Chapter 154: No Longer Needed

\[Osiris’ POV\]

I don’t know how long I fight against the snow that seems to be never-ending until finally it starts to settle, slowing, and then stopping completely, but by the time it ends, I am absolutely spent.

Who knew that exerting that much energy would feel like this, most certainly not me, but then again, I never truly had to use as much as I did in this instant.

Sucking in deep lungfuls of air, I turn my gaze to Adeline who is sitting, licking her paws, and when our gazes meet she gives me a look that screams amusement.

What? I think, slowly sitting up and shaking off the snow that has begun to cling to my fur. What the hell are you looking at?

I know that she can’t hear me, but then I still find myself thinking this as I consider shifting back to my human form even though I know that doing so wouldn’t be the best decision.

As it was, my clothes were lost in the avalanche, which meant that Adeline’s were as well, and even if we were in a place that could be shut off from the world, there was still a chance that someone would recognize us as we continued moving.

Then the only option is to continue on our way in our wolf forms, but…

Did either of us memorize the direction we were going?

Just like the car the phone with the address to where my stepmother was keeping Jean and my flame was missing and I didn’t personally memorize the address.

Growling in frustration, I move toward Adeline and realize once again that I have no way of speaking to her since we weren’t connected by anything.

Cursing the inconvenience, I shift into my human form and wait while Adeline just stares at me.

“Could you stop staring and shift,” I huff in annoyance. “You’re wasting time.”

For a moment, Adeline doesn’t move, she just continues to stare at me, but after another moment she shifts to human.

“You better not eye-fuck me,” she giggles, and I grimace.

“Now isn’t the time for your bullshit.”

Sighing, I look at the road ahead of us, taking in the snow, the rocks, and the downed trees that the avalanche brought along with it.

“We need to be able to continue moving forward before people start to show.” I continue. “But the phone with the address was lost with the car. Do you remember where we were going?”

Growing quiet, I wait while Adeline considers my words, and when she shakes her head, I know that we are left with no options.

“Then what are we to do?”

There was the possibility of going to the diner that my stepmother suggested, but after what happened, I was almost certain that she wouldn’t be there waiting.

Since that was the most likely case the only other possibility was heading back to the hotel that we were staying and then hoping that we could remember where we were going.

“Fuck,” I growl, running a hand through my hair. “I shouldn’t have let her go. I should have made her stay.”

“Coulda, shoulda,” Adeline huffs, placing her hands on her hips. “There is no point in focusing on any of that. What has happened has happened, and now our only option is to keep moving.”

“To where?” I ask, eyeing her. “We don’t know where we are supposed to be going.”

“Says who?” She asks, giving me a look of amusement. “Maybe you were too much of a fool to mark your mate, but I wasn’t.”

Eyes widening, I reach out and grab Adeline by the shoulders while a growl of annoyance escapes me.

“If you had this option the whole time, why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because you never asked,” she shrugs. “And we got the address to the place anyway.”

“And then we lost it when we almost lost our fucking lives,” I hiss. “Now, get in touch with Jean and figure out how Raelyn is.”

\[Raelyn’s POV\]

More pain shoots through me as my pups start to fight for dominance within my body and even though I know that a simple touch from Jean would help me, I can’t bring myself to ask for her help.

How could I when she was lying there on the floor right in front of me bruised and broken? I was certain that it was taking all the strength she had to just remain conscious.

“Jean,” I call, just wanting to make sure she is alright. “We’re going to get through this.”

As I speak, I’m not entirely sure if I’m saying this for her sake or my own. I just know that these are the words that have to be said.

“Yes,” she breathes, causing a wave of relief to rush through me. “We will be okay. We just have to keep waiting.”

Right.

If we waited, I was certain that Adeline and Osiris would find us.

Until then, I just needed to hope that nothing else came and that my pups didn’t end up doing something that couldn’t be undone.

“Can you contact Adeline?” I ask, remembering my idea from before. “I’m sure that the two of you have already gone through the mating process.”

“We have,” Jean confirms, slowly sitting up so she can fix her non-swollen eye on me. “I can try…”

“I’m back!”

Osiris’ stepmother’s voice rings out as the door to the room we are in opens, and as she skips in with a look of satisfaction on her face, I feel a wave of unease slam into me.

“Oh, it looks like you’re still hanging on.” She says, fixing her gaze on Jean. “Then I guess it’s about time I let you and that woman free.”

“How is she?” Jean asks, slowly standing. “You said that she was okay. Is she?”

“She’s fine as promised.” Osiris’ stepmother sighs. “I’ve already told you this a hundred times.”

As she speaks, she turns her gaze to me and lets a slow smile start to spread across her face.

“Too bad we won’t be able to say the same for this woman much longer.”

“Don’t hurt her!” Jean yelps and I can almost feel the panic she is feeling. “Please, don’t hurt her. You got what you wanted with Osiris, right? Since it is done, please let her go and…”

“Don’t worry,” Osiris’ stepmother says, shoving Jean away. “Since she has something that I want, I won’t hurt her. Instead, I will make sure to take really good care of her until the pups in her stomach come out. As a matter of fact, there is one more thing that I need you to do." She continues, a slow, devious smile starting to form on her face. "Once you've done that, I will let you and that woman go free, and I will make sure that no one will ever be able to touch you for your involvement in the death of Osiris Dawson."