Page 37 of Destined Bear
“We need help!” I point at my mother’s limp form in the bed. “And Millie needs to be in the cells with Seline!”
Millie’s face shadows, her eyes narrowing into slits. “Seline is in the cells?”
There it is, that hint of darkness I knew I’d seen in her before.
“Raynor!” Emeric whistles for the nearest enforcer, and he appears in the doorway with the Alpha. “Why weren’t you watching Millie?”
“I was. I left for two minutes to check out a noise I heard down the hallway,” Raynor says.
Emeric’s body tenses. “I gave you very specific instructions.” He shakes his head, disappointed, and then points to Millie. “Take her to the packhouse. Lock her up along with Seline.”
“NO!” Millie’s cry ricochets across the suite as Raynor seizes her arm.
I rush back to my mother’s bedside, dropping to my knees.
“Alpha!” Sabo appears as Millie is dragged away, howling hysterically. The crow shifter does a double-take but refocuses his attention on the Alpha as I try to get my own head on straight. “Alpha, you’re needed at the packhouse!”
“Not now, Sabo. Go find as many healers as you can. Even the healers that Vivienne didn’t personally approve. Circe has taken a turn for the worse.”
“No, Alpha. You need to get to the packhouse right now! There’s been an attack. Heath is already there.”
My heart is racing wildly. “What? What happened? Is anyone hurt?”
Sabo turns to me. “I don’t have all the details, but the pack needs their Alpha.”
Conflicted, Emeric looks from me to my mother and back at Sabo.
“Go!” I urge him. “The pack comes first. It’s always the pack first, Emeric.”
Sabo raises an eyebrow at his hesitation, and I swallow, catching the look. I don’t need to be told how bad this looks. The Alpha shouldn’t be hesitating.
“Go.” My voice is softer now. “I’ll deal with my mom.”
Our eyes lock again, and he nods. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He’s gone with Sabo, and I turn back to my mother, tears pooling in the back of my eyes. “It’s okay, Mom. You’re going to be all right.”
But I’m not sure that’s true anymore. Not when she looks like death.
Four healers work on Mom for several hours as I pace the sitting room of the suite. Not one of them can give me a definitive answer.
In the interim, I check my phone for updates about what’s happening at the packhouse.
Alessa:Looks like we got ourselves a rebel group from Stonecrest looking for trouble.
Me:How do you know they’re rebels?
Alessa:No sign of the Alpha here. And my instincts are pretty solid on things like this.
I study the texts for a long while, unsure of what to make of them. Alessa doesn’t give me any more information, and Emeric doesn’t respond to my messages at all.
The urge to shift and run out to the packhouse is overwhelming, but I can’t leave my mother’s side.
I’m so conflicted and guilt-ridden, I hardly know what to do with myself.
By hour five, I can’t take any more, and I call Emeric on the phone. To my relief, he answers on the second ring.
“Oh, thank all the gods.” I exhale a deep breath. “What is going on over there?”
