Chapter 106 I Feel Faint
Leela stood frozen over the desk, one hand clamped tight over her mouth to stifle the sob clawing its way up her throat. Her eyes burned with hot, acidic tears that blurred the ink on the pages, but the horror was too clear to miss.
She turned page after page, her fingers trembling so violently she nearly tore the ancient paper.
It wasn't just a few victims. It was a catalogue of genocide.
"The 'studies,'" she whispered, her voice cracking on the word. It was a sterile, clinical term for butchery. "They didn't just hunt us, Fenn. They made a whole species extinct. They erased us... for cuff links. For power."
She looked up at Fennigan, her face pale and streaked with tears, the image of the bone drills searing into her mind.
"Oh, Fenn," she choked out, clutching her chest. "What about our poor Caspian? If Vane got him... if he put him on that table..."
She shook her head frantically, the thought physically painful.
"I'd die," she sobbed. "I’d die before I let anything happen to him. And Briar... stuck in a cage? Bred like an animal just to make more bones for his collection?"
The room suddenly tilted. The smell of the old books, the dust, and the lingering scent of horror became suffocating. The walls of the study seemed to warp, leaning in to crush her.
"I feel faint," Leela gasped, pushing away from the desk. She clawed at the collar of her shirt. "I need air. I can't be in here."
She turned and stumbled toward the door, blinded by panic.
She burst into the hallway, her breathing ragged and shallow. Ginny was standing there, holding Briar, while Elana held Caspian.
The twins, seeing their mother, immediately reached out with chubby arms, their faces lighting up.
"Mama!" Caspian chirped.
But Leela couldn't hold them. Not yet. Looking at them now, all she could see were the diagrams. She saw their little bones. She saw the targets on their backs.
"Leela?" Ginny asked, her smile fading instantly as she saw the terror on Leela’s face. "Are you okay?"
"I need air," was all Leela could manage to wheeze out.
She didn't stop. She rushed past her children, past the confused look on Elana’s face, and threw open the heavy front door, stumbling out onto the porch to gulp down the cold mountain air.
Fennigan didn't hesitate. He came out of the study a second later, his face grim. He saw Leela bolt, and he saw his children’s confusion turning into impending tears at being ignored.
"I've got them," Fennigan grunted to the women.
In one smooth motion, he swept Caspian from Elana and Briar from Ginny, tucking a twin securely into each arm.
"Come on," he told the babies, his voice steady. "Mama needs us."
He followed Leela out the door. Elana and Ginny exchanged a terrified look before hurrying after them, sensing that whatever had been in those books had just shattered the Luna’s composure.
The heavy wooden porch swing groaned in protest, the metal chains shrieking with every violent arc. Leela was pumping her legs, swinging furiously, creating a wind that dried the tears on her cheeks but couldn't cool the panic boiling in her blood.
She stared blindly at the tree line, her breath coming in short gasps. Amidst the terror, she felt a sudden, soft flutter deep in her abdomen—the little butterfly feeling of the new life stretching its wings. It was a cruel, beautiful contrast. Life was growing inside her, while inside that study, death was cataloged in leather bindings.
"We are going to stop this monster," Fennigan’s voice cut through the noise of the chains.
He stood at the edge of the porch, the twins perched securely in his arms, watching her with dark, determined eyes.
"He has not come up against an Elemental like you before, Sparky," Fennigan said, stepping closer, his voice rising over the creak of the wood. "And he's never gone up against a Blackwood. Fuck, he’s going up against the whole damn pack."
He looked at her, his jaw set.
"This pack would lay down their life for you, Leela. Without hesitation."
"I DON'T WANT THAT!"
Leela screamed the words, digging her heels into the wooden slats to stop the swing with a jarring shudder. The chains rattled violently as she leaned forward, her hands gripping the seat until her knuckles turned white.
"I thought I was here to be helpful!" she sobbed, looking between Fennigan and Elana. "I thought I was here to heal the land! Not to have a pack give their life for me! Not to fill a graveyard because I can't protect myself!"
"They love you, Leela," Ginny said softly, stepping up to the railing, her own hand on her belly. "We all do. It’s not a sacrifice if it’s for family."
Leela shook her head frantically, wringing her hands together in her lap, the friction burning her skin.
"Ginny, you didn't see," Leela whispered, her voice trembling with the aftershocks of the books. "Oh my god, you didn't see the diagrams. The drills... the cuffs..."
Her eyes darted to Caspian, who was chewing on his fist, watching his mother with wide, confused eyes. The image of the bone ring flashed in her mind, superimposing itself over his chubby little wrist.
"Give him to me," she choked out, reaching for him.
Fennigan moved instantly, lowering Caspian into her waiting arms.
Leela buried her face in his neck, inhaling his scent—milk, soap, and life. She felt his solid little ribs, his strong spine, his perfect, unbroken bones.
"Not my handsome boy," she wept into his hair, rocking him back and forth on the stationary swing. "You are going to grow up. You are going to be big and strong and do awesome things. I promise."
Briar, seeing her brother getting the prime cuddle spot, let out an indignant squawk from Fennigan’s arms, reaching out for her mother.
"She wants you too," Fennigan murmured.
So, the Alpha didn't hesitate. He sat down heavily on the bench beside Leela, the chains groaning under the added weight of the wolf. He settled Briar onto Leela’s other side, sandwiching her between her children and her mate.
He wrapped his large arm around the back of the swing, encompassing all three of them, his hand resting on Leela’s shoulder, grounding her.
"We've got them, Leela," Fennigan whispered into her ear, his lips brushing her temple. "And we've got you."