Hunted

Epilogue

One and a half years later...

I hated to see people hurting, especially good people. Right now there were a lot of people in pain. All of Blackstone's pack, to be precise. In pain because their Luna had hardly left the infirmary for months, a fact that was weighing heavy on both her and Xander and that weight on them was weighing on the rest of the pack. They were almost nothing like the strong pack I came to nearly eighteen months ago, they were vulnerable because their pack leaders were vulnerable. Addie was so sick she was like a shell of herself, pale and thin from all the vomiting we couldn't get under control. Despite my best efforts, I could not seem to help. Neither could anyone else, at least not yet.

But Tess was determined.

Addie was passed out on the cot in the infirmary, a sheen of sweat on her forehead, her breathing way too ragged for normal. Tess sat next to her Luna, holding one of Addie's hands with both of hers, her head down. Tess was so strong. I'd seen it before but over the last year and a half I just couldn't help but admire her. She was a spitfire, so quick on the draw about everything, so smart about everything, definitely more than Gamma material, if I was being honest. It amazed me how strong she was but right now, she didn't feel so strong. It wasn't like her to be like this, but Addie being this sick was affecting everyone in the pack so much that they were weakened. So weakened that all their allies were taking turns sending pack members over to make sure no one took advantage of their vulnerable state.

"I'll be here," I assured Tess, walking over and setting my hand on her shoulder. "I'll come everyday and spend the night if I need to."

I wanted to reassure her but the truth was, I'd already been doing that. Me, Francesca, Anna, Jasmine, healers from their other allies, everyone had been here so frequently and tried so many things but nothing was helping. I even brought Les and Annie over more than once since I'd told them the truth about who I was about a year ago, the truth about who Rykan was, this world they didn't know about. They'd both finished medical school but even this was out of their comfort zone because even though Addie was human, the little baby growing inside her wasn't fully human and we weren't sure how much of her sickness was affected by that. They'd seen other humans with supernatural babies get sick but they were always able to help. Not this time. With Addie, nothing seemed to be working.

"I know, Kora, thank you," Tess said, lifting her head. "I'm going to find something or someone to help them."

"I know you will," I said, rubbing Tess's back. I had all the faith in the world in Tess.

She was being sent out at a national supernatural conference in Georgia. Normally they avoided those meetings because the Elders would have their asses for how much they broke the rules but desperate times called for desperate measures. We needed to find someone to help Addie and the baby before it was too late.

"The baby's heartbeat seems so weak," Tess whispered, setting her hand on Addie's belly.

"Nothing will happen," I said. I hope nothing will. "Anna and I are on it, my friends are going to be helping too. Something will work, Tess. Something has to work."

Tess took a deep breath and stood, lifting Addie's hand and pressing a kiss to it. "I'll be back before you know it," she promised. "I'll be back and I'll either come back with someone who can help or with a cure but either way, I will not come home empty-handed."

A/N:

And the story continues 😉 Come join me in Tess's book, the third book in this series, "Marked". Link in the comments ---->

Who's ready for some Tess action? ❤