Pieces of Three (17 page)

Noah returned to his seat. “It sort of makes you wonder why she did it with not one, but two if she had no chance of survival.”

“She loves us,” he whispered.

Porter wiped his hand over his face but nodded.

“A human emotion.” Noah walked over to a side table and picked up a worn wooden chest. “Still, you both chose to be with a human and share a mate.”

“We are not sharing anymore.” He crossed his arms. “Porter hid his actions from me.”

“You did the exact same thing.” Porter jutted his jaw out.

“The vows you took were for yourselves.” Noah resumed his seat. “All your lives the two of you have spent at odds. Drawn together but resistant. Did you ever consider the fact that rather than two halves of a whole you could be pieces of three?”

“It doesn’t matter what we are or aren’t! Maybe we aren’t meant to be together, only meant to torture the other.” At last Porter broke down. He got down on his knees in front of Noah. “We may never see her again! What about the mating? A human has never survived being with one us!”

Julian tensed, waiting for the verdict.

“The word never doesn’t exist as long as there’s hope.” Noah opened the chest, his words echoing parts of the vows they both said in secret. “Never is a finite word used in a world that is infinite.”

He held his breath as Noah pulled out some weathered pages from the chest.

“Of all the shifters, why do you think we look the most like them?” Noah handed them the papers. “Why do you think we are drawn to them and them to us? Why do you think the others of the Archipelago are terrified of what would happen if we ever learned to join forces?”

His chest constricted as he flipped through the pages. Noah handed him all the answers. “Why have these been hidden?”

“Sometimes the best way to heal a wound is to pretend it never existed in the first place.” Noah pressed his hand over the papers.

“Then what is wrong with her? Is she dying or not?” Porter reached out for Noah but stopped.

With all the evidence presented to him, there had to be a mistake. Energy surged through him.

Noah took both their hands. “I don’t know.”

“But?” His strength evaporated in an instant.

“I told you that never doesn’t exist.” Noah let go of them. “She could be sick and that is a fact. It could even be something else.”

“What if she’s not?” He put the papers aside and waited for the verdict. Alyssa seemed to waste away in front of him. What else could it be?

“Dealing with two males in during the lunar cycle must have taken its toll. There are repercussions to your actions and if what I suspect may be the case, you need to get to her, she needs special care.” Noah leaned over and retrieved his chest once more.

“What if our people killed her?” Porter’s voice shook with the question.

“You know we would never kill anyone who tried to help. They will merely return her to Anthros to make a point.”

“If the humans think she is sick, or if she is sick, she will be killed.” No matter which path they took, Alyssa’s life would most likely be lost. Adrenaline surged through his body and he stood.

“You still have the situation of your uncompleted mission.” Noah strummed his fingers on the chest.

“Alyssa said there was no cure other than isolating themselves from us.” He tried to fit all the clues Noah gave him together, but his mind reeled.

“Well, isolation can either make one more susceptible, or she is only relaying some words right out of a history book, and we know those are not always known for their accuracy.” Again, Noah opened the chest. He pulled out a leather pouch and handed it to Porter. “Look for the signs, they may point to your future.”

“What is this?” Porter stood and opened the pouch. “What am I looking for?”

“You’ll know.” Noah smiled.

He and Porter faced each other. “No matter what, we need to get her.”

Porter held his hand out. “Then we will see who wins.”

They shook at their reluctant pact.

“You need to come together as one.” Noah got up as well.

Still glaring at Porter, he pointed to the suitcase. “Alyssa collected not only the Antiamorphis drug the humans concocted but the antidote. It is safest here.”

“She is special and with the two of you by her side she is also a Lykan, something that will need to be reinforced to our population and to hers.” Noah escorted them to the den entrance. “Look for the signs. You will make history and you will lead.”

For the first time in his life he didn’t care about leading, he only cared about getting their mate.

* * * *

If Alyssa closed her eyes and entered into the wonderful space between sleep and wakefulness, the rustle of the sails in the wind, the smell of the salt in the sea and the bobbing of the small boat could almost put her back into those few magical days with two shifters she should have never met in her lifetime.

She told them everything was worth it and she meant it. Even at this moment after accepting her illness and being taken from them, waking up on a boat with strangers, it was worth it, though she tried her best not to look out at the water. The neverending water.

At first she assumed the two males who took her were going to kill her or worse. Instead, they fed her, made sure she had water and even gave her an extra blanket to keep warm. They wouldn’t answer any questions at all, though she asked. Of course the whole first day at sea she also assumed Julian and Porter would find her. She tried to keep her mind from inventing scenarios as to what happened to them. Her stomach twisted at the image of them getting in some sort of trouble, though she didn’t know what they could have done. She tried not to even think they could be behind her being taken off the island, or even worse, being relieved she was gone.

Her illness waxed and waned, not unlike the moon. She glanced up at the far away body that affected everything from the tide to the shifters’ urges. The full moon finally subsided, no longer a grand glowing globe, but a sad ball with a bite taken out of it. With the cycle over maybe they simply didn’t need her anymore. Part of her was relieved they didn’t have to be with her when she died.

One of the males walked across the deck, stopped and turned to her. “Are you feeling better?”

They only ever asked that one question. Something about the Lykans as a whole was intriguing. The one staring at her had dirty blond hair and would be considered extremely handsome by human terms, but he lacked the extra flair Julian possessed or the deep emotion Porter tried to hide.

Her only regret was she never told either of them how she really felt. Maybe in her own morbid thoughts she wanted to make a deathbed confession and slip away in case they didn’t feel the same. Too bad she wasn’t part animal, maybe then she could sense their feelings.

Not that it mattered, she had no future but she wished she had told them. “Do you feel love?”

The male blinked.

“Do you?” She sat up. “Do you feel love or is it all just instinct. How do you choose a mate?”

He shrugged.

“Please, just tell me.” Her eyes filled with tears. “If I had told them I loved them would they have understood, or would they have thought it a silly human thing? Was it okay to love both of them?”

“The bond between mates is both with the body and the mind. Sometimes the bond can be forged with more than one.”

She nodded, maybe that was the definition of love. The entire shifter kingdom seemed more open to different types of relationships, while humans seemed stuck in old ways.

He pointed. “We will reach Anthros soon.”

On the first day of the trip they told her where they were headed, but she secretly wanted them to drop her off at her island. With her memories she wouldn’t be alone, and she wouldn’t be a criminal.

“You need to get ready.”

Her hand went to her neck and her pendant Julian stole. It was the only thing of any value she had left. “For what?”

“To swim to shore.”

“I should have let them finish their lessons.” How come even though she knew she was going to die, she still tried to save her life? It must be instinct to hold on to every last second. Maybe she was more animal than she thought. “I can’t swim.”

Without another word, he walked away.

At last she gained her courage, stood and gasped. The lights twinkled on the buildings and the whole island seemed aglow. She’d never had the opportunity to see her home from the sea.

“I will get you as close as I can on one of the rafts.” The male returned.

“Why not kill me or let me kill myself?” Her heart sped but she wasn’t scared, a strange combination.

“You brought us the Antiamorphis injections. You deserve to have your life spared.”

It was a moot point to tell them that once she arrived on Anthros they would most likely do away with her in their own way. “I also brought you the antidote. Will you do one favor for me?” She hated trying to negotiate, but she had no more options. Scant flickers of light sparkled off the small waves, but the rest was pure black.

He didn’t answer.

“All I ask is when you return to Lykos please tell them I’m not afraid anymore.” She pressed her hand to her chest. “I did love them.”

“Do you want me to tell them that?”

She shook her head. Those words should only be spoken by her.

The boat made its way around the far side of the island with the beaches. The lights dimmed. A splash indicated they had lowered the raft used only in emergencies or for getting rid of a pesky human they didn’t want to kill. Sort of like letting the fly out of the house only to let it be trapped in a spider’s web.

“It’s time.”

She handed him back the blanket and for a quick second wondered what they would do if she demanded to be taken somewhere else or even back to Lykos. At the end, if she lived her dream and helped a whole species or even several species, it was worth it. Her father would have called it a win.

He led her to the ladder and deftly climbed down to the raft.

Somehow she was supposed to get on that miniscule square with barely any sides. Trembling took over her. Where she had been wracked with waves of sick heat, now chills consumed her, and her heart beat a warning in her ears. No doubt she was going to be ill.

“We need to go.” The male called to her.

Only a few days ago she would have been treated like a princess. On the off chance she needed to climb down a ladder hanging over the water, Porter or Julian or both would have been right there making sure nothing happened, telling to close her eyes, they would take care of her.

She took a breath. The water didn’t matter, her fear didn’t matter. What mattered was making sure that when these males returned to Lykos they didn’t describe her as some weakling human. If he kept his promise and told Porter and Julian she wasn’t afraid anymore, she wanted the words to be true. Without second guessing, she found her physical and mental strength and climbed down the ladder, basically falling onto the raft.

The way the ship tossed and turned the night of the storm didn’t compare to being out in the open on a raft that amplified a million-fold every ripple in the relatively calm waters.

She clutched the side and shut her eyes, trying to remember the raft wanted to float, her body wanted to float. If only she could float away.

The raft hit ground and she lifted her face. Her strength wanted to leave her again, so she needed to hurry and practically crawled out of the raft. The wet, coarse sand scraped against her skin, nothing like the finer grit of her island.

“Is there anything else?”

Unless somehow the man produced Porter, Julian, the keys to her apartment and a cure, there was nothing more he could do for her. “Don’t get caught. Get out of here.”

When no answer came she pushed herself up and turned. The waning moon gave her a small amount of light.

The raft stood empty, the small waves threatening to take it out to sea.

A ripped shirt washed up next to her. “He must have shifted and left.” She picked up the tattered cloth.

Unsure of what to do next she remained lying on the beach holding on to one of her last links to Lykos. Did she turn herself in? Go home? Did anyone even notice she was gone? If she lay there long enough, maybe the sea would wash her away as well. More than ever she wished she learned to swim. If nothing else, she wished she could change into something else. She set her head down, scratched her nails through the rough sand and listened to the waves. Without four arms around her or fur to cuddle in, she was sure she would never sleep again.

Suddenly, the whole area flooded with light. Burning light, brighter than daylight. She held her breath and tried to see, but the glare blinded her.

“Identify yourself.” A male voice through a speaker echoed all around her.

“Alyssa Wilkinson,” she called out. Her shaking resumed, but she managed to lift her hands. “I work for the governmental offices. I may have been exposed to pyrexosis.”

The area went quiet, but the light continued to shine, heating her worse than the fever.

Out of nowhere several Aktrosian guards charged toward her. The bears surrounded her, yanked her up and shackled her hands.

“Wait, I won’t run.” The cuffs cut into her, reminding her of the day she met Julian and Porter. “Please.”

They didn’t listen to her pleas, only dragged her away, throwing her into the back of a vehicle.

With guards flanking her, she cowered in a corner and shut her eyes, but it didn’t stop her tears. Nothing mattered, she had reached her end.

The vehicle came to an abrupt stop and once more she was dragged out. They scurried her away, down several corridors, before at last throwing her into a tiny windowless room with a dirt floor.

“What is this?” She wrapped her arms around herself and backed up to the far wall.

Light shined into the room and she could only make out some vague shapes of the others.

“Alyssa Wilkinson, you are being charged with treason, theft, and endangering your country.” A deep male voice announced.

“You don’t understand. I didn’t harm anyone.” She shook her head.