Page 36 of Mates: Posy

If she was, that would make it even more difficult for Lilah to resist her alpha.

Shaking his head, he dropped next to his sister and gathered her against his chest. His expression mirrored my own feeling of helplessness.

"Lilah," his voice was low and rough, "fight him! You can do it, ladybug. You are strong. Fight!"

Tears streaked from the big man’s eyes when she began to shake as if she were having a seizure. A line of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

I think she bit her tongue,Quartz observed with his usual detachment, and I growled at him.What? She is not family. She is not pack.

She will be soon enough, I retorted and rolled my eyes at him.

Lilah tried to get to her feet, her face blank and her eyes clouded by the link, and Luke held her tighter. She struggled against him, but he was far too strong for her to break free.

"I’m afraid I’m going to hurt her," he muttered.

It was hard for a werewolf to gauge his strength, and I could only imagine myself with Posy in this situation. I - well, all of us - handled our mate like blown glass, and Lilah looked as physically frail and fragile after her ordeal.

Just make her pack already, Quartz grumped.

You know I can’t make her a member of Five Fangs without—

There is another pack that is completely yours to control,he reminded me with an eye roll of his own.

"Luke, I have an idea." I ignored Quartz’s complaint that it washisidea. "I can induct you both into the Moonset Pack. That will sever your link with Alpha Halder and Tall Pines."

"Okay, I don’t know that pack, but if it helps her, please do it quickly." He grunted as one of her tiny elbows hit his throat.

"It’smypack," I explained as I ran over to the utensil drawer and hunted for a sharp knife. "All our old packs still exist in the eyes of the Goddess. I am the alpha, and Crew Myers is my beta. We’re the only two in the pack, so your wolf might be a little lonely, but at least you’ll be free of that monster."

I found a paring knife that would work well enough and hurried back to crouch next to them.

"Lilah, if you can hear me, I’m going to cut your finger."

I grabbed one of her flailing hands and nicked the pad of her thumb, then did the same with my own. Pressing the two together, I pushed out my power and felt the moon magic stir as our blood mingled. After a second, she went still and her unusual eyes met mine for a heartbeat before she lowered them.

"It’s— It’s so quiet," she whispered and touched her left temple. "It’s so quiet in my head."

She slumped against Luke, looking exhausted and numb.

"Here, alpha."

Luke stuck out one of his hands while he held her with the other, and I repeated the process with our thumbs.

Can you hear me?I sent through our newly established link.

They turned their heads in sync and blinked at me like owls, then a wide smile broke out on Luke’s face.

"We talk to each other again, ladybug," he murmured and squished her in a big hug.

Sobbing now, she dug her face into his chest and clung to him.

"Alpha Halder forbid you to use the link with each other?" I guessed.

"She wasn’t allowed to use it withanyone."

He’d isolated Lilah just as thoroughly as Alpha Briggs had done with Posy, which was one of the cruelest things someone could do to a shifter. Wolves needed packs. Only lone wolves could survive in seclusion. The longer a shifter went without pack contact, the more his or her mental and emotional health deteriorated.

We will kill him,Quartz promised.

---