Soul Bound [Book Three, Lady and the Wolf]

Chapter One: Traitor

She ran back and forth across the room grabbing whatever article of clothing she could pack into her tiny duffle bag. Time was running out – she couldn't keep doing this, playing Markus's perfect puppet. Her sister's life was worth more to her than her own, but at what cost?

"Don't let them control you, Vera," Van had said, his golden eyes lost and hopeless as he watched his brother go mad from grief. "Don't let them break you the way they broke us."

Markus had ordered the deaths of their mates, and in doing so, had destroyed the one thing he had craved so. He had wanted to make them into the coldest killing machines man had ever known, but in doing so, had broken his toys, and had broken his only way at taking back the world he wished to control.

Aira, Emma and Celeste – they had been collateral damage in a war they never knew they were part of. Vera had never met them, and never would, but she could feel sad for them. She even felt a little guilty that she couldn't have been one of them. The way Van spoke of this Aira made Vera take a deep breath, pushing down her own feelings.

"You're an idiot," she whispered, "Falling in love with a Lycan you can never have."

When Markus had first brought them here, she had felt nothing but disgust. Her kind and theirs didn't mesh well. She was a Wiccan and her kind had been ostracised and damned because of them, because of their L'ightat puppets that failed in their mission to destroy the monsters.

But Van and Ronan weren't monsters, they were misunderstood and wanted only to protect their own. She saw the way her sister looked up at Ronan with complete adoration and wanted nothing more than to tell her it was wasted energy.

Celeste and Aira, those names rolled around in her head a thousand times a day. They were both dead, but Ronan and Van thought only of them, spoke only of them, wanted them.

Aren't we good enough? She thought with a little contempt.

"You know, a Wicca killed Konstantin's woman out of jealousy once. Don't go down that path, Vera."

She spun around and saw Markus staring at her from the doorway, his face grim and tired. "Going somewhere?" he snapped, irritable.

Shit. She looked down at her half-packed duffle bag and shrugged.

"Don't you care what happens to Leigh?" he asked, but there was no concern in his cracked voice.

"I-I won't do it," she whispered, shaking her head as she took a timid step back. "I won't take the only part of them you can't break."

"Oh, but my dear, I've already taken it. Do want Drake to die? He's very close. He's already over his madness, but soon, the grief will strike him dead, and it won't be long before Kostya and Ronan follow."

She sucked in a sharp breath. Losing their mates meant they would ultimately die, but Ronan and Van hadn't had any symptoms of madness set in. They looked simply... sad. Like hallow shells of what they could have been.

"But taking their Lycan's? That's cruel. We don't know what will happen."

No, she knew exactly what would happen. They would become human, and Markus would have control of their Lycan's to do with as he saw fit.

His smile made her shiver with terror. "Dear, what if we made a deal? What if I said you could take them away from here and keep them safe?"

She gulped. "You mean, keep them safe until you found a way to control them?"

He hadn't been able to completely control them with the collars. They had killed hundreds of his men, well, the one's stupid enough to get near them, and so had to send her and her sister in to try and calm them.

The fact she looked like this Aira must have just been a bonus.

"When we find a way to safely control them, we will give their Lycan's back, and no one will be none the wiser. They won't remember a thing."

"And... you'll let me take them to any place I see fit?" she asked cautiously. "And you won't come after us?"

"Not until I find a way to control them, and when I do, I'll give you fair warning."

She took a step forward. "And you'll let us stay with them?"

She hated how she sounded so damn weak.

He nodded. "You and Leigh can stay with them for as long as you like."

She could arrange forever. She could make herself life forever. She had that power. She could be what Van needed, and live as long as he did.

"And you'll find a way to stop the bond from taking his life?"

Markus grinned, showing just how age was taking its toll, and nodded again. "That's why we have to do this. I can't have my boys dying on me over some useless bitches, can I?"

"And Innochka won't know where we are?"

At this, Markus took a step forward and chuckled. "Innochka won't be a problem."

That she-wolf didn't scare her, but the way the woman looked at her as if she wanted to tear her face off did make Vera a little concerned. After all, she did kill a L'ightat.

Killing a L'ightat was no easy feat, especially ripping their arm off. Vera took in a strangled breath as she thought of the damage Innochka could do to her if she ran off with Van.

"Okay, I'll do it, and I can take them anywhere?" She knew exactly where she would take them, straight to her brother and their kin. Markus would never be able to touch them there.

She had no intentions of giving them back once they were out of this hell.

"Anywhere," he agreed.

"I want River and Aiden as well," she whispered. "I want all of them."

She froze when Markus frowned. It was a long shot as Aiden and River hadn't shifted yet, but she knew she could do it – she could give them normal lives. Aiden was suffering also from the loss of his mate, and he too would ultimately die without this.

"Well, I suppose I do need Aiden alive as well, the more Lycan's I can control, the better," Markus agreed, thinking about it.

"It'll be easier with them since they haven't yet shifted," Vera agreed, internally sighing that he didn't catch on to her plan.

Markus smiled and turned back towards the door, "It's agreed then, but Vera," he paused, turning back to glare at her, "If you betray me, they all die, including Leigh. Understand?"

With a short nod, she tried to control her shaking body as Markus laughed and exited the room.

She just hoped she was as powerful as she thought she was. She could do this and give them the life they had been denied for so long. It was a new beginning, and she knew her brother would never let anything happen to her.

In the deepest, darkest part of her mind, she wondered if she could make Van forget the human who stole his heart, if just for one day.