Unbound (Bound To You sequel)

TWELVE - Death To Our Enemies, pt. 1

Few things had felt as sweet as unlocking the cell for Robin.

"Don't look so smug," he told me but he was grinning. "If it was me, I'd have found those keys ages ago."

"Try never," I said, thankful to be able to let off some steam with a little banter. We were going to be fine now. We'd get out of here and get in contact with James. Go home probably. Whatever was going on, James would surely come with us if we went back. Maybe I wouldn't go with them at all?

Did that make me a coward? I just felt like getting kidnapped was enough excitement for one year. Or a lifetime. Now all I really wanted was to go home and marathon some Top Model and then some Top Gear. Cars and clothes and some ice cream to go with it seemed just what the doctored ordered.

"Hey! What about me?" Greg called and I remembered I had another person to free. I did so, but felt nowhere near the satisfaction I had at letting Robin out.

"Thank you!" he said, smiling at me. For a moment I thought he was going to hug me but he thankfully didn't.

"Megan," Robin said. "Something is wrong."

"Wrong?" I asked as I unlocked my cell and went to quickly get my clothes on.

"With the pack. It's...they're hunting," he said, coming towards me, then turning around when he saw I wasn't fully dressed. I wondered why - most werewolves didn't think public nudity was a big deal - but figured it was his age. Despite his mid-twenties appearance, he was as old as James, almost a century. Back then modesty was more of a thing I figured.

"So? They were going after the nest, weren't they?" I asked, snapping my bra into place and then reaching for my sweater. I didn't want to admit I couldn't feel the pack. Well, maybe, Tommy. I'd felt something from him a minute ago, but now the pack bond that tied us together was quiet. Maybe too quiet. "I'm decent."

"The sun hasn't fully set yet," Robin said facing me. "No wraiths. We need to get out of here and contact James."

I nodded and exited my cell.

As I did, the floor suddenly dropped away, everything went back and a knife sharp pain blew through me.

In the blackness, I fumbled, desperate to find the missing link. To put it back, unbreak that which had been broken.

But I couldn't. There was only emptiness and darkness. It was like standing in a field of stars, watching one go out, knowing that it had stopped burning years ago.

Nothing I could do.

Nothing anyone could.

Someone in the pack had died.

Gone.

Lost

Dead.

Forever separated from us.

I howled and screamed in the field of stars, in the field of emptiness.  

One howl came back to me. A shadow in the distance I couldn't quite see.

Then even that last remnant was gone.

"Who?" I panted. I was panting, shaking, half on the floor half in Robin's lap. He too looked as bad as I felt, his handsome face grayer than I'd ever seen it.

"Owen," he said.

When he said it, I felt it. Owen. Owen who cooked and gave strange advice. Owen, whose girl, Josie, I'd convinced him to introduce me to. Owen who apparently was a terrible driver even after a century. Owen...gone.

Gone.

I turned to the side, away from Robin, and threw up.

Owen...

"Come on," Robin said, getting up and pulling me with him. I grabbed onto him, meaning it to be just for support since I felt shaky. But breathing in his warmth, his scent and feeling the bond we shared - one so similar to the one that I'd shared with Owen - but this was still there between me and Robin, strong and true and bright, I couldn't help it.

I began to cry.

For the little time I'd known Owen. For the loss to the pack. From the shock of his death. Probably from the shock of mine and Robin's own situation. Most of all, I cried for the memories that would never be now.

I'm sorry.

"We shouldn't have come here," I muttered into Robin's neck. "We should have been there to protect him. He was ours. Ours."

Robin pulled me away from him slightly, looking straight into my eyes.

"I swear to you," he said, wiping at my tear-streaked cheek, "death to our enemies Megan."

"Death to our enemies," I repeated seeking strength in those words. In the promise of retribution in his eyes. Robin had known Owen half a lifetime. They'd shared so much. Been pack, brothers, for longer than I had lived. Yet here he was, comforting me. That wasn't right. "Yes. And I promise it to you too. Death to our enemies."

He began to nod but before he could, his eyes caught on something behind me which made his whole body tense. Before I had even a chance to ask what, Greg spoke.

"A pretty but empty promise," he said with a voice that didn't fit with his puppy dog look. And when I turned around he had a gun pointed at us. "Now, get back in the cell."

//

A/N: Yes! Yes! I know. It's short and I'm starting to feel like I'm the Queen of Cliffhangers but I just can't help it. Got the pt. 2 of this chapter almost done but I've got some Easter things going down so we'll see if I can get it all done for you this weekend or not.

In other news, last week the paperback version of Bound To You was published (with a new sexy cover!) and I got a few copies of the new book in the mail! 

I know a few of you have been wanting to read Bound To You but haven't bought the book... well, this might be your chance to get your hands on a copy! 

Yeah! 

There might be a GIVEAWAY in the works. But there are quite a few things I'm unsure about how that works, so just stayed tuned while I try to figure it all out!