by Lia Davis
"I said I need both of you." Aiden motioned for the assistants.
Julian bent down and kissed her forehead. "I will be right there with you, quarantine or not and no one can stop me."
Porter leaned down and kissed the back of her hand and her cheek. "We will be back. Gain strength, I am not going to let you go."
The assistants wheeled her away.
For a moment they stood in the entrance to the infirmary simply staring at the empty room.
"Come with me." Aiden led them away, to a different ward where they housed the women with Pyrexosis.
"How are they?" By his calculations they should have lost many and gained more patients. The emotion left, as the numbness of being a healer took over. Everything he had he’d given to Alyssa.
"About time you ask." Aiden motioned forward toward the viewing window. "Look."
Before they left in search of a cure, at least a few beds were empty, but now they were all full. Inside, sick females cried out from the heat. Weakness consumed them, exactly like Alyssa. He bent forward and braced himself on his knees.
"I don't understand." Julian shook his head.
"We need to make another plan to get a cure, or we will lose our entire female population." Aiden continued to speak about the cure as he corralled them into his office. He pointed to a map of the Archipelago on the wall. They had already gone through it several times before they left on their mission. "No other case has been reported in the Okeanos Federation in decades, so there has to be something at work."
"Alyssa only said isolation from us was their cure," he mumbled.
Aiden continued to ramble through his statistics on and on he went, for what seemed like forever.
He wanted to get back to Alyssa, they had already been gone too long. Why was Aiden rehashing what they knew?
Julian shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
"Do you think that mating with a Lykan is somehow fatal to a human?" Porter practically yelled the question over Aiden's ramblings.
"The truth of the matter is we never really knew what killed the human females after they mated with us. We were never allowed to do our own tests, never allowed to examine a body.
"There has to be something." Julian slapped the desk. "We can shift into other beings but can't save one human!"
"We don't know what she has. Why do you think we quarantined her?" Aiden stood. "She could have pyrexosis, or something else, even something more contagious and unrelated. Would you risk everyone on Lykos for a little pet you brought back from Anthros?"
"You disgusting dog!" Instinct told him to bring his mentor down and he reached out.
Before he made contact Julian roared and lunged for Aiden, knocking him over. "That pet is my mate!"
"What?" Porter grabbed Julian and yanked him up. "She is my mate!"
They stared at one another, each took the stance to attack but froze.
"No matter the reason, no human has ever survived mating with one, let alone two of us. It's best you move on." Aiden pulled himself up.
At his mentor's words, a shudder ran through him. "She's not in quarantine." In their haste to save Alyssa they brought her directly into the center of the bullseye of her enemies. No matter what acts of kindness she performed she was still a threat. Damn, if it wasn't Alyssa he would have never allowed the risk. In fact he would have been the first to eliminate her for safety's sake and then justify his actions. "Where is she?"
Aiden's silence confirmed his suspicions.
"I did not agree to this! How dare you make these kinds of decisions on your own." Julian pulled back his fist.
"No!" Porter caught him. Leader or not, if Julian doled out his own law he would be punished, taken in and then they would lose any chance of finding her.
"You did this, you sent her away!" Julian pushed him aside and took off running through the hallway.
Porter raced after him. Again the world turned into a blur, streaks of color as they ran in the direction the assistants took Alyssa.
They bumped into each other, but at last made it to the wing. The red quarantine tape had already been draped across the door, the word human written on the chart outside.
One of the assistant's ran toward them. Julian punched him in the face and kicked the door in.
"You let them take my mate." Julian leaned forward to catch his breath. "I'm going to kill you."
"She's my mate, and I don't even know who to kill first." He stared into the empty room.
Chapter 9
With the suitcase of injections clutched to his chest, Julian stared out at the sea and turned to look down on Lykos. From his vantage point on top a small hill he could take in everything. Decades ago, their island was chosen because of the dense forest, plentiful food and fresh water source. Unlike the island they’d landed on with Alyssa, there was no sexy beach to build a fire and no trees growing fruits full of passion, instead, Lykos was utilitarian, made for work and building a legacy.
While the buildings on Anthros spoke of progress and promise, Lykan structures were created to provide maximum protection and make the best use of materials. Never mind beauty, forget leisure. All that needed to be left behind with the Great Relocation.
Porter's stench filled the air, a bit of Alyssa's scent still clinging to him.
"I thought I could be the one to bring it back." He almost laughed. At the moment all he wanted to do was turn the damn island upside down and shake it until someone produced his mate, but he was now forced to wait, abide by the rules and history he once held as close to his heart as Alyssa.
"I always thought you were insane." Porter sat down next to him. "Then I saw you speak today."
He glanced at Porter out of the corner of his eye. "Get away from me."
"If anyone could bring it back, it's you." Porter shrugged.
"Don't feed me your crap lines, you let them take my mate, and she could be dead." He continued to stare out at the buildings he once loved. They used to represent growth, but now they were only sad, oppressive squares.
"She's my mate, and at least I am trying to do something to find her, not sitting on a hill."
"What did you do? Go running to our law enforcement? Did you tell them you were missing a human? Let me guess. They pulled her out of their pocket, patted her on the head and sent her on her way." He dropped the suitcase and grabbed Porter, pulling him in to his face. "Your actions are useless, you couldn't save anyone and have no right ever being a mate. Stay away from me and Alyssa. I’m going to find her and then we’re going away."
Porter lifted his arm, already his hand turned to a paw, his fingers claws.
"Do it." He raised his chin.
Porter turned away.
"Coward." He thrust Porter away from him and stood. "I'm actually going to go make something happen."
"You actually think going to half-senile dogs will do anything?"
"You have no vision." He grabbed the handle to the suitcase.
"Because I won't listen to any riddles and not receive any answers?"
"You don't get the answers because you have no vision." He stared up at the sky. The sun finally began its descent and he could go get advice. "Alyssa had vision. She wanted to be something more and she took a chance. No one takes a chance anymore, instead they just chase their tail in fear. She faced her fears, even went in the water. The senile dogs you speak of were ripped out of their land and still found a way to start over. I can think of no better place to go."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Whatever you need to." Hours had passed since Alyssa disappeared. No one would help, aside from jumping in the water and searching aimlessly, he headed toward his one option, toward the Den of Elders.
Leaves crunched under his feet, only to be joined by Porter's matching steps. The sky darkened by the time they reached the large cave.
"You shouldn't be here if you don't believe." He waited to be acknowledged.
"You said to do what I have to, and r
ight now no matter what, I believe I have to be here." Porter stood beside him. "We should just go in, we don't need all this pomp."
He vowed not to beat Porter in front of the Den and took a breath.
"Come in." Noah called out. "Both of you."
In a sign of submission, he lowered his head, slumped his shoulders and entered the cavern.
A roaring fire at the far end of the cave lit their way casting long shadows off the uneven walls. Without making eye contact he bowed to the other elders. One lounged in wolf form, regal with his grey fur by the fire, another in his human form read from a large book. Finally, he reached Noah. Since Julian was a child, his mentor's presence always calmed yet awed him.
Noah lounged back on a pile of cushions and blankets, books and scrolls next to him. "No one believed me when I said you weren't lost."
Julian knelt down ensuring he was below Noah, while Porter continued to stand back in the shadows. "I may be here, but I'm lost none the less."
"You saw Anthros, finally." He chuckled. "Was it all you dreamed of?"
"That's not where I found my dreams." How did a few days change everything? His chest constricted. He needed help, guidance, anything and looked up. The oldest of the elders, Noah still possessed a commanding presence. Tall and lean, age seemed to suit him. In his wolf form he was a rare pure white. "Sir."
Noah lifted a finger, only one, but enough to silence him.
"With the lunar cycle only starting to wane and your return to Lykos, I'm surprised you're not going with your urges, that's not like you." Noah turned his focus to Porter. "It’s more like you, you would rather be miserable. Interesting."
"You always told me only one thing was more powerful than the lunar cycle." He straightened up. With anything dealing with Alyssa, he needed to be strong.
"The human?"
"She's my mate." He held his breath waiting for the verdict. A human for his mate wasn't what they planned.
"Correction." Porter stepped forward. "She is my mate."
"Stop saying that!" His blood blazed through him. He jumped up and faced his newest foe. "She is my mate. Call her yours again and you will suffer."
"When did you say the words?" Porter raised his chin.
"Two nights ago on the ship." He narrowed his eyes.
Porter crossed his arms. "I said them the night before we left the little island. Therefore, I said them first and she is mine."
"If you said them first, then you shouldn't have let another near her." He inched closer. Once he did away with Porter there would be no more arguments.
"And we see how well you abided by that rule." A sneaky smile crept up on his enemy’s face.
They stared at each other. The pressure built. In one quick shift he could tear Porter apart.
Noah let out a growl. "Stop, now."
Julian turned to him. Porter shook his head.
"You both mated with her and then made her your mate." Noah rubbed his chin. "Why choose that moment to keep a secret when you shared one bed?"
He glanced at Porter who shrugged.
"Let me fill in." Noah stood. "So the two of you had your fun, played with the human and then realized there was something more. At a time when there should be full disclosure you fell back on an antiquated tradition to hide the most intimate of actions not only from the one you claim to want, but from each other?"
"We were bringing her here, where she needed protection." At last Porter humbled himself enough to look down.
"She thinks she's dying. I wanted to give her a life." Julian shut his eyes, hating that he even voiced those words.
"Why shouldn't she think she's dying?"
He didn't dare look. Noah was supposed to be spewing some words explaining how Alyssa wasn't dying, not agreeing with her.
"Julian, you want to be a leader. Face me."
He forced his head up. The heat that took over Alyssa the last few days seemed to come visit him.
“Answer the question."
Without even thinking he turned to Porter.
"A human has never survived mating with a Lykan," Porter mumbled.
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."
&n
bsp; 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.
