My Lycan Mate of Suicide Forest

"Do you think the elders are aware of the fae connection?" Sam asked.

"That is a good question. I mean… why would they be? But who knows what they know," Greta answered. "I would have never imagined they had some kind of insane child hidden in the council doing research for them and making potions."

"Zoe is… creepy," Sam grunted. He couldn't think of a word that quite fit her. She was really young and yet clearly very intelligent. And she was strangely fixated on August. "Didn't August say something about her being different?"

"Yeah. I wonder what she meant," Greta replied.

"She was talking about how she saw Zoe with the Veiled. Her pupils were black when she was looking at her," Graeme mumbled. "We should have brought Zoe with us. Maybe she could have helped."

"No way. I don't trust her at all. Whatever useful information she has would be compromised by her own motive," Greta replied.

"August didn't seem afraid of her," Sam pointed out.

"That doesn't mean she is not a threat. Look at what she is capable of," Greta scoffed.

Sam's expression became pained as he thought about Greta lying unconscious on the cell floor—of not being able to reach her when she was in trouble. He swallowed back the panic that immediately rose again in his throat at the fresh memory. "Point taken."

"So what now?" Graeme exhaled heavily and returned his attention to August. She appeared so peaceful, as if she were just sleeping.

"We keep her safe and comfortable and… wait," Greta sighed. "Like I said, I can't find anything obviously wrong with her, but I can run some tests. I don't have any of that stuff here, so it will require going home to grab some things." She turned to look at Sam, and he nodded.

"Maybe it really is just exhaustion," she added.

"That theory sounds familiar," Graeme grumbled. They had thought it was just exhaustion when August collapsed after biting Marius, but then she was in a coma for three weeks. "She can't be out that long again."

"Then get close to her—let her know you are here. Your presence helped last time. Maybe it will help this time, too."

"It's not like I'm planning on leaving her," Graeme glared at his sister. "Even if I do want to raze the council chambers to the ground as soon as possible."

"How do you do that without harming the pack house?" Greta asked. "They are connected."

"I don't mean it literally," he rolled his eyes.

"I know, but… this is the question we are going to have to address, isn't it?" Greta countered. "How to extract the harmful parts without hurting the whole? How do we know or separate those who are a threat to the pack from those who aren't?"

Graeme frowned. He thought about how Lucas was braced to defend August right next to Finn when Graeme came charging at them. Graeme would have assumed he knew where Lucas' loyalty resided, but apparently even someone like him was too complicated to make assumptions.

"It will not be easy," Graeme sighed. "But I definitely know who to start with."

"Do you?" Greta asked. Graeme groaned in response. Why did she always have to be so philosophical? And careful? And intelligent? And usually right?

"Greta, you threatened to kill Violet! Is she really the first one who needs to go? Violet is… nobody. Why would you threaten her?" He growled. "And yet, you would question whether I should retaliate against Andreas and the elders?"

"I'm… sorry. I'm not questioning whether or not they should go. It's more about the timing," she explained.

"So I wait for them to get more chances? To do more damage?" He gestured toward August on the bed. "And how does that reflect on me and any authority I have?"

Greta groaned. "It's all so complicated. I'm sorry. I don't know the answers either."

"Let's go get what you need from the house," Sam suggested to his mate. They all obviously needed some time to think.

Greta nodded and rose to leave. "We'll be back soon," she told her brother.

"Be careful," he called after them.

It was risky—Graeme wasn't sure he should let them leave in case the elders were bent on throwing them back in the dungeon for something stupid. But he guessed that now that news of his return had spread, Andreas would be smarter than antagonizing him in such a direct way as going after his sister.

Everyone loved Greta, and to put Greta in a cell not once but twice would require some major leverage against her. If all they had was something Violet claimed had happened, it was too lightweight. Andreas knew that. Graeme would have her free in a heartbeat with the majority of the pack behind him.

Then there was always the added information about Greta being pregnant, which few knew about now, but if it were to come out in the open, it would be big news. Pregnancies were sacred in lycan packs.

Family was primary when it came to their species, and pregnant females were inherently protected. Not to mention that Greta was a Hallowell. Her children would carry on the Hallowell name and, in the absence of any descendants from Graeme, would inherit the Alpha responsibility.

No, Graeme assumed that today the elders were just getting Greta and Sam out of the way so they wouldn't have trouble taking down their real target: August. Zoe said that Andreas was frightened of her. Good. He was glad the elders were frightened of his mate.

He sighed and grabbed some water from the kitchen faucet before returning to her side. He pulled a chair next to the bed and took her hand in his, bringing it to his lips so he could run them over her knuckles.

"I love your hands," he spoke aloud as if she were awake, listening. "It's strange, isn't it? How we could identify someone by their hands alone. I look at yours and know they belong to you. My mate. The one I never imagined existed out there for me, let alone what her hands would look like in mine."

A small smile curved on his lips.. She had changed everything in such a short time.