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ot trapped inside a novel as
tizing his adopted sister over my life-a woman who had
ed by that very sister, I la
n, not to comfort m
over a few scratches. Y
sister, he snatched my medical consent form and
hal transfusion of Lycan-grade
rt like liquid fire, the healers fra
l's emergency frequency, too busy renting an entire
own blood, listening to
n who would casually sign my death warr
dimensional entity-seven years in his world, one d
in my original world, my final gift activated-a dead-man's swit
the fragile human wife he threw away had just
pte
lla
air, a coppery tang that mingled with the s
bed in the private hospital
corporate monolith of glass and steel. In the city's deep shadows, h
years, never meant to be their Luna. Yet some cruel twist of co
remembered the sickening lurch as the auto-drive system, a technology I helped design, turned against me with a col
was thr
rid residue of cheap smoke and the stale sweetness of liquor from the
d, a living thing inside my soul, reached for him, cravin
gle, violent spasm, and his throat worked as if he were forcibly swallowing some barbed, indi
was whispering ur
the Rogue bar. The strays are
was his adopted sister, a Beta he tre
rected at the Pack Healer who stood, half-hid
"Alpha, the Luna has lost a great deal of blood. She r
n. He did not so much
for wounded soldiers. A transfusion for a werewolf was a trivial matter. His tho
is name acros
oving the clipboard back at the
e transfusion..." the Healer be
eady turning t
nflection. His gaze passed over me, a pair of eyes made distan
bleeding on a cot to rescu
d itself to my soul seven years ago. I had made a pact in a moment of absolute despair: one lifetime in this novel's world, endi
horized a lethal transfusion protocol. If accepted, termination will occur in
s. Seven years of this chilling indifferen
whispered t
begged. "Allow me to double
my voice a hollow reed. "You w
dry, audible click, and
ood entered my human veins, a silen
ones began to ache with a deep, grinding
ers digging into
r, the door
in. Selene tra
rely unscathed. She carried with her the sam
n as another wave of
leased Selene's arm a
noise, Stell
eyes wide with a pai
d you to
It was an absolute, crushing
e. It felt like a great, invisible weight pressing d
. I could only choke on
dabbing at her dry eyes
y wanted to test the Pack's new anti-collision software
her lips were cur
ence, Selene. You were merely curious. A werewolf's vehicle i
e. "You see? She has apologized. Offer her a smile, S
shing the words past the cru
ie, Kaelen?"
ed with a sudd
ent to the aid of my sister? His voice was a lash
ght back, knowing the words
athetic,
as if a rusted hinge had been torn from its frame. He
m around Selene, and
onate as a clock. "Countdown initiate
ust enough time to s
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