You Wouldn't Dare (Khaos Trilogy Book 1), стр. 79

Just a smidge, mind you.

Maybe a bit more.

I wanted this thing to kick off in the most spectacular way – I would be known the world over as the she-wolf that stopped the evil Alpha Khaos and destroyed his entire pack. As well as rescuing the sole survivor out of the goodness of my heart. It just so happens that said survivor was my daughter!

Perfect!

As for Nyx - she would be dealt with as soon as she had served her purpose.

Jasmine

When all was said and done, I really was a simple she-wolf. All I wanted was for my Alpha to finally settle down and be content with his lot in life. I was sick of being terrified every time he went on one of his lengthy battles, and prayed every night for a she-wolf to come along and keep him in check.

Violet could not be more perfect. I had spent many evenings with the other wolves laughing at how Violet kept him on his toes, for the first time making Khaos truly doubt his actions and second guess every move he made. Even Erin had been won over and she was an extremely harsh critic.

It seemed our Alpha was finally getting his comeuppance in the most perfect way, and there wasn’t a member of this pack – well, perhaps Morgan – who was not delighted by the behaviour Violet had shown so far.

If there were ever two wolves made for each other, those two were it.

I loved the dynamic that was falling over the pack. It had begun to feel unsettled at the lengths Khaos was willing to go to get his revenge, but things finally seemed to be falling into a peaceful rhythm that even the most violent of wolves craved. Most of them fought when they had to, for protection and pack rank, not because they were chasing the never-ending game of war.

The warriors we had were different, I knew that. They fought because they loved the bloodshed. But it didn’t take a genius to work out that Khaos’ hatred fuelled them. His emotions whenever it came to his battles were so potent, it was hard not to get drawn into it. Once he was settled, the warriors wouldn’t be as bloodthirsty, and if we lost a few of them – well, that was no big deal to me.

Things were going so well without Khaos and Violet, which didn’t surprise me.

We all worked together in this pack and Khaos had spent years ensuring that each and every one of us felt welcome and, more importantly, respected. Myself, and the rest of the Omegas, were happy to serve, knowing that we would be rewarded wholeheartedly, and that someone else usually offered to relieve us of our duties when it came to cleaning up – as a thank you. That type of thing took place throughout all ranks. The very fact that the Alpha allowed his Luna to be friends with an Omega like myself showed that rank was just a title, something that placed us within a specific job role. It was not a life sentence that determined how you were treated.

It was hardly shocking that we could function as one big, dysfunctional family, even in our Alpha and Luna’s absence.

Maybe we became too content, too comfortable, because it wasn’t long before disaster struck.

It was around the end of week one that I became ill. Waking up with headaches, my appetite completely disappearing, and my wolf acting out of character. She went from trying to force a change upon me to retreating into the far corner of my mind and not responding.

I didn’t think too much of it, brushing it off as the stress of the last few weeks, as well as a change of routine.

My wolf was one of the more needy ones, seeking out her Alpha much more frequently than others would normally do. It made sense that she would be disturbed at Khaos being away, no matter how smoothly things were running. Similar things happened when he went on his battles, but not quite to this extent.

Although I figured this could be due to the fact that I had been the one to bond with our new Luna, so my wolf was probably feeling the loss of them both.

Around ten days after Khaos and Violet left, my illness intensified. I wondered if my mate was nearby, and that’s what was causing my wolf to act so out of character. Nothing else made sense to me. I retreated to my bedroom, trying to mind-link my brother, but getting no response. I remembered thinking this was strange before sleep overcame me and I forgot my concern almost as soon as it came.

I slept away the entire day, waking up feeling completely lost. My wolf was not responding at all, overcome by weakness and fatigue. She was still there, although extremely frail. I could feel her weak cries in the back of my mind. She kept trying to push forward, to take control and force a shift so she had a better chance to inspect herself, but she just didn’t have the strength. I heard her faint mind-link with me, whispering one word – but it was enough to make my blood run cold.

“Help.”

I called the pack doctor straight away, demanding to be checked over, and she told me, with some noticeable strain in her voice, to come over and join the others.

Others?

Clutching my head in my hands to block out the dim light that caused my headache to intensify, I stepped out of the doors and was met with devastation, instantly understanding what the doctor had been talking about.

Wolves everywhere were stumbling, clutching their stomachs, or clinging to one another for support. Some unlucky few had even shifted and were currently whining as their wolves were too weak