Forbidden Bonds

Chapter 1

Skye

Skye wakes up, tonight is the night she'll finally escape her abusive life. She pulls out a packed bag full of clothing, food, and water and puts it around her shoulder. She quietly tiptoes over to her twin boy's beds and gently picks both of them up, before she slowly creeps down the stairs and out the back door. Once she's a safe distance away from the house, she summons one of her familiars, a manticore, named Cairo.

"Cai...ro?" she asks him softly, "Are you able to car...ry us?" Cairo chuffs softly and nods his head before crouching down, allowing Skye and her boys to get onto his back. Once Skye and her children are securely on his back, he takes off running.

He runs for several hours before stopping. Skye slowly gets off his back and looks around. "Cairo?" she asks, "Do you know where we are?" Cairo shakes his head.

"Mama?" one of her boys asks sleepily, "Where are we?"

"We're somewhere better than where we were."

"Hungry," her son replies.

Skye mumbles to herself softly before pulling out some dried fruit. "Here, baby. Eat some of this." She hands her son the food. "Theo? Theo, baby wake up."

Her other son stirs and begins to wake up. "Mama?" he mumbles.

"Are you hungry, baby?" Theo nods. "Gray, share that with your brother, okay?"

"No! Mine!"

"Gray, please. I promise I'll find more food. You have to share for now."

Gray reluctantly begins to share the dried fruit with his brother. Skye stands up and stretches out her body. She begins to cough violently as her boys enjoy their breakfast. After a few minutes have passed, Gray notices that his mother is still coughing. "Mama, okay?" he asks.

Skye pulls out a handkerchief from her pocket and spits into it. "I'm okay, baby," she answers, weakly, "I just have a bit of a cough right now." Gray looks doubtfully at his mother. "Come on," Skye whispers, "we should continue to move."

She gently places her boys back onto Cairo before getting onto the manticore herself. "Go, Cairo," she mumbles softly.

As Cairo runs, Skye begins to feel sicker than she had felt. "I have a fever," she thinks to herself, "and a bad cough. I know the fever is from the infections in the wounds I have. I need to get somewhere where there's medical treatment before I get too sick."

A few more hours pass before Skye mumbles, "Cairo stop." Cairo stops and Skye rolls off his back and begins to vomit violently. When she eventually stops she barely manages to get back onto Cairo, before passing out.

Cairo, seemingly sensing that something is wrong, begins to run to the nearest pack. Once he crosses over to their territory, it doesn't take long for the night patrols to find them.

Cairo submits them and lays down, revealing Skye, and her two children. The border patrols look at each other before mindlinking their alpha.

The guards try to take Skye off Cairo's back. Cairo growls softly to them as a warning. "We're going to take her to the pack hospital," one of the guards tries to explain to Cairo. Cairo nods and nudges the guard gently.

The guard begins to lead Cairo to the pack hospital. Once they're there, the guard states, "You have to stay out here. She'll be well taken care of." Cairo allows the guard to take Skye off his back, as well as Gray and Theo. Once all three of them are off his back, he shrinks in size and begins to follow the guard into the building.

Skye is quickly admitted into the hospital. A doctor begins to carefully treat her wounds.

Sebastian