Chapter 23
~Darcy's POV~
"Any time now Mani!" I was in a haze. That much was certain. Instead of blocking out everything like I had done for years, I was finally letting it all in. My senses soared and my moves became faster, more accurate. They were not as good as Mani's, but they were better than what they would have been two weeks ago. Soon the wolves surrounding us began to shrink, leaving a more panicked crowd in our wake.
"They're almost here!" I circled around just as Mani smashed two wolves' heads together, leaving them dazed enough to dig into their necks and part of their spine with each hand. Howling sounded as Dion's pack broke through the clearing in the forest. Mani's smile twisted into one of crazed victory as Dion stepped out from behind the trees. She lept onto a wolf that was in front of me, successfully taking him out with one slash of her claws.
"Losing your touch hunter now are we?" I rolled my eyes as I tried to distract myself from the blood running down her head that was dipping into her eye.
"You got a little...," her eyebrow rose as she whipped the blood away with the pad of her thumb.
"Baby," this time I actually laughed a little as I stepped out of the commotion trying to spot Winnie. It took me a second to find her though all the commotion but I soon spotted her laying helplessly under a dead body, successful out of sight of the people fighting around her.
"Winnie," she cringed as she saw me, the sight of her packs blood clinging to my clothes probably nauseating her.
"Go away Darcidian," I flinched at her using my full name, my eyes unable to meet her own as she struggled to get up from under the dead weight on top of her.
"Win...,"
"Don't call me that," I could see the anger and desperation rolling off of her in thick waves, the repulsion an almost tangible feel in the air around us.
"Dion want's us back at the camp in ten," Mani said her gaze drifting between Winnie and us with amusement.
"We'll be there in a sec,"
"Sure you will," her chuckles faded away as she faded back into the crowd of Dion's pack that were starting to shift back through the carnage back to base camp. The remaining members of the Murdock's pack that were left were either being dragged back with Dion's crew or being put out of their misery.
"I'm not going back with you,"
"You are. That is if you want the answers to what Murdock told you."
"He's still alive?"
"I saw Dion dragging him back with the other prisoners yes,"
"Did you know?"
"Know what?"
"That I wasn't really Winnie? That my whole life was a lie?"
"I started piecing things together when you started telling me about your past. I wasn't completely sure until Dion confirmed my suspicions before we got here." She nodded silently and turned away, slowly making her way through her fallen pack mates around her. She approached the woman that she called her mother first. She fell down to the grown next to her, inching close as close to her face as she dared.
"Winnie-,"
"My name is not Winnie. Winnie died. I just have one question before I end you," Mrs. Murdock took a visible gulp before she nodded her head.
"How long did you think you could keep the charade up? How long did you think you would have until all the pieces started to come together?"
"You honestly don't remember do you?" I felt the color drain from my face as a sense of déjà vu overcame me. Her words seemed eerily familiar, as if I had heard someone say that exact same thing to me.
"What... what are you saying?"
"You honestly think this is the first time you remembered? Darcy is the first time that you've heard Wolfe speak to you?" I could feel my heart literally stutter at her words. Winnie turned to me with a look of confusion.
"How do you know about-,"
"Winnie wasn't the only one whose memory gets tweaked every now and then. You're all one of them... Lucie, Vera, Winnie, Dion, Casey, Braylynn, you are all puppets. And you don't even know it. You all don't have a choice. Everything has already been planned. You just might not like your ending. Silvia is cruel like that. Ahhh you're not surprised are you. Dion already spilled the beans, huh? Did you know that he almost ended all of this? He had Silvia in his grasps, one more strike and she would be as dead as a door nail. You know what stopped him? What made him show mercy for the first time in years?"
"This is bull. I'm not asking about Dion here!" Winnie nearly screamed in her 'mom' Wendy's face.
"You can't just see the ending before you read the beginning sweetie,"
"To bad, you're forgetting who's in control here. Get to the point Wendy,"
"She told him that if he killed her now she would make sure that his mate would die the most horrible way possible. She told him he had a mate. THAT is why you all are still cursed, because the big bad scary Alpha Dion was told he had a soul mate out there. He fucked you all because of his own selfish reasons. How do you like that Brayanna?"
"My name isn't Brayanna. It might have been once, but she died a long time ago."
"If you aren't Brayanna or Winnie who are you?"
"Nakota, your killer," I turned away as she delivered the killing blow to the woman she once called mother.
"Nakota?"
"I am no longer Winnie, I can't remember being Brayanna. Nakota? Nakota I can be,"
~*~
~Lucie's POV~
My breath came in as a gasp as my back arched from pain. I tried to move but each time I tried my eyes rolled to the back of my head as the pain surged through my body filling every part of me with a blinding pain. My heart was beating faster than I thought was possible and my head was beginning to swarm with white noise. My blood felt thick in my veins as it surged in a nauseating rate.
"What's happening to her?"
"It's the bullet, it has to be! I haven't seen something like this since..," the man's voice faded out and I could feel the tension in the room. My tongue was thick in my mouth but somehow I was able to speak.
"What's wrong with me doc?"
"Wolfsbane, the bullet was laced with wolfsbane," even the word sent shivers to my bone. Only the most ruthless hunters used wolfsbane. It was a pain to grow, and even harder to control. I could count on one hand how many hunters used wolfsbane in the entire United States. I had meet all three of them. Kandace, Nerissa and someone a little closer to home, Mercer. Shaun Mercer.
"Mercer!" His name was a scream of pain and rage and left many people swearing underneath their breath.
"Is there a way to get the wolfsbane out of her blood?"
"Bullet. OUT!" I knew the words I shouted didn't make sense, but I hoped they would get the gist. And get the bullet out of my chest.
"She wants us to get the bullet out of her chest. Luc can you try to communicate telepathically with me?" I didn't realize until he said it that I had been blocking everyone. But I wasn't going to stop now. I wouldn't let them feel my pain any more than they could already sense.
"No," it was a whimper, but an effective one. I felt the cool brush of metal against my bare chest and if I wasn't contorting in pain I would have shivered from the cold.
"Hold her down! She isn't going to like this!" Hands grabbed different parts of my body and the second that the metal object broke my skin I realized why.
A howl of pain left my body. It was filled with more pain than I could have ever imagined. I felt countless people sending me emotions of calm and peace, yet it didn't settle me. I withered on the leather table long after the bullet was removed from my body. I heard the shuffling of feet and then a door slamming shut. It took what felt like hours for the pain to subside enough for me open my eyes. When I did a pair of brown anxious eyes met mine.
His arms instantly engulfed me as he cradled me lightly to his chest. I tightened the embrace, letting him know that I was alright. Tears fell gently from my eyes as I listened to the soft spoken words Casey was trying to use to comfort me.
"Casey," his name left my lips almost in a moan and instantly he stiffened at his name.
"Lucie," his voice was cautious as if he was scolding himself more than me.
"You're here," a small chuckle shock his body as he hugged me tighter to his chest.
"I've been here the whole time. I haven't left your side since you were shot."
"It was a sniper,"
"We know, we found it on one of the buildings nearby. He took everything but the gun with him. The team that found it said it seemed odd so they left it there. I sent Piran to go and get it.
"Why did you call out Mercer's name earlier? The one that was with Clarie earlier?"
"It was him,"
"Him what?"
"He gave Wyatt the bullets. Hell he could have been the one to shot me."
"How do you know that?"
"Wolfsbane, Casey. No one uses that anymore. It's too rare and for most hunters a taboo. In the wrong doses it can... let's just say that hunters everywhere still have nightmares about it."
"It was that bad?"
"It was worse. Way worse. It used to be used to wipe out entire packs, which originally was our main priority. But then we saw what it really did. It killed your wolf, scared you whole, and it poisoned you to the point where the werewolf latterly died from having no will to live. It was one of the cruelest forms of punishment and heartlessness a hunter could use. Only three hunters in the country still use it. Mercer is the only one in this part of the US, and the only one who would dare cross me. Kandace and Nerissa still afraid of me from our last encounter in Kotamon Hills last year. Ha they even still have the scars to prove it."
"Scars huh?" Casey teased as he flicked my nose.
"This isn't a laughing matter Casey... what I did to those hunters is beyond cruel. At the time I thought it was the most fitting way to get my point across but now I'm not so sure. I tortured them for what they were doing to wolves, to the point where what I was doing almost rivaled what I had been sent there to punish."
"Lucie I-,"
"It's okay. I guess sometimes you forget how I was in my past life. The lives I took. The lives I saved... sometimes it's all a blur to me. But then it comes back. A memory here. An all-consuming emotion there. Hunting is one of the careers you can't retire from easily. If you don't stay busy... it can destroy you fast."
"I won't let it destroy you Lucie. I'm here for you. I'm your mate. We are supposed to share our pain, or memories. It's how we survive. It's how we cope, how we deal with a past we aren't so proud of. Together. That's what being a mate is all about. That's why we're so good for each other don't you see? You help me forget the darkness in me... the pain that has surrounded me from the time I lost my parents, from taking on the responsibility of Alpha so young. You help me make better decisions for my pack, our pack."
"Casey-,"
"Lucie it's time."
"Casey think about this-,"
"You have three days. Make your choice. If it's me, you know where to find me."
"Choice? What do you mean by choice?"
"To accept me, or reject me."
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Hey guys! Sorry for the wait for the long update, I had finals and my class at college was kicking my butt. Remember to comment, vote and fan if you liked!
~Kali