Merida
I wanted blood.
Melody wanted my father's head.
"Merida," Mother said softly but the calming effect she holds did nothing for the beast lurking inside me.
"I love you Father, but I swear to the Goddess I will kill you if you don't tell me what the hell you did to my mate!" I shouted, each word louder than the last. 189Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYGhigey4b
Mother whispered something, looking at me in shock but my attention was solely focused on the man in front of me. The man whose head I was seconds away from tearing off in retribution for Mia's suffering. And for mine as well.
Father surrendered himself to my anger, and breathed. "I found out before anyone else did. An old friend, a sorceress, prophesied the event happening that same day."
Melody growled, not liking what he was hearing, but Father continued.
"I told Stephanie about it. And she agreed that I should go just to be sure. It was just as the sorceress said. Mia ran off the road and totaled her car on a nearby tree. She pulled herself out of the wreckage, when I came."
"Why didn't you call me?" Melody said.
"She was bleeding. She was dying. I was ready to take her to the hospital, she might've made it if I did." The last part was barely a whisper. "But the sorceress was there. She persuaded me, told me that Mia would be dead within minutes."
His eyes were distant. "I was adamant. I told her I wouldn't force the change on Mia. That it was impossible to do so. But then Mia's heart stopped and I," His voice cracked, "I would never forgive myself if I'd let my daughter die like that."
Mother placed a hand on his shoulder. "If it was me, I would've made the same choice."
"The change didn't hold. Mia gave up halfway through." His words halted me entirely. "There was nothing I could do."
"But then the sorceress intervened." Melody filled the missing gap.
He nodded. "She did it before I could stop her. I knew from experience that magically forcing someone through the change had irreversible effects. She did it so quickly, one minute Mia was dead, and then the next, she was a wolf." He took Mother's hand. "Her wolf attacked the sorceress and only seemed to be focused on her. She'd called Mia's wolf, 'Madness' before her wolf suddenly took off into the forest. I left the sorceress behind and went after Mia. I searched the entire night but I never found her."
"That doesn't explain why you never told me." I growled.
"We felt guilty." Mother mediated. "We'd lost a daughter that night and we couldn't bear it if we lost another."
"What did the witch want with Mia? Why force her through the change?" I questioned, mimicking Mia's earlier terminology.
"That--I don't know. After that night, I never saw the sorceress." He shook his head.
I was ready to leave it at that. Ready to go after Mia. I already lost her once and I wasn't going to stand by and lose her again. But suddenly Melody intervened.
"Something's not adding up." He said. "What aren't you telling us?"
Father's eyes met mine and a sharp pain erupted on my leg, where the marking lie. "The markings that appeared on Kristen are the same ones I found on the ground that night. The sorceress is likely to be the one attacking us. But I don't know why--"
Instantly, a blaring white hot pain exploded across my body causing me to scream. I dropped the ground like a stone in agony. Mother and Father were at my side in a second.
"Merida, speak to me. What's happening?" Mother said, but her voice was growing distant. "I don't see anything wrong with her."
I screamed again as the pain intensified. It felt like I was burning from the inside out. Melody howled scratching at the surface trying to get out. Something was wrong. But it wasn't with me.
This wasn't my pain.
"Mate bond." Father muttered.
"What?" Mother said.
"It's the mate bond, she's feeling Mia's pain."
Mother's face paled as Father took off in a dead run after Mia. Soon after the realization set it, Melody took over, rising up to the surface. Enduring every ounce of pain, we followed after Father.
The minute we opened the front door into the night air, the smell of sulfur interrupted our sense of smell. Within a few minutes, I arrived at the source of the smell. An area of the pack garden was scorched ash-black.
Fear imploded within me, driving me to search. "Mia." I called.
"She's here." Father's voice bellowed and I look over to see him carrying an unconscious body towards us. My heart plummeted and I run over to him in an instant.
Mia's body hung in his arms, limp and unmoving.
No. No. No. I reached out to touch her. The moment my fingers gazed her skin, the ice ran from her flesh and froze my heart, stilling me intensely.
Please.
I just got her back. I just-
I can't lose her. Not again.
Not like this.
"Merida, we need to get her to the clinic." Father says sternly, worry laced in every word.
"Please." I beg. "Tell me-"
"She's breathing." Relief floods over me. "But she's injured. We need to get her to the clinic. Stephanie and Scott can help her."
With tears in my eyes and rage in my heart, I allow him to lead the way.
ns 15.158.61.54da2
