Reuben POV
I’m falling down a cliff, falling and I can’t seem to grip on to any rocks at the side of the cliff. It’s constant, like gravity is pulling me down. Am I dead? Am I falling into hell?
My stomach aches from the continuing drop before my hand manages to grab onto the side of a grass verge. This cliff never seemed to end.
With a jolt to my new positioning, I stop falling and look down at my dangling feet. This cliff had no end and no beginning, it was just constant. There was no sky, no ground…just cliff. I pull myself up, which hurts, I can feel the bullet wounds still in my back.
I use all my might to pull myself up fully on the tiny cliff side, laying my body down. Trying to let the feeling of vertigo pass me. Trying to regain my senses.
I hear a noise above me and lift my head to see a black crow circling above me. As I notice it, it swoops down and lands beside me.
It stares at me for a moment before it uses its beak to start pecking away at my small cliff side sanctuary. I have a bad feeling about this bird.
“No.” I reach for it, trying to push it away when the cliff side grumbles and I lose my gripping on the side. I start to plunge again but this time into darkness…
“NO!” I yell sitting up, my body covered in my own sweat and my breathing heavy and fast. “Alpha…..Alpha….” Someone is trying to push me back down.
“Reuben…stop, it’s just the poison, it will pass.” Nate tries to soothe me before a small needle is placed into my upper arm and darkness takes me again.
I am falling again, plunging down the never ending cliff when I see the ledge again and reach for it. I manage to hold on to it and pull myself up again. The motion of moving wasn’t as sickening this time and I was able to sit up slightly.
Moments pass until I see the black crow circling above me again. Just as before, it swoops down and lands on the ledge, staring at me. Was this deja vu? Some kind of purgatory?
I kick at it and it flies away stretching its wing span to its fullest. Relief washes over me that it didn’t manage to peck the cliff side off this time and I can rest, giving me an opportunity to find out where the fuck I was.
I rest my head back only to hear a quark above me and look up to see the damn crow holding a huge rock boulder in its claws.
“Not even possible.” I whisper as the crow drops the rock, knocking the cliff edge at my feet. The impact makes the cliff shake and the side is ripped off, crumbling away as I am again falling into the abyss.
I wake up slowly this time, my eyes not daring to open in case I was still falling by the cliff. Rather than seeing a never ending cliff, I see a white ceiling and can hear the beeping of machines rather than the satisfied quark of a fucking bird.
I sit up slowly to see I am in a medical centre room, tubed up and with Nate asleep in the bedside chair. How long had I been here? What was that dream about? It must have been the toxicity of the wolfsbane in my system and my body trying to fight it.
“Shit!” I breathe out as my wounds in my back start to ache from my now sitting position. The moan is enough to wake Nate whose eyes flash open and he springs up, ready for action.
“Alpha? How are you feeling?” “Like shit. What happened?” I pull the tubes off and swing my legs to the side of the bed, readying to stand.
“Take it slow, you were in a bad way.” ” He tries to push me back down but I just swat his arms away. “Where is she?” I growl menacingly, the reminder of Vicky’s complete betrayal returning to me.
“And that fucker, he was in on it.”
“The guard, yes he escaped with her…”
“Why was he the only one on duty?” I seethe as I stand, the pain of the wolfsbane still searing in my back. I place my hands on my thighs, just taking a moment to let my wolf regain his strength.
“He wasn’t, he killed the other guard…”
“What the fuck? How the hell did she manage to get him to go against my alpha aura and the pack link? And where the fuck are they?”
Nate offers me the chair but I need to stand, I need to get moving. Vicky had a head start and she wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted. She would be rethinking her plan. She’d still want power and I was becoming increasingly more concerned at the potential attempts she would plan in getting such power.
“We are still searching for them but with some of the warriors following Evelyn’s convoy, we missed that window in full security and they took advantage of it.”
“Is she okay? Evelyn and the kids…did they make it back to their pack?” I must sound like a fucking whipped dog, but I had to know they were safe. I didn’t know how long I had been out, I wasn’t there to put measures in place to protect them. Even if they didn’t know they were being protected, I needed to make sure they were.
“Yes, they are fine. I kept four guards watching them from a distance. Away from the borders not to be detected, but close enough.” He updates me on his beta duties whilst I have been unconscious, hanging off a cliff.
“That’s not close enough. She needs a personal guard.” I appreciate Nate stepping up but I can’t have her being in danger, she needs close security detail on her at all times.
He stares at me for a moment, wondering why I am being so protective. “I think she is my mate…” I sigh, yanking my neck to the side to release my tight muscles.
“Fuck Alpha…this is a fucking mess.”
“Don’t you think I know this?” I growl back, not appreciating his lack of respect. But he was right, this was becoming a complete shit show.
“I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me to make it up to her. I need to make sure she is safe, safe from Vicky. She won’t stop, not even now. Her target will be Evelyn for definite, she’ll have a vendetta against her now. Even more so than before. I don’t want panic among either alliances, I’ll have to tell Evelyn in person. This can’t be leaked out….”.
I am cut off as Alpha Pierce walks in, seemingly in a jovial mood for seeing me awake.
“Haven’t you gone yet?” I groan out, wiping my hand down my face in frustration. He my be happy to see me, but I wasn’t happy to see him. Suddenly the struggle with the cliff seemed more appealing.
“And miss all the drama?” He chuckles, his Hollywood smile almost blinding my sore eyes from being unconscious for too long.
“Don’t you have a pack to run?” I grunt at him. “Yes but mine is well under control. I’m staying as it seems you need some friendly guidance.” His grin is the complete opposite of my pissed off glare.
He walks to the back of me and starts poking at my back wounds.
“Ouch!” I seethe at him.
“You seem fine, I think you just wanted the sleep.”
“Piss off Pierce.” I growl, why was he here? He walks over to the window, looking down before turning back to me with a determined look on his face.
“So, are you going to visit the Silver Moon pack?” Pierce quirks an eyebrow at me. Was his suggestive visit for my benefit or his? Either way, I was going. I needed to ensure the safety of my wife and children.
But what if she doesn’t grant me access? Then what.
“Cassandra.” My wolf’s voice enters my mind.
“She’ll grant access to Cassandra.” My wolf was right, for Noah’s sake, she’ll let Cassandra in and anyone escorting Cassandra safely to her mate’s pack.
She can’t deny me access then. My thought process is cut off by Pierce, as always aiming to irritate me.
“If so, I’d like to come. I’d like to see where my future wife is from.” He grins at me, my wolf channeling forward, surprising me with his own strength to keep this alpha away from Evelyn. In fact, it takes a smooth body block from Nate to stop me pushing Pierce out of the bloody window.
