The moment we were out of the school gates, Ace shifted, and so did Mitchell, their clothes shredding as they gave chase. But Lucy was fast and running on adrenaline. I could almost feel it coursing through her veins through the bond. We stood no chance of catching her. Hybrids were fast, but Lucy was more vampire than hybrid, making her quicker as her vampire DNA was strongest.
After losing her in the forest that surrounded the high school and primary school, we had to follow the scent of her blood, which was easy. Blood dropped, leaving a clear path after her.
“How the fuck did this happen?” I mindlinked Ace and Mitchell, who were running off my side.
“The quad doesn’t get opened till the first bell. As soon as the janitor noticed, he went to retrieve the principal. But Lucy was already at school,” Mitchell explained, but that still didn’t explain how the person responsible got into the quad.
When the blood trail started to become more obvious, we realized she had started to slow down, and so did we. We stood there, listening for movement, but with the stream running alongside the forest, it was hard to pick up any movement. When I realized we were getting close to Ryker’s packhouse.
Breaking through the treeline, we slowed as the front of the packhouse came into view. Lucy was still running toward the packhouse when the most heartbreaking guttural scream left her. You could hear her devastation. Feel her breaking as she starts to come apart at the seams.
“Mom!” One word, but the way it was screamed was gut-wrenching, soul crushing and filled with the torment swirling within her like a tornado. Lucy didn’t stop, jumping clear over the boundary fence surrounding this side of the property. I saw the front door of the packhouse open, Reika rushing out the door in a panic, and my heart faltered for a second at her reaction, wondering if she would be mad.
“Lucy?” Reika said before spotting her daughter running toward her. Reika’s face was panic stricken before she took off, running toward her daughter. Lucy ran straight into her arms with so much force they both tumbled toward the ground, Reika catching her and crushing her against her chest while Lucy wailed.
“What’s wrong, What’s wrong, baby?” Reika said, her voice panicked as Lucy clung to her like she was her life support. Reika also clung to her as we approached. All of us slowed down as we gave them space. Lucy was crying hysterically, wailing as her mother tried to soothe her, rocking her back and forth in her arms as they sat in the dirt.
Reika hissed, and I realized there was glass still sticking out of Lucy’s face and arms and was cutting into her. Yet she didn’t let her go, realizing her daughter needed her. Reika’s eyes darted to us questionably, and I realized she was unaware of what had happened at the school. I could hear Ryden inside crying, and Reika looked back at the house when Mitchell suddenly shifted back, covering himself with his hands.
“I can go get him, Luna,” he said, and Reika nodded to him. Mitchell rushed off to the packhouse, and Atticus approached Reika and Lucy on the ground. I also approached them and kneeled beside them, pulling the glass from her arms and hands. Atticus, Ace’s wolf, was licking her wounds, yet I couldn’t get to her face as it was buried in Reika’s chest.
“Lucy. Honey, let your mates heal you,” Reika said softly, pulling Lucy’s face from her chest with her hands. She had glass jutting out of her cheek, and another large shard piercing through her chin.
Chapter fifty
Herentirebodywasshaking, yet she didn’t even flinch as I pulled the first three pieces of glass from her face. When she started shaking her head and pushing my hands away instead of letting me pull the rest out.
“Lucy! Stop! Let them,” Reika said, gripping her face in her hands.
“What’s wrong? What happened, baby?” Reika said, tears falling down her cheeks at seeing her daughter so frantic. Lucy tried to talk yet couldn’t seem to catch her breath as she started to hyperventilate, gasping for breath. Tears continued to pour from her eyes, when she suddenly started flailing, ripping handfuls of her hair out and clawing at her face. I watched as Reika frantically tried to stop her hands from ripping herself apart, while Lucy started screaming.
My stomach twisted at the sight of her. Ace shifted back, trying to grip her hands and hold her still while Reika tried to soothe her, but she was way past soothing. She was turning manic. This was what broken looked like. When someone was pushed to close the edge, leaving them dangerously close to the brink of insanity. She was losing it. And nothing we did would calm her as she tore at her face, her scalp bleeding as she tore her hair from her head. You could only push someone so far before it became too much. And Lucy had hit her breaking point, and break she did.
“Do it!” Reika said, her eyes going to Ace and me. Ace fell back, shaking his head.
“I can’t. I can’t do that to her. Not again,” he said, shaking his head, and Reika’s eyes darted to me, and so did Ace’s.
“Remark her,” he choked out, looking at me. I hesitated, knowing that if I remarked her, not only would I knock her out, but it would reinforce the bond. I knew that from Lana, and her being marked repeatedly over the years. Both her mates had to rebite her as the bond strengthened more one way.
Ace hadn’t marked her yet. Me marking her before both of us mated her could completely remove her bond to Ace.
“Ace?” I looked at him, panicked.
“It’s okay, brother. I won’t mark her again, not without Lucy’s permission,” he said.
“Ace?” I looked at him while Reika was still trying to restrain her.
“One of you needs to do it, And fast!” Reika snapped at us while Lucy screamed and flailed.
“It’s fine. Just do it, Tyson,” Ace said, moving her hair off her neck. I hesitated, when Tyrant forced control, sinking our teeth into her neck. She screamed, and I choked on her emotions as they slammed into me full force like they were mine and not hers. My teeth hit bone, and her movements slowed and became weaker.
“It’s okay, baby. Momma’s got you,” Reika whispered before she went still. I pulled my teeth from her neck as she slumped forward onto Reika. I quickly pulled the rest of the glass from her wounds, and she started healing when Ace suddenly stood, making me look up at him. My stomach dropped at the dark expression on his face, yet he said nothing and bent down, taking her from Reika, and hugging her close to his chest.
“I fixed her room up the other day. We can put her in there,” Reika said, standing up. Her chest and neck were covered in blood, but her cuts had already healed. Ace nodded to her before walking toward the packhouse silently. Yet his aura was potent as it rushed out of him, and I wasn’t sure if he was mad at himself or me.
“It will be okay, Ace. She won’t reject you when it comes time to mark her,” I told him through the mindlink as we walked toward the house.
“I can’t feel them, Tyson,” he said.