Chapter 6


    Every bone in my body aches. And I have a fever.


    Sweat pores out of my skin and I’m wracked with chills I can’t


    control.


    I clench my teeth to keep them from chattering.


    I wrap myself in the heavy downforter on the bed. It smells damp, whether that’s from me sweating


    or because


    this room is seldom used and it’s in need of washing, I can’t be


    sure.


    Abruptly, the door ms open.


    I try to lift my head, but I’m too weak, too sore.


    There’s screaming and two of the guards hold back a tall


    male.


    And then Aaron’s huge wolf roars…


    “What the hell did you do to her!?”


    That voice.


    I know that voice.


    “Adam?” How is Adam here?


    Aaron ms him against the wall.


    I stagger upright. Adam is my best friend from home.


    “Is this who you snuck away with, you whore?”


    I gasp and stumble, both from Aaron’s words and from being


    so weak.


    The room is spinning.


    Adam and Aaron are screaming and growling and being held apart. Both partially shifted into their


    lycan forms. This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    I don’t know why, but I feelpelled to get between them so


    they won’t fight.


    But as I stumble away from the bed with theforter wrapped around me, I can’t seem to stay


    upright.


    Next thing I know I’m falling and all around me the sounds and sights begin to darken. It’s like night


    rolling across the sky, but there is no moon or stars, just a wave of ck that masks


    everything in absolute darkness.


    Huh. Maybe this is dying.


    yst thought before…nothing.


    3/9


    When I open my eyes again, I’m in Aaron’s room.


    The huge suite has dark blue walls and a giant bed. The white


    sheets are silk and soft and smell like him.


    I sit up slowly.


    There’s a tray of food beside me. I should be hungry, but I’m not. After going so long without food, I’ve


    lost my appetite. Maybe that’s a good thing. I read somewhere that fasting can help cleanse the body


    of defective cells.


    Maybe Aaron did me a favor.


    Adam’s sitting on a chair. He’s a few years older than me. A couple of inches over six feet tall, with light


    brown hair and light green eyes. He’s good looking. Nice. Calm. Even as a child, he was an intellectual,


    where the rest of my pack was


    singrly focused on war.


    “This isn’t my room,” I say.


    Adam shrugs. “Your husband insisted.”


    “How are you here?”


    “Why the hell didn’t you call me?” he says.


    4/9


    I reach for the ss of orange juice. It’s probably going to burn my stomach, but the sweet, fresh juice


    has me salivating.


    I take a careful sip and try to gather my thoughts.


    I was locked in a room, so weak I fainted. Now I’m in Aaron’s room and my childhood friend is here.


    And he’s angry I


    haven’t called him!?


    “Adam.” I hold the ss in both hands. “We haven’t talked in years. Why would I call in the first ce?


    If you missed me so much, you could’ve called me.”


    I get to see my family a few times a year. There are even escorted visits back to my pds. Only


    home doesn’t feel


    like home anymore.


    Everyone there…they’ve moved on.


    So when Ie back, it’s always awkward. Like seeing me is a reminder of what they did to secure


    their way of life.


    Adam stands and then leans over the bed, one arm on either


    side of me, caging me in in a move I’d expect from Aaron, not my old childhood friend. He starts


    examining my eyes. Prying open my mouth to look down my throat.


    “Dude… stop.”


    “No. You came to my pack hospital, Leah. I run that facility.


    Did you seriously think that Dr. Henley wouldn’t share your


    bloodwork?


    I gasp.


    That exins why he came. Because he knows I’m sick.


    He shoves away from the bed and paces the room. “Does your


    piece-of-shit husband know?”


    cringe. “Lower your voice,” I tell him. Aaron has fought over


    lesser insults.


    He freezes. “Then he doesn’t know.”


    I shake my head.


    “You need to tell him.”


    “Why?”


    Adam’s mouth drops open.


    “Seriously. Exin to me why I should tell him anything.”


    Adam’s pensive. Finally he says, “Fine. Leave the bastard in


    the dark. But thene home.”


    6/9


    With my days numbered… I’m not sure I want to spend them


    there either.


    “Leah, you need toe home.”


    Do I? I’m not so sure. “Let me spell some things out for you. I


    was barely thirteen years old when my mother died and my


    father dragged our pack into even more brutal battles with


    the Rathborns. My mom was killed by the very bas tards I’ve been forced to live with all these years.


    Not a day goes by that


    I am not reminded of her, that I don’t miss her.”


    He frowns.


    “I wanted to stay with my family. I needed them. I was devastated and grieving. But instead, my father


    pledged me, like some piece of chattel or a fucking pawn to an Alpha who has hated me and everyone


    of my bloodline since before I was


    born.”


    Adam crosses his arms.


    “I was taken away from my family and everyone I’ve ever


    7/9


    known. I was imprisoned here. I’ve never been respected or made to feel wee. I’m not treated with


    kindness. Not even by my husband-and I’m ten times the fool, because I loved that brute, and actually


    wanted to be his bride.”


    “Leah, you have-”


    “Let me finish. My love has been one-sided for far too long.” I think about that for a moment. As a teen,


    Itched onto Aaron because he was nice to me. Some twisted form of Stockholm


    Syndrome surely.


    Or just the desperation of a too-young, too-dumb girl.


    But I’m not that girl anymore.


    “Leah, I’ve read the reports… You’re terminal. You are going to


    die.”


    “Yes. We all die, Adam. Some sooner than others.”


    “Your husband is an Alpha. He can mate you. Maybe he can force your wolf to rise.”


    Does he think I haven’t already thought of all of these things?


    “There are risks,” he goes on, “but you have a chance.”


    I eat a few bites of bread and my stomach knots around them.


    Biting a human to ‘turn’ them is a rite that requires approval


    from the Council and even when it is sanctioned, very few humans survive the transition. I might get a


    pass given my lineage, and we could forego the formality of petitioning them


    since I am already Aaron’s wife, but that still doesn’t mean it


    would work. And if he mates me…


    “What then, Adam? At best I’m stuck, forever bound to a man


    that hates me. At worst, my sickness kills him through our


    bond, and then we’re right back to war.”


    He sps my hands. “There are treatments, Leah. I graduated from NYU. I did my residency at MD


    Anderson. I’ll pull together a treatment n. You can fight this.”


    Yes, I suppose I can.


    But do I want to?


    Adam’s hands are smooth and tapered. The hands of a surgeon. Not a warrior. He wears a suit and an


    expensive watch. He’s a powerful, wealthy, high-ranking member of my father’s pack. Most females


    would fawn over him.


    His bright blue eyes search mine. “I can take care of you,


    Leah…”


    I’m still thinking about his offer when there’s a growl at the


    door.