Page 54 of Alpha Exile

Before I say anything, I have to be sure. So once I'm done relieving myself, I start to move into the woods, walking on a diagonal so I'm not directly approaching.

I have no idea what I'm about to find, after all. He could be out of his mind. He might not recognize me. Or worse—it could be some kind of trap Delphine has sprung.

So I'm vigilant and wary as I get closer. Stopping about twenty feet away, I study the outfit he's wearing, my pulse racing. As I narrow my eyes in his direction, he turns to face me—and the moonlight overhead strikes his feature, illuminating his face.

I immediately reach into the mate bond with Delilah and tug at it, yanking her from sleep.It's Roarke. This way!

Coming.

She's up before I know it. That task done, I approach Roarke slowly, raising my trembling hands up in a placating motion.

"It's me, buddy." His eyes are cast in darkness, but I see the glint of moonlight in them as he tenses up and slides back a step. "Everything is going to be okay. Whatever Delphine did to you, we'll take care of it. We'll undo it."

His nostrils flare, and his hands curl up into fists, a growl emanating from his chest.

I freeze, sending a message back to Delilah.Approach slowly. I'm... not sure that he's okay.

"Did you escape Delphine's control somehow?" I ask Roarke, my hackles raising as my senses tell me that something is not quite right with my best friend. "That must have been hard, slipping away like that."

I take one more step towards him.

One step too many, it seems.

He snarls, lifting his lips and rushing at me. His wolf comes out as he does so, his form shifting from human to predator in an instant. The wind around us shifts, and I catch a sweet, sickening scent just before I shift myself and race to meet him.

Moon sickness.

Roarke attacks me, leaping onto my back and snapping his jaws around my neck. I twist to throw him off, rolling beneath him and kicking out with my rear claws.

Through the mate bond, I can feel Delilah's nearness.

Get back!I warn her, sending a warning out to the others as well.It isn't safe. He isn't right—he's sick.

Are you sure?Her voice trembles in my head.Maybe he's just confused.

I'm not able to answer right away, because Roarke has leapt onto my belly and is raking his thick claws down my skin, splitting me open.

The pain is immediate and overwhelming. Howling, I push him off me, managing just barely to keep him from spilling my innards entirely. He snarls and growls in my face, his eyes glowing a strange, sickly moon-white color.

Delilah must sense my pain through the mate bond, or Lance manages to grab her and pull her away, because I feel her retreating. Able to fully concentrate on the battle at hand instead of her imminent danger, I manage to get my weight beneath me and surge up to attack Roarke below.

As my jaws close around the base of his neck, hot blood bursting against my canines, I pray that there's some way to shake sense back into him.

The nearly feral growl that rattles my teeth tells me that there isn't.

But he slackens above me, and I'm able to slip out from beneath him. Letting go of his neck, I prowl behind him, my stomach twinging with echoes of pain even as the werewolf healing kicks in. Healing that is, thankfully, stronger than ever since Delilah and I mated.

When I was a weakened, venom-addicted mess, a wound like that might have been the end of me, or at least the end of my ability to fight back.

But I'm not weak anymore, and the Roarke in front of me isn't all there. He attacks me again, his movements sloppy and slightly off, his jaws closing too soon and his claws digging into nothing. I evade his attacks, fighting back only when I must, keeping my bearings as I push him away from our campsite.

Eventually I realize that I'm going to have to do more than just swipe at him and half-heartedly fight back. Swallowing my reluctance, I shift my weight beneath me, extend my claws to their fullest, and wait for him to expose his flank.

He does just that as he swipes at me again and I step out of the way, twisting to one side.

This time I leap on him directly, hitting his side and pushing him to the ground. Once I've got him there, I dig my front claws into his ribs and pull down.

It hurts my heart to hear the yelp of pain that leaves his mouth.

---