You Wouldn't Dare (Khaos Trilogy Book 1), стр. 86

“Something’s wrong, I can feel it!”

“With the baby?” His head immediately shot down to my stomach as he pressed his ear to my small bump. “I can hear the heartbeat, the baby is fine, I promise you.” I collapsed against him in relief but almost instantly another stab of pain gripped me.

“Khaos, something is happening, something big. I know it!” He pulled me into his arms and lay us both back against the headboard of the bed, covering our naked bodies with the blanket.

“Nothing is happening Violet. My wolf has been silent for days now, he’d tell me if something was wrong back home. You can feel the family bond with your parents, can’t you?” I searched for the fine strings in my mind that connected my family to me always, and nodded to my mate when I felt the bond. Although it was weak, it was there.

I noticed that the pack bond had long since been severed, and my shoulders sunk, hating that my parents had to find out this way.

No wonder the family bond was so weak – they would see this as a sign of disrespect. I’d be lucky if they even considered me family anymore.

“Well then. If the pack is okay, your family is okay and more importantly, the baby is okay, we’ve got everything. If something else is happening, it’s not a priority. I’m sure it can wait a few more days until we are due to go home.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he covered it with his own, silencing me as he whispered against my lips, “I know what you are like, you will not rest until you’ve seen with your own eyes. I’ll make you a deal - sleep on it, and if you are still feeling like this in the morning, I’ll drive us back home after we’ve had breakfast. We’ll be there by evening. How does that sound?”

“Perfect, thank you.” I sighed with relief and snuggled back up to him, trying to drift back off to sleep. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something evil was headed our way.

Jasmine

The safe room may have been secure, but it certainly wasn’t soundproof. The children had been fitted with noise-cancelling headphones, so they were fine and had been tucked into the cots by their mothers, sleeping soundly. Most of the she-wolves were sat huddled together, flinching at the sounds of gunshots firing or wolves howling out in pain. It was beyond anything we had experienced before.

If we survived this night, the sounds of flesh being torn and teeth clashing against each other would stay with me for the rest of my life.

And then there were the smells.

It was almost more than I could take. A sickly-sweet smell of blood permeated the room, making the air thick.

Our nerves were broken, pushed to the very limits thanks to the virus, and now this. Looking around at all my friends and elders, they all had pale, drawn in faces as they struggled to put on a brave face for everyone and digest what was happening.

I had a feeling this was personal. We would never have been attacked like this if Khaos was around, he would have sensed something was amiss and put a stop to whoever was stupid enough to even think about it. I had always thought this “virus” was too much of a coincidence to not be related to Khaos’ disappearance. Someone had wanted us weakened, they wanted us unable to fight, and they had to have known Khaos was otherwise occupied having met Violet.

My head snapped to the side as I was pulled out of my thoughts by a blood-curdling scream.

“Help me!” Screamed one of the elders, clawing at her throat, leaving nasty looking welts in her wake. “My mate! My mate!” She looked completely wild and out of control. Then, almost as soon as it started, she went silent, focussing into the distance as she concentrated on something over the bond.

“No...” She whispered, her expression one of absolute horror and misery. She clamped a hand over her mouth as the tears spilled from her eyes. She looked around the room, meeting the gaze of every she-wolf one by one. She swallowed deeply, drawing in a steadying breath.

“My mate is dead. He connected me to the mind-link before... before he passed.” She swallowed again as sobs wracked her. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. This is much worse than we thought.”