Veil.

"You're awake, finally." The baritone voice slams through me as I pop my eyes open, groaning at the intense pain I feel going through me.

A look around the place shows I'm in a hospital. Again?

What's with me and getting stuck in a hospital?

Seriously, I'm beginning to dread the idea of it.

"How do you feel?" I blink up at the male, surprised to see it's Pudim, Emma's brother, hovering over me with a worried look etched on his face.

His appearance hasn't changed: tanned skin, a rough beard, and wild curls of jet-black hair, falling in fringes over his forehead.

"Pudim?" I croak with a smile and wince when I feel my lip crack from being parched. "How did I end up here?"

He gives me a long look and steps back a bit, shoving his hands into his pocket. His mouth opens, ready to respond, but the creak of the door as it flutters open snaps Pudim's lips shut.

A heavy presence, thick as fog before a storm, wafts through the atmosphere even before I set my eyes on him.

Hunter.

Oh, shit.

Please don't tell me he's the one who brought me here?

The sneer on his lips seems to confirm it as he pulls away the cigarette between his lips.

"So, news has it that you're skilled in fainting like a spineless fish, witch. What happened to your fins?" He spits out, voice laced with mockery.

Goodness, I'm minutes away from melting in this bed, and I don't know why.

I used to hate it whenever he called me that years ago, but after the two encounters I've had with him since my return, the term tugs at something raw and visceral inside me.

The scent of nicotine envelops the room as he casts a shadow over me with his height.

I can't help the cough that tears from my chest, despite how hard I try to control it.

"I...don't...know..." I cough hard, the back of my eyes stinging. "Could you please take that away?" I point at the cigarette.

"Ordering me around now, is it?" He drawls, lifting the cigarette and watching the tip burn as ash drops onto the bed. Eyes fixed on me, he takes a long drag and puffs it out through his nose and mouth. "Unfortunately, your juju isn't strong enough to make me do your bidding, witch."

Pudim watches us in silence.

If there's someone who's seen enough of our sibling banters, it's him because he's practically friends with my stepbrothers.

A sharp pinprick of discomfort settles inside me when Hunter sinks into the bed beside me with a lopsided curl of his lips.

"Tell me, did you think fainting while working would spare you from your duties?"

"It wasn't intentional," I affirm, steeling my gaze as I look at him.

Hunter laughs, but there's no humor behind it. "Oh, sure, yes. It wasn't intentional." He mimics my voice. "You were only looking for a knight in shining armor to come and save you."

I bite the inside of my cheek as I glower at him. Of course, the asshole doesn't so much flinch under my blazing stare.

The black leather jacket he's putting on is heavy with his MC patches, the largest one declaring him as the president.

"Fainting twice under twenty-four hours is a dereliction of duty, witch, and I must warn you, we don't do that here. Not in this pack." His smoky green eyes trail down to my lips, which I'm biting, and back up to my face. "Maybe in your spineless mate's pack, yes, but not here."

So, it was he who took me to my old bedroom?

Well, he doesn't sound like it. Besides, Hunter sees me as a plague to lay his hands on me.

Despite myself, I blurt. "You brought me here?"

Storm rages in his eyes, enough to swallow me whole. "You'd be the last person on earth I'd ever touch, witch." He spits it out like a curse.

It's just another moment of me questioning why he despises me so much.

His words shouldn't sting this much, but they do, and I hate it.

He drags a string of breath into his lungs and emerges to his feet, taking another drag of his cigarette. As he puffs it out, he leans into the nightstand and drops the cigarette on it.

I watch it burn, spreading its scent through the room.

"If that repeats itself again, witch, you'll have to answer to me; consider today a freebie."

The contents in my belly writhe from dread at his words.

Pudim and I silently fix our eyes on him as he adjusts his Jacket, flicks his fingers through his smoky blonde hair, and parades out of the room.

I flinch as the door slams shut, rattling the silence in the room.

Goddess, what have I gotten myself into?

Pudim clears his voice, drawing my attention to him.

There's a quiet understanding in his eyes, or maybe it's just my thoughts.

"I'm glad you're okay..."

"You clearly know I'm not," I snap, halting his words. It'd be stupid of me to admit I'm alright when everyone else is just a viper towards me, threatening to suffocate me with their venom.

"Well, you're not dead. So, I guess that counts." He says. The bed dips as he sinks into it, sitting beside me. "How did you do it, though?" I flick a confused look at him. "I mean, how did you survive Quin's rut?"

His question processes through my mind as I remember how Quin pulled himself away from me, roaring until he hauled me to his chest and took me to his inner chamber.

It's a mystery, if you ask me. Feral beasts like him would never do that.

To Pudim, I blurt. "I don't know. I guess it just happened."

Silence stirs between us for a minute. Then I ask. "Pudim, I want to see my mother. Can you take me to her?"

Desperation leaks through my voice. I clutch onto his veiny wrist to punctuate my plea and eagerness.

Pudim shifts uncomfortably, his face turning blank.

That worries me, sparking suspicion immediately.

"Pudim? I want to see my mother."

He scratches his beard, exhaling hugely. "I'm sorry, Veil, but...your mother is gone."

My breathing snaps like a whip the moment his words reach me.

"My...mother is...gone?" I stutter, the words bitter to spill, difficult to believe.

Pudim nods, confirming it.

My hand clenches around his wrist as tears surge to the edges of my vision.

"What...how...did...it...happen?"

"A few years ago, right after you vanished...there was a protracted rogue attack in the pack. Many people died, the alpha included. Well, same as your mother and the rest of the Lunas."

A rogue attack in the pack? That's impossible.

Moonbloom pack is the strongest in the realm, so how did it happen?

"The moonstone." Pudim chimes in as if he's reading my thoughts. "The moment it was gone, the pack became vulnerable. Prone to external attacks."

So this was why the whole pack wanted me dead the day I set foot here?

With effort, I blink away the tears rimming my eyes and peer up at him.

Pudim and I were somehow friends years back. Being Emma's brother, he attended just the same parties and events with us.

He was practically my prom during our junior year in Halesbridge. Maybe he'll believe me, even if others don't.

Holding his hand tighter, I rasp. "Pudim, I didn't take the moonstone. I promise you, I didn't. You've got to believe me..."

His eyes soften, and he presses his free hand over mine. "Veil, I don't know what to believe..."

"It has to be a mishap, a coincidence, or something. I think someone else stole it and is framing me for it..."

"Do you have any proof?" He asks, his pale gray eyes holding mine.

My shoulders deflate. "I...don't." I sigh sadly, the gloomy expression back on my face.

"Well, what if..." Pudim tries to speak, but the knock on the door disrupts us.

Without waiting for permission, the person on the other side steps in.

The doctor, Eliza.

An itinerant doctor who travels from pack to pack treating people with terminal illness, but her mate is from our pack, Jacob, one of the pack's warriors.

"I hope I'm not interrupting?" She asks, looking between Pudim and me.

Awkwardly, we pull our hands away from each other as Pudim stands up.

"No, doc." He hums, giving me a fleeting look.

Eliza nods, smiling at me. To Pudim, she says. "Do you mind giving us some privacy, beta?"

My eyes go wide as saucers.

He's the pack's beta now?

Interesting.

I never saw that coming.

Respectfully, he nods, heading to the door.

Somehow, I feel whatever Doctor Eliza is going to say won't be good.

She looks through the clipboard in her hands, then back at me as she asks.

"Ms. Veil, when was the last time you had sex?"

Tbc.

Veil.

My breath hitches, and I gawk at Dr. Eliza. I wasn't expecting that question.

It's been years. So long, I can't even remember.

I try to respond, but the words can't seem to pour out of me.

She clears her throat and arches a questioning brow at me.

"I'm sorry if it's too sensitive to ask, but I pretty much want to know because this concerns your health." She draws closer, my heart beginning to gallop in my chest. "When was the last time you had an intercourse with a proper um...orgasm?"

Last night, that's the first answer that comes to my mind, but I very much know that what happened last night wasn't sex.

Whatever Quin did to me last night was far from intercourse.

It's shameful to admit that I haven't indulged in any sexual activity despite how much my nature as a wolf demands it.

Just like water, sex is life. It keeps us together as well as our wolves. It boosts our strength.

My silence is enough to answer the doctor. Her face falls, and with a sigh, she looks through the clipboard again, probably checking out my results.

"What does it say, doc?" My voice comes out in a croak. I doubt she heard me.

However, she peers up at me and reveals. "I'm afraid, Veil, but you're developing Malignant Rutlock..."

I don't know what that means, but the weight of it shows it's a severe...disease.

"Can you...explain?"

"Rutlock disease spreads quickly like...cancer, which is common among humans. But to us werewolves, Rutlock causes distortion in heart rhythm, damages the reproductive system, affects your nerves and blood flow..." she lowers her voice, adding. "And kills the development of a wolf which is currently happening to you, Veil. Your wolf is being suppressed by the Rutlock disease..."

Hearing her say that, my eyes widen like saucers.

My wolf?

That is impossible.

I lost Lyra, my wolf, the day Ryder marked someone else and rejected me.

"From the test result, it shows your wolf is still new, so I'm guessing you're a late bloomer?"

"You're kidding, right, doc?" I sputter, hyperventilating.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I don't have a wolf anymore...I mean it...died."

She gasps, checking the record again, and then looks back at me.

"Did you suffer a rejection?" She asks.

I nod meekly, and a sympathetic look crosses her eyes.

"This is strange. The results show...you have another wolf growing inside of you."

I stall, feeling the rush of blood through my veins.

Now, it makes sense. That voice calling out to me while I was in the toilet wasn't just any voice.

It was another wolf rising inside me.

This has never happened before. One person with two wolves.

Is that a good thing?

"What does that make me, doc?"

She shakes her head, "I don't know yet, but...I'll have to research it. But whatever it is, you should know it's at risk. The disease is spreading so fast. Something has to be done."

I bite my lip, looking away.

"What's the best cure?" I voice out, and her next response sends my heart racing.

"Sexual intimacy. You'd need it constantly for the...better part of a year."

I snap my head up at her, shaking visibly.

"I don't have a mate anymore...there's no way I can..."

"I'm certain some unmated pack males will be willing to help?"

That suggestion twists my belly.

It's not going to work. Yes, the majority of unmated people do that, but given my situation in the pack as a traitor, which everyone thinks I am, no one would want to get involved with me.

Suddenly, thoughts about Quin come to my mind.

He's your only option now. You just need to...

No! I snap at the voice in my head, hating the idea of it.

There's no way I'm going to let him touch me again.

If Quin happens to be the last option I have, then I'd rather die than have him touch me. It doesn't matter if he spared my life.

Doctor Eliza seems to notice the battle raging in my mind. "Well, there are other options left, Veil." She adjusts her glasses. "There's a medicine called Lunar Aegis, which helps to suppress the effects of the Rutlock disease. It hinders it from spreading fast, but the only problem is that it's very expensive, and only the alpha king of the realm can authorize it for aging werewolves who don't have the stamina it takes to indulge in sexual activities."

Oh, that's... bizarre. It already sounds out of reach.

Reaching the alpha king for the medicine will be difficult. Only the council members of the packs in the werewolf league can contact the alpha king.

"Well. It's...definitely not going to work."

Doctor Eliza nods. "That's why getting a male to do that for you is the best option. Ever heard of the Elite party?" She continues in my silence. "It's held in Yellow River Pack every first Sunday of a new month. People go there to find their mates or a sex partner, so you might as well take your chance."

"Thank you, doc."

She scribbles something on the clipboard. "With that said, you're not to undertake hard tasks that'll increase your heart rate, such as running and whatnot. Eat healthy meals and occasionally...masturbate. It'll help. Any day you start seeing blood coming out of your nose, just bear it in mind the disease has reached its limit."

I force a smile and nod, mentally dreading her last statement.

"The nurses will be here soon to discharge you, Ms. Veil. Thanks for your cooperation." She takes her leave right after, and as the door closes, I drop my head back onto the pillow, eyes on the ceiling as I wonder what exactly to do now.

Quin, the voice chimes in again.

He'll do it. You have to go to him.

I turn on the bed, restless.

Between developing a new wolf and having the worst disease a wolf will ever have, I feel so stuck.

A couple of minutes later, a nurse comes into the ward and checks my vitals one last time before discharging me.

It's the peak of the night, and the streets are empty as I trudge my way back to the pack house.

Only the guards patrolling the pack house perimeters are awake.

They don't so much as look my way, which is good.

The melodic sound of water rushing out of the huge fountain in the center of the compound calms my frayed nerves as I clamber the cobblestone steps and into the silent house.

I walk into the kitchen, open the fridge, and see leftovers of pancakes.

I grab them and devour, taking a sip of cold water before walking up the steps to my bedroom.

Every move I make feels so agonizing, my nether parts aching, the walls around my heart closing in on itself.

I bite hard on my lip at the struggle until I reach the landing, heading to my old bedroom.

With three long strides down the hallway, I hear it, a deep moan of pleasure coming from the door on the other side of the hallway.

"Ahhh. Yes, fuck...so...good..."

Curiosity pushes my legs to move in the other direction. My throat tightens as I pause before the door, which is thankfully ajar.

Taking a sneak peek, my heart drops to my toes.

Tbc.

Veil.

It's Emma, mounting and riding...

My eyes narrow further just so I can see the face of the man beneath her. The moment I do, my spine curdles.

Rio.

The pulse quickens in my veins as I feel myself floating, the shock reeling fast through me.

I hold onto the wall for support as heavy drumbeats take residence in my heart.

She's stark naked, the buttery light of the lantern on the nightstand casting a warm glow on her skin.

Emma's hips move in rhythm, her pussy enveloping Rio's cock in a ballad of lust. The staccato beats of their sex bouncing into the hallway.

I'm too shocked to move away. Too flustered to cut my gaze from them.

Emma and Rio are an item?

As if trying to clear my doubts, Emma moans aloud. "Yes, hubby. Goddess...hmmm,"

That's when it hits me square on the jaw: her husband is my stepbrother.

For some reason, bitterness surges through me, and I taste bile in my mouth.

Yes, I'm never on good terms with Rio, but seeing him married to the girl who was once my best friend makes my heart ache.

Why did he choose her of all people? What's the story behind their union?

Her naughty words drag my attention back to them. She's openly praising Rio's bed skills, telling him she'd trade anything and anyone to be the only woman he ever gets to touch.

Rio doesn't speak. His face is blank, chest rising and falling rhythmically as he watches her bounce over him like a whore.

He looks mentally distant, like he has something else bothering him. The only sign that he feels what she's doing to him is the small arcs his thumbs are drawing over her ass cheeks.

My teeth grit watching them as something burns inside me.

Why am I pained seeing this?

Or rangles my lungs and drains what color that's left on my body.

She tweaks his nipples, coaxing them until they become turgid.

It makes Rio hiss, his eyes shutting briefly until Emma pulls her hands away.

She bunches her long locks with both hands, hiking them up, her hips moving in a snake-like motion over Rio's dick.

I see it, the swimmers dribbling from her cunt and drenching Rio's length.

It stirs wet sounds in the air.

Her moves become sloppy, the tautness of her body shows how much she's soaked in pleasure.

When the dick mistakenly slips from her cunt, and I catch a glimpse of it, a gasp tears from my mouth.

"Goddess!"

I intend for it to be a whisper, but unfortunately, it's audible. Loud.

My pulse halts, Rio's molten dark eyes swing to the door, momentarily catching mine, but I duck quickly.

"Who's there?" Emma's voice resounds, gritty and coarse from the strain of her endless moans.

The bed frame whirrs, and it tells me she's stood up.

Oh, seven seas!

I'm in trouble.

Thoughts ping through my mind, and I look for the nearest hideout as her feet pad over the floor, the closer she advances to the door.

I rush to the table a few feet away, the one crowned with beaded flower vases, and slip beneath it, yanking the hem of my skirt jutting out of my hideout into my thighs.

"I heard someone's voice," Emma says to Rio. "I think someone was watching us, hubby."

Rio's response comes, but it's faint; I barely heard it. "....but I didn't hear it. It could be your mind making it up."

Emma sighs. "I guess so." There's a smile in her voice. "Don't mind me, let's continue where we stopped."

She slams the door shut, and a giggle reverberates from the door before it morphs into a deep moan.

I take a breather, clutching at my racing heart.

Dr. Eliza's words rattle through me.

Don't do anything that'll make my heartbeat spike, I recite, feeling it beating like the drums of hell.

I'm going to have a hard time complying with her orders.

I wet my parched throat and slip out from beneath the table.

I scan the empty hallway, glad no one saw me watching them. Now that my position in the pack has deteriorated, I have to tread carefully.

I saunter past their bedroom door, down to mine.

I click the door shut and perch my back over it until I slide to the floor.

So many things changed since my disappearance from the pack.

I lost my mother.

My best friends turned against me, with Emma married to Rio.

What else happened that I'm yet to find out?

I look through the window at the starry night, crickets chirping and breaking the quiet ambiance of my bedroom.

Unbidden, I remember them, Emma fucking Rio.

His blank face. His nonchalance.

His...cock.

Goodness me...

I didn't see it up close, but it looks...beautiful and meaty.

The lick of hunger down my spine makes my eyes widen.

Wild thoughts and imagination spin through me.

How does he taste?

The way Emma was moaning...

Goodness, Veil, get a fucking grip on your thoughts!

This is Emma's husband you're thinking about! My rational mind howls, but that irrational side mocks it.

He's Emma's husband, but he's my stepbrother. So, before Emma came into the picture, I was already in it.

"Shit! I'm beginning to think like a hussy." I bite down on my lip, trying to distract myself.

Dr. Eliza's suggestion comes to my mind– masturbation.

Even though the lick of hunger I felt just moments ago is gone, I still want to give it a try.

I part my thighs, wincing at the old marks on them, and slide my panties aside.

I touch myself, and I'm not surprised to realize I'm dry. Totally.

The touch alone hurts me.

Before I can get a proper scissor on my clit with my fingers, the boulder of pain from earlier returns.

A sharp cry tears from my lips. Fire blazes through me, snapping my breath.

I pull my hand away, begging the goddess to take the pain away while I writhe on the floor.

This isn't going to stop.

This pain.

I manage to waddle to the bed, and as I slump into it, I force myself to sleep. Maybe that'll push the pain away.

Unfortunately, it doesn't. It follows me into the dreamland.

__

It's better now. The worst of the pain has ebbed, and I try to sleep in more, only for the hummingbird's song on my window to wake me up.

A hiss tears from the depth of my mouth.

I hate mornings. That bitch always comes with a reminder of my unhealthy condition.

"When do you plan to stop working against me?" I bitch to the morning sun, kissing my skin.

Succumbing to my reality, I prop my eyes open, watching the ceiling beams.

And I hear it, the snicking sound coming across the bed.

Slowly, I spin my eyes there, and my blood runs cold.

Sitting on the couch with his legs crossed while he rolls the hands of the broken alarm clock is...

Rio.

He's dressed in a pristine white shirt and black pants, looking stylish yet simple.

The rolled sleeves of his shirt reveal his muscly arms.

I swallow loudly, taking him in.

He catches my gaze through his black sunglasses, and slowly, he peels them off his face.

Dark hazel eyes pierce me, judging.

I hope it's not what I'm thinking it is?

"Is sleeping talking your forte? Or is it snooping on couples who are having sex that's your forte, stepsister?" He drawls, pinning his elbows on his knees to support his jaw as he narrows his eyes on me.

Tbc.