by Shelby Dean
The two men stare at me, and they just stand there gaping at me. I let out a low growl and to better be able to get the rope off of Cillian, I shift back. I glare at the two one more time before I begin to peel off the rope.
It burns my flesh, and I let out a grunt but continue to peel it off him. When I have the last part in my hands, I toss it a few yards away. I kneel down to Cillian and I hear the two step forward towards us. Whipping my head towards the two, I let out a low growl. “Niamh?” I hear one of them ask. I feel Cillian shift beneath me, and other than grabbing his hand I pay him no mind.
“Who are you and how do you know my name?” I ask them. One of them steps forward and I watch as one of the man’s face turns into one of absolute shock. Cillian coughs, and sputters and I ignore the two men staring at me in, turning to Cillian to check on him.
I push his hair out of his eyes and my heart shatters at the sight of him. Knife wounds run the length of his body and blood coats him like a second skin. I sit down fully on the ground and bring his head into my lap, careful not to rustle him or hurt him worse. I run my fingers through his hair and a tear falls down my cheek.
His eyes find mine and he grips my hand. “Niamh? Is that really you?” The man I don’t know asks me yet again. I whip my head towards him and narrow my eyes.
“That is my name, though I don’t know you,” I respond. Cillian grips my hand tighter. “Niamh,” he pauses, and I look down at him. “They were wanting information about you, that’s why they took me. The rope was around me to keep my wolf contained,” he coughs out.
My body trembles with anger, confusion and most of all, pain. I cannot lose another person I care about. I pick Cillian up into my arms, but before I stand I look back at the two men I do not know.
“I’m going to go get my mate healed. If you stand in my way, I will kill you.” i tell them. I go to stand, but my knees buckle under the pressure. I grit my teeth and try again, I’ve been through beatings worse than this.
I get to my feet, and start walking away. As I do, I hear a deep chuckle. Whirling around, I grip onto Cillian tighter pulling him closer to my chest. A quick glance down at him tells me that he’s losing blood and fast. He’s already passed out from it.
My heart pounds in my chest and I grit my teeth in anger and frustration. “Stop messing with me! He’s lost too much blood, I need to get him back to our Pack! I will not lose anyone else I care about!” I yell in rage.
Something snaps to my right, and I spin around to face it. There stands another male, and his pale skin and sharp two front teeth indicate to me that he is not a wolf, but in fact a vampire. I growl with frustration.
“I don’t have time for this!” The other two males that I faced earlier come up behind him and I look down at Cillian. I really don’t have time for this, he could die! God damnit!
Anger whips through me like lava, boiling my blood and all of a sudden, the wind whips around me and becomes a cyclone that whirls around Cillian and I. My vision dims, and after a few seconds, the wind dies down and I’m standing in the Adare Pack’s front yard, Cillian still in my arms, his blood soaking my skin.
I ignore that last thought as a bunch of wolves that look like they are getting ready to battle stop mid stride and stare straight at me. I drop to my knees in exhaustion, and cradle Cillian to my chest.
I look up at all of them. “Please help him! I can’t lose him!” I shriek frantically. Tears stream down my face and all of a sudden Fergus and the Pack Nurse are in front of me.
A few other male wolves step up and take him from my arms as Fergus kneels down next to me. I fumble with the sudden loss of him not in my arms, grappling for something to keep me centered.
Fergus gently takes my hand and I hold onto it like its my lifeline. I watch as they rush him off to the infirmary inside the house, my heart aching.
Chapter 12
Lifelines
Niamh
Fergus tried to get Alannah to help me take a shower, but I adamantly refused. I needed to be my Cillian’s side… The rush feeling of loss makes my heart pound with pain and I simply sit in the stool by Cillian’s side, gripping tightly onto his hand. Regret swirls into the mix, and I stifle a sob as I watch the monitors track his heartbeat.
They are the only thing that has been keeping me sane…. The badum, badum of his heart beating reminding me that he is still alive. His liver and kidney were lacerated but no one in the pack is a match so they can’t do a donation to save him.
All the memories of him smiling, of his seriousness… The way he took care of me without getting too close just so he could respect my wishes. They ping pong back and forth in my brain… I keep the memory of him smiling stuck in the forefront of my brain to keep my anger down below the surface. It simmers there, wanting revenge on who dare hurt him.
I hear the door to room open and close but I don’t bother looking up. I can smell Fergus’ scent from here. I just simply continue to stare at Cillian’s face, as he looks so peaceful while he is just sleeping.
“Niamh… You need to rest my dear. You being in the shape that you’re in won’t help heal him… or help him at all,” Fergus starts. I finally glance up at him, but only for a moment. “I will rest when he wakes and I know he is okay. I will not leave him, I will not walk away or deny him again.” I speak slowly.
I know that if I walk away from this room, I will not rest. I will not stay here and watch him slowly die. I know that if I take one step out of this room, my anger and pain will overtake me until I decimate the entire River Maigue Pack. Until the ashes of their pack sweep across the land, and their blood soaks my skin as I bathe in it.
The door opens again, and this time it’s Galvin who steps into the room. I ignore him as well, until I smell something else. Death… Mixed with cologne. It's a heady combination and something that has my wolf perking her head up from her sorrowful slumber, which confuses me.
But I adamantly refuse to take my eyes off of Cillian, who stirs in his sleep. My name a whisper on his lips as he dreams of whatever he is dreaming about in that head of his. “Niamh, I’m sorry to intrude but we have someone who says he can help Cillian….” Galvin trails off gently, as if he is afraid of poking a sleeping bear.
But he is oh so wrong. I am not a sleeping bear… I am much worse. Especially when it comes to those I love. My train of thought freezes as I realize what just went through my head. But after processing that tidbit of information, I realize... it is true. I do love him.
I love him not for just how he has respected me, but how he treats others. How he carries a heavy burden on his shoulders, but refuses to let it break him. The memory of him smiling and laughing while he horsed around with his pack mates comes to the forefront of my mind once again, and I close my eyes reliving the memory.
But I’m snapped out of the memory by Galvin saying my name again. “Niamh?” he asks. I take in a deep breath, and look over at Galvin.
The moment he sees my face, he gasps. I don’t know why, but I suppose it has something to do with why the nurse ran out of the room earlier after hurriedly checking his vitals.
I wait for him to speak, still focusing on burying the anger below the surface of my skin. He swallows thickly and then gestures to the man standing in the corner by the door.
“Niamh, this is Emmet Flann. He is a vampire and says he knows how to heal him. He has been a friend of Adare and Dublin Pack for a very long time. Cillian knows him and trusts him.” Galvin tells me.
I look over at this man, and my rage spikes. My blood boils and my wolf pushes to the surface, fur rippling across my skin.
“YOU!” I snarl at him. For reasons, and explanations unknown to me, I’m in front of him in a flash and before he can do anything I grip him by his throat and shove him against the wall.
Glaring at him, a growl rumbles in my chest and escapes. He chuckles despite me gripping his airway tight. But then again, Vampire’s are undead creatures so they don’t need to breathe. “Calm your ang
er cottontail, I’m only here to help,” he tells me calmly. My wolf stirs in my mind, yelling mate! In my mind. I shake my head forcefully, and shove her back down.
I let go of him and as I take a couple of steps back, my anger ignites in me once more lighting up, and my blood boils in my veins. I clench my hands into fists, digging my nails into my palms. I don’t even take notice to the fact that my nails are drawing blood.
Fergus once again comes to my side, and places his hand on my shoulder. “Niamh, if you don’t calm your anger down your powers will flare up. It happened once to your mom, and she almost died. Please, for Cillian’s sake calm yourself.” he tells me.
His words are slow to process through the haze of my anger, but eventually they do. I take a few deep breaths, and then look back up at Emmett. “Do what you can, but don’t expect an apology or thankfulness.” I tell him curtly. His playfulness is gone, and he nods at me once his expression series.
Emmett looks over to Fergus. “I need your permission to give him my blood old friend. I will not do it otherwise.” Fergus nods at him, and he gracefully walks over to the bed that holds Cillian.
Tilting Cillian’s head back and opening his mouth, Emmett slices his wrist with one of his incisors and lets his blood pour freely into him. Most people would be disgusted, hell most wolves would be disgusted by the sight of it, but for some reason I find it oddly fascinating and my wolf continues to pace in my mind, screaming MATE at me.
After a minute or two, Emmett seals the slit on his wrist with a swipe of his tongue and gently closes Cillian’s mouth. The heartbeat monitors start going crazy, and then all of sudden… They stop.
Flatline…..
My eyes go wide, and as tears stream down my face, I scream.
Chapter 13
Memories
Niamh
My vision goes dim, and as I drop to the floor as agony rolls through me in waves. He’s dead. He’s dead. The thought runs on repeat through my mind, like it’s trying to process that fact. Someone is yelling my name, but I ignore them. The anger rolls through me, boiling past the point of containment, as agony rips through my soul.
One clear thought pierces through my haze. Kill them. Decimate them all.
I stand and all at once, wind whips through me and around me like a hurricane. Alarms blare in the hallway, and my wolf howls inside my brain trying to get me to listen to her. But I cannot feel or hear anything past my grief and anger.
The building begins to shake, but I do not stumble.
And then I’m shoved back into memories.
Laughing, I run into the forest glancing over my shoulder to see Cillian running after me with a big goofy grin on his face. I stick my tongue out at him, and then laugh harder as he tackles me to the forest floor.
“Told ya I could catch you!” he laughs. I grin as we both flop onto our backs and stare up at clouds passing by. Content silence meets us, as we both try and catch our breaths. “Cill?” I glance over at him.
“Yea?” he asks me. I look back up at clouds. “I heard mommy and daddy saying that we’re leaving…” I trail off for a few moments but he doesn't say anything.
“Promise me…. Can you promise me you won’t forget me? That you’ll find me someday if I can’t find my way back?” I ask him, my voice soft and just a whisper.
He takes my hand, and rolls over onto his side to look at me but I can’t look back at him. Fear running through me. “I promise Ni, I won’t ever forget you. And I will search for you if you don’t come back.” I squeeze his hand once, but don’t let go, nodding so he knows I was listening and that I heard him.
He rolls back over onto his back to stare up at the clouds with me, and we both just lie there hoping to change the fact that I’m leaving.
I jump out of the memory, gasping for breath and a single tear rolls down my cheek. Choking on a sob, I hear him calling my name. I slowly glance up from my position on the floor to the bed that he is currently lying in, only to see his eyes open… and looking at me.
My hand flies over my mouth, and all I can do is look right back at him. Praying and hoping beyond hope that this is real and not just part of my grief addled mind.
“Niamh…” he trails off, not knowing what to say.
I suck in a sharp breath, and slowly get to my feet. “Cill?” I ask. His eyes widen, and I see a flicker of hope flash in those gorgeous bright green eyes.
“You remember?”
