Enigma

Chapter 48

Noah had left right with Arthur after breakfast. He wouldn't be back until the next day. Lillian and the twins spent the night in their cabin, one last time before moving in with Noah.

Noah was on the other side of the country. The distance made communicating through the bond impossible, so they had spoken on the phone right after she put the twins to sleep.

She missed him already. She missed him so much, it was ridiculous considering she'd only seen him that morning.

Lillian sighed. Putting her phone on the nightstand, she was about to turn off the lights when a timid knock sounded on the front door.

She put on the pink fluffy robe over her sleep t-shirt, more out of modesty than out of cold, and ventured out. Blake stood on her door, a smile on his face and two cups of coffee in his hands.

"Did I wake you up?" He glanced behind her. The light of the porch made his eyes look darker.

"No, the twins are asleep," she told him. "Oh, right. I completely forgot about our training session tomorrow."

He handed her one of the cups. "With milk and sugar." She accepted with a thanks. "Yeah, I figured you'd be out of it today with the mating and everything. Congratulations, by the way. You deserve it."

Lillian took a sip of the coffee to hide her flaming face. She still wasn't used to people talking about it. The coffee was too sweet, but it went down smoothly. "Thanks. So, tomorrow at dawn?"

"Dawn should be good. I have patrol a couple of hours after sunset, so that should give us some time. I won't go easy on you."

Lillian chuckled. "I don't expect you to."

He held up his cup for a toast, Lillian clinked it with hers, and they both drank. Blake chatted some more. He was easy going and charming. After their drinks were gone, he bid her goodnight and left. Lillian yawned, she went inside, took off her robe and fell asleep before her head hit the pillow.

*** **** ***

Something was wrong.

She was in a restless sleep when her wolf snapped awake, bringing her into a hazy state of awareness.

A sharp sting in her neck.

The scent of silver and something else.

Her eyelids were so heavy, she just wanted to surrender back to sleep.

No.

Lillian dragged her eyes open again and pushed against the reins of unconsciousness. Her senses came into faint awareness. Smells, voices, colors, sensations, everything was so muted, it reminded her of being a human. Even her wolf felt so far away, as if there was a wall between them.

A fog of undistinguishable colors and shapes, her vision blurry.

A familiar smell. So faint it was almost not there. One of the pack members. And someone else. A witch?

The warmth of a body against hers. Someone carrying her. Voices.

"Did you get the twins?" The familiar pack member asked.

The twins! The muted words made her struggle. She heard growling and felt her chest shake with it.

"Shut up!" Someone hissed, the hold on her tightened painfully.

The twins. Her babies. It felt like trying to drag a mountain, but Lillian pushed through, the thought of her babies in danger giving life to a strength she never knew she had. A resemblance of awareness returned to her with an ear-splitting pop inside her head.