Read Online Wolf Pact: A Wolf Pact Novel by Melissa de La Cruz - Free Book Online Page B

thought of his love, the girl with the bright pink hair and the shy smile who sang softly to herself while she went about her chores. He could still see her, lying next to him in bed, could still feel her sweet breath on his cheek.
    “Edon—please. Let me do this thing,” he’d begged. He knew Malcolm and Rafe would follow, and it was Edon he had to convince.
    “No,Lawson. You are a fool if you think you can get her back. It’s over. She’s gone. You must accept your loss as I have,” he said.
    “No.” He felt a coldness inside him as he looked at his brother. Lawson had not wanted to admit it before, but in his heart, he judged Edon as weak for not having returned to Hell to rescue Ahramin. Weak for letting her sacrifice herself while he ran to freedom. He’d pitied Edon then, and he hated him for it now. That Edon no longer had any hope did not mean it was the same for him.
    Tala might still be alive. Alive and unturned. Still the wolf he loved. There was hope. There was an oculus. It would show him where she was and he would get her back. Or he would die trying. Since he’d lost her, Lawson had all but forgotten about Marrok, and the rest of his brothers and sisters in the underworld; only Tala mattered for now.
    In the end, Edon had crumbled, as Lawson had known he would. But as they drove toward the oculus, Lawson felt a stab of guilt. He was running in the dark—literally and figuratively. He had sworn to protect the pack and yet here he was, leading them straight to danger. Edon said the oculus was sure to be guarded by hounds, and Malcolm’s queasy stomach confirmed this. Even Arthur had not approved of the idea.
    “Look, Ididn’t ask for you guys to come with me,” Lawson grumbled now. “I told you I could handle it myself.”
    “Sure you can, man,” Rafe said from the back. “But why should we let you have all the fun?”
    “We’re only here because of you. Remember that,” Edon said.
Remember that you are risking our freedom for your happiness.
    What if Edon was right? What if Tala was already dead? What if Romulus found them through the oculus? What then? If he failed to use the oculus without being seen, the hounds would be upon them and they would all be dragged back down to Hell, and all would be for naught.
    “Fine,” he said. “Fine. You win.” He began to turn the wheel around. He was asking too much. He would not be able to bear it if one of his brothers lost his life in an effort to save Tala’s. Edon was right—this was likely to put them all back in chains.
    “No,” Malcolm said from the backseat, his voice hoarse. “We need to go on. We already took a vote. We’re going to the oculus. We told Lawson we’d help him and we will.”
    Lawson raised hiseyebrow at his older brother, and for a moment, the tension in the car was strung as tightly as a kite string.
    Finally, Edon threw up his hands. “Just make it quick, all right?”
    “No one’s faster than me.” Lawson grinned as the car shot forward in the night.

T WELVE
     
    O h god,” Malcolmgurgled, clutching his middle.
    Lawson let off the gas. “How far?”
    The deathly ill look on the younger boy’s face told him all he needed to know. He put the car in neutral and let it roll. With the lights off and the engine out of gear, the car whistled quietly down the steep incline like a sailboat cruising on smooth black water. Lawson watched and listened as they drifted down the slope, studying the trees and tall grasses for any sign of movement. Crickets chirped and fireflies flickered in the distance.
    The car slowed until it stopped, and Lawson turned off the engine.
    “Where’s the guard? Do you see them?” he asked.
    Rafeswept the landscape with a pair of binoculars. “They’re on patrol, on the other side of the ridge.”
    “There,” Edon said quietly, pointing to a blinking light through the trees.
    “I see it.” Lawson nodded. “Stay in the car,” he told Malcolm. “The rest of you, come with