Page 134 of Land of Monsters

And another.

And another.

“Mroczny!” Ash’s voice charged through me, his tone tugging on my leash. I yanked back, the pain between my eyes almost blinding, but I pushed on.

“Stop, Raven!” my father yelled. I heard my alpha, yet I still couldn’t stop. I wanted to destroy them all.

“I order you to stop. Bow. To. Me.Mroczny.” Ash’s command burrowed so deep I could not tell if he said it out loud or not. “Now,” he growled, the demand sinking into me like his teeth in my neck.

My body stilled, my obscurer and dweller slinking back. Obeying.

The plane I was on broke, dropping me to the ground in a heap.

“Raven!” My mother’s cry twisted my head as she crawled to me, her own face dripping in black blood, her expression woven with anguish and relief.

“Mom.” I hiccuped. She wrapped her arms around me, holding me so tight, I could feel her heart ricocheting in her chest. “Mom… I’m so sorry.”

“You’re alive. Oh, my baby… you’re alive.” She wept. “That’s all that matters.” She cradled me closer as my dad sank down on my other side, enveloping both of us, kissing my head.

Alive. A wail caught in my throat, my mind going to my brother. The pain was so unbearable I couldn’t even hold the notion he wasn’t okay.He’s fine. He has to be.

“My baby girl.” A sob broke my dad’s voice, and I snuggled into his chest like I did so many times growing up. Tears trailed down my face, his familiar scent making me feel safe and protected in my parent’s embrace.

But we weren’t safe. Not yet.

My attention landed on my cousin a few feet away.

“Piper!” I broke away from my parents, crawling toward her. She was sitting up, Wyatt and Aunt Fionna on either side of her. Wyatt had ripped off his shirt, using it as a bandage to stop Piper’s bleeding.

The snake-man’s head lay a few feet from us.

I forgot all past resentment I had, any jealousy that used to sting. It all seemed silly and trivial now. “Are you okay?” I looked at where Wyatt held his discarded shirt against her shoulder.

“I told you all I was having visions of a snake biting me.”

“We thought you meant a garden snake.” Wyatt smiled down at her teasingly, with an expression he never once gave me. Complete adoration and love.

“This is a garden,” she replied, flinching when Wyatt pulled his shirt away, checking the wound. “And he bit me in it.”

I snorted, shaking my head and gripping her hand in mine, our eyes meeting. No words were needed; my cousin saw everything in my eyes, squeezing my hand back, hearing my apology.

I’m sorry. For everything.

Me too.Her soft smile said back.

I’m happy for you both.

She dipped her chin, her eyes watering.

I looked at both her and Wyatt, his bare chest cut and bleeding. I wasn’t dead, his body was insane, but it no longer made me giddy or held the need to touch him.

“Dziubus.” Ash’s rough tone sent heat between my legs. I craned my neck to see him come up behind me. His attention was on my ex, noticing I was checking him out, his jaw clenching. Possessiveness curled like a heavy coat around me.

Mine.

I could feel the vibration, the energy Ash was pushing into the ground, like he wanted everyone around to feel it. Perceive his intentions.

Without thinking, I slipped my hand in his, letting him pull me up, my body flush with his.

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