Bound Book 2

Chapter 51 - Traitor

Dmitri

Pregnant. I read the word over and over, my mind spinning at this news. All the time Sky was nauseous lately. I thought it was from the blood she ingested from the hunter. Or nerves. But pregnant. My mind goes back to the wedding dress and the faint scent I had picked up before it faded. Similarly, when she had shifted into her Lycan. The scent was so light and seemed to vanish as quickly as it appeared that I thought I had imagined it.

Suddenly, my head snaps up, my eyes finding Mira's.

"You knew?" I ask her accusingly.

"I suspected. She threw up on my wedding day. But I couldn't be sure. When she was nauseous the next day as well, my suspicion grew stronger." She sounds guilty as she looks between myself and Andrea.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Andrea asks, confirming at least that he was in the dark with me. I would have been devastated if my best friend decided to keep something this big from me.

"I wasn't sure, and Sky seemed oblivious, so I thought it might just be me reaching. It also has never happened before. Lycans and humans cannot reproduce. And when I saw the way she swallowed down the champagne at my wedding, I thought I must be wrong. When she was still nauseous the next day, I mentioned it to Ally and Raina, and that's when they ran the tests, so don't hate me altogether," Mira says, her arms wrapping around her body as if to shield her from the backlash of her not telling me.

I am angry at her, as is Andrea, but this isn't her fault. She wasn't sure, so she said nothing. Could we blame her? At least she voiced her suspicion to someone. Though I really wish Raina had said something sooner. The thought of Sky and our baby in the hands of a madman nearly drives me to insanity. What if he tried hurting her, not knowing she is pregnant? My eyes turn black, the claws on my hands digging into the wood of the table, as I battle my Lycan forcing its way forward. What if he finds out she is pregnant and that the power he seeks actually resides with our tribrid unborn child? What will he do then? I can't even think about it.

The joy of us being pregnant is overshadowed by the dangerous situation Sky is in. Hatred towards Gael grows as yet another moment we should have enjoyed together is stolen from us. Rage washes over me at all that this fucking twisted psychopath has taken from us. A growl leaves my throat as I close my eyes. I could do it. Let it wash over me. Take me away to a place where only destruction and chaos reside. But if I do, I wouldn't be much closer to getting Sky and our baby back. I'm going to be a father. The thought sobers me and brings me back from the precipice of letting go and losing myself completely.

Opening my eyes, I am met with the worried faces of my friends. Andrea puts a hand on my shoulder as he tries to comfort me.

"We will find them frere," Andrea says, squeezing my shoulder reassuringly.

"We will Dmitri. We have all the tools to do this spell," Raina says, grabbing my now normal hand and giving it a squeeze. Thank fuck I had these people with me else I don't know what I would do.

"Okay, I need to prepare. I'm going to pop over to Ivan's place and get some things I will need for the ritual, and let's meet back at Sky's in twenty minutes," Raina says, her eyes drifting over the ruins of my furniture and the table in front of us. This place was wrecked, so I understood her change of location.

"Fine. I will follow up with Kira and see if she has had any luck in the meantime," I say as we all rise, the tension in the air slightly less than it was moments ago.

The place is eerily quiet following everyone's departure. The laughter from earlier coming from Sky and Mira as they decorated the now shredded Christmas tree flits through my mind. My jacket on the floor catches my attention, and picking it up, I am reminded of how this disaster started. I pull the box holding Sky's engagement ring out of the pocket. This evening was supposed to be magical, but once again, it ended in nothing but pain. Was this our destiny? A never-ending future of pain and suffering? I realize the depths of my feelings for Sky when even that bleak future sees me in it. I will be by her side no matter what.

Pressure in my mind pulls me out of my thoughts as Kira mind-links me.

"Have you found her?" I ask, not waiting for her to speak first.

"Not yet, but..." Kira's hesitation tells me she has found something, "we have the traitor in custody."

Someone from our pack has been helping Gael. Now we finally knew who it was.

"Who is it?" I ask her when her silence persists.

"It's Meridith." Meridith. The name rings in my head as the pennies drop into place. She has motive though I was told that she knew what happened to her mate Ruan was part of the job. Ruan was killed by a hunter just outside Sky's place in Willow Falls. He was part of the surveillance team patrolling her area when it happened. Meridith told Dr. Lancerti in her counseling sessions that she held no ill will towards Sky and that she understood that Ruan was killed in the line of duty, but apparently, that was smoke and mirrors. She has been holding a grudge. A grudge that now saw her as a traitor to the pack. Co-conspirator in Gael's twisted game.

"She has been helping the hunters get past the borders and pack security. She also has had contact with Gael on several different occasions, feeding him information on Sky's movements as well as yours. But she doesn't know where he is based. And before you ask, yes, we have used... firm interrogation techniques. She isn't lying. She blames Sky for Ruan's death. She says if it wasn't for her, he would still be here. She is unstable. We know how it is for mates who are split from each other. The mental strain is enormous," Kira sounds sympathetic towards her, a feeling I couldn't muster under the circumstances.

"I will deal with her later. Keep her detained in the meantime. Let me know if you have any news on Skylar's location," I say, closing the link with Kira.

I don't dwell on the fact that I could land up in the same position as Meridith. That thought taking me to a place so dark that not even the light from the brightest star would reach it.

It's not going to happen, I reassure myself over and over again as I make my way to Sky's place.

By the time I get there, Raina has cleared the small table in Sky's lounge, the vile of blood and herbs from the box neatly placed on a black cloth next to a small knife and some other items.

Raina is sitting in front of the table, her hand holding the page with Elsabeth's location spell. She appears to be re-reading the text while Ally is in the kitchen, presumably making tea. Mira and Andrea are occupying the couch on the opposite side. Mira gets up, approaching me cautiously.

"I'm really sorry Dmitri," is all she says as she stands in front of me. I catch Andrea's gaze behind me. This was his mate, and she was part of his life. I also understood why she didn't say anything. To an extent. It also wasn't her that I was angry with. It was Gael. She oozed guilt. I can tell she is thinking that if she had said something, perhaps it would have changed the outcome of tonight. Honestly, with Elsabeths note already predicting this event, I don't think so.

"Apology accepted. But next time, speak up." I don't say more than that. There is nothing more to say. I can see she feels guilty and is doing a sterling job of beating her own self up. There was no need for me to do it as well.

"I'm ready," Raina says as Mira finds her way back to her seat and Ally enters the room with a cup of something that smells vile as hell. These witches and their brews.

"Please be careful," Ally says, giving her a long kiss before she hands her the concoction.

"Bottoms up," Raina says as she downs the mixture in one go. Ally takes the cup as Raina's head falls back, her eyes glazing over and turning a milky white.

"What's happening?" I ask quietly as Ally takes a step back.

"This incantation can only be done by the incantation caster." It takes me a moment to realize what she means.

"Elsabeth?" I ask her, the confirmation coming from a voice I don't recognize. Looking over at Raina, her once brown eyes are replaced with glowing purple ones. Eyes that feel like they are staring into my soul. Ally drops to her knees beside me.

"That's me. Hello Dmitri."

Please don't forget to comment and vote!