Betrayal - The Matlock Pack: Book Two

Prologue_Part 2 - Nat

Monday 30 November

~*Nat*~

Alex flinched as Mum’s painful howl ripped through the air, as did Sloane, who redirected his attention from us. Sloane changed direction slightly and headed for Mum, who was still utterly bereft and not paying attention to what was going on around her.

Alex side-stepped once more, testing the boundaries of how Sloane would react, but thankfully his attention was completely on Mum, who was still screaming at the loss of her fated mate. Alex took the opportunity to dart past Sloane, taking giant leaps around the courtyard towards the exit. Just as we crossed the threshold, Mum’s screaming cut off. One moment it was filling the air, the next it was gone.

There was utter silence as Alex pounded down the path to get away from the pack house. No animals, no birds, no people made a sound as we ran. I noticed several wolves standing to the side of the path, watching me warily, their ears back and snarling at me as I fled, but none made a move to intercept me.

It wasn’t until we had reached the outskirts of Kinglake township that the shock wore off and I started screaming at what I had seen and heard. Alex clenched his jaw together so he wouldn’t vocalise what I was feeling.

“Audrey, focus. We’re not out of danger yet. Where do I go?” He never slowed down as he tried desperately to get through to me.

“What did he do?” I kept screaming, imagining my hands covering my ears and tucking myself into a ball. “Alex! He killed my parents!!”

“I know. I can’t believe he did it either, but we’re still alive.” His ears pricked back at the sounds of howling coming from the Kinglake township. “Focus, kid. Which way do I head?”

“I don’t know!” I sobbed, trying desperately to calm my racing mind. “Where are we now?” I tried to take stock of where we were. Alex had headed northeast, further into the forest surrounding the Kinglake township. “Are we north of Castella?”

Most of the Kinglake forested pack lands were to the northwest, but it was only a small forest, with nothing but farmland and open fields surrounding it. If we broke through the forest border, humans would easily spot us. He had angled our escape towards the only spot the forest continued—the Borderlands, the area we were always told to avoid, the stretch of land between our pack and the notoriously evil Matlock pack. The stretch of forest between the small human townships of Castella and Glenburn was part of the very edge of the Borderlands.

Alex let out a huff. “I can turn northwest, but we’ll be trapped. If we head east—”

“Into the Borderlands?” Dread filled me at the thought of heading into the Matlock pack lands. We had all heard stories of how they tortured and r***d anyone who crossed their borders, putting the corpses on display where our borders met as a warning to the rest of us.

“It’s our only option, kid. I guarantee if we stay in the Kinglake pack lands, we’ll be dead before sunrise. Better to take our chances.”

“What? With rapists and murderers?”

“Have we ever seen any proof that they are what Alpha James said they were?”

“You think he lied?” I thought about all the times Alpha James had spoken about the Matlock pack. He had always sounded so convincing.

“Audrey, your dad knew what Alpha James was doing,” Alex said quietly. “I’m starting to think the Kinglake pack was built entirely on lies.”

Dad knew? I threw my mind back over the conversation before my world fell apart. ‘You agreed she was to be exempt. You swore to us she wouldn’t be a part of this.’ I let out another wail as I realised Alex was right. My beloved dad had known about everything. “Do it, Alex. Head as far away from Kinglake as you can.” I took a heaving breath in. I didn’t know what to do. Everything I knew was a lie. “There’s nothing here for us anymore.” My mind shut down as Alex changed direction, heading east into enemy territory.

~~~

“Wake up, kid.”

I felt my consciousness fight against rising to the surface when Alex called me. I was utterly miserable, constantly veering between screaming in despair and hopelessness, to feeling completely numb from shock. “Why, Alex? Have we been caught?”

“Not quite.”

I looked around at our surroundings. Alex had stopped at a stream in a forest I wasn’t familiar with at all. Large trees surrounded us with ferns and greenery everywhere. It was still dark, and the shadows were deep. There was a terrifying beauty to where we now stood. “Are we in the Matlock pack lands?”

“I’m pretty sure we are. I’ve been dodging wolves for hours. That’s not why I called for you, though.” I felt his ears go back and his tail flick. “You need to speak to someone.”

“Someone?” I frowned. “Who?” I looked around, trying to see what he was talking about. As far as I could tell, we were alone.

Alex shifted his head to the left and focused on a small pale figure almost completely hidden behind a fern. “Her.” He tilted his head at the woman, who stepped carefully around the greenery and into a stream of moonlight. She was a short woman, completely naked except for a gold chain around her neck that carried a purple gem of some description, her long strawberry-blonde dreadlocks covering her breasts and trailing past her buttocks. She stared at Alex with what looked like astonishment.

“Um, are we sure she’s not a threat?” Even though she was small enough that I believed Alex could take her, we were in unknown territory. I wasn’t prepared to leave anything to chance.

“She’s not a threat to us, kid. I promise.” Alex stood up and trotted through the stream and sat in front of the woman, his tail wagging. “Hello, sister. It’s been a while.”

I blinked. “Sister? What?!” I was an only child. What the f**k was Alex on about?

“Alex? Is it really you?” She held out a trembling hand and lay it on Alex’s head, in between his ears. As soon as she made contact, her body lit up with a variety of white lines and dots. “Goddess above… It is!” She knelt in front of Alex, palms holding his jaw as she stared into our eyes before she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I never thought I’d see you in your wolf form again. Not after what happened the last time.”

Alex let out a huff, letting his head nudge her shoulder and neck. “We’re in trouble, Nahi.”

“Nahi? That’s the woman’s name?” I felt like I was playing catch up.

“Yes, Audrey. That’s my name.” The woman laughed before pulling back from Alex, her hands still running through his fur with both hands. “And when have you ever not been in trouble, Alex?”

Wait… What?? Could she hear me and Alex when we were in our wolf forms? I didn’t even know that was possible.

“You’re carrying Sunsling, Nahi. Maybe this would be a good time to use it?” Alex focused on the purple gemstone that hung around her neck.

“Of course.” Nahi’s hands left Alex’s neck and fumbled at the chain to find the clasp. As soon as she broke contact with Alex, the glowing lines that adorned her faded from view.

“Alex, what’s going on?” For what felt like the umpteenth time this night, I was utterly confused. We were sitting in a territory that we had always been told were filled with killers, talking to an odd naked woman who Alex called his sister.

“When she slips the gem around you, you’ll become human for a few minutes. Use the time wisely,” Alex said, just as Nahi finally unclasped the chain. “Do what she says during those minutes, no matter how odd the request is. I swear to you that no harm will come to you while she is here.”

My mind boggled. Me being human on the night of the full moon? It simply wasn’t possible. Every werewolf between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six was forced to remain in wolf form when the full moon hung in the sky. Now Alex was telling me there was a way I could be human? And on my very first full moon, to boot?

“Some conversations are best had when the participants are all human, Audrey,” Nahi said, reaching the chain around Alex’s neck. Once the clasp had been fastened, the shimmering effect started, and I felt myself being forced to shift back to human. As the rainbow lights filled the tiny clearing we were in, Nahi stepped back to allow me room and to take in the colours punching out of my skin. This shift was much easier and quicker than my first.

“Each shift will be quicker now that you know what you’re doing,” Alex said, as we completed the process.

I panted from the exertion and sat back on my heels, my hands on my knees. The necklace swayed around my neck from side to side, the purple gem glowing brightly against my pale skin.

Nahi sat cross-legged in front of me, reaching her hands out to clasp my wrists, the white lines glowing brightly on her skin once again. “We don’t have long, Audrey. Alex said that you’re both in trouble. It will be quicker for me to sort through your memories directly, rather than telling me what happened. To do that, I need to kiss you. Okay?”

Dazed, I nodded once. Alex did say to do what she asked. A kiss wasn’t going to kill me.

Nahi leaned forward and grasped my cheeks with her palms and placed her lips on mine. I stared into her grey eyes and watched her irises rifle through a variety of colours. It almost felt like time slowed down as her pupils retracted to pinpricks and images started appearing in the colours.

My eyes widened as I saw Dad talking to Alpha James. Their mouths moved soundlessly for a moment before I started hearing their voices in my mind. The scene played out in fast forward, their voices squeaking as they too sped up. I winced when I saw Dad slice his hand open, then started fighting the connection with Nahi when Dad pushed me away. I knew what was coming, and I didn’t want to relive it.

“Don’t fight it, kid. Nahi needs to do this to understand.”

“I can’t, Alex. I don’t want to see him die again. Please don’t make me go through it again!” Physically unable to look away from the images in Nahi’s eyes, tears began falling from my own. I struggled in Nahi’s hands, clawing at her fingers that held my face steady, forcing me to relive every sound and movement of the nightmare Alex and I had been through only hours prior.

Half a second before the killing blow came, I screamed, both physically and mentally, to let out my anguish. A shock-wave erupted from me, spreading out from my body, and making the shrubs, ferns, and trees vibrate violently from the energy.

Three seconds after the shock-wave had been created, it rushed back, collapsing in on itself, my body absorbing the harsh currents. I crumpled from the impact and fell backwards onto the grass behind me. Nahi hadn’t broken the connection and landed on top of me with a thud. Now that Dad was dead, the vision sped up even quicker, even as my mind started shutting down.

“You’re stronger than you think, kid. Fight the darkness, Audrey. Fight it!”

As much as I trusted Alex with my life, and as much as I tried to do what he was telling me to do, my mind was on overload. It was all too much. I felt the darkness envelope me and it promised me peace from the horrors I had witnessed twice in one night.

Unable to cope any longer with the torment that was repeating in my mind, I gladly gave myself over to the void.

“I’m sorry, Alex. No more.” I felt one last tear run down my face as Nahi let me go, her own eyes glistening with unshed tears at the horrors Alex and I had endured. “I can’t…”

“Audrey?” Alex’s voice was panicked as he realised what was happening.

“You have control now,” I whispered to him as I finally succumbed to the darkness. “Live well for me…”

“AUDREY!!”