201
Tony
I felt like the ground had been ripped out from under me, and I realized that her sickness and whatever treatments she’d been taking had to be what that scent in her blood was.
It had been sheer luck that Quillan had been born, luck that he had an incident that would lead him here, luck that Ginevra was brought here.
I didn’t know what to say. I looked at her, really looked at her, and suddenly, the odd coloring at her temples made sense. I reached for her hair and felt the odd texture of it: too smooth to be real. It was a wig.
“H-How long?”
Her lips twitched. “Years.”
I closed my eyes. “Does he know?”
Tears slipped down her cheeks. “Yes.”
“You were just going to—“
“Don’t get on your high horse,” she seethed. Her eyes going hazy. “My sister… My sister would have taken him… She promised if I never found you… She lives in California. Invite her to my funeral if I get one…”
Her voice started to fade. Her grip started to falter.
“Tell Quill’ I love him…” she said softly. “Tell him mommy loves him so much…”
Her eyelids fluttered, her grip on my arm weakening.
The terror that surged in me and howled made the world go black. I felt the moonlight and guilt converge and pull me under. My instincts took over, an overwhelming need to protect and claim surging through my veins. Without conscious thought, I bent my head.
“Tony!”
My teeth sunk into her neck, both primal and possessive. The taste of her blood was off and bitter, but under that, I felt something growing, shimmering between us. She let out a soft, pained sound that brought me back to consciousness. I pulled back, dazed, looking up at the moon. I heard Oren laughing and clapping.
I felt the moonlight buzzing on my skin, fizzling through my mind. The wind stirred. It was as if something else was taking over me. The surge of the moon's power coursed through my veins. Its intensity was both awe-inspiring and overwhelming. I shuddered as I felt it starting to fade and sucked in a breath as if I had been in deep water. My heart raced. I could see Matt staring at me with wide eyes as I came back to myself slowly.
Then, Ginevra jerked in my eyes. I looked down at her. Her breathing was shallow. Her life seemed to be hanging by the thinnest thread.
“Don’t,” I whispered. “Don’t leave…”
Slowly, the edges of her wounds twitched and started to seal together. Matt gasped. The tiniest glimmer of hope flickered within me. Something was happening. The virus was healing her, and while it didn't guarantee her survival, it was a small but significant sign that she might have a fighting chance.
I cradled her gently in my arms, holding her and listening to the sound of her heartbeat growing stronger. My heart was pounding like a drum.
“Let’s go,” Matt said. “I’ll drive.”
I looked up, dazed, only to find our father grinning and sauntering away.
“Safe driving,” he said and laughed.
I clenched my jaw and followed Matt towards the house. He ran around the side to the garage to get his car.
The rest of the pack seemed to hover around. I glared at them all. “If she dies, I will kill you all,” I growled, baring my teeth at them. They went pale. “The last massacre will look like a picnic.”
They darted out of my way as I reached the front door. Cline opened the door. I stopped and looked at him, noting that he wasn’t smeared with blood.
“Do your job,” I said. “And keep the pack from spending more than it makes.”
“What does that mean?”
I snarled. “That I suggest you dust off what little accounting knowledge I’ve forced on you over the years. I’m not touching a damn thing. Tell your alpha to start doing his own job. All of it.”
Cline’s eyes widened as Matt pulled the car around. My grip on Ginevra tightened as I made my way to the car.
I felt better, having made it clear to Cline that I was done. I climbed into the back seat, cradling Ginevra against me as Matt drove us away from the Estate.
“I want to know who did it,” I said.
“I know. Seven scents…” he chuckled. “She certainly left a mark on them.”
I stroked her hair, trying not to disturb the wig on her head. I shuddered, listening to the engine roar and the wind whipping past us as we hurtled toward Black Moon’s capital. It felt like an eternity. Even with Matt driving well over the speed limit, we weren’t going to get there soon enough for me to feel at ease.
“What should I tell Quillan?” Matt asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing… Nothing until it’s final. Tell him… Tell him that there was a deer or something in the woods that got hurt if you have to.”
“You’re going to stay?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll bring you clothes and set up a hotel nearby,” Matt said.
My lips twitched. “Thanks.”
“… how long before the pack is broke?”
I laughed. My eyes burned with tears. A sense of ease washed through me. How long had it been since I had laughed? Since I had laughed with Matt?
“With Cline’s shit counting? Probably the end of the week. You still have control of your accounts?”
“I took the pack off them weeks ago.”
Why?
I bit my lip and pulled out my phone, preparing to do the same thing.
“Tony.” I looked up, catching his eye in the rearview mirror. “No matter what happens… You’re still my brother, okay?”
I bit my lip and nodded. “You too, Matt.”
He drove in silence for the rest of the drive. By the time we hit the outskirts of Black Moon’s capital, I had separated all of my personal finances from the pack’s. Then, I changed the person of contact for all the bills, mortgages, and everything else in the pack’s name to Cline and our father.
I almost smiled. “I should feel guilty for maybe getting a few other people attacked… but I’m sure he’ll be able to handle the fines.”
Matt snickered. “They’ll be broke by the end of the week.”
I looked down at Ginevra, watching the rise and fall of her chest, a reassurance that she was still with us. A case worker came towards me as I set Ginevra on a gurney for the healers and watched them rush her away. I stood there helpless and lost.
“We need to talk,” the case worker said. “I’ll need paperwork to be filled out.”
I nodded and followed the man. Soon, Matt came, and as my hands continued to shake, he took over the paperwork, answering the case worker’s questions. My mind was a mess. Someone showed me to the observation room over the room where they were performing surgery on her, and I watched. The silence and cold of the room were distant as I thought of her last words.
You take care of my baby…
Lucky to have him…
Lucky to take him to his first day of kindergarten…
I felt gutted. Soon, Matt came to join me. He said nothing but sat beside me after putting a blanket around my shoulders. The minutes stretched on, each one an eternity as we watched them work.
“I should…” I said, gripping my phone. “I should…”
Do something. Anything but sit here. I wanted to move. I wanted to leave and pace and make calls. I wanted to yell about finances and bills or bad deals or something. Matt put his hand on my shoulder and took my phone. He gave me a cup of coffee.
“You’re doing exactly what you should be doing,” Matt said.
“Did you know?” I asked the urge to ask, popping up with all this nervous, helpless, useless energy. “That you weren’t a real Blue Moon Wolf.”
Matt took a sip of his drink. “Are we listening to the words of a lunatic?”
I turned to look at him, stunned by his question. “He’s our father.”
“He had the mother of your child attacked to force you to try to turn her,” Matt said and glanced at me. “That about meets the definition of a lunatic.”
I swallowed. “You think he was just… raving?”
“I think you’re tired, stressed, lost, and in desperate need of a break from the pack,” Matt said.
I clenched my jaw. “Like you?”
Matt let out a low sigh. “I’m not going to let you take your stress out on me. I’ll leave you here by yourself if you’re going to be an asshole.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. His eyes were hard. The dark circles under his eyes seemed even darker now. He seemed weighed down with something.
“Where were you earlier?”
“Out.”
I wanted to ask, but then there was a shuffling in the surgery room, and the healers were pulling back, pulling off their gloves.
“That’s all we can do for now. Sew her up and get her to ICU.”
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