Kidnapped from her pack and abused since childhood, when Arden finally wanders free into the arms of her mate, how long until her demons come looking for her?
اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
When the glass came tumbling down upon us, I didn't know what to think. But when I heard a splutter from across the table, something deep within me knew it was bad.
I looked over the see Kaden, clutching his side. A fast spreading cloud of crimson blood beginning to devour his shirt.
A scream, high and feral pierced the ear, a scream that left my lips.
His chest heaved as he fell to the floor. Coughing violently, and with every heave of his lungs, more and more blood left his lips.
I tried to scream, but my lips where unresponsive. I tried to call for help, but nobody herd. My cries fell upon deaf ears.
A large shadow loomed over Kaden, tendril like fingers advancing towards him as his body grew weaker every passing second.
"No! Leave him alone!" I screamed, throwing myself over his limp body, -to shelter him from the darkness.
But still it advanced forward, pushing away the light as it moved to take Kaden from me,
"Please!" I cried, my voice breaking as I begged, "He's everything I have!"
But it was no use, the darkness grew taller, hungrier. -and soon it covered everything. Taking Kaden with it, until all that was left was black and rugged. Like a veil over the land, unbroken and never ending.
I was alone as my world went dark.
***
"Kaden!"
My hands flew to the empty space next to me, the sheets barren and bare. No signs of the man that should be laying there.
"Arden?" Came his confused voice,
The bathroom door swung open to reveal Kaden, and though he still had s slight limp in his step, he was recovering, slowly. Slower then a lycanthrope of his status should.
Though people hit by silver bullets don't usually live to tell the tale,
"Another nightmare?" He asked, the bed dipping slightly as he sat down.
I nodded, and he wrapped his arms around me, in a comforting embrace. He smelled like pine, like the freedom and freshness of the woods.
It had been three weeks since the shooting. -Three weeks of nightmares. Three weeks of waking up every morning to the sound of my own screams.
Three weeks of hell. But the aftermath was nothing compared to the day it all happened.
"Stop," he mumbled, his lips moving idly against my skin, "You're thinking too much."
"I can't help it," I grumbled, "You almost died Kaden, I could have lost you."
"You know that I would never leave you, or our pup."
"But you almost did." I nuzzled my face deep into his neck, the familiar tingles working to calm me slightly.
"I'm still here aren't I?" He smiled, running his fingers through my long hair.
I hummed, breaking away from the embrace to place a chaste kiss upon his lips.
"Our pup will be an Alpha." He murmured, his hands moving to stroke my stomach.
"What if it's a girl?" I asked. I was fine with both, I would love it unconditionally either way.
"Then, she will be an Alpha. She will be strong, and she will lead Grey Winter." He said.
A female Alpha? There were none in this land. Except for one, far up north were the mountains touched the clouds and the water ran clear as glass through the pines.
Her name was Nyra, or so I believed.
"It has been done before and it shall be done again, if our pup is a girl, then I will not let her be shoved aside. If she wants to lead. Then so she shall."
My heart swelled with pride at his words, he would love our child, no matter what. I was glad to have a mate like him, someone who genuinely cared.
***
"So it's settled, you'll name the baby Lumen!" She smirked, spinning around on Kaden's office chair.
"I'm not naming the baby after you!" I chuckled, Lumen had seemingly gotten it into her head that I was going to name my firstborn child after her. I think not.
"Why not?" She groaned, spinning faster on the chair, accidentally knocking papers off the desk as she went.
"Because!" I laughed, though I couldn't come up with an excuse as to why I wouldn't name my child after her.
She stopped spinning and let out an exasperated sigh, "Fine! But don't come crying to me when your child gets bullied because you name it something stupid!"
"What? Something stupid like...Lumen?" I smirked, swinging my legs from the place where I was perched on the edge of Kaden's desk.
"Ha! So funny I almost forgot to laugh!" She smirked, her voice dripping with sarcasm, but hen her smile dropped and face face turned stoic "Anyways... Any news on the gunman?"
I paused, the grin dropping from my face in turn, replaced by a pained frown. Anger bubbled up within me.
"I think we all know who it was."
He had taken everything from me, but yet that still wasn't enough, He had to take more.
Lumen scowled, her jaw clenched and her fists balled tightly.
"Elijah."
*** Sorry for the late update😬😬 The chapter is called Nyra even though she only had a very small role in this chapter because I'll probably write a book about her in the future. Anyways... Don't forget to vote and comment! -🍟
