A Kiss For Your Freedom

I groan a little louder. I don't know where this doctor came from, but he's a lot tougher than I expected. My free hand rest on his other shoulder, still intact for the moment, but into which I dig my claws, breathing harder and harder.

- With or without you, I would find them. Nothing and no one can stop me.

- Even if you find them, Dorian will tear you to pieces if you even dare to put these companions in danger. So kill me and go get your information elsewhere, because it'll be without me kid. I guarantee it.

I slash his shoulder a little more, while moving my other hand into his lung. He tries to push me to the limit and it works. find it more and more difficult to control my Wolf who protests while he stands up to us, who wants to show him our pow our strength. I tear a piece of flesh from his shoulder and it falls to the ground. The smell of blood intoxicates me. won't be able to contain myself for long, I won't be able to stop my Wolf from slaughtering him.

As he bleeds more and more, I feel a slight tremor run through his body. He is undoubtedly suffering, but his past has taught him to remain stoic. I could almost admire him if only the circumstances had been different. But I have a mission accomplish, one that I can't afford to screw up. It's a question of honor, of reputation. This human didn't come to find me for nothing, she knows that I always achieve my goal.

I give him an extra minute, just one minute for him to spill the beans. He may have nothing left to lose, but that’s not the case for everyone and one way or another, I would find what I'm looking for.

“Speak, doc,” I said in a voice so deep that I had trouble recognizing it.

-In your dreams, kid, he replies, laughing.

He's doing it on purpose, I know it, and yet I let him win this game and remove my hand from his chest abruptly. It's just : matter of a minute. His blood will fill his perforated lung, he will do everything to look for air but will only find blood whi will drown him without him being able to do anything about it. He won, it's true, but I still have other options and I alrea know where I'm going to go next.

It could have been different, although to be honest, not necessarily, there's a good chance I would have still ended up killing him at one point or another. I don't like leaving traces behind me, that's probably why it's been years since anyone has managed to stop me. I watch him bathe in his own blood, watch those eyes as life begins to slip away, as it begins to flee from him.

So this is what this allegiance, this loyalty to a Wolf who is not even his Alpha, reduces him to. Little by little, gurgling sounds replace the sound of his breathing. He opens his mouth, like a fish out of water, once, twice, he suffocates and stops moving permanently. 1 look at my hands covered in blood. I'm going to have to clean up quickly, even if I would hav no trouble killing the last Wolves present in this sinking pack, it would only waste me a little more time, which I don't war This mission will bring me a lot of money, but others will be waiting for me and I can't afford to spend too much time on this one. I walk through this clinic to find a water point before washing and once I am sure I have gotten rid of all traces ¢ blood, I return to the entrance, passing behind the counter to look in the files if I find an information.

it only takes me a few minutes to find the two files in question, after reading them, I already know that one of them is weakened, that he must have retained the after-effects of the injury that led him here. So the great Dorian is surely no longer as strong as he once was. I smile while keeping the documents with me. I definitely like this contract more.

I ended up leaving the clinic, passing a few Wolves who barely looked at me and without going back through the pack house, left the place before they realized that their precious doctor was dead. I have just condemned their pack, there wz already almost nothing left to keep them standing but with the death of the latter, no one will be able to care for them. I any case, it was going to collapse definitively at one point or another, the simple fact that no one felt it, that even this Alpha did not react while I tortured, while I killed one of the his is most revealing. A page will definitely be turned for the last inhabitants of this territory while I am going to write the continuation of this most thrilling adventure.

POV Jason

Emma had a great idea by proposing this family picnic. The children are happy and running around while Dorian seems t relax a little more. I'm not sure I understand what he saw, but I too have a bad feeling like I haven't had in a long time.

I have the impression that something is going on. That far from us, a danger lurks and that it could well catch up with us, even if we are isolated, even if we are in a territory far from everything.

I watch the little ones play while we are installed in the forest and Emma takes out the different dishes with the help of Dorian. I can't shake this feeling, this strange feeling that these days of peace are coming to an end. My Wolf is agitated, I t00 is upset without any of us knowing why.

Dorian isn't comfortable either, even if the fact that we're all gathered outside changes his mind a little. I sigh as I know what I'm feeling isn't in vain. I observe the calm, peaceful forest. This land has already seen too many battles, too many fights, too much blood and death. No matter what happens further down the road, nothing must come here, nothing mus endanger this balance that we have built.

julien runs after his sister and falls without having seen a root protruding from the ground. Emma turns around to see hi as he starts to cry but before she gets up, I do it for him and go to join him.

~ I'm here my son, don’t worry, it's going to be okay.

- A bandage and we'll see nothing more, I said for both of them, and seeing as I know Mom, I'm sure she took some with her.

Which she confirms to me by presenting herself with a bottle of water, a piece of tissue and a box of dressings.

- Running is good, she says gently, lifting Julien’s pant leg, but watching where you step is even better, young man, she adds, smiling.

She passes a little water on the scratch and after cleaning it, she puts a bandage on it before finishing with a magical kiss that only mothers have a secret about. I watch her do it, these gestures are gentle and slow and although it's only a smal injury like children often have, she takes all her time to reassure him.

And it works because Julien’s tears eventually stop, almost as if nothing had happened, he starts running after his sister again as s00n as I put him on the ground. Their bursts of laughter erase the tears, their smiles sweep away the tears, if or I didn’t have this strange feeling that disturbs me, everything would be perfect.

Emma feels that there is something and slips into my arms before placing her head on my chest,

1 hate to know that you are both so troubled without me understanding the reason, she breathes low enough so the children don't hear it.

1 think neither Dorian nor I really understand what's going on. It's like a presentiment, a feeling that something is comir I don't really know how to explain it to you, I said under my breath.

- And you don't need it. I know you well enough to have complete trust in your instincts, if you sense something that I ca sense, then I believe you. Do what you think you should do, sweetheart. Make sure our children never lose the smile they have on their faces right now.

I pull his face to mine and kiss him tenderly. She is truly perfect and just like Dorian, I love her more than anything in the world. He comes to join us in turn and puts his arms around our waists before telling us,

It doesn’t matter what it is, it doesn't matter what's going on. As long as we are together, we can face anything, we have already proven it in the past, I know that nothing will be able to change the future we have chosen.

The little ones continue their chase before coming back to us all smiles.

- Mom, mom, can we ride the Wolves, she asks with little eyes from which we can't refuse anything.

Children love riding our Wolves to explore the forest. How can you bully them when their mother loves it as much as they do?

- Before that, young lady, we are going to eat. I prepared a great picnic with everything you like and afterwards, if your dads agree then yes, you can.

- Of course I agree, I said, taking Mélissa in my arms.

- 1 agree too, Dorian continues, grabbing Julien and putting him on his shoulders. But before that, at the table because I' hungry like a wolf, he said, making the little ones burst out laughing.

We return to the soft blanket that Emma thought of bringing, and immediately the little ones’ eyes light up when they se the various dishes prepared by their mother. I smile when I see their enthusiasm, take advantage of this moment, this moment where I manage to push away this feeling of unease. Children have a wonderful power to make adults smile ever when they fear the worst could happen.