The song "Dancing With Your Ghost" by Sasha Sloan literally goes with this book perfectly! Go ahead and take a listen VIA Spotify or something while you read the prologue, it REALLY adds to the experience!
xoxo,
Alex
Berlin
"Run! Get to safety!"
Our head warrior yelled, a frantic gleam in his eyes before he swiftly shifted into his large, black wolf, crashing with the force of a boulder against an equally large rogue. His voice was loud and demanding, which, among all of the other commotion, caused me to flinch up against the wall I was huddled against, my knees up to my chest.
I can't take this, I thought to myself as my eyes flickered to the many feet running past me and towards the safe room. I knew that I should have been running towards safety with them, but I couldn't move my body. Hell, I could barely breathe. I simply rocked back and forth slowly among the commotion and screams that flew around me at all angles, trying to comfort myself as he would have.
I knew that he was out there fighting and it scared me to my very core. All of the bloodshed and gore that was going on around me was a nightmare, but this time there was no waking up. This was undeniably and insurmountably real.
I could feel every scratch, bite, and gash that my mate received through our link despite the fact that he was offsetting the pain as much as he could so I wouldn't have to suffer as much. I thought that I was past the age of curling up in paralyzing fear, as becoming the Luna of our pack had forced me out of my shy shell, but at that moment I couldn't have felt more like a child. I just wanted my mate safe. I wanted him here.
I wanted my Max...
"Berlin! You have to get up now!" I was snapped out of my cocoon of fear as my shoulder was shaken violently. Snapping my head up, I was met with the bright yellow eyes of Axel, one of the Protectors of our pack. I nodded silently, clenching my jaw and pushing against the wall in an attempt to force my legs to cooperate and bring me to my feet. However, my effort was for naught as a moment later they buckled, giving out beneath me. I doubled over with a sharp pain in my groin, my breath catching in my throat as I fell toward the ground once again. Upon recognizing my dire situation, I immediately felt Axel lift my body into his arms.
I tried to scream, to tell Axel that my mate needed me, but as hard as I tried to force my vocal cords to work, no sound slipped past my lips. My head lolled back, limbs going limp in his arms as a suffocating feeling of defeat took over my soul. My body had betrayed me, not allowing me to go to the one person that mattered to me more than anything.
That's when I saw him.
Through hooded, blank eyes, I spotted my Max among the chaos, being tackled to the ground by four large and feral rogues at once. A choked sputter bubbled its way out of my throat, my body suddenly jumping back into action as a blindingly hot shock of pain shot through my neck. Rage seeped into the forefront of my brain, effectively overtaking my fear as instincts flooded my consciousness.
I had to protect him at all costs.
Even if it meant my life.
I thrashed out of Axel's arms, hitting the ground hard before breaking into a sprint. I ran the opposite way through the ever-thickening crowd of terrified pack members and it seemed like forever before I finally reached the edge of the battlefield, spotting Max again amongst all the mayhem occurring around me. He was lying on the ground in human form, blood pouring furiously from a deep wound in his neck and also from the side of his mouth as he hiccuped, fruitlessly trying to force air into his lungs. I could visibly see his superficial skin attempting to fuse back together with his superior Alpha healing capability, but he was bleeding out far much too fast for the deeper, more critical damage to fix itself in time to save him.
The tears that I'd somehow managed to hold back began flowing freely down my cheeks at the sight, my chest heaving with hyperventilating sobs as I witnessed the love of my life fading slowly on the cold, bloodstained ground. I fell harshly to my knees in the grass beside him, pulling his head into my lap with a choked sob and pressing my small hands to the wound at his neck in a meager attempt to stop the bleeding. I couldn't speak past the lump in my throat, the only thing that I could do was sob as Max's eyes slowly blinked in recognition. He lifted his hand up to rest against my cheek and I instinctually leaned into his touch, not caring in the slightest that my tears were undoubtedly mixing with the blood on his strong fingers and smearing across my face.
"Berlin..." he roughly choked out before heaving and coughing up a mouthful of blood a moment later. It poured down the corner of his mouth and rolled down his cheek before falling onto the grass beneath him. I pressed my hand more firmly over the wound in his neck, his gentle touch making it easier for me to push past the lump in my throat so that I could speak.
"Don't talk! Please don't talk! You'll hurt yourself!" I sputtered through my hot tears, my eyes leaving his face for only a moment as I looked around desperately in hopes that one of our pack members was nearby and could help me bring Max to safety. The slight smile on his face as he gazed up at me broke my heart into a million little pieces, and a sob ripped through my chest as he once again began coughing up even more blood.
"Please just hang on! I'll save you, I promise! I promise I will!" I screamed, hopelessly realizing no one was coming to our rescue "I can try to drag you okay? I can drag you closer until someone can help, I can-" My words were cut short as Max's bloodied fingers moved to press gently against my lips in the same way he always quieted me when I was ranting, which happened often.
They slowly trailed down, leaving a streak of metallic-tasting blood across my lips as they did, before reaching the small, golden locket that laid between my collarbones. A fond expression flashed across his eyes as he gazed upon the piece of jewelry, his shaking fingers hovering above it as his eyes traveled back up to meet mine.
"Shh... my love." He grunted, blood coating his lips at the effort it took to speak "I need you to get back... back to the house" I shook my head violently at his words.
"No, I can save yo-!"
My protest was cut short as his eyes suddenly flickered to the side and he let out an awful, painful, growl before shifting into his grey wolf. He pushed me to the ground underneath him, blood still copiously leaked from the gash in his neck as he took a protective stance over me.
"W-what are you doing?" I screamed over the yells and snarls that filled the air, but the answer to my question came all too soon as I saw my mate's body fly to the side and slam to the ground a couple of feet away.
The world fell out beneath me as I choked on a sob, my vision tilting and going blurry as I reached my arms towards my mate with a grave desperation. My mind went blank as I felt myself go numb and my body begin to shut down, but before I lost consciousness, I felt strong hands wrap around my waist and yank my limp body up. The last thing I heard was Axel's soothing voice whisper "I've got you" before my mind faded into darkness.
|Some Hours Later|
First, I heard the heart monitor. I laid still for a few moments as my body tingled and slowly fizzled back to life. I gently wiggled my fingers and toes for a moment before finally cracking my eyes open. I squinted as I was immediately assaulted by harsh, hospital lighting. My body ached and I hummed out a quiet groan as I brought my arm, covered by the blood-stained long sleeve of my baby blue sweater, over my burning eyes.
"Ow..." I whispered softly, blinking a few times as my eyes slowly adjusted and my ears began to pick up the sounds of despair all around me. I sat up slowly, glancing around our pack hospital area and gasping in horror at the sight. From my cot I could see over half of our warriors, wounded and strewn around the room, laying on a cot like I was or directly on the floor. As my head swiveled to the side, my eyes suddenly fell onto Axel speaking with our Beta, who was rubbing his temples stressfully.
"Axel..." I whispered, unable to bring my voice any louder as I stared at the sight in raw shock. My whisper was soft, but it was okay though, because I knew that with our keen wolf senses, he would easily be able to hear me. I waited patiently as he nodded at our Beta and made his way over to me before sitting on the edge of my hard cot and taking my hand in both his large ones. I looked down at them, noticing how he tried to wash his hands of all of the blood that once caked them, but the evidence was still visible underneath his nails, tinging them with a dark red stain.
"Hey. How are you feeling?" He asked with a soothing tone, tilting his head and reaching forward to brush a piece of my blonde hair out of my eyes and behind my ear. Although he seemed calm - as he was trained to be as the head protector - even he couldn't help the hint of somberness that lurked behind his tranquil exterior. His eyes held a sadness that I couldn't seem to place.
"I want to see Max. Where is he?" I asked with an urgent tone, my eyes flitting around the room once more in search of my injured mate. I was aching to see him, and I knew that he had to be aching to see me just as much. Axel looked at me hesitantly, and I stared at him with bated breath, my heart skipping a beat as I noticed the expression on his face grew even more sad.
"Alright, I'll take you to him. But... I am telling you now that you will not like what you will see." He paused, giving me a moment to process his words. In that moment I missed the gravity of his tone as I was simply focused on one thing, that being seeing my mate.
"Please, just take me to him, I don't care!" I was practically vibrating with anticipation as Axel stood, pulling me up with him as he did so. He led me out of the main hospital room and down the hall towards another door to a room we rarely used.
He paused, letting out a long breath as he rested his hand on the door knob. He closed his eyes for a brief moment before giving me a sad smile and pushing the door open.
Nothing could have prepared me for the sight before me.
I fell to my knees on the hard, tile floor, my hands flying to my mouth as my body convulsed with earth-shattering sobs.
Max's pale body was laid on a table near the door. His arms were mangled beyond belief, but the worst part was yet to come. His head was torn clear off of his body, and was laid next to it as if it were a twisted decoration of some sort.
Then, I felt it. The walls around me seemed to crash down and I could feel my heart shatter into a million little pieces. My vision became blurry and I cried out as I felt my soul tear in two. I was falling into darkness, spiraling out of control, and I didn't have anyone to catch me.
I was torn.
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