56

B E A U

✿

I had barely noticed the guards dragging me into Reyna's sleeping quarters to lock me up. It was as if the events were flashing past me like in a bad dream. I no longer felt my limbs, didn't notice the glowing lanterns behind the window floating in the sky, nor the hustle and bustle outside. Everything passed me by because all I could think about was her. I saw Georgie's face in front of me. Her dark circles under her eyes, her pale face, that blank look and her weak frame that couldn't even stand on her own feet.

What did they do to my girl?

Suddenly I heard the lock pick and the door swung open. The constable was staring at me, his eyes wide and his mouth gaping to say something to me, when he suddenly fell over.

Rowtag drew the spear from the Sentinel and wiped the blood on his sleeve. Then he and Arrow stepped over the body and unlocked my bonds.

As soon as the bonds fell off, I stood up. "Where have you been?"

'I stayed the night with a very pretty young lady,' said Rowtag, his broad grin darkening as he added, 'But who threw me out in the middle of the night. She mumbled something about games she had to watch.”

I looked down at my red clothes, which had Akio's blood on them. "Hmm what you don't say."

"Why do I always pick the wrong women?" Rowtag looked at me as if he were actually seeking my advice.

"I don't know, maybe because there's so damn little in your skull that your brain cells are already getting lonely?"

Rowtag glared at me. “Ha-ha, how funny you are again. I guess they didn't beat your sense of humor out of you."

I crossed the room and took the dead constable's sword while keeping the aggression dormant inside me under wraps. “First we have to find Georgie. They threw her in the dungeon."

"Do you know of a shortcut that might not get past the hundred sentries who are roaming the palace looking for us?" Rowtag asked pointedly from behind me.

I also took the dagger he held in his hands. "No."

"And how do you want to proceed? I'm feeling lucky? One, two, three and go?”

I rummaged in his pockets for more weapons. "Exactly."

“Beau, that's the shittiest idea I've ever heard. We can't just walk around looking for her."

"We just have to be careful."

“No old man, we have to look for another solution, it won't work that way. When the guards-"

I spun around, dropped my guns, and grabbed his collar. I roughly smashed him against the wall.

"Ah, old man, what are you doing?"

'You've got my wife, do you get that? You have my wife."

Rowtag nodded vigorously. "Got it. Got it.”

"Now shut your fucking mouth, more shit comes out of it than your ass and do what I say!" I growled, feeling the madness that wanted to spread inside me.

"You're amazing," he murmured when I let go of him. "I thought we were friends."

I was about to grab him again and smack him when Arrow cleared his throat and we turned our attention to the silent soldier. He had his gloved hand outstretched and upon it he held sparkling crystals.

Rowtag thumped his fist in the air. “Aee! How cool, I'm for portal travel!”

Biting back a comment, I watched impatiently as Arrow created a portal. With Georgie as my target, I jumped into the golden vortex and a blink of an eye later landed on dry sandy ground in a dark crypt, with a large archway in front of me.

And then I heard her screams. They ripped me apart, making my heart bleed as I watched her lay on the floor, her body shaking in pain.

It was like a kick in the stomach and unleashed the aggression without my being able to stop it. If I could have seen myself in that moment, I would know that my eyes were getting redder and redder.

"Go to her, we'll have your back!" Rowtag swore, and off I went. I heard the guards shouting orders and throwing themselves into battle against Arrow and Rowtag.

"Don't beau!" Reyna shouted at me, which only made me angrier.

I growled and jumped off, transforming into my wolf just as Reyna created a wall of fire in front of me, separating me from them.

G E O R G I E

✿

I felt helpless and small, like I was eight again. I looked into those ice blue eyes and just wanted the pain to go away.

No more.

I had promised myself that when Zaira freed me and I felt grass under my bare feet for the first time and saw the starry sky. It had been a defiantly uttered promise that had come from a broken girl's scraped and shattered courage.

And I should be damned if I broke that promise.

No more.

I clenched my hands into fists and clenched my teeth hard to resist the pain.

No more.

I gathered all the horror, all the darkness that slumbered within me and turned it against the only source facing me. As soon as my hands settled over Hades' bony ones, the black stream shot out of them and I roared out all the anger and hatred that all the sun orbits had been building inside me.

"NO MORE!"

Hades threw himself backwards and crashed screaming into one of the broken rocks just as a wall of red flame erupted out of the ground behind Hades and I and a wolf leaped right through it.

With wildly bared teeth and a loud growl, he took stock of the situation and then threw himself on Hades.

I could hardly roll onto my stomach and support myself, everything was in so much pain. I breathed fast and hard as I slowly dragged myself across the floor, staring at the two wrestling figures.

Beau howled in agony as Hades's glowing hand touched him and it was like reliving the scene, my very own nightmare, which now didn't show my parents, but Beau.

"Not Shiyan!" Reyna exclaimed.

There was her brother with a gun pointed at Beau and when I realized what the gun was I froze. That was the bang. One shot and Beau could die.

I reached out and tried to aim the black rapids at Shiyan, but he was too far away. Groaning, I got to my feet, stumbling across the hall with my eyes on Shiyan. He couldn't hurt him!

Reyna talked to him. “Shiyan, please think! He's not the danger, you have to let him live! Hades cannot die!'

As she said this, Beau opened his jaw and was about to bite Hades' throat.

I heard the gun click and threw myself at Shiyan with the last of my strength, but it was too late. The shot was already fired, and the wolf's anguished howl was the worst I had ever heard.

"NO!" Shiyan and I landed on the ground. My head snapped to Beau, who lay motionless. Oh God, please moon goddess, don't let that be true! His brown fur turned red in a matter of seconds and his eyes looked sadly at me.

Oh god, no.

I crawled towards him, my heart racing. "I'm coming, Beau! Hold on!” I groaned, forcing my tormented body to continue crawling.

Then suddenly a paw was on my heart. I looked down at Beau, my hands still on his wound. "What's up?"

He yelped, and everything I didn't seem to understand, he put one of my hands over his heart. I was about to stop him when I saw the words in his eyes and felt them through the bond. He yelped again and looked at me with his dull, shiny wolf eyes.

I love you.

Now I was crying anyway. "I love you too." I sobbed, laying my forehead against his. "I love you so much, but you can't leave me alone, okay?"

He blinked slowly and tried to push my other hand away with his paw.

I shook my head and now firmly pressed both my hands to his wound again. My nose started bleeding and a vein in my eye burst, but I didn't care. "No Beau, let me heal you."

He growled and when I didn't let go, he shifted under me.

"Not! You're too weak for this!” I exclaimed. He only lost more blood that way, but he didn't seem to care. I staggered over him and put my hand over his gunshot wound in the stomach. "What are you doing?"

He grabbed my wrists and tried to pull them away. "Stop it," he choked.

I shook my head as the edge of my vision went black.

"I love you. I would do anything for you, move mountains. I'd rip my heart out just to give it to you. But I can't let you die. You deserve a happy, perfect life.” He paused, and his reddish eyes watered. "You will find another man, you will love again, have a family... be a mother."

Hearing those words out of his mouth... It ripped me open. No wolf would ever say such a thing to his mate, never bring another man into the game. I knew how deep his fear had to be to even think about something like that.

I gently placed my trembling hand on his cheek. "Not without you. I know how to break your curse, you won't be a rogue, beau. We can stay together, all you have to do now is let me heal you and everything will be fine.”

He looked up at me in anguish. “I'm already transforming, baby. There's nothing you can do about it."

“Yes, I can, just let me...” The hand I was leaning on trembled and everything inside me slowly went down. I was struggling to breathe, but I didn't want to give up. I let the dark force emerge from me, called the cynically laughing shadows and saw them crouching over Beau and whispering words to him.

Transform, transform.

You are just a wolf. No maaaaaaan.

Kill, you wanna kill them all.

We want your wolf! show us your wolf!

That was over now.

My white, bright beam dazzled from my hands and I was aiming right at the handcuffs that were being placed around the shadows to hold them by Beau when I suddenly fell over. I slumped to the floor next to Beau, my light went out and I could hardly feel anything.

I almost made it. I almost made it, damn crap!

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey!” came Beau's alarmed voice. "Baby, stay with me."

My head fell limp towards him and I looked at him lying beside me, his increasingly sallow face turned towards me, his eyes almost closed. A tear ran from the corner of my eye. "I almost made it."

"It's okay, it's fine."

"I don't want you to go," I sobbed as my heartbeat became erratic. My hand slowly moved towards him. "I can still see you, even if you were just a wolf."

"Even if I survive this..." He smiled sadly and clasped our hands together. "The rabies baby."

"I'm surrounded by healer werewolves, I could take a heal every time you get out of control."

A tear ran down his cheek and he said weakly, "Xenos has already promised to hunt me down if I cross the border."

“I lost my family once before. I'll follow you wherever you go, even if it's death."

His features went haywire and he shook his head in anguish as someone yelled, "Hey crybabies, nobody's going to die here, so you can stop your sentimentality." Rowtag's head appeared overhead. "Now let's get out of here!"