on'

back. My head throbs like someone's beating it with a sledgehamme

ng was

e midnight, could be three in the morning. Terror claw

or hours. Hours with V

f howling with panic inside my chest. Each step sends shockwaves thro

angs open, creaking

wrong. Too comp

he metallic tang coats the back of my throat and makes bile rise in

I see

rch violently. Her skinGod, her skinis a canvas of unspeakable violence. Burns from cigarettes and worse cover her arms and torso in angry red welts. Cuts slice across her ri

ket a grotesque purple balloon. Blood crusts around her nose, which sits at an unnatural anglebr

d. Moi

sister who used to follow me around when we were children, before Dad twisted ev

e done? What

h her and cause more damage. Her breathing is so shallow, so labored, that I have to lea

er. "I'm sorry," I choke out, my voice cracking. "I'm

ould have stood by and watched, told myself she deserve

to get h

stle any injuries. Her skin is ice cold, hypothermic cold, and she doesn't react at all when I lift her int

t. What if she doesn't wak

my hands as I dial Rosalie'

with sleep, but alert. She knows I wouldn'

the nanny take care of Penelope." My voice cracks, breaking completely. "

he sound of her getting out of

I don't know" My throat closes up completely. "I don't know if she's

medical team meet us there." Her voice turns sharp, efficient, but I can hear

se,

safe, baby. We'll f

un for the car, my wolf lending me desperate speed. Her blo

ittle longer. Please, Moir

*

behind her, still in pajamas with a jacket thrown over them. The Crimson Eclipse pack's med

's condition through the car window, her face go

passenger seat. Her head lolls back at a sickening angle, a

g monsters." She helps me carry Moira toward the helicopter, supporting her legs wh

s we climb inside, her voice shaking with

bile ICU. A paramedic in scrubs rushes forward, her

then snaps into professional mode.

" I sink into a seat, my hands shaki

g vitals, starting IVs, connecting monitoring equipment. The steady beep of the heart

ing my fingers so hard it hurts. "She's

ness, carrying my sister toward the on

r out. She'

ted sooner. Should have trusted my instincts when I first started having doubts about our fa

stopped this? How many time

still form and make a silent promise

e never goes back to that hell. And I'll spend the

*

own'

nto the air as my wolf jerks awake

d, one word echoing with de

AT

floor across the office. His eye

s, his voice already r

ge slams into me like a p

oat in a roar that rattles the wi

splintering under the force. "I'll fucking kill

tense I double over, gasping. It's her pain, tr

ut, my vision blurring r

have extended, his wolf bare

he pull guide me. "South.

and now, deadly and final. "We find whoever

ts hinges as we stride through

one look at our faces, and immediately drops

," my brother growls, his voice carr

h deadly promise. "When we

mate. We'r

ill never b