Chapter 58: Epilogue

LAKE

~The morning is crisp with snowy air as my eyes flutter open. My body is stiff from the frozen ground. I attempt to stretch but end up getting a knot in my calf.~

~

~I grind and twist out the knot before it can become fully formed. The meadow around me is still and silent. My mate is nowhere to be seen.~

~

~“Derrick?” I call. No answer.~

~

~I scan the meadow and notice a few indentations in the snow. Upon closer evaluation, it’s large wolf prints leading back to the camp. The scent is unfamiliar to me.~

~

~I slowly begin to walk toward the camp with my senses on edge. My canines extend into sharp daggers behind my cheeks. I swallow a mouthful of venom before following the prints.~

~

~Once I come upon the camp, no one is near. I can’t even hear the sound of a single heartbeat. One thing does come to my attention, though.~

~

~The scent of blood.~

~

~My throat begins to throb heavily as I turn the corner to the main square of the camp. Blood is splattered throughout the entire muddy ground.~

~

~Corpses of our beloved group members are bent over backward.~

~

~Tears streak my face as my nose fills with the scent of my mate. I frantically call out to him, with no answer. Tent after tent, body after body, I can’t find Derrick’s heartbeat or his body.~

~

~I call on Lynne to shift, but my efforts are of no use. She’s not moving an inch in my mind. I can’t even feel her in the back of my mind.~

~

~My mate comes out from a blood-tainted tent. I breathe a sigh of relief and walk toward him. Derrick gives a single warning growl.~

~

~“Derrick?” I ask hesitantly.~

~

~“You did this!” he snarls. “You slaughtered the group just to quench that endless thirst of yours!”~

~

~Taking a step back, I say, “Derrick, no! You were with me the entire night!”~

~

~“I saw Lynne eradicate this entire block just on her own!” Lucy growls from behind me. Her eyes are wild and have a red tinge.~

~

~A growl erupts from behind me. I look back and see Lynne standing over me, proud and tall. Lucy and Derrick circle us.~

~

~My wolf is caked with blood all over her fur. What was white is now a light red.~

~

~“Demon!” Lucy growls. “You expelled your wolf to do your dirty work!”~

~

~“Coal told us to be wary of you doing this…,” Derrick breathes out. “I didn’t believe him. I thought you were different from those Hybrids up north.”~

~

~Lynne brings her face down to my shoulder and licks the bloody tears from my face.~

~

~The room is dark and heavy with the smell of smoke. My lungs fill with the suffocating fumes as I look to the left. I cough roughly, and Derrick is standing just a few feet in front of me.~

~

~“What did you do?!” Lucy screams.~

~

~I look over at the limp form of Coal at my side. His eyes are wide with shock, and his mouth is open with pain. I kick myself away from him. I can taste his blood on my tongue.~

~

~Though faint, it’s enough to make my mouth fill with venom.~

~

~Before I can process anything, Lucy’s wolf pounces on me. Her canines dig into my chest just above my mark.~

~

~I scream in agony, and Derrick just watches us as his sister disfigures his beautiful mark on my chest. My heart quickens its pace.~

~

~“No! You promised!” I cry. “Give Lynne back to me!”~

~

~The singing of silver covers my wrists and ankles. I scream out in pain as Derrick looms over my crouching frame. The floor is dark navy-blue tile, and my body is bare for all to see.~

~

~“Derrick…please…”~

~

~My pleas are ignored. Derrick, as if under a spell, stares into my eyes with nothing but cold violence. I cry out as his large hand comes over my femur and snaps it like a twig.~

~

~“Derrick, stop! This isn’t you! Please!” My words are like nails on a chalkboard. My mate’s eyes are glossed over as a smirk comes over him.~

~

~“Bring her…”~

~

~I watch in horror as the figure of my wolf is brought in with chains upon chains wrapped around her. A muzzle is over her beautiful face.~

~

~She thrashes against the guards who hold her, but she’s too weak from the silver.~

~

~The hole of her absence within me grows at the sight of her whining to get to me. My wolf, the other part of who I am, is helplessly fighting, and I can’t do anything to help.~

~

~“Down!” Derrick growls. My wolf obeys her mate’s orders. Since she was ripped from me, the mate bond no longer involves me. I cry and beg for Lynne to be released.~

~

~“Let her go!” I exclaim. “She’s done nothing wrong!”~

~

~“This wolf chose you the moment you were born, Firefly,” Derrick snarls. “That is her sin!”~

~

~Lynne is forced closer to the ground by the guards around her. I pull hectically against the chains around me. The closer Derrick gets to my wolf, the more I know of his intentions.~

~

~Derrick leans over Lynne’s face, and her eyes plead with him to let her and me reunite just one last time. I grunt loudly as the chains struggle against me.~

~

~Derrick puts his hands around Lynne’s throat and begins to squeeze. My wolf whines and claws at her mate’s hands. Her teary eyes never leave mine. I scream against the silver burning my flesh.~

~

~I turn and get a handful of the linked chains and pull against the hinges, my foot propped up on the stone wall. I scream one last plea for mercy.~

~

~I’m too late.~

~

~The stomach-turning sound of Lynne’s neck breaking rings through my ears.~

~

~Derrick looks back at me. His eyes are no longer glossed over, but there’s no remorse on his face. His black eyes turn a brilliant glowing blue.~

~

***

“No!” I jolt up out of my sleep. I feel over my chest for the scar of my mark and tear up at the thought of it disappearing.

The covers fall to the floor, and Derrick comes through the tent’s entrance.

“Firefly?” he asks and looks around the tent. “What happened? Are you okay?”

My lower lip quivers, and my body begins to tremble. This is the third week of having that same nightmare. Derrick takes me into his arms and soothes me.

“P—please… Don’t take my wolf…,” I mumble. “Please… Don’t leave me either…”

“Firefly…” Derrick smooths my hair and gets me to sit on the edge of the bed. His hands are on my shoulders as I look at his chest.

Lynne sees all that I dream about. She’s just as shaken as I am, if not more. My wolf is sickened by the thought of leaving my body and me.

“T—there was blood… A—and Coal…”

I cry harder into my mate’s shoulder. His strong arms wrap around me as I begin to wail.

Derrick says into my hair, “We’re doing this my way. Come on, Firefly.”

***

My body is still trembling as Dr. Remington looks over my body and face. He sighs heavily and puts his stethoscope to my chest.

He knows by now to be wary of my mark, as I almost attacked him the first time I came to him about this.

“Her heart isn’t beating at the regular rate a Hybrid’s should. It’s barely audible.”

Dr. Remington wraps the stethoscope around his neck and flashes a light into my eyes. “And the black of her eyes is almost back to normal pupil size.”

“What does that mean?” I ask shakily. “Is Lynne going to be okay?!”

Derrick pulls me into his chest before I can get my hands on the doctor. I grab a fistful of his shirt and pull myself as close to him as I can.

“Your wolf will be just fine, Lake,” Dr. Remington reassures me.

“These nightmares are causing her to retreat out of shock and concern for you. This is causing the vampire side of you to take over more of your body for the time being.”

“Why is she having these nightmares, though?” The vibrations of Derrick’s voice are almost calming to me as he talks.

“I’m not sure,” Dr. Remington states. “I’m not equipped to deal with the side of her that’s the opposite of us.”

“What are we going to do?” Lucy asks as she looks at me lying in bed motionless. “Coal went back to the Fates months ago, and I can’t keep having her scream in the middle of the night like this.”

Lucy has become more on edge recently after finding out she’s to bear a pup in just a few months. She’s been looking at me as if I’m going to slaughter her and Derrick.

She’s kept me at arm’s length since I told her about the scent of her pup and its blood.

“That’s my mate, Lucy,” Derrick growls and comes between me and his sister. “Or is being with pup getting to your hormones?”

“Derrick, don’t forget that she actively told me the blood and scent of my pup!” Lucy argues.

“She’s a walking time bomb! Your blood isn’t always going to be enough for her! Who’s to say her dreams aren’t to actually come to be?”

Lynne appears in my mind and sends reassurance my way. It’s just to say that there is no way that she will ever leave me.

“She has got to go!” Lucy growls. Her hands are over her showing stomach.

“My mate isn’t going anywhere without me! We still need answers for her nightmares.” Derrick’s voice is low.

“Then leave with her!” Lucy yells. “Gather your things and be out by dawn! If she’s not gone by then, I’ll deal with her myself!”

***

I stroke Drax’s snout. There’s barely any light as we stand outside the camp’s walls. Lucy and her guards look at us coldly. My mate growls at them as a warning for them to keep their distance.

I jump up onto Drax’s back. His black fur is soft between my fingertips. I lay my face down between his shoulder blades, and I feel him begin to run away from all we’ve ever known.

Into something we don’t.

^~End of Book One~^