Fated for the Alphas: The Complete Collection (Nine Book Paranormal Romance Box Set) (61 page)

She shivered. Her blood felt like ice again.

Shade took Sequoia’s hand. “You were right, sister. You have done well. And I am a generous Alpha. I want to give you exactly what you deserve.” He held out his arms. “Embrace me.”

Sequoia looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She finally had the approval she seemed to crave.

Sobbing, she threw her arms around her brother. Shade took her in his arms. His eyes were still on Lia’s when he plunged the knife into her back.

Sequoia screamed. Lia couldn’t look away. She was frozen in place, and her traitorous eyes wouldn’t shut.

Shade let his sister fall to the floor. Blood flowed from her wound, spilling under the boulder. Lia covered her mouth to keep from heaving.

“Why?” Sequoia gasped.

Shade looked down at her coldly. “Because I’m done with you.”

There were a few more breaths, and then none.

“Was that informative, my pet?”

Something about his voice made her bolt to her feet. He was going to come in after her. If she stayed still, she was going to die. In the darkness, she kicked the jar of ink and slipped on a pile of papers. But here was a bow, and quiver. Here was her bough. Now there was only the bolt-hole, though which stone was she supposed to move? She couldn’t remember.

“What are you doing in there, my turtledove?” There was a screech of what must be Shade’s claw against stone. “Be a good pet and come to your master.”

His voice made her heart race, made it hard to think. She was breathing too fast. If she wasn’t careful, she’d hyperventilate and faint. That wouldn’t help at all. Taking deep breaths, she tried to concentrate.

There was a loud thud, and the boulder shuddered. Lia’s breaths came in gulps now. He’d be through any second. She tried not to panic as her fingers scrabbled over the rocks in the wall. Which stone had it been? In her panic, she pushed two at once, but neither moved. Was one of these the wrong stone? Or was she too weak to shift the right one?

The boulder shrieked as it was forced back.

“I’m coming to fetch you.” Shade’s voice sounded louder now, ringing in her ears. “And then I’ll bring you to heel.”

She gave a stone a furious push, and it moved under her hands. Tears rolling freely down her face, Lia shoved it out of her way. She scrambled through the opening, pulling her bough and bow after her.

Blinking in the bright sunlight, she threw the bow over her back with the quiver. Lia replaced the stone as quietly as she could, then swung onto the bough. Circling around the back of the den, she flew fast and low over the meadow.

Chapter Four

She was almost to the river when a spine-tingling howl rose over the meadow. Shade knew she was gone. Lia clutched the bough, bending as low as she could. The woods were so close. She would be harder to spot among the trees, and maybe she could find some of her pack. Her heart hammered. She didn’t want to face the Shadow pack alone.

Lia heard baying behind her, like hunting hounds. Her palms sweat on the birch. She couldn’t let them catch her. She couldn’t let them drag her to Shade.

Risking a glance back, she saw the meadow grasses whipping back and forth. They were gaining on her.

She looked for a second too long. The birch was rocketing toward an oak tree, and there was no time to turn its course. Lia threw herself to the ground as the bough crashed into the tree.

The bough broke in a shower of splinters. Lia rolled to one side, struggling to her feet. She sucked in a breath. Her left side was a mass of pain, and she’d had the wind knocked out of her. Massaging her arm, she glanced around.

There was the crossing. There was Kane’s willow. It seemed those were her choices, to run or hide.

The baying was closer now. Soon the hunters would break out of the meadow grasses. Once they did, she could only run, and hope she was faster than they were.

She grazed her fingers over her belly. She had to protect the babe. Could she shift? Should she shift? Or would that hurt the babe inside her? She didn’t want to risk it, but nothing would matter much if they caught her.

Her arm settled the matter. As she lowered it, it pulsed with pain. Lia gasped. There would be no running.

Treading silently, she slipped beneath the willow’s branches. The curtain of leaves was thick enough to hide her now. The disadvantage was that she couldn’t see out—if they ran at her, she’d be done.

She heard the pounding of paws. They slowed. Then there was the sound of footsteps.

“I smell her.” It was Raid. Lia could picture him now, with his cold sneer, the chunk of flesh missing from his arm. She would find no mercy there.

Moving slowly, almost painfully so, Lia pulled her bow off her back.

“She’s not here.” The second voice made her blink. It was Finn, the mage boy. Shade must have sent him in case Lia tried using magic to escape.

“How do you know?” Raid sounded impatient. “This place stinks of her.”

“The bough is an illusion. Hers is whole, and probably flying among the trees. Do you want to tell Shade why we lost her?”

Raid growled. “You’d better not be lying.” There was a scuffling in the grass. “This chunk of wood feels real to me.”

“Of course it does.” Finn sounded bored. “She’s a great witch. Or did you forget that she brought someone back from the dead?”

Raid grunted. “Fine. But we’re making sure. Check under that tree, it looks like a good hidey hole.”

Lia put an arrow to her bowstring, fingers trembling. Finn might be lying for her, but that wouldn’t matter in a moment or two. Raid wasn’t blind. And if he had to make a choice, surely Finn would give her up and save his own skin.

She drew back her bowstring as a hand parted the willow’s leaves.

Finn stood there, gazing at her. Lia met his eyes, her arrow trained on his heart. It was now or never. She didn’t want to kill him, but she had to protect her babe.

His eyes were as green as the willow leaves. He looked at her without fear, without enmity. Lia let the bowstring slacken. Finn was just as lost as she was. She couldn’t bring herself to loose the arrow.

“I don’t see anything,” Finn said.

“Sure you don’t.” Raid slashed through the leaves, sticking his crooked nose into the willow’s canopy.

Her mouth went dry. In her fear she felt rooted to the earth, unable to draw or aim the bow. It was over.

Raid scanned the area, his eyes glossing over Lia. She didn’t dare to breathe. Could he really not see her?

Looking down, she realized her hands, feet, and body were gone. Even her bow had vanished. She stared at Finn in disbelief. Was he actually hiding her?

“Let’s go, then.” Raid clapped a hand on Finn’s shoulder, dragging him back outside. “We need to find her before Shade skins us alive.”

Lia stayed under the willow, stock still, until she heard their footsteps on the bridge over the river. She drew in shaky breaths, trying not to think about how close she had come to losing everything. Only when her body and bow became visible again did she sink to the ground, groaning softly.

What should she do now?

“Well? Are you just going to sit there?”

Lia nearly jumped out of her skin as Lilah stepped from behind the willow’s trunk.

“Lilah?” She stood, but didn’t dare touch her daughter. What if she was just an illusion, or a ghost?

The girl frowned. “Why are you looking at me like that? I haven’t died.” She slapped her forehead. “Shit! I forgot to tell you, didn’t I?” Lilah lifted up her buckskin shirt to reveal a wicked scar across her stomach. “Still alive. Tada!”

The scar made Lia wince. It was barely healed, still puckered in places. Whoever treated her hadn’t been an expert.

“You didn’t really think a knife killed me, did you? How mundane.”

The worry and fear Lia had been trying to tamp down for a week came flooding to the surface. “I was afraid you were dead.” Her knees almost buckled.

Lilah caught her, holding her up. “I’m not, Mom. Look.” Tenderly, Lilah wrapped her in a hug. “Warm and solid. See?”

Lia wiped away a tear. “You couldn’t have told me earlier?”

“I meant to tell you.” Lilah ducked her head, looking guilty. “There just wasn’t enough time.”

“Not enough time? Are you a time jumper or not?”

“Come on, Mom.” Lilah’s face was red. “I said I was sorry. I got distracted.”

“And what was so distracting?” Lia was instantly alert. What dangers lay in the future?

Lilah’s blush deepened. “A boy.”

“A… a boy?” It was the last thing Lia had expected to hear.

“He saved me. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

Lia blinked, trying to take everything in. “Who saved you?”

“He was just here.” She pointed toward the willow leaves. “Finn.”

“Finn?” Lia sat heavily. She had almost shot an arrow through his heart. “When did… when does that happen?”

“Soon.” She smiled dreamily, looking at the willow leaves.

“Why’d you do it?” Lia’s voice trembled. “Why’d you almost die for me? It’s true, isn’t it, that I’m your mother—” she almost choked on the word “—so I never want you to risk yourself for me.”

“I had to though, didn’t I?” Lilah smiled. “If Shade had stabbed
you
in the belly, that would have been the end of me. And I need to be born sometime, after all.”

Lia cupped her stomach with one hand. It was so strange to realize that Lilah was both in front of her and growing inside her.

“Shade’s still out there,” Lilah said. “What are we going to do?”

“There’s no ‘we,’” Lia replied flatly. “You’ve already risked your life once, and I won’t let you do it again.”

Her daughter laughed. “By that logic, you shouldn’t be fighting either. Besides, you have that babe inside you to worry about.”

“Yeah, that’s you. And I don’t want you hurt pre- or post-birth. So go away.”

Lilah shook her head. “You’re not the only one here I care about, you know. If you haven’t noticed, Finn’s still under Shade’s thumb. I need to make sure he survives.”

“Because he saves you,” Lia said softly.

“Because I
love
him,” Lilah retorted.

Lia sighed. If Shade, his pack, or one of the Twin River wolves somehow killed Finn, then he wouldn’t be able to save her daughter. The thought made her head hurt.

“Could you just talk to Finn?” Lia asked. “Pull him aside, and get you both to safety?”

Lilah looked at her like she was crazy. “Why would he listen to me? He doesn’t even know me.”

Lia groaned, feeling a headache coming on. She didn’t have time for one of those. At least it distracted her from the nausea still swirling in her stomach.

“Come on,” Lilah said. “Let’s find some of the pack.”

“Are you going to shift?” Lia asked. “I’m not sure I can right now.”

“Oh.” Lilah reddened. “I guess you’ll find out eventually. I can’t shift, actually.”

“You can’t?”

“Please don’t get on my case about it,” Lilah said. “Everyone else does. Dads were particularly upset. Please try to calm them down, when they find out.” Her eyes were pleading. “Tell them not to be too disappointed.” She looked down. “That was a bad day. You’re not disappointed, are you?”

Lia held back a smile. “It seems to me like you already have enough talents.”

“You’re sure? You’re not upset?”

She put an arm around Lilah. “I think you’re perfect.”

Lilah giggled. “That is such a mom thing to say.”

Now Lia had to grin. It was odd how maternal she felt toward Lilah, who seemed just a few years younger than she was.

“It’s not all bad,” Lilah said. “Since I can’t shift, I have more time to practice with these.” She pulled out two short swords, silver and gleaming. “You can’t hold these with paws.”

Lia admired the weapons. The blades were as long as her hand and forearm. They’d be light, but easy to maneuver.

“Where’d you get those?” she asked.

Lilah ducked her head, putting the swords back in their scabbards. “Finn made them for me. He says they cut through magic as well as flesh. He told me that after being sliced with a blade, I needed some of my own.”

Lia could agree with that. Especially if her daughter couldn’t shift, she’d need to learn how to fight.

“Are you happy, now that I have some pointy swords?” Lilah asked. “Can we go already? This time, don’t bother telling me I can’t. There’s you, and Dads, and Lark to protect, not to mention Finn. He’s told me about all the horrible things Shade’s doing to him. I can’t let that creep torture him for another second.”

“What’s your plan?” Lia asked. “Are we going to take on Shade and his pack, just the two of us?”

Lilah shrugged. “Why not?”

“I’m pregnant with you, I have no magic today, you can’t shift and I probably shouldn’t… I think it would be a short fight.”

“Then let’s find some reinforcements.” Lilah strode out of the willow, striking into the forest. Lia was forced to follow.

From the meadow came a long, low howl that raised the hair on her nape. It was Shade, that much was obvious. But the howl was something she had never heard before. It was cocky, commanding, authoritative. He was claiming the Twin River den, she realized. He was marking it as his own territory. She clenched her fists. Just see how long he could hold it.

Lilah stopped short, and Lia almost ran into her. Something rustled in the undergrowth ahead. Lia raised her bow.

Someone sneezed.

“Quiet!” came the harsh whisper. “Someone’s out there!”

“We are.” Lia’s voice sounded cold and distant in her own ears. “Surrender, or we’ll cut you down where you stand.”

A giggle rose from the forest floor.

Lia lowered her weapon. “Cricket? Is that you?”

“Yes.” She stood, holding a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, Lia, I shouldn’t laugh. It’s just, you nearly scared the tail off of Huck.”

Dove came up beside her, grinning. “I think he jumped three feet in the air.”

“I was just startled, for your information.” Huck walked past them, brushing dirt off his hands. “Besides, I’m not ashamed to admit that my Alpha is intimidating. Just imagine what she’ll do to Shade’s minions.”

“They’ll piss themselves,” Cricket said.