Chapter 96

Nathan POV

Moonglow Pack - Modesty Cabin

I woke up confused. A scent stung my nose, making me sneeze in reaction while I tried to figure out what the sharp odor was only to realize it was blood. Rachel's blood. Rachel was injured!

Sitting straight up in the bed, I groaned as the whole cabin seemed to spin around me. I had never been so dizzy in my entire life. Every movement felt as if I were forcing my body to move through some kind of thick liquid. Even breathing was hard as I struggled to bring my body back under my own control.

"Rachel?" I called, my voice coming out harsh, rough as the words were dragged from my throat, raked over my sore vocal cords, "Rachel? Are you here?"

"Nathan?" Rachel called, her voice quiet and tentative in a way I hadn't heard before, almost as if she were scared.

Why would she be scared of me though? I couldn't smell another wolf around. Whoever had attacked her---my thoughts derailed as I looked at my arms with dawning horror.

Deep scrapes raked down my arms and my knuckles were hugely swollen, deformed knots as if I'd been in a fistfight with a concrete wall. I found it odd I couldn't smell much of my own blood at all. Someone had used a scent suppressant?

I got out of bed only to stagger as badly as a drunk after a three-day-bender. Going to my travel bag, I took out a shirt to cover my chest and my upper arms. The short sleeves stopped at my elbows leaving my forearms and hands exposed, but the pattern on the fabric helped to distract attention away from my injuries.

Making my way to the bedroom door, I opened it to see Art standing very firmly between me and the door to the room Rachel was going to use.

I didn't need him to tell me he would hurt me if I tried to get closer to Rachel. The Alpha Inspector was a gigantic male whose stance said all he needed to say about his ability to protect his charge; I was grateful Rachel was safe with him even if I didn't know what was going on exactly.

"I screwed up, didn't I?"

Art nodded, "You did."

Forcing my mind to turn inward, I scanned my memories until I got a hint of Lycan rage. I pushed through the fog until I remembered losing control. I couldn't make myself recall anything while I was in my Lycan state, but I knew I had been enraged.

Anger had increased the saliva flow in my mouth, my fangs sharpening on both top and bottom. I swallowed hard to try to clear the sensation without having much luck. All I seemed to have succeeded in doing was making myself more nauseated.

"I went Lycan? I didn't hurt Rachel? You got to her before I could."

I couldn't remember what had happened. I could tell from the look on Art's face though: he had not let me harm the woman I loved.

"You got close. Too close."

My attention snapped away from Art instantly when Rachel came back into view. She was carrying her bathroom bag and a bundle of clothes. Her slip was little more than bloody scraps hanging on her body; blood streaked her skin from scratches or scrapes I probably caused her to get.

I wanted to throw up more than ever---then I noticed the fresh bite on her neck where her original mating mark had been.

Eyes widening in shock, I stammered, "Wh-wh-what happened to your throat? You're mated again? How---no, who did it?"

I had no taste of blood in my mouth even though the scent of it was everywhere. I hadn't marked her. I probed my mind thoroughly to ensure there was no hint of a connection to Rachel. I was alone in my mind with no company other than my wolf, Lyon, who was sulking at having been thwarted in his attempts to claim a mate.

"We had to get Wright here. She was hysterical. You were out of control. Wright seemed the best choice under the circumstances. He's negotiating his way onto the territory right now. Our official story will be he came because of fear for his baby. Their concern for the fetus resulted in a spontaneous mating. She's dropping her claim on Moonglow Pack as she's now officially House Wright."

Lyon roared in my mind. He wanted Rachel as badly as I did. I fought him down, giving myself a Hell of a headache in the process.

"Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Rachel shook her head, her hair moving around her shoulders to partially obscure her new mating mark. I wanted to thank her for the courtesy even though I knew she hadn't done it on purpose.

I doubted Rachel would do much for my comfort in the future. Her dark eyes were wide with fear or shock or both. Our relationship had changed tonight.

My heart broke inside my chest as I realized I had lost her forever.

Shuddering under the strain of trying to hold my wolf back, I gasped out, "I have to go. Run. I'm going to run. I won't come back until I guarantee I'm safe. You aren't in danger. I promise."

I hoped I wasn't lying to Rachel or Art or myself as I pulled off the shirt I'd just pulled on. I threw it to the floor and went out the Modesty Cabin door at almost a run. Pushing my pants off my hips and down my legs, I kicked them to the side and called forth the shift which would give my body over to Lyon.

My wolf howled his loss at the Moon Goddess before taking off into the forest to run the periphery of Moonglow Pack's territory.

All my thoughts were scrambled in my head. They came in spits and spurts.

Rachel's eyes wide and terrified as she looked at me, waiting to see if the monster who shared my skin would emerge.

Rachel's blood painting her skin while tainting the air with its tangy scent, proving I had hurt her when I lost control despite having sworn I never would.

Who knew I had it in me to hurt the one I loved most? Before tonight, I thought I'd slit my own throat before I'd harm a hair on Rachel's head. I hadn't even been able to think about hurting Tyler Wright because I knew it would hurt Rachel indirectly. What had I done to her? Had I gotten my claws on her?

Acid rose up in my throat, burning me from the inside until I was forced to stop and howl again. Lyon calling out for others of our kind to know tonight a wounded beast ran the land.

Art Windsor was more than capable of taking me out. I knew he had to have held himself back to avoid harming me, but I couldn't focus enough to determine why he would have bothered.

Was he concerned with protecting the line of ascension for House Lewis?

Wars were common among wolfen culture. Full Moon Pack had been held by House Lewis for generations due to the luck of inheritance more than anything else. Lewis Alphas weren't the biggest or the most fierce of our brethren, but we were known to be fair as well as having a certain indefinable luck in our business dealings which benefited our entire pack.

Money could sway even monsters.

The Alpha Council wouldn't likely let Windsor off if he took me out, but had they given him any existing orders where I was concerned? What did the Council know about my interest in Rachel? Was I a joke to everyone in power? Did they all know how I hungered for another Alpha's mate?

Thinking of being a joke among my kind made my anger level rise, threatening to push Lyon aside in favor of letting my mind go completely blank in the space between wolf and human where all that existed was the Lycan and his rage.

I forced my mind to go blank, breathing in deep to let myself become reacquainted with the night, the forest, the land around me. I never had the chance to be in such pure land when I was in the city. Moonglow Pack was truly blessed being able to call these virgin woods their home.

Running flat out, I circled the territory looking for peace, absolution, or maybe just a fight with another monster prowling the dark.

Rachel was gone from me forever---unless something took out Tyler Wright.

I howled again, a third call to the Moon Goddess, not sure if I was yelling at her for gifting my love to another or pleading with her to send me someone or something to take my pain away.

Something would have to give and soon because I ached for Rachel in a way I couldn't contain as either a man or a wolf.