Chapter 79

The life left him.

He was gone.

Rage flooded through me. As Celia entered, I turned and left the infirmary, stopping only to check on my sister.

Alive, thank the goddess.

I left the room, the seams of my clothes tearing as anger took me over, and I grew into my lycan form.

Chapter 80

AURORA

I walked through the halls searching for Dane. As I got close, I started to hear wolves growling, crying, howling.

My heart felt plunged into a bucket of ice. Those were mourning sounds.

A door opened beside me, then a big hand grabbed me and pulled me into the room. It was some kind of closet.

“What the-?”

“Shh.” Holden put a finger to my lips.

I jerked my head away but kept my voice low. “What’s going on? Why is Blue Ridge in mourning?"

Holden grasped me by both shoulders. “Aurora, Connall died.”

“What?”

He pressed his hand over my mouth again. “You heard me. Dane’s grandfather is dead, and they believe it’s because of you.”

I clutched the place over my heart, my knees going out from under me.

Connall, gone? He was such a kind old man. One of the few people who genuinely loved me. One of the rare ones who thought I could be happy with Dane.

For those few years we were married, I’d come to look on him as my own grandfather.

He was gone, and my actions—my thoughtless experiment—had killed him.

Tears streamed down my face. I forced steel into my spine and turned toward the door.

“What are you doing?” Holden demanded. He grabbed me and forcibly held me back. “You’re not going out there."

“Yes, I am! I have to see him. I have to pay my respects!”

“If you go, some random Blue Ridge wolf will find you in the hall, and they will tear you limb from limb! Then I’ll have to challenge him, and there will be war, Aurora. Is that what you want? For your beloved Dane and Blue Ridge to go to war with a pack ten times older than them, with pack members who sit on the Council?”

His words rolled off me like rain on glass. I didn’t have time to think about this. I had to get to Dane. I had to explain. To come clean about everything.

I fought Holden with all my strength, but I was wolfless. Nothing I did could make him let me go. Not unless…

“…thinking.”

“It’s all right. Just rely on me. Let me take care of you, Aurora. I’m-”

Whatever he was going to say was lost in the next moment as he finally did what I was waiting for and relaxed his grip.

I drove my elbow into his chest and shoved away from him with all my strength. I ripped open the closet door and ran.

Holden tore out of the small room behind me. “Aurora! Get back here!”

He was too fast. He caught me and shoved me against the wall. His body pressed against mine, and he stared me down with greedy eyes. “There’s only one way to keep you safe. Montague won’t go to war. The only way to protect you is if you become my mate.”

“What? No!”

“Yes,” he growled. “I’m going to claim you. I’m going to mark you. Right now.” He wrenched open the door of the small room we’d just been inside. It was dark. The doors and walls in the pack house were so thick.

If he got me in there, no one would hear me scream.

I had no wolf, no pack bond to call for help.

I had no hope.

Holden hauled me back into the room. He was already breathing hard. I wasn’t sure if it was from exertion or anticipation.

“You were supposed to be my friend,” I said through clenched teeth, still fighting him. I wanted to cry. I was terrified and heartbroken. The only thing I had to protect myself was my dignity, my command. But it was failing me. Everything was so chaotic; I couldn’t get myself under control.

His mouth was next to my ear, his heaving, hot breath gusting against it. He bent and ran his tongue along the outside of it, wet and sticky. “I am your friend. And I’m going to become so much more."

He closed the door. As the last sliver of light disappeared, I screamed. “Dane! Da-”

Holden’s hand closed around my neck and squeezed until I gagged. “None of that,” he muttered. He pulled my hair aside and pressed a kiss to my neck. “One quick fuck,” he said, “one bite here, then you’ll finally be mine.”

There was a deafening, splintering squeal of metal and wood. The darkness disappeared, and light flooded the room.

A shadow stood, outlined in the light. A huge, furred body. Charcoal gray fur.

Dane.

I looked up, my eyes wide. Fear flooded me. Why was he in his lycan form?

When he looked down into my eyes, all I saw was rage.

He wrapped his giant clawed hands around my biceps and lifted me into the air. When Holden grabbed for me, Dane took his head in one claw and threw him against the back wall.

Holden flew into it, denting the drywall with his impact.

“My grandfather is dead!” the words were almost a roar. His grip was so hard, I thought he might snap my bones. “My grandfather is dead, and I find you in here with him!”

He could snap my bones if he wanted. Without even a thought, he could break me.

“P–please,” I whispered. “Dane, you have to listen.”

“No more listening,” Dane growled. His eyes were gold in the dim light. “I’m going to do what I should have done before.”

Then, with Holden still in a daze, Dane carried me out of the house, across the field, and into the wild darkness of the forest.