things weren't like that. "Things are fine for now. The guys are still tired and weakened. They lost a lot of blood. Xavier has been quiet, and Axel is…well, Axel."

"What did you feel for Axel when you thought he was dead?"

Oh, come on, her too? Why is that so important?

"I was worried. That's all. He left his pack to come with us. If he dies, who looks after them? Who will be their alpha?"

"For someone you hate, you certainly spare a lot of thought about his people." She raised her brows, her expression otherwise blank.

"I assure you, I—" I frowned as she flickered between transparent and solid. "Natalie? Are you okay?"

She didn't reply. She just kept staring off to the side towards the room door.

I looked at the door and then her. Was she seeing or hearing something I wasn't? She flickered in and out of focus again, and I grimaced as blood began to run from her ear. "Natalie, you're bleeding! Seriously, what's going on?" I felt panicked. I didn't think she was supposed to be bleeding like this while projecting herself to me, even if we were technically just in a dream state. What if something was wrong with her?

She turned to look at me as blood poured from her eyes. She wasn't moving, she wasn't blinking, and her face still remained as blank as a canvas.

My eyes widened as I stepped forward, my hands shaking as all the blood running from her ears and eyes began to soak through the white top she wore. "Natalie, you're freaking me out! What the fuck is happening?" My mouth clamped shut in shock.

A deep wound appeared at her neck and then her wrist.

Blood now pooled around her feet.

I started pinching myself, trying to see if that would work to wake me up. If she was in my dream, she must be defenseless in reality. "Wake up!" I started yelling at both

her and myself. "Wake…" I swallowed my words as a shadowy head peeked out from behind her. My heart was hammering in my chest, as shadowy claws slowly appeared and wrapped around her arm. "Who are you?" I stepped back. "What are you doing to her? How did you get in my dream?"

I dug my nails into my palm with enough force to break the skin, but I still wasn't waking up. I felt intense dread, as if a blast of evil had brushed across my soul. A scream was torn from my lips as the shadow suddenly lunged for me.

Xavier

was fifteen when I went on my first hunt with my dad. An Echidna, a half-woman half serpent creature, was preying on humans and leaving a

string of bodies in her wake.

She had struck my father with her tail, sending him flying through a window. I realized fighting her in wolf form would not stop her easily, so I changed. I waited until the other wolves created an opening, and then I buried a wooden spike through her heart.

Being a wolf and a protector means being strong. It means being smart. It means being able to protect people, especially the ones you love. I clenched my fists as I growled. Ruby almost died because I wasn't able to protect her. I hadn't been strong enough.

Full moon or not, that would never happen again.

I'd been conscious while Ruby screamed for help. With my blood rapidly leaving my body as if it was being vacuumed, I couldn't move to help her.

I'd never felt so helpless in my life. It had been agonizing to watch as the vampire attacked her. I didn't know how, but whoever saved us had also healed my broken spine. That's what that vampire had targeted. He had quickly placed himself behind me, wrapped his arms around me, and snapped my spine. No doubt, it was their way of stopping wolves from shifting.

I tapped my finger against my chest. Despite the darkness surrounding me in the room, my vision was just fine. I clenched and unclenched my hand, testing my strength. Although there'd be no way in hell we'd travel while it was still dark, I needed to be at full strength when we traveled back to the pack tomorrow.

Also, there wouldn't be a full moon tomorrow night. At least I'd be able to shift if needed.

The sooner we got back to the pack, the faster Axel could retrieve the book to help us defeat those bloodsuckers.

I noticed Ruby and Axel had seemed unusually chatty with each other. Yes, I'm bothered by that. I obviously know he is her mate. I also know there must be a part of her that cared about him, even if she didn't show it. She proved that the night we were attacked.

Now that I knew he was on our side, I didn't want to rip his throat out as much. Doing so would hurt her emotionally more than before. I held my hand to my forehead and wished desperately for some pain meds. I didn't get headaches often, but this shit show was getting to me. Not only did we have the Council and vampires to contend with on top of an unexplainable three-way mate bond, but we still didn't know what might lurk behind that barrier in Ruby's mind.

A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the house— Ruby's scream. I bolted out of bed. Her bedroom was right across from mine, so I kicked the door open and rushed in. My eyes scanned the room quickly, but I saw no one.

Ruby was still in bed, her arms and legs thrashing around as she screamed.

I realized she must be dreaming, so I immediately rushed to her. "Ruby, wake up. Wake up, baby. It's just a dream."

She kept screaming, tears flowing from her closed eyes.

Axel rushed into the room. "What's going on?" His eyes were that of his wolf, black pits, while his claws were out and ready to strike.

"She's having a nightmare," I told him. I moved back as one of her legs came close to hitting me. Each time I attempted to touch her, she started to howl louder and push me away.

"What the fuck kind of nightmare is she having?" Axel hissed as he retracted his claws and rushed over to the bed. "Ruby." He cupped her cheek gently.

I couldn't help sinking my teeth into my tongue as he touched her.

"Ruby, wake up! Can you hear me?" More tears began to flow from her eyes.

He held her arm to stop her flailing, but staggered back when her other hand thrust outward and punched him right in the face.

She bolted upright, her eyes wide as she looked around the room frantically. Finally, she looked at me and then at Axel, who held his busted nose. She began wiping at her eyes.

"Ruby?" I prompted.

She climbed out of bed and walked away, her shoulders rising and falling rapidly with her heavy breathing. "I'm okay," she reassured us, her back still turned. "I-I was talking to Natalie. Olcan left because vampires attacked a pack and killed everyone."

"Fuck!" Axel exclaimed as he stepped up beside me. "When? What pack?"

"I don't know," she replied. "We were talking when— when something happened." She turned around to face us, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy from crying. "She started bleeding out of her ears and eyes, and then her neck and wrist. It was like she was being attacked."

I closed my eyes for a second before reopening them, my thoughts already running rampant with negativity. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I needed to think positively. After all, Natalie could have appeared like that to Ruby for any reason. Then again, this had never happened before to my knowledge, and Nathalie had done plenty of mind links in the past.

"If Olcan's not there, we can call," Axel suggested. "We can check if something actually happened."

I nodded.

Ruby just hung her head as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Something was behind her, a shadow, or something." She looked up at us, her eyes full of tears. "It attacked me."

"I'm going for the house phone. We'll call and check on them," Axel declared.

He turned to leave the room when Ruby stopped him. "There's something I didn't tell you," she disclosed to me before glancing over at Axel. "Something I saw in the mind link with Natalie and Reika." She swallowed. "The shadows I saw."

Axel squinted his eyes in confusion. "Shadows? What kind of shadows?"

Heading over to the bed, she sat down. "During the mind link, I saw a vision or maybe a memory. I was in a town or city. People were running and screaming and these shadows were chasing after them. The mind link started to break when one of the shadows attacked a woman." She closed her eyes and combed her hair out of her face. "I saw those same shadows again in the pack house, the night we left. At first, I

just thought I was just seeing things. However, this is now the third time I've seen them, both in my mind and in reality.

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" I asked her. "Is that why I caught you running that night?"

Ruby nodded. "Yes. I didn't say anything, Xavier, because with everything else going on and our lives in jeopardy, it didn't seem very important. I'm telling you both now. So, what do you think it means?"

Axel shrugged. "Ghosts are really the only possibility for what you saw in the house because werewolves can't smell them. Any other supernatural would have been detectable by their scent."

"Do you think it's all in my head?" she asked tentatively and paused before shaking her head definitively. "No. No, I know something's wrong. Something's not right, Axel." She placed her face in her hands. "I can feel it. Something's not right. Why is all of this happening?"

I looked over at Axel.

He stared at Ruby with concern.

I sank down to my knees in front of her and attempted to gently pry her hands away from her face. I wasn't surprised she felt panicked. She'd been through so much already and there seemed to be no end in sight.

On top of everything, now she had to live with the memory of what that vampire had done to her. She'd become a part of this world now, with so much going on around her, so many things she wasn't used to. There were creatures in my world that would scare anyone to death, and she had already come face-to-face with one. She was a strong woman, incredibly strong, but too much was being dumped into her lap far too quickly.

I was used to the chaos of my world. She wasn't…not yet anyway.

"Hey, look at me, hey." She finally did and I gently held her chin. "Axel is going to call the house to check on Natalie and the others. As for the shadows, we'll figure it all out when we get back to the pack. Okay?"

Ruby kept breathing rapidly. "We need to find a witch. I want to know what's inside my head. I want to know what was done to me." She placed her hand against her chest, "Something is wrong, Xavier. I can feel it."

Axel frowned deeply, his forehead furrowed to the point that his brows were almost touching.

As he stepped forward, Ruby looked up at him and sni½ed.

To my surprise, his hard expression softened as he gazed down at her.

"Once we get you back to Xavier's pack," he explained in a soft voice. " I'll contact the witch that made the scent dampening potions for me. I'll see if she can help. If she can't, I'll have her find someone who can. The warlock here isn't strong enough when it comes to mind links. It's not his specialty. Asking him to help might hurt you both." I didn't miss the way his hand twitched before he stepped back. The indifferent mask he typically wore returned. "Try and get some sleep. We're leaving at daybreak."