The Afterlife

Chapter 7: Hope

Kaori was walking along the pack's border again when he noticed a flash of dark brown hair and the scent of rose and teakwood.

Mate, said his wolf.

"Allie!" he yelled. "Allie, wait!"

His mate turned and he saw his mate's wolf form turn toward him. Indecision seemed to appear in her eyes. Kaori knew that he might only have a few seconds before he died again.

Reject her, said Viv's mutant voice in his memory. Reject her, or she dies.

Wasn't his mate already dying anyway? How could he not be dead? His pack was leaning more and more toward wanting Kaori to reject his mate -- fearing for the safety of their Luna, knowing that the omega rebellion could very well divide their pack someday -- but Kaori didn't believe his mate could die. His mate was already dying, and the Luna was innocent in all of this.

It couldn't be possible.

Kaori waited, holding his breath, only letting out when Allie finally shifted back to human form, putting on a dress that she'd been carrying in her mouth.

"Kaori," she breathed, and Kaori almost reeled from the way her breath sounded with his name. His eyes were rolling into the back of his head and he wished to touch her, but he worried that it might shorten their time together. It seemed like they were getting more and more time, and he didn't want to make it any worse.

"Allie," replied Kaori. He was sure his awestruck expression could be obvious to anyone. Even though he could see bruises beginning to form under her skin, a product of whatever curse was placed on her, he was ready to enjoy whatever time they could have today. How did she even find his pack?

But it seemed like the spell was broken for Allie today. "Kaori, as far as I know, there's only two options for us," she said hurriedly. "My parents -- they were just like this. And they ended up killing themselves so they could be together! We can't be like them. Hurry, reject me!"

Kaori blinked, shocked. "Reject you? What?"

"My parents killed themselves so that my father would stop dying. This curse, it goes back to my great-grandparents. I'm not sure if there's any other way to stop it," said Allie.

"No way," Kaori said. So she'd been able to find out some information related to her curse? "I'm not going to reject you! Can we please figure something out?"

The bruises were getting bigger. "I don't know another way! If I did, I would do it that way!" she yelled. "Look, our time is almost up. I'll come back, Kaori of Deer Mountain Pack."

"We'll find another way," Kaori promised. "My Allie."

"Write to me," Allie said. "Write to my friend -- Wayne Rahi. Shoreline Pack. He's a warrior. He'll tell you everything."

Kaori frowned. Did Allie's pack not have cell phones? Shoreline Pack was not far, but his pack was in the mountains. The ocean would be at least a day's journey away. And his pack wasn't exactly supportive of his mate situation at the moment. And Wayne -- Kaori knew that he should respect his mate's friendships with men as simply platonic, but his wolf couldn't help but cause him to get a lump in his throat. He hoped they hadn't had any relationship in the past... or present...

Focus, Kaori, he told himself.

"Can't your friend call?" asked Kaori, but Allie was already shaking her head.

"My phone broke on the way here; I don't have his number memorized," said Allie as she backed away slowly.

Kaori could tell that their time was almost up; the color was draining away from her face. Their bond was weakening once again. "Stay with me," said Kaori, even though he knew that witnessing her death again would just traumatize him. He wanted all of their time together.