Forget Me Not (Phased Moonlight Series Book 2) (11 page)

              Her head snapped up as Trisha was thrown into the room. “No!” Sera cried, desperately pulling on the chains that held her.

              “Sera?” Trisha sobbed as the man kicked her in the ribs, then screamed as her ribs splintered.

              “Stop, you fiend! Damn you! Just stop it!” Sera begged.

The man pulled Trisha’s head up by her hair, causing her to yelp. He grabbed a knife from his belt and sliced her silken strands, letting her head slam violently onto the concrete floor. He threw her sliced locks on Sera, still wearing a sickening smile.

A dazed and terrified Trisha reached up with a bloodied hand, grabbed Sera’s ankle, and crawled toward her. “Sera, please save me!”

              Sera’s tears fell down her cheeks, dripping down onto Trisha’s swollen ones. “I am so sorry.”

              The man picked Trisha up again and began to defile her, destroying her innocence along with her body. He beat her and sliced her with the knife, all while Sera helplessly watched. After torturing and abusing her for a while, he stood above her and laughed while she screamed for him to stop. Then, in one fell swoop, he reached down and twisted her neck sharply, silencing her pleas.

              “No!” Sera cried as she stared down at her lifeless friend.

              “Next,” Ceolus bellowed, causing Sera to shrink away from him.

              “No! Please don’t,” Sera begged as both Faith and Ally were dragged into the room. Each of them had sustained deep, bleeding wounds, and their skin was spotted with black and blue bruises.

              “You promised you would keep us safe,” Faith cried as the man holding her began to hit her.

              Ally called for help as well, and her cries grew louder when more men entered the room.

Sera shut her eyes from the gruesome sight as they destroyed her friends. She sobbed, rattling her chains, wishing she could end their torture and kill those responsible. Slowly, their cries died down, and she opened her eyes to find them panting on the floor quietly, naked and bloodied beyond recognition.

              The largest of the wolves walked over to Faith and grabbed her small head in his hands. He jerked and pulled once, ripping her head right off of her body. Sera screamed hoarsely as Faith’s head rolled to a stop in front of her; her eyes were still open, staring up at Sera in terror.

              “Sera…” Ally muttered as a naked wolf lifted her into his arms. He leaned into her neck, licking the blood and tears from her skin. With a menacing snarl, he sank his teeth into her jugular, silencing her throaty screams. He snapped his head back, spraying her precious blood across the room; Sera gasped as she was showered with her friend’s warm blood. Ally’s broken and battered body then fell to the floor with a gruesome
thud
, making Sera  shudder.

              With a joyous laugh, Ceolus stood from his throne and walked over to her. “Are you broken yet, my dear?”

              “I will kill you,” Sera growled, her body trembling with anger.

              He frowned and opened his mouth to retort, but a loud
bang
in the distance stopped him.

              “Sera!” Koda snarled.

              “Koda! I’m in here! Come quick!”

              Her mate slammed into the room, his eyes glowing magnificently as he bared his lengthened canines. The men in the room attacked him, but Sera was not worried; she was sure her powerful mate could handle them, especially when he was so furious. She was right, for one by one, Koda tore into the wolves, thrashing and snarling as he did. When the last of his enemies fell, he ran to her and wiped the blood from her face. He kissed her lips gently, wiping her tears.

              “Koda…” She sobbed.

              “Shh, my love. I’m here. No—”

              Suddenly, his words were stripped from him as knife was driven through his heart.

Sera couldn’t even cry out, for her voice was silenced by shock as Koda’s lifeless form slid down her body. She fell limp in her chains, staring into his face. “No. This can’t… It can’t happen,” she whispered.

              Ceolus laughed and leaned down to pat Koda’s pink cheek. He then made quick work of unchaining Sera.

Finally free, she fell on Koda’s body and clung to him, trying to salvage the lingering heat. She brushed her fingers through his bloody hair, shaking him fiercely, as if she might jolt the life back into him somehow. She watched as the mating marks on her skin dulled and grayed. She pressed a last kiss on Koda’s lips and whispered words of love.

              Finally, she looked up at Ceolus with a stern expression on her face. “Kill me,” she said, dead serious. 

              He placed his hand on his chin, as if debating the idea. “Hmm. I don’t know if I want to.”

              “Kill me!” Sera bellowed, standing. She lunged at Ceolus and struck him across the face with as much strength she could muster.

He growled at her and caught her hand before she could hit him again. He kicked her legs out from under her, causing her to crash back down on the wet stone floor. “Soon, my dear,” Ceolus said as he kicked her in the ribs. “Soon, I will grant your wish.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Who Is the Enemy?

Even the strongest can fall. Many think themselves invincible. I now know better. I have see the two strongest people I know crumble in a matter of seconds. I once thought I was safe. What wishful, foolish thinking that was. We are never safe. Our ignorance will destroy us faster than any enemy can.
~ Faith Adams

            
 
K
oda watched as Ceolus slowly disappeared with his mate in his arms. His heart broke as he felt her anger and betrayal burn through their mate bond. He tried to call to her but felt the bond shut tight, and he knew she was unconscious.

              He threw his head back and howled, loosening the control on his wolf. His pack answered his call and ran to him. His father phased into his human form and accepted a pair of sweats from a wolf who was carrying a pack in his muzzle. He threw a pair to Koda, signaling for him to get dressed.

Nodin raced toward Faith, who was clutching her bleeding arm to her chest.

              “What happened?” Antonio asked with a growl.

              “Taken,” Koda said. His alpha power seeped into the air, causing them all to fall to their knees.

              “Koda,” Trisha said from the ground, “who took her?”

              He did not grace her with an answer but a command: “Everyone go to the den meeting house now!”

              Koda released his power, allowing them to get up and hightail it to the pack house.

Jackson, however, stayed. He shifted and grabbed pair of sweats. Jackson walked toward him, his throat bared. “We will find her.”

              “He took her. He actually took her,” Koda whispered.

              “How he did it is the question.”

              Koda shook with the need to shift. “I need to kill something.”

              Jackson shook his head. “No. What you need to do is keep your head so we can rescue my alpha.”

              Koda didn’t respond; he simply took off at a dead sprint in his human skin, quickly moving toward the house, where his loyal pack had gathered.

He walked to the center of the room, making eye contact with each dominant there. “My mate was taken from us by an enemy we have been dealing with for a long time. Ceolus Acconci is responsible for Sera’s abduction.”

              “But h-how did he get away?” Ally stuttered. “He just d-disappeared.”

              Kami stepped forward, baring her throat. “It was dark magic, Alpha.”

              “Impossible,” Koda said with a snarl that was so fierce it enticed Bret to wrap a protective arm around Kami’s waist. “He is a werewolf and nothing more.”

              Kami averted her eyes, sensing how unstable Koda was. “He has what fairies call a
magica nigra instituo,
‘black magic implant.’ It’s a pocket of magic that allows someone to use the magic of the one who inserted it. Whoever placed the
instituo
would have had to have bonded with Ceolus, either physically or mentally, and they have to be extremely powerful. The placing alone is extremely dangerous, and if it is embedded too long, the user can go insane.” 

              “Can you trace the magical trail?” Koda asked.

              She shook her head. “Because he only used his magic on Sera, he left a trail on her alone. If you have something of Ceolus’s, possibly, but—”

              “Would a knife with his blood on it work?” Antonio asked.

              “Yes.”

              Antonio ran from the room to retrieve the knife. 

              “As for the rest of you, watch for traitors or trespassers. No on leaves or enters my land without my authorization. Go now. As for you humans,” Koda said, looking at them and growling, “you must return home. Pack your shit and be ready to leave before morning.”

              “No!” Faith said.

Koda froze in his tracks and turned to look at her with a scowl on his face. “I’m sorry, but perhaps I heard you wrong. No one disobeys me here.”

              “I said no,” she spat. “You might be the boss of these wolves, their alpha or whatever, but you’re not the boss of me.”

              He swung around to face her, his eyes glowing brilliant green.

Her little body still trembled with adrenaline, and she clutched her bandaged arm to her chest.

              “Faith—” Richard began, placing his hands on his twin’s shoulders.

              “No!” she said, shaking her brother off. “Ceolus was only able to get Sera alone because the maniac used me and Ally as leverage. I’m not going anywhere.”

              Koda stalked toward her, reveling in the scent of fear. “I believe I told you to pack up and leave.”

              “And I believe I said I’m not going anywhere. You are not my boss, and I am not afraid of you.”

              Koda smiled, allowing his wolf to slip through. His teeth lengthened and poked through his lips. He grabbed her throat and pulled her off the floor by her neck. The sound of her gasping and coughing amused him and thrilled his wolf. “You should be very, very afraid of this big, bad wolf, little girl,” Koda growled. He dropped her to the floor and took delight in it when she coughed and sputtered again. “You are only alive because you are important to my mate. Otherwise, I would kill you for your mouth alone.”

              Faith rubbed her neck as Richard helped her up. “Go ahead!” she said hoarsely. “Throw us around if you want, like the animal you are. It won’t change anything. You’re only acting like this because it’s your fault that Sera’s gone! You knew this guy was after her, and you said nothing. You kept it from her, and now she’s gone…because of you!” 

              Koda lunged at her, but Nodin tackled him to the side. He regained his foot quickly and lunged at the idiotic wolf. Nodin didn’t fight back; he simply lodged his body between Koda and the humans. Koda slashed his claws into his third’s body and punched him with all his might. He lost his senses and continued his horrible assault on the weaker wolf, even as Nodin began to wobble and stumble.

              “Koda!” Jackson yelled, throwing him away from Nodin’s body. “Remember who the enemy is, brother.”

              Slowly, Koda took control of his wolf again. He stepped back and looked down at his bloody hands.

              “Take the humans back to the guesthouse,” Jackson said as he helped Nodin up.

              Nodin nodded and did as he was asked.

When he and Koda were alone again, Jackson put his hands on his hips and stared at his alpha.

              “Don’t give me that look,” Koda said, walking toward the window.

              “What look?”

              “That what-the-hell-were-you-thinking look.”

              “Do you not realize what you did? You attacked a human and a female at that. Then you attacked your third! Nodin was only doing what any of us would do.”

              “Don’t you think I know that? The only reason he still lives is because he was only trying to protect the weaker race.”

              “You mustn’t let your wolf dominate you. If you do, you will endanger everyone.” 

              “I know, but I cannot think about that now. I can only worry about her. What is he doing to her? What if he touches her? What if I can’t stop him?” 

              “Stop, Koda. Don’t do this to yourself. Have you tried to contact her through the bond?”

              Koda nodded stiffly. “She was unconscious when he took her. She’s awake now, and she’s understandably pissed, but it’s as if she can’t hear me calling to her.”

              His mother and father entered the room.

Nichole’s eyes were bloodshot, and tears streaked her cheeks. She ran to Koda and hugged him close. “Oh, my son, I am so, so sorry.”             

              Koda hugged his mother tightly, allowing the comfort that only a mother could provide.

              “We will get her back,” she said, then kissed him on the cheek.

              “What if he does something to her? What if I’m not quick enough?” 

              “None of that,
mio figlio
(my son),” Antonio said with a growl. “We will find her. Any other outcome is unacceptable.”

             
In spite of his father’s and mother’s assurances, fear suddenly swallowed Koda like a tsunami, sending him to his knees. Horrible, torturous images filled his mind, and he gasped; he knew those grim thoughts were not his own. He saw what Sera saw as a man he knew, Ozcar, beat and raped Trisha right in front of her. “It’s not real,” he yelled, praying to All Mother that Sera could hear him. 

              He helplessly watched as Faith and Ally met the same disastrous fate, then saw himself running through the door to kill the wolves who that had hurt her friends. As he ran to her, a knife was thrust into his chest. He watched as the fight slowly left her eyes, and she begged Ceolus to kill her.

             
“No, Sera! I’m here! I’m alive!” 

              No matter how hard he tried to cry out to her, she did not hear him, and as Ceolus beat her senseless, he felt his hold on his humanity slip through his fingers. He pressed his forehead to the hardwood floor, yelling at the top of his lungs. He watched as his enemy destroyed his mate, breaking every bone in her body while she simply cried. Ceolus wrapped his hands around Sera’s head and pressed a sucking kiss to her lips before twisting sharply. Blackness filled Koda’s mind as the mate bond snapped and his wolf went feral.

* * *

              Faith waited until her friends went into their rooms. Once they were all out of sight, she quietly slipped from the guest cabin and went back into the main house. She slipped right past multiple saddened wolves, thankful that no one stopped her.

She followed the pull she felt in her heart and knew she would be able to find him. She needed to see Nodin, to make sure he was okay. She tried to ignore the fact that she simply knew where he was; it was bizarre to her. She knocked on the door and gasped when he answered it. The entire left side of his face was swollen, and he had bleeding wounds on his chest.

              She pushed him back and entered the room without his permission. She set him down on the bed and ran into the bathroom to fetch a damp cloth, then returned to gently wipe the blood from his chest. Neither of them spoke, but she could feel his eyes watching her as she focused on her task. Tears pooled in her eyes as she tended to his wounds.

Finally, he spoke. “Stop,” he said, gently grabbing her wrists. 

              “No.” She shook her head. 

              “Stubborn female. It only causes you to cry. I can handle it myself.”

              “I’m crying because this is my fault. You have these scratches because of me. Why’d you do that, Nodin? You can be so stupid!” she said, almost frantic.

              “I was protecting you!” he yelled, not sure why she insisted on being so stern with him.

              “You could have gotten yourself killed. And for what? For me? Of all people, me?”

              “You are human. I could not let Koda kill you. He would never have forgiven himself.”

              “And what about me? Did you even stop to consider how I might feel?”

              “No,” he answered bluntly.

              “If you were killed because of me, I never would have forgiven myself.”

              “When it comes to your safety, I don’t give a damn about your feelings.”

              “God, you’re an asshole, just like every other man in my life! Did it even cross your mind that having you with me, having you alive, might be what’s best for me?/ Maybe the thought of not seeing you anymore makes my heart ache.”              

              “It does not matter,” he said with a growl. “You are a human, and I can never be with you. Humans are too weak.”

              Faith glared at him and smacked him. “I can’t believe you! I risked my ass to come here to make sure you’re okay.”

              “I did not summon you here. You are…uninvited.” 

              She tried to slap him again, but he grabbed her wrists and jerked her to his chest.

              “How?” Faith cried. “How is this so easy for you? How can you be so freaking heartless?”

              Nodin growled and took her lips in a fierce embrace. She fought him for a moment, but when his tongue traced her lips, all resistance flew out the proverbial window. She opened her mouth for him, and he gave an appreciative growl. He released her wrists to claim her hips in his grasp. She pulled his hair free from the ponytail, running her fingers through the silken strands. She loved the way it felt against her skin, and she shuddered against him as desire boiled deep within her belly. He lifted her shirt to caress the soft skin of her lower back, then pulled away from her lips to kiss down her neck. He nipped her collarbone, just enough to sting a little, without breaking the skin. He kissed the tender spot, soothing her heated skin.