Balance

by Leia Stone

  My eyelids were fluttering. It was so cold. How cliché but true, you got super cold when you were dying. I was dying, right? Werewolves regenerated, but we also died of blood loss. By the looks of Max’s clothes, which were dripping with my blood, I was a goner. When I thought I couldn’t stay awake any longer, a sudden burst of energy flooded my body.

  Kai.

  ‘I’m coming! Keep talking to me,’ Kai told me but I was too sleepy.

  ‘Blood loss.’ My thoughts weren’t working right. More power flooded me. Alpha power. Kai was giving me all that he had.

  I looked up at Max. His eyes were wild, face streaked with blood. “If I die, you can be second again,” I joked with a slurred voice.

  His retort was garbled as he reached out and smacked my face hard, making my drooping eyelids fly open. I tried. I tried so damn hard to stay awake and keep talking but in the end, I failed.

  Headache

  I awoke with a racing pulse and a headache from hell. Witches’ wine had nothing on this sucker; there was a constant pounding drum in my brain. Sitting up too quickly, I was slammed with a wave of dizziness. Kai grabbed my shoulders and pressed his face to mine. “DON’T EVER DO THAT AGAIN,” he commanded.

  I winced. “Shhh.”

  He backed up a little.

  “I didn’t plan on getting shot. Geez.”

  I reached around slowly and felt my back. Smooth skin. I took a deep breath, clear. This werewolf healing thing was insane.

  “I’m like indestructible,” I stated.

  Kai’s eyes were yellow as he glared at me. “No, you’re not. You almost bled to death. Max saved your life and you’ve had two blood transfusions aided by the witches.”

  Shit. Then all of the memories from last night came back to me.

  “Earl!”

  Kai nodded. “Took one in the arm but will be fine. Has already been discharged from the hospital. You saved his life.”

  I sighed and reached out for Kai’s hand. His hair was wild and I knew he hadn’t slept. I hated that I did this to him, but it wasn’t like I asked for it.

  “RAIDOS?” I knew the answer.

  I could hear Kai’s teeth grind from my place on our bed. He nodded. “They intended to take you out. Semi-automatic long range rifles. Waiting in the trees.”

  I frowned. “How did they know we would be there? The drones are all gone, right?”

  Kai seemed to consider this. “I think we have a mole.”

  I sat up straighter. “Really? In the pack? No way!”

  Kai shook his head. “No, in the militia.”

  There were over six hundred guys in the militia and Earl couldn’t know them all personally. It was a definite possibility.

  I whistled low. “What do we do?”

  He shrugged. “Keep a close eye for now. I told Earl about it. We should stop sparring practice with them, pack only.”

  That didn’t sound like a great plan.

  “Kai, we were just starting to bond with them.”

  “Pack only!” His neck veins were bulging so I didn’t argue. Maybe later.

  There was a knock at the door. I inhaled. Max.

  “Come in, Max,” I called out to him softly, trying to will my headache away.

  He opened the door and met my gaze, shaking his head.

  “I can’t believe you did that to me.” He threw his arms in the air.

  I laughed. “Everyone needs to quit acting like I wanted to be shot!”

  Max sat at the edge of the bed. “All I’m saying is trouble sure seems to follow you. Kai would have killed me.”

  Kai nodded. “Yes, I would have.”

  Max smirked but I leveled his gaze with mine. “Seriously, thank you.”

  Max returned my serious look and nodded. “You realize Kai will never let you out of the house again, right?”

  I glared at Kai, who glared back. “This just means we have to take out Layla now. RAIDOS won’t be after me once they know she is gone. The sooner we end this threat, the sooner we can move on.” Anger rumbled in my chest. “Enough bullshit. Let’s kill this bloodsucker.”

  Max stifled a laugh at my comment and Kai cut him a glare.

  Then Kai suddenly stood. “You get some rest. I have to make a few phone calls.”

  ‘Kai,’ I started but he cut me off.

  ‘I held my dying, bleeding wife and thought all hope for my future happiness was over. Now you want to run back into danger the first chance you get! I get to be pissed!’ he roared.

  I flinched. Shit. He was right. That must have been awful for him. I remembered how awful it was for me when RAIDOS had captured him and I had gone in to get him back. They had him naked and strapped to a gurney, a few of his fingers cut off. He had been in rough shape and it had terrified me.

  ‘You’re right. I’m sorry.’

  Kai nodded, Max stood and they both left the room. Well, that didn’t go as planned. I sighed and decided to take a shower to get the crusty blood out of my long hair.

  When I went out to get breakfast, I saw that Kai had made me a veggie omelet and was cleaning the dishes. All was forgiven, that was my Kai. He couldn’t stay mad at me for too long and he always worried if I had eaten enough. I wrapped my arms around him and leaned in to cradle my nose against his neck. He took a deep breath and I felt his possessive love settle into the mate bond. He didn’t want me to ever leave this house again.

  “You want to lock me in the basement with Jeremy, don’t you?” I joked.

  He gave a short bark of laughter. “Yes, I do.”

  I chuckled and pulled away from him, smiling.

  He pushed the omelet in front of me. “Eat,” was all he said, kissing my forehead before walking back into his office.

  I did and it was amazing. Kai made omelets with a touch of Indian spices in them; they were beyond delish. I chugged some orange juice and realized my headache had eased. Feeling better, I went to find Kai and heard him yelling loudly on the phone in his office.

  Opening the office door, I met his yellow gaze.

  “I warned you!” he screamed into the phone and slammed it down as I walked in.

  “What’s wrong?” I stood there, panicked. His emotions were all over the place. Fear, sadness, and rage burned through the mate bond.

  “Kai?”

  He looked up at me, eyes burning yellow, his voice gruff. “I warned the council about what Jeremy told us. I told them to tell all of the packs that vampires might attempt to abduct our females. To use them as breeders for Layla’s sick plan.”

  No! Then I knew. I felt it through the mate bond. Sadie. His ex-girlfriend of five years. She’d been taken. So had others from other packs. I quickly sifted through our pack bonds. All of our females were accounted for. I sighed in relief.

  Reaching out, I touched his hand. “Kai, I’m so–”

  He stood quickly. “I’m going to go tell Earl to be extra vigilant when guarding the perimeter. Grab Max and meet me in the barn.”

  I nodded. This bitch has gone too far! Stealing female werewolves to use as incubators. It made my omelet threaten to come back up. Layla needed to be taken out now! I stormed out of the house and rounded up Max and we made our way to the barn.

  Max paced the barn in anger as we waited for Kai to show up. “Sadie is like one of our own,” he stated.

  I tried not to let it hurt my feelings. She was in this pack for a long time before me. I nodded and sat down cross-legged on the floor.

  “I feel like it’s all my fault. This all started when I survived the change,” I confessed.

  Max sat next to me and put an arm around me. “Hey, you are the best thing that ever happened to Kai and our pack.”

  I smiled and when Max went to pull his arm off of me, his skin touched my shoulder and I was pulled into a vision.

  Tara, Max’s mate, was roaming a wooded area. She was a changed wolf and like all changed wolves, her human DNA, when mutated into the werewolf, left her with a gift. Tara’s gift was similar to tha
t of a chameleon.

  In my vision, every time she passed a tree, her fur would change to match. She looked frightened and she had the feeling she was being stalked. I could feel her fear, her thoughts. Then, I heard footsteps behind her and she froze, crouching down. Suddenly, a dark-haired vampire came out of nowhere and pounced on her. She tried to howl but the vampire knocked her out quickly. Then a silver net was cast around her.

  I came back to myself lying on the floor of the barn. Max was used to this by now and he sat patiently with my head in his hands.

  “You back? What happened? New mate couple?” He didn’t seem too alarmed because usually my visions were about mates and they were happy visions. I had already told him Tara was his mate and they were dating and taking it slow. He still had a lot of healing to do from losing his mate and child during labor years ago. The thought of having two mates in a lifetime was not easily accepted in werewolf culture. Technically, Tara was still his first mate, only reincarnated.

  I didn’t know what to say. “Max, it’s Tara. I need to call Kai.”

  He pulled me up into a standing position quickly. His face looked serious. “What do you mean?”

  I didn’t know when the reality of the vision would happen or if it already had. My hands trembled slightly as I pulled out my phone and dialed Kai. I didn’t know how far away he was and calling him on the phone was 100% foolproof, where our mate bond had potential issues. This was time sensitive. How long ago had he left to talk with Earl? Ten minutes?

  “Aurora?” he answered.

  “Quick, search the pack bonds. Is Tara okay? I had a vision. She’s in trouble. I can’t tell if it’s happened yet.” Timing in my visions was weird and sometimes the future could be changed. My birth mother had a vision I was going to die at five years old if she didn’t do something drastic, but luckily that vision never came to pass. I could feel Tara through the bond but not like Kai could. Kai would be able to tell if she was in danger and what exactly was going on with her.

  “She’s fine. She’s been a bit depressed lately with how slow things are progressing with Max. She went for a run. I just checked in on her,” Kai said.

  Max was close enough to hear that. He winced.

  “Check again, Kai. She’s in danger!” I told him.

  Then I felt Kai’s fear through our mate bond. “Oh, shit. Something’s wrong,” he said then hung up.

  “No!” I cried out in frustration. It happened. I knew it. She was taken. I could feel her panic now. Dammit!

  I tore out of the barn, blindly running through our property with no idea where I was going. Max was right beside me, panting frantically.

  “Tara!” He tore off his shirt, shifting into his wolf form.

  Max ran off into the forest and I stood there frozen, sniffing the woods trying to catch her scent, any scent.

  Just as Max’s wolf retreated into the thick trees off to the left of the barn, Earl came running from another part of the woods. His arm was bleeding, his chest covered in vampire dust.

  “I was deep in the woods with a few of my guys when Todd came over the walkie talkie saying that Kai was looking for me. I was hiking back towards your property when I heard a howl. The bloodsuckers got one of your girls. I’m so sorry.”

  I fell to my knees. “Which way did they go?” My voice sounded hollow. This was awful. This wasn’t happening. If Jeremy was right, Tara was going to be used as an incubator for vampire spawn. No, no. Don’t think about it. Oh God.

  He shrugged. “They were in an all-terrain vehicle. We got a few of them, but she was taken, back behind Red Creek walking trail.”

  I pounded my fists into the cold, hard ground. No! Tara. I had to control my breathing to keep from shifting. My wolf wanted free but looking at Earl, I saw that he was hurt.

  “Let me look at your arm.” I stood. It was bleeding pretty bad. I wasn’t sure how he would feel about me healing it with witch magic he didn’t know about. “I can call our pack doctor.”

  He shooed me away. “Nah, we have our own medics. I ripped my stitches from the bullet wound. I’ll be fine, just wanted to tell you about your friend.”

  Sweet Tara. I sighed. “Thank you.”

  He nodded and turned to walk away, but I grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently. “For everything. I would be dead if you hadn’t pushed me out of the way the other night.”

  He chuckled. “I think I am the one that should be thanking you. You draped yourself over me like a shield. I’m an old man and I’ve lived a good life. Next time don’t bother.” He winked and tipped his hat. “And I’m sorry again about your friend,” he added.

  “We’ll get her back,” I declared.

  He twisted his handle-bar mustache and said, “Okay,” and walked away.

  Shit, this was so bad.

  Max and Kai emerged from the woods. Both shirtless, in cut-off sweatpants, eyes yellow.

  “It’s not your fault.” Kai put a hand on Max’s shoulder, but Max shrugged him off.

  “Yes it is! If I had mated with her, I would have been in constant communication. She wouldn’t have been moping in the woods.”

  Kai put his hands out to stop Max. “No, it’s my fault. I told her not to go alone. She lied and said she would take someone with her. I should have assigned someone to go with her to make sure.”

  Max shook his head. “She’s smart and beautiful and she’s my mate. I should have told her that. I should have married her! What the hell am I waiting for?”

  “It’s my fault!” I shouted, shutting them both up. “Everything. Devon’s death. This. It’s all my fault. The vampires want me!” I stormed into the house and slammed the door, scooping up Luna and lying with her in my bed. This was getting to be too much. All of these people were getting hurt over me. The vampires wanted my blood. Maybe I should just do the spell with the witches and become infertile. Not tell Kai. But the moment I thought that, baby Avery popped into my mind. I wanted that with Kai. I shouldn’t have to give up on the dream of being a mother. No! I stood. I just needed to find Layla and kill her once and for all, and I would start right now.

  ‘Call the council. We need to have a meeting and come up with an idea to find Layla and get Tara back NOW,’ I told him.

  I felt his feelings. Apprehension that doing so might cause me danger but also that it needed to be done.

  ‘I agree,’ was all he said.

  Sulk

  After a while of sulking, I put Luna down and went to Emma’s to take my shift helping with baby Avery.

  When I got there, the lights were low in the living room. Avery was asleep in a cradle and Diya was rocking her.

  “Hi,” I whispered.

  Diya gave me a look of concern. “Are you okay? I heard about the shooting … and Tara.”

  I sighed and rolled my shoulders, remembering where the bullets had entered my back. Amazingly, I felt fine. “Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks. Kai is going to the council to have a meeting and we’re going to find Layla and get Tara back,” I said with certainty.

  Diya nodded and there was an awkward moment of silence. Then she gestured to Avery, smiling. “Isn’t she perfect?”

  I nodded, watching the tiny infant sleep. Her bottom lip was puckered out and her breathing was slow and steady. “She is.” She was also our pack’s first cub. Pride, adoration, love; those words didn’t even begin to express how we all felt.

  “Guess what? Trent and I are having a boy. We just found out today.” She smiled, patting her belly.

  Wow, a boy. Seeing these happily mated couples I had brought together having children made me feel complete, like I had a purpose, a good purpose.

  I gave her a hug. “That’s awesome. Have you thought of a name?”

  She nodded. “Mason, after Trent’s father.”

  Now that everyone was having babies, I was feeling my own biological clock ringing. Seeing Avery born had changed something within me. The loss of Tara, the RAIDOS shooting. I needed some good in my life. I had made a decision. I
wanted a baby. Now. I was ready.

  ‘Kai?’

  ‘Yes, my love?’

  I smiled. ‘Throw out the condoms.’

  Excitement burst through the mate bond and I chuckled.

  “So, what do I do?” I asked Diya nervously, gesturing to Avery. I had babysat a little in college but not a newborn. She was so fragile and tiny.

  Diya chuckled. “Keep her alive. That’s about it at this age. Diapers and wipes are over there. Wake Emma if she cries and starts rooting. That means she is hungry.”

  I swallowed nervously. “Rooting?”

  Diya smiled at me. “Sucking fingers, making an O-shape with her mouth. Trying to breastfeed over your shirt.”

  I laughed. “Okay.”

  All of a sudden, I heard snapping noises. I gasped and looked down as fur started popping up all over Avery’s body. She was shifting.

  “Oh my God, is that okay?” I asked Diya.

  Diya smiled. “Perfectly normal. She is waking up. I’m tired. Text me if you need anything.” Diya left.

  Avery was now a furry, adorable wolf cub wrapped in a blanket. Oh my God. Cutest thing ever! She gave a small growl and I picked her up and tucked her under my arm. She leaned into my shirt and bit my nipple. “Ow!” I yelped and pulled her away from my body.

  “You little stinker. You hungry?” Making quick strides, I crossed the living room and walked her down the hall into Emma’s room. She shifted again and gave a loud human baby wail.

  Emma sat bolt upright. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?” She looked frazzled, her gaze darting around the room.

  “Yeah, she’s just hungry,” I told Emma, sitting at the edge of the bed.

  “Aurora, you’re here.” Emma smiled, taking Avery to feed her. I had seen Emma naked a hundred times. Breastfeeding in front of me or any member of the pack was no big deal.

  “Does it hurt?” I asked Emma as her eyelids drooped.

  “Kinda. But being full of milk hurts worse.” She leaned back, closing her eyes.

  “You feeling okay?” I asked her, trying to keep her awake. She looked ready to drop at any second.