Gone (Book Two of the Dark Lycans Series)

I can't breathe. I thought with panic as my chest stopped moving. I was finally able to take in air, and my breathing was very ragged.

My hand came up to my cheek, and I felt wetness. I looked up to see Shade in a similar condition. She brought me into a big hug, and I took a deep breath.

"We need to get out of here before it is too late," I heard Shade tell me quietly. I nodded and pulled away, walking over to an unconscious Blake.

I grabbed his arms and pulled him onto my back.

"Damn he's heavy," I mumbled with a roll of my eyes. Shade chuckled quietly, and I carried Blake out of the cell.

Shade walked a few feet behind me, and I turned several corners until I ran straight into an arena. It was empty but covered in blood.

I drop Blake and we look for a way out. Shade yips to get my attention.

"I found a ladder, think we could use it?" She asks. I followed her gaze to a dark corner.

"Yeah, I think its worth a shot," I say looking in the dark.

My eyes caught on a small ladder in the corner. I let out an irritated sigh at the height, then picked up Blake, and ran to the metal ladder. I climbed up with one hand, and grunted at the weight on my shoulder.

The flat rungs cut into my bare feet, letting blood spill onto Shade below me. She winced as her own feet began to bleed. I heaved Blake onto the floor above me, and quickly climbed up after him.

I pulled Shade up the rest of the way, and put Blake on my shoulder again. We were in another large circle, it seemed to be where they watch from.

A fight must have just finished because voices and animated chatter fill the area.

"Damn it!" I swore under my breath.

"No kidding," Shade muttered. I ran for the door at the end, and slammed it open. The light blinds us, and I can hear birds singing in the green trees I haven't seen in weeks.

I hear footsteps and suddenly a series of shouts sounds behind us. I curse again and turn to Shade.

"I can be taken back again. It is important that you and Blake make it out alive." I was about to protest, when Ira starts talking to me.

We can go back for her, besides Blake will slow us down. You can't take both of them, she growled.

You know what? I think I liked Akira better! I growled.

Yeah well, Akira is gone, and she is never coming back, so you have to deal with me now! Ira snarled at me.

Bitch, I hissed at her. I growled in frustration and reluctantly nodded at Shade. I sprint for the forest, leaving Shade behind. The forest flies past me as I leave the place that has been my prison for several weeks now.

I traveled miles with Blake on my shoulder, I only stopped once to take a drink of water. It was nightfall when I finally found another water source.

There was a small pond surrounded by a thick area of shrubs. I dropped Blake onto the ground and drank deeply from the water. I heard a rustling beside me and saw Blake start to move.

He let out a pained groan, and I rushed to his side. His eyes slowly opened and I checked his pulse to see if it was normal. Luckily it was and his eyes narrowed when he saw me.

"Raven?" I nodded at him. I heard growl come from his throat and I covered his eyes. When he could no longer see me, he quieted down.

"Listen, I have to keep your eyes covered, otherwise your Lycan will try to attack me. Understand?" I told him carefully.

"Not really. Why do I want to attack you but only when I can actually see you?" He asked with scrunched eyebrows.

"Your Lycan doesn't recognize me as your mate because I just recently shifted, so I am a threat to you. Also I may have become an Alpha, which is another reason why you feel threatened and don't recognize me," I mumbled, but he still heard me.

"Wait, what?" He asked in shock.

"I became the Alpha of the Silver Bloods pack while you were gone. You won't feel threatened if you can't see me, so we have to keep your eyes covered," I told him, trying to stay away from the subject of me being Alpha.

"Your the Alpha now? What would that make me?" He asked. I sighed heavily, and prepared to tell him.

"Yes, I did the traditional fight, as it would have been if you were dead. The pack already accepted me as the Luna and Alpha, and right now Jackson has been taking care of them," I said with a sad smile.

"What does that make me?" He asked with a sigh.

"I don't know, this has never happened before," I shrugged.

"What do we do?"

"I'm leaving the pack, but first we have to find somewhere to get you safe, then I have to go back for Shade," I said.

"Wait, where are we, and where is Shade?" He said trying to look around. I kept my hand over his eyes, and used my tther hand to hold his head still.

"We escaped from the arena, but only because Shade stayed behind. And I couldn't help you and Shade, so I need to get you somewhere, then I will go back for Shade."

"I'm fine, we need to go get her now," he said trying to sit up. I shoved him back down and he grunted.

"No. You are badly injured because of me. I scratched you bad, and since I'm your mate, you will heal like a human, slow and painful."

"That wasn't very nice," he pointed out.

"You weren't any better, now I need to deal with your scratches, so you need to keep your eyes closed," I told him sternly. He nodded, and I slowly removed my hand from his eyes.

When I was sure that he was going to keep his eyes closed, I focused on his chest. My white shirt was stained red, but I had washed it off this morning.

It was dry now, and the excess blood had been washed off, but the white shirt would forever be stained red. I unwrapped his shirt that Shade had used to staunch the bleeding, and winced at the damage my claws had caused.

There were four deep slashes across his chest and stomach. The shirt was soaked red, and the cuts were still bleeding horribly. I took off my shirt and pressed it onto his cuts.

It was quickly soaked in red, and I cursed tossing it onto the ground.

"It looks really bad, I need to find something to stop the bleeding, but we don't have anything." I looked around, but found nothing I could use.

"No leaves or vines or anything?"

"No, but I might be able to use an animal skin," I thought aloud. Water meant there would be animals, but I had no weapons.

"Well go catch something then!" He ordered. In my annoyance, I slapped his face.

"Don't order me around or I will just leave you here." I huffed standing up. He rubbed his face with a scowl, and I rolled my eyes.

"I'll try to get something, if anything happens, call out," I said walking away. I heard him grumbling something about women being so controlling, and I chuckled under my breath.

With my nose to the air, I managed to find the scent of a few animals.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I groaned in frustration. The nearest scent was that of a leopard. The others were all either underground or far away.

"What!" I heard Blake call out.

"The closest animal is a damn leopard!" I told him.

"Have fun!" I heard him laugh like a maniac.

"Asshole," I yelled. This only made him laugh more.

Ignoring him, I followed the scent a dozen yards to a den under a tree. Are you serious right now, I rolled my eyes and pursed my lips.

I have to get it out of its den? I gritted my teeth in frustration, and took a deep breath to relax myself. Rolling my shoulders, I let my Lycan's strength flow through my body.

I barked loudly to try to draw it out, and I heard a low growl in response. I crouched behind a bush and watched the opening of the den.

A pair of yellow eyes appeared from the darkness, and I watched as the cat crept out into the forest. I couldn't help but admire its grace and beauty for a moment.

I crept along the bushes until I was directly behind it. I jumped out of the brush directly in front of the den, blocking the entrance. The cat whipped around with a snarl.

It ears were flattened against its head, lips lifted in a writhing snarl, and tail lashing. I growled at it, crouching down.

It crouched low, and sprang at me. I caught its throat with my hand and ducked to avoid it swiping paws. One of its paws still caught my arm though, and I hissed as the claws tore through my flesh.

A roar from the feline filled the air, and I slammed the cat to the ground. My hand grabbed its scruff, but the leopard was strong and tried to get up, almost succeeding.

I quickly snapped its neck before it scratched me again. The animal fell limp, but not a single scratch on it. I let out a sigh of relief, and picked up the cat.

I had one arm under its stomach, and the other under its chest. It was at least 150 pounds, meaning it was most likely male. I carried it back to where Blake was still laying.

"I hate you," I told him as I laid the leopard on the ground.

"What happened?"

"The leopard is like 150 pounds, and it scratched the hell out of my arm," I complained. He chuckled.

"Now we are even."

"Hardly, my scratch will heal quickly, it is already almost gone. But whatever you say, I guess." I shrugged with a smile.

I gathered up a pile of sticks to start a fire, and managed to light it by striking a few rocks. When I got a big fire going, I used my claws to skin the animal, and gut it.

I took the fur from the animal and hung it on a branch above the fire. I cooked some of the meat for Blake and I to eat, while the smoke and heat from the fire cured the hide.

The meat was delicious, and I sat laughing while Blake tried to eat while laying down with closed eyes. In the end he made me help him sit up to eat.

"I just realized that I haven't eaten in two weeks, all I have had to eat or drink was blood from a wolf I killed in the arena," I said.

"They gave us nasty food, with probably poisoned water, but it was better than nothing." He shrugged.

"Your still bleeding pretty bad. I'm going to wash my shirt really quickly, okay?" I said, finding my bloody shirt in the ground beside me, and walked to wash it in the pond. I scrubbed most of the blood from it, and hung it next to the leopard fur to dry.

"Wait, you don't have a shirt on?" He asked with a mischievous tone.

"No, don't you dare open your eyes. I still have a bra and shorts on, but I don't want you attacking me, whether the reason is good or bad," I warned him. He pouted and whined.

"You suck!" I rolled my eyes at him.

I grabbed the fur that was hanging above the fire. They skin on the other side of the fur was dry, and would do pretty well for stopping the bleeding.

"Hold still, the fur is good now." I told Blake cutting the fur to the right size. It was four feet by about three feet, and would fit perfectly around his wounds.

I wrapped the pelt fur side out on top of his scratches. He sat up, so I could tie it in the back. The fur was soft, and should not irritate him.

I stepped back and burst out laughing.

"What?" He asked in a panic.

"You look like a friggin' caveman. All your missing is a wooden club," I laughed clutching my stomach.

He gritted his teeth and pursed his lips in annoyance.

"Haha very funny," he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He laid back down and put his arms behind his head.

I took that as I sign, and laid down to sleep. Closing my eyes, I thought about what to do tomorrow, when Blake's voice brought me out of my head.

"Come here." He said in a command. I rolled my eyes but got up and walked over to him anyway.

"What?"

"Give me your hand," he said. I raised an eyebrow, and placed my hand in his.

My arm was yanked and I fell on top of him, my face centimeters from his. He leaned forward and our lips collided. I gasped in shock and he smiled.

My lips moved against his in sync, and I could feel my heart stop. His tongue explored my mouth, and I felt a warmth spread through my body.

Waves of pleasure rolled down my body, and I moaned quietly at the sensations in my mouth.

His hand ran through my hair, and pulled me closer to him. The other was on my waist, sending tingles everywhere it touched my bare skin.

Our tongues battled for dominance, and my breathing was ragged. I missed him so much, and I put all of my desperation and want into the one kiss.

I pulled away and gasped for breath. A grin spread across my face, and I sat up, straddling his hips. Blake's eyes suddenly flew open.

My eyes were no doubt gold and red, and met his beautiful ice blue ones. The look we shared was so intense, and I felt my breath catch.

His lips moves to whisper a single word.

"Mine"