“Oh, my goddess!” I exclaimed, “Erm… hi?” I said tentatively, and I heard a melodic chuckle in return.
“It’s nice to finally talk to you too,” said my wolf, but in my head. Like some strange mink link. Is that how we communicated with our wolves?. “My name is Ana,” she said, and I smiled. Ana, what a lovely name. My wolf had a name. She chuckled again.
“Not all wolves have a name, they are often a part of the person, but the more powerful ones can create a separate identity. And us…” there was a gleam of something in her eyes. “Well, we are special.” I couldn’t help but smile at the warmth that flooded me as she spoke. Then I realised what I was seeing.
“Wait!” I felt excited. “You’re free! This is amazing!” I was really to wake up and find Liam, tell him what happened. That his claim must have worked.
“Hold up there, red!” Ana called. “I managed to get part free, but I’m still in the cage. I can feel it trying to pull me back, but I’ll stay as long as I can, I promise.” the beautiful white wolf nodded behind her and I saw a chain on her back food held at tension. The chain seemed to run through the door in her cage and into the other cage where the other version of me was sleeping.
“The curse,” my wolf said. “It turned his marking into poison. If we hadn’t been as strong an Alpha as we are, then it would have killed you, killed us.” She nodded to the sleeping figure. “It really drained her a lot. That is why she is asleep.” I could feel the tears slipping
“I hate this curse!” I whispered, “So he can only mark me in wolf form?”
“I’m afraid so,” she said sadly.
“Ana?” I asked.
“Yeah?”
“Is there any other way to get you fully free?” I closed my eyes and prayed to the moon goddess.
“Yeah, there is another way,” she said, “but you won’t like it.”
“No.” I said straight away. She was my wolf, therefore she was me. I knew what she was thinking.
“I said you wouldn’t like it.”
“Liam is my mate,” I said. “Are you really good with taking another who isn’t our mate?”
“I’m not happy with you suggesting our mates take another, but you still did.” She sounded annoyed and I could feel my anger rising in response. I took a deep breath to calm myself as she whispered,
“I just want to be free,” and I felt all the sadness, all the pain, all of it. I closed my eyes against the pain as the tears slipped out.
“We need a powerful Alpha to unlock the spell, be he shadow or be he light,” she said, adding the quote from the prophecy. The moon seemed to come out from behind a cloud and the cliff top lit up. I could instantly see a figure standing on the edge. I looked back at my wolf and she sat on the floor and watched me with those pale gold eyes. I turned and walked towards the figure. Knowing who it was.
Jasper looked up at me with a cold cunning smile that didn’t reach his blue eyes..
“Hello darling,” he said. He looked over the cliff edge and then back at me. He held out his hand and in his palm was a gold ornate key. I looked back up at Jasper and he grinned.
“Ready to take a jump with me?”
I woke up with a start and sat up, panting. My body felt like it had gone ten rounds with a bear, or an elephant, and I was dripping in sweat. I was in bed and naked, and the room was dark. I was struggling to think what had happened before I had fallen asleep and it took a few seconds for the fog to lift and then I gasped. Liam marked me! Everything flooded back in, the fight, the sex, the feel of his canines as they grazed my marking spot. I shivered at the memory and reached up to my neck where my mark was.
Or should have been! I jumped out of bed, wincing at the pain, and ran into the bathroom. The auto lights came on and it took a second for my eyes to adjust. I searched my neck in the mirror for the sign that I had been claimed, half thinking that I needed to do my claiming right back. But there was nothing there. My skin looked completely clear, like there hadn’t been a set of Alpha canines piercing it recently.
“What the hell?” I was confused. The claiming mark didn’t fade. It healed of course, but it left a mark, a pattern that was unique to the marking party. But nothing!
I went to look for Liam. I needed to talk to him about the dream. Maybe my wolf being part free would help in some way. If we spoke to Damon’s witch friend, maybe.. Slipping on my pyjamas, I went searching the apartment, but as I was walking to the living room, I heard voices. I slowly moved towards the room and could tell that it was Liam and Damon talking. From what I could gather, they were in the dining area and a quick glance confirmed this. I stood out of sight as I listened.
"Alright, thanks, Audrey," Damon seemed to be on the phone with someone. Audrey, that was his witch friend. I watched as Damon turned to Liam.
"It doesn't look good, Liam."
"What does she think?" The look on Liam’s face sent fear racing through my stomach.
"Apparently, Erica is the key to your curse, since it was her mother who made the alteration, Audrey believes that if you don't complete the bond with Erica, the curse won't break."
"Damn it!" I felt tears on my cheeks at Liam’s desperation and anger. "This whole thing is spiralling out of control. All I want is to protect my pack and be with the woman I love, but it seems like the universe is conspiring against us." I wanted to tell him that we would find a way, but I knew in my heart that I already had a way, I just didn’t like it.
