Chapter 1 - Shane
As I turn off the main road from Silver Valley onto the country lane, I slam my foot down on the gas, pressing the pedal to the floor. The tires squeal against the asphalt, and it just makes me long for more speed. When I reach the turn-off for the dirt track, I barely slow down, and my little hunk of junk teeters wildly on two wheels before finally finding the road again.
Don’t fall apart on me now, you piece of shit. I can’t take any more bad news.
Even though my car is shuddering and shaking like it might literally fall to pieces, I don’t slow down. The dirt road dips and twists, and the vibrations run up my arms and into my shoulders as I struggle to keep her steady.
I have to get to the manor.
The thought drifts through the fog in my mind, the only point of clarity within me. I’ve spent so many days wrung out by worry and helplessness that I’ve gotten pretty good at shielding my pain, but now it’s all threatening to come out at once.
Liza, gone. I can’t believe this. I won’t accept this!
A wave of grief and loss floods through me, so powerful that my vision wavers and I have to grip the steering wheel. The sickness stalking the pack has slowly gotten stronger and faster, but this morning was the moment it reached into my chest and almost tore out my heart.
Liza was known as our Den Mother. No one knew how old she was, and she refused to tell. My mother told me once that Liza had been old even when she was a child.
She took care of me, after… everything. She took care of us all.
When the pack began to fall ill, Liza was the first person to step up as a caretaker. For almost a year now, she had tirelessly run our infirmary, seeing us through the worsening days and keeping our hope alive as we watched the other packs recover while we didn’t.
A week ago, she fell ill, and even though I knew what had to happen, I managed to lie to myself every single day. When she finally slipped away in my arms this morning, the shock was so extreme that I lost control of myself for a few minutes.
Everyone was crying and screaming… It’s not like I was the only one losing it. Liza was bulletproof. She’d survived everything the pack ever had to face. I wasn’t alone in grief and shock.
Before I even really knew what happened, I was in my car, speeding towards the manor. I’ve had to watch the other packs recover while mine slowly dwindles, and now I know I can’t wait one second more.
If Liza can die, anyone can die. How long until they are all gone?
The thought horrifies me. The pack are my family, every single one of them. I’ve tried to be patient, I’ve gone through all the stupid rituals that didn’t work, but now something has to be done.
Liza’s final moments replay through my head again, and I blink hard, trying to think of something, anything else. I can feel her in my arms, her thin, frail body weighing almost nothing as she takes her final breath.
“Shane… love. The answer is love.”
The whisper was so soft, I barely heard it. I’ll remember her last words forever, but I can’t help but think she wasted them.
We know that already, after seeing what happened with the other packs.
Who exactly am I supposed to love, though?
The car shoots over a small rise, becoming airborne for a second, then crashing back down with a horrible clunk that makes every bolt and nut squeal. I wince and grip the steering wheel, focusing a bit more on my driving as I come through the trees onto the gravel drive in front of the manor.
The place still looks foreboding, but no longer grotesque. Since the success of the previous rituals, the vibe at the old house has changed, even if it hasn’t fully lifted.
I suppose my bride will make the transformation complete.
Part of me shrinks away from those words. I know what will eventually happen, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I never really thought about having a mate, even though I knew I’d have to someday—and I sure as fuck never considered a human or a witch for my partner.
I set my teeth together in determination as I pull the car up to such a sudden stop, gravel sprays around it, pinging off the sides.
Rhys is going to kill me. He just fixed the fucking thing again.
I get out of the car and look up at the high windows. The manor is completely dark, which unsettles me a bit. Far beyond it, the sun has just sunk under the horizon, leaving the sky aviolent shade of orange. Even though the place has no electricity, I expected to see the soft glow of candles or torches.
Unless everyone is dead.
Cold fingers of fear tickle across my guts, and I hurry inside. Now that I’m here, I’m not even sure what I want to do. I was in such a panic to get away from the infirmary and find a solution, I didn’t think through what I’d actually do when I got here.
