Chapter 81

Helen POV

Russo is patting his wound dry on his arm, a mark from being handled so roughly by Alpha Justin when he arrived. He shouldn’t have come here, he knew that, but he is a meek guest in our rather disheveled kitchen, lapping water of his bleeding arm.

“What happened in here, anyways?” The Fae asked, spying the broken table and chairs, not to mention a little bit of blood on the tile. “Looks like there was one hell of a fight.”

“There was,” Justin groaned, readjusting me on his lap. There was only one chair left after the battle that occurred in here and we’d decided to share it while Russo tended to his arm. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks since you betrayed us.”

Russo froze, looking out the kitchen window in hesitant silence.

“Justin, please,” I whispered, not wanting to bring this entire argument back up to the surface again. “Try to be somewhat merciful.”

“Pardon me,” Justin purred, looking through Russo. “My mate is a little more forgiving than I am. Especially lately, since you took us in and then sold us out to my evil father and her horrid first mate.”

“I didn’t want to,” Russo explained. “I had to do it to protect my people.”

“Look how well that turned out, crawling to me on your knees for help. How does it feel to be betrayed, Fae? Should I chain you up and whip your back in submission, maybe leave you bleeding an inch from death just to get a raise out of your mate?”

I choked, fighting back the horrid memories of that event.

“I am sorry about that,” Russo groaned, looking to me. “So, very sorry, Helen.”

“Don’t talk to my mate,” Justin said possessively, turning me quick in his lap so I’d face away from the Fae.

After our last fight in the kitchen, and the bloodshed and harm it did to our bond, I didn’t fight him. He was already so lost, becoming unhinged really, that I feared parts of my mate.

He wouldn’t hurt me outright. His Lycan was becoming another story.

“If I knew they were going to hurt you so terribly, I would have told you about Juden’s plan to have me double-cross you both,” Russo muttered. “He just said your Lycan was out of control, and I didn’t know any better, so I obliged.”

“If you only knew,” Justin spit, throwing Russo’s words back at himself. “If you only knew the chain of events you caused me and my mate, you would have never sought me out for help.”

The sink turned off an di tipped my chin against Justin’s chest, kissing lightly along his jaw. He growled at me slightly, his hands flexing against my ass—a warning.

“The wizards are my only family, they’re all I have, and I can’t let Juden hold them captive.”

“How did he take them?” Justin asked.

Russo was pacing the kitchen, I could trace his footsteps behind me. “He used the youngest ones as bait to draw the rest into cages on wheels. He took them to his pack and left me a note along with—well, along with an example of what was to happen if I were to come after him.”

“What was it?” I pondered meekly.

“He killed the wizards who refused, piled their bodies by the ladder to our treehouse. I think he pushed them off the walkway in the air. I didn’t stay to look into it further,” Russo replied.

I swallowed, hiccupping a light groan of discomfort.

“Go upstairs, please,” Justin whispered, kissing my cheek gently. “You don’t need to hear all of this, Helen. We’ve been through enough already. I don’t want to put you through more.”

I nodded but didn’t leave. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and inhaled his scent.

“We can’t blame Russo for all of our troubles since he betrayed us,” I admitted. “I just want to make sure Penelope is okay. There are other innocent wizards, Justin. If Juden does to them what he and Scott has done to me, then—”

I flinched and Justin felt it for sure. He held me tighter after that.

“I won’t let Juden hurt anyone else, mate. I promise.”

I nuzzled into his neck protectively. “How? We can’t even beat your father without him having control of dozens of wizards. How will we beat him now?”

“How can I help?” Russo asked.

Justin snarled a noise as he looked to the Fae. “You’ve done plenty. Just stay out of the way.”

Just then, Randy burst into the kitchen, finding my eyes first, before the rest. “Luna, there’s a problem I need you to address.”

“What’s wrong?” Justin blurted.

“The young human in the pack, she’s really sick,” Randy panted. “She’s asking to speak to Helen.”

“Absolutely not,” Justin barked. He looked thoughtfully into my eyes, adding, “It could be something contagious, Helen. I can’t let you get ill again, not after the whole heat ordeal.”

We all sat in a damp, saddened mood after recalling that entire situation.

“Someone want to explain what that means to me?” Russo mumbled.

Justin hissed in reply, “it happened right after you stabbed us in the backs, Fae. Back off—our pack matters don’t concern you.” Justin looked at his Beta and then to my pleading eyes. He relaxed. “Go see Martha but keep a distance please.”

“Of course,” I added through a kiss to his lips.

He watched Randy as I passed him in the hallway. “Please make sure she doesn’t get too close. We can’t catch most mortal diseases but I don’t want to take any chances, considering out surprise guest.”

“This has nothing to do with me, Lycan,” Russo affirmed. “But I understand your distrust.”

I had changed upstairs into something more appropriate and met Randy on the front porch, the two of us sprinting through town square until we reached Martha and her half-brother’s home.

Randy held an arm up, stopping me from walking into the living room.

Gwen, our pack healer, was in there already, tending to Martha on the couch. She can’t possibly heal a human but having her here did seem to make me feel a little better. She is wise with all dieses, maybe even the ones that affect Martha’s species.

Ezequiel had his head buried in his hands until he spotted me and Randy in his foyer.

“Luna, Beta. Thank you for coming over,” he gusted, jumping to his feet. “I came back from fishing and she was on the floor, passed out. Her body was so hot to the touch—she has the worst fever I’ve ever seen.”

“A fever,” I said, swishing the words around in my mouth. “That’s weird. She’s not a wolf, so she isn’t in heat.”

“There are a lot of illnesses for humans that cause fever,” Randy grunted. “There’s no way to differ it down to one illness over another.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Gwen cut in, her frail voice carrying from the next room over. “Luna, you might want to come here.”

I stepped forward by Randy stopped me again.

“The Luna needs to be protected from contagion,” Randy called out.

“Oh, she won’t catch this,” Gwen mumbled. “I promise, Beta.”

I finally was allowed to join Gwen and Martha in the living room, seeing the little human toss and turn on the couch in a puddle of her own sweat.

Gwen motioned me to kneel, to come closer, and I obliged.

“You remember that curse that made you go into heat?”

I nodded, knowing Justin just brought it up minutes ago in front of Russo. “Yeah, of course. Martha can’t have that, though, she’s a human.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true.”

“What?” I gasped, watching Martha write in agony. “She’s a wolf?”

Again, Gwen shook her head. “She’s a wizard.”