Lone Wolf Rising (Paranormal Romantic Thriller) (The Winters Series) (44 page)

She turned her head toward Ethan as he was being escorted out of the room by Lucky.
  "If anything happens to him I’ll personally track you down and show you how protective a wolf can be when her family is threatened."  She could feel the promise burning from her eyes and saw the impact of her threat slide across his face in fear.

Natalia came up next to Rebecca and set a gentle hand on her shoulder.
  Rebecca snarled and snapped, protecting her brother.  The wolf and instinct were in reaction mode now.  Natalia jumped back, her eyes large.  "Let me help him."  She asked meekly.

Rebecca stepped back and let Natalia work her magic; she was, after all, a guardian and guardian's were trained in magic before they became experts of the dead.
  Surely there would be something she could do to help him work the drugs through his system. 

Rebecca nodded to Sundae, fast becoming comfortable with her silent presence.
  She was standing next to Gabriel, perhaps for protection or simply to be part of the group.  "What does this blood do?"

"
It reacts differently on people. Some get super human strength, others intelligence, others have their senses enhanced and so forth."  Sundae offered as an answer.

"So basically it allows humans to experience a piece of the supernatural without the nasty side effects."
  Rebecca nodded as she processed the information.

"Oh n
o, there are nasty side effects.  They may not show up right away but they’re there.  Ingesting fairy blood is never good.  Fairies are manipulative creatures by nature.  They look for mischief, it’s in their essence.  This essence is carried over in their blood."  Sundae answered seriously. 

"It really depends on how bad the fairy source is.
  Most fairies, like other supernaturals, covet their blood and would never share.  Only the most mischievous of the race offer their blood up willingly to be sold to the highest bidder.”  Gabriel added. 

Rebecca ran
a shak
y hand through her hair.  She had a terrible feeling all day that something bad would happen at the dance, and it appeared, that was exactly what happened.

"He should be fine as long as this is his first dosage.  The worst effects he will feel are addiction to the substance."
  Natalia offered her knowledge as well.  "I really think this is his first taste of the drug.  His aura shows no signs of decay as others who’ve ingested the drug multiple times do."

The deeper she got into this world the more twisted and
ridiculous
things became. 

Chapter Thirty-Two

~”The butterfly counts not the months but the moments, and has time enough.”

~
Rabindranath Tagore

Savannah

Becoming homecoming queen was wonderful, but the celebration was empty without Becca and Hunter at her side.  All her hard work and dedication to achieve this paid off and the two people who she wanted at her side were nowhere to be found. 

"And now the king and queen will take the floor in the first dance."
  Vice Principle Fredericks announced. 

The DJ put on a slow
song.  The rhythm and the words sounded familiar but Savannah’s focus was on finding her family.  Danny pulled her close into a tight embrace as he twirled her around on the dance floor.  He smiled at all the right times, ch
uckled in the perfect moments, said all the appropriate
t
hings a girl would expect to
he
ar but behind his eyes she was beginning to notice an
emp
tiness.  The magic
this 
night was suppo
sed
t
o leave her with was hollow and
she 
found herself wanting more. 

When the dance
ended others
joined them
on the dance floor, and Savvy made an
exc
use of needing the ladies room to remove herself from his embrace.  As she was about to leave his presence, his fingers grasped her wrist and he twirled her back in for a tender kiss.  "Don't be too long
."  
He purred in her ear.

"I won't
."  She smiled weakly as she left the dance area and only glanced back
on
e time as she left
th
e gymnasium.  Rebecca had been absent lately but it was
unli
ke Hunter
to 
miss this moment.  He was her biggest campai
gner and supporter.  In fact,
this 
was a moment she felt she needed to share with him. 

She
went to the restrooms first; it seemed like a good place to start.  As she started toward the ladies 
room she caught Jackson by the arm and asked him to look for Hunter in the men’s room. 

He smiled and no
dded
.  "I hear congratulations on two
fr
onts are in order." 

Her hand went quickly to her crown.
  "Two?"

"
The crown, and if rumor is correct, you’re officially dating Danny."
  

Her mouth took on the
‘
oh’
form before the word escaped her lips.  "Oh yes, Jackson!  We are very excited about it."  Jackson always had a unique way of knowing things before she told him.  “Who told you?”  She asked more out of curiosity than anything else. 

He chuckled.  "Danny told his teammates the moment you agreed.  He has been working to get you since the beginning of this year.  He was practically bursting with excitement over the news."
 

Savvy felt a touch of guilt.  Danny obviously felt more for her than she did for him.  She hoped she would grow to care for him in time.  She would do what she could to make her
self feel that way about him.  “That’s good to know.”  It was all she could think to say. 

“Oh, you asked me to check if Hunter was in the restroom.  I’ll be right back.” 
Jackson smiled as he disappeared behind the door.  Savvy went into the ladies room to check for Rebecca.   Two girls who were under the influence of something bumped into her as she entered the bathroom.

"Rebecca
, are you in here?"  The only response was a silent echo.  Apparently the two girls who exited a few moments ago were the only ones in the room.   

"Any luck
, Jackson?"

He poked his head outside and shook it, his brown hair moving in time with the movement.
  "No luck, sorry."

"No problem, thank you."
  She said absently as the worry began to grow. 

"Do you need help finding them?"
 

"No, I think I’ll just call them.
  Thank you again, Jacks."  Savvy headed towards the exit door distracted as she struggled with pulling her phone out of her tiny purse.  She dialed
Rebecca
's number, heard the first ring, and then was attacked.  Someone had come from behind and
plac
ed a white cloth over her
 
mouth and nose.  She struggled against the man, who was cold and strong.  T
he chemical on the cloth was already doing its work b
y
entering
her lungs and putting her to sleep. 
It was only moments before she was seeing darkness. 

Chapter Thirty-Three

~”You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.”

~
Henry Drummond

Hunter

Natalia and Rebecca were fluttering around Hunter like irritating
butterfl
ies.  He batted them away as reality started shining through the haze of the drug that he’d taken
.  
"What happened?"  His throat felt like he was talking around cotton balls.  "Does anyone have some water
?
"  He asked, barely able to
reco
gnize his own voice which was raspy and cracking.  
 

"Be still while you get acclimated."
  Natalia's
s
weet voice
soothed his
ner
ves.

"How could you be so
stu
pid?"  Rebecca hissed angrily.

He put his head in his hands trying to st
op the pounding and keep
her 
angry voice out.  Gabriel handed him some water
wh
ich he
accepted 
with a grateful, shaky smile.  The water was cool and crisp as it flowed down his excessively dry throat.  Bits and pieces of what happened after he took that pill started to flit through his mind, but nothing made sense. 

"He should be fine now."
  Natalia offered a determined look as she placed the little pouches of herbs back into her purse. 

"What on earth would posses you to take drugs?"
  Rebecca was still pacing and fuming and nothing about her looked to be slowing down. 

He cleared his throat.
  "Don't judge, sis."

She stopped pacing and zeroed dagger eyes on him.
  "Don't judge?  Really?  I walked in on you taking drugs and the first thing you have to say to me is don't judge?" 

"I can't talk to you when you’re like this."
  Hunter told her, irritated with her attitude.  He tried to get up, but his legs and brain were not communicating correctly.  Instead, Natalia helped him to his feet which only irritated him more because making a dramatic exit was ruined. 

Rebecca turned and grasped both his arms.
  Her eyes locked with his.  There was hurt, annoyance, and love in those eyes.  "I can't lose you.  I don't care why you did it.  Just please promise me that you’ll never do that again." 

Hunter
nodded
and he meant it.  All the drug did was make him weak and the who
le reason he was even willing to take it was to make him stronger and a
tough
er competit
or on the field.  Danny had promised him that Ethan could help. 
He lied.

"Say it."
  Rebecca demanded.

"I promise."
  Hunter nodded.  "I promise."  He looked around, "Where’s Savvy?  Did she win?"

"Oh my gods, I forgot
.  I was so worried about you that I forgot why I came to find you in the first place.  Surely she has been crowned queen by now.  We need to get back."  Rebecca started for the door.  "Are you okay to return to the dance?"

Hunter nodded.
  He may be weak but this was Savvy's moment.  He didn't want to ruin it.  They made it back to the gym in record time, considering the small fact that his legs were not working one hundred percent yet.  A quick scan of the gym told them that she was not there, but Danny was.  Hunter approached him first.  Now in truth, when he moved toward Danny, Hunter was intent on simply asking him where Savvy was.  But that all changed when Danny turned that evil smile onto him.  Danny stood up and without another thought the fist at Hunter’s side swung and hit his jaw with a resounding crunch.  Gabriel reacted faster than was humanly possible by pulling Hunter away from Danny before a fight broke out.  Lucky pulled Danny back and whispered in Danny's ear.  Whatever he said made Danny's face fall and he put his hands up in surrender.