“Up we get,” a voice whispers, rousing me from sleep. Jason must be moving me somewhere comfortable. Arms wrap around me, cradling me roughly. I drift back to sleep and jar awake at the feel of burning in my mouth. Something is on my tongue and it’s burning me! What the hell? I reach up to grab it, but can’t separate my hounds. Their bound together by some kind of material. I wriggle trying to get out of it, only feeling weakened. The movement makes the material touch against my skin and I know immediately its silver. It fucking burns! No other substance could burn my skin like that.

The person carrying me looks down at me, an evil grin on his face, “Hello, sleeping beauty. I see you’re finally awake. Well don’t worry, it won’t be long until I get you to my king,” he laughs, starting to jostle me as he picks up speed. I struggle in his arms, my wolf thrashing in my mind trying to break free but something is stopping her. She lets off an almighty howl in my mind and all I can do is moan through the gag. The fire is consuming my mouth and I feel the poison spread to my throat. If he doesn’t take this gag out, I’m going to suffocate on silver.

“Dani!” Jason’s voice calls from a distance. I try to speak but it’s no use. No one will hear me. The stranger picks up speed until we’re in a flat run. Just as I start to lose hope that I can get away, we’re tackled to the ground. At first, I expect to see Jason but it’s James. How did he find me?

James is fighting off the wolf who tried to kidnap me, while I try to use my tongue to spit the rag out. It’s firmly wedged in and I lose hope of ever getting it out. The pain in my throat is slowly travelling to my chest, the silver has reached my lungs. Only a matter of time before I stop breathing.

The wolf makes a run for it, leaving James panting. I plead with my eyes and he bolts over to my side. “Shit! This is going to hurt Dani,” he warns before ripping the gag from my mouth. I scream hoarsely as pain rips through every part of my mouth. He throws the rag to the side before undoing the ties around my hands and feet. He has to peel them away from my skin as the silver has burnt its way into my skin.

“Why didn’t you call me sooner?” he asks, heaving me into his arms. I open my mouth to answer but only a squeak comes out. My voice is gone. I start to panic when James seems to notice what’s wrong. “Shhh, it’s going to be ok. We just need to get you to your mates. Calm down, Dani!” he growls as I try to make him put me down. “The faster your heart beats the more likely the silver will spread. Trust that I know what I’m doing, ok?”

I nod, trying to calm myself down. My beast is still alert but we still can’t shift. The silver is stopping us.

We walk out into the open and I see that it’s still dark out. I mustn’t have been asleep long. Pete sees me first and rushes to grab me from James’s arms. He gladly hands me over, watching with a small smile. No one else is around so I assume they must be looking for me. Jake and Rick burst around the side of the house, breathing a sigh of relief when they see me.

Where is everyone else? I look to Pete trying to ask, but my voice still isn’t working. Glancing over at James, the tears in my eyes must show my frustration because he steps up to my side. “Tell your wolf what you want to ask. I can hear what she thinks,” he says surprising me. I didn’t know anyone could hear my wolf.

Focusing, I tell her I want to know where my mates are. James answers almost immediately, “I imagine they’re still in the woods looking for you. Once they realized you were gone, everyone took off searching.”

Oh, that makes sense.

“Speaking of her mates, you two,” he gestures at Rick and Jake, “Go grab the rest of them, now! If you don’t hurry, she won’t be able to speak ever again.”

They didn’t even hesitate, just splitting up in a sprint while Pete cradles me. The Elders choose that moment to come running out of the house, “What’s going on?” Sonja demands, not even bothered by the fact that Pete is carrying me inside. They follow after us as James gives them a brief run-down of what happened. How he found me gagged, bound and being carried away by someone.

“Dani?” Cam comes to a stop when he sees Pete carrying me. I couldn’t move if I wanted to. The silver is eating away at my skin even with the rope gone.

James jerks to attention swinging his gaze my way. “Is that true? You still feel it burning you?!” he asks panicked. I nod watching his face pale. He lifts my wrist carefully, quickly giving it a sniff before going whiter than a ghost. He snatches me from Pete’s arms and rushes me through the house to a massive bathroom. He opens the shower door, carries me in and blasts the cold water, aiming for my ankles and wrists. “Dani, you have to swallow as much water as you can. Enough to make you physically ill.”

I cock my head wondering why when Lily barges into the room. The others are all just watching, horrified at the doorway. “Here, give her this. It will make her vomit in three seconds flat. Pete, Cam, grab Dani some towels, fresh water and new clothes. She’s not going to like what happens next.”

Why do I have to throw up? I don’t understand.

James shoves the mixture under my nose almost making me gag by the smell alone. Jeez. What’s in that? “Dani, you need to trust me. Your life depends on it. Drink this,” he pleads. I grab the small cup from his hands swallowing the brown liquid waiting for an instant reaction and am surprised when there isn’t one.

James looks over at Lily. “Shouldn’t it be working by now?”

“It can be delayed in some people. Give it a couple more seconds,” she says watching me nervously.

“What’s going on?” Jason asks, having appeared in the doorway. Mitchell, Jonnie and Nate are all behind him and the Elders are all still crammed into the bathroom.

Oh no. I scramble out of James’s arms trying to get close to the drain. The need to hurl isn’t going away. He places me gently in a kneeled position holding me up while I empty what feels like all my organs. He explains to the boys exactly what is happening to me. “She’s dying. I found her after her wolf called me, chased off her kidnapper and brought her back here. I thought she had just been burned by silver but it’s much worse than that. The ropes and gag have been doused in colloidal silver. It’s slowly eating away at her body. She needs to heal but the wolf can’t while the silver is in her body. That’s where you guys come in. I need you all to climb in here with us. You have to touch her and send her your wolves so she can break free. If not, who knows what will happen.”

Jason, Nate, Jonnie and Mitchell all strip down to their boxers and take over James’s spot in the shower. I hate them seeing me like this. Weak and vulnerable. As it is, the Elders are watching me concerned that this could happen at all. I should be invincible to them. Now all they’ll think when they see me is ‘easy to kill.’

Once James is out of the shower, he calls down the hall for Cam and Pete to hurry up as I need them. They see the others in the shower with me and don’t even hesitate to strip down and help, flinging the stuff they brought with them at the Elders. Lily takes it from them and shoos them all out, leaving me alone with the boys and James. It’s just lucky this shower is fucking huge or we’d all be hugging a wall. Well, I’d be hugging the floor.

My body’s becoming weaker from all the vomit coming up and it doesn’t seem to stop. I can smell the slight taint of silver but not enough to get the same reaction James did. His sense of smell must be stronger than mine.

Everyone is now huddled around me with equal expressions of fear on their faces. James is waiting for something, I just don’t know what. “God, Dani, sometimes you are extremely frustrating, you know. You’re surrounded by your mates. Look at each of them, feel their wolves trying to connect to you. Let your wolf lead you if you don’t know how but god damn it girl, shift!” he demands.

I do as he says letting my wolf reach out to each of the boys, feeling a spark of electricity in my bones. She howls and the boys echo it, sending vibrations through my soul. At the end of the last decibel, I feel the shift take over me.

My wolf is free and the pain has stopped. That’s the last thing I register before the world goes dark.

***

Why is it so hot in here? I feel like I’m lying in a fire! I lift my leg and meet resistance of a body laying across my legs. Looking around, I see I’m in the room Jason brought me to begin with but what’s more shocking is, I’m not dressed. Well, I’m wearing one of the guys’ shirts, Pete’s judging by the smell of it, but nothing else. All of my mates are crowded around me on the bed. This is going to make peeing without waking one of them impossible.

I try to wake Mitch, seeing as he’s the one lying on me. “Mitch,” I whisper but it comes out a high squeak. I slap a hand over my mouth shocked at the noise. I still can’t speak.

Shaking him by the shoulders gently, he slowly stirs lifting his head, confused. When he sees me, I offer a smile and he bolts up sending Cam rolling off the bed. “Fuck!” I hear when he lands on the floor with a harsh thud. He bolts up watching as I mime at Mitch what I need. Mitch seems to be pretty clueless as to me pointing at my bladder. “Dani, I really don’t know what on earth you want. You keep pointing at your vagina and I’m pretty sure sex is off the table, at least until you’ve healed,’ he says exasperated.

Shocked, I push him off me, grabbing him by the hand and leading him into the bathroom. I stop at the door turning his head to look at the toilet and point repeatedly from me to the toilet until it clicks. “Oh, sorry,” he mutters, leaving me alone to do my business.

I hear Cam chide him out in the room, “You are a complete idiot. How did you not figure out she needed to pee? You’ve been lying on her bladder for hours and the amount of water we made her drink, I’m surprised she didn’t wake up sooner.” He pauses before adding “Seriously though, did you really think she wanted sex after what she just went through?” he asks with a barely contained laugh.

“Hey what’s so funny? And where’s Dani gone?” Nate asks, having woken up. I should have just woken them all up before peeing. I finish my business, wash my hands and run the cool water over my wrists. There are scars where the burns were now. I wonder how long I was out?

I come back out and am almost ambushed as they all descend on me. Pete grabs me first, pulling me in close and breathing in my scent. “I’m so glad you’re ok. How’s your voice?” he asks concerned.

I try to answer but it’s just a squeak that comes out, leaving me frustrated. How on earth can I continue with no voice?

Tears well up in my eyes at my lack of voice. Pete’s face falls as he embraces me. “Shit, I’m sorry, I thought it would have healed by now.”

Pete carries me back to the bed, pushing the others out of the way as we go. He places me gently and they all try to crowd me which just starts to irritate me.  I lean up, placing my back against the headboard and push them away from me.

A knock on the door has Cam rushing to answer it. James is on the other side looking as frustrated as I feel. He waltzes in not even saying hello to any of them before climbing up on the bed beside me. “Open your mouth and let me see,” he coaxes gently. I comply, not even slightly weirded out he knew what was bothering me. “It’s healing, but you need to stay surrounded by your mates a little longer. Their wolves are sharing their energy with you to help you heal. We’re lucky we got you to vomit when we did. Any longer and you may have been permanently voiceless.” He shines a light down my throat to see a little better. “There are going to be scars and you may not get full range of your voice, we will just have to wait and see. Hopefully, after a week, we should be able to see the extent of your injuries. How are your wrists and ankles? Are they still sore?”

I hold up my hands for him to see, watching as he runs his thumb over the scars. I hear a few growls around the room and look up to see what the problem is. Cam, Nate and Mitchell are all staring at where James is touching me.

What the hell? Do they really think he’s attracted to me? That’s so gross! He’s like my great grandfather times twenty!

James barks out a laugh.

“What?” Cam growls irritated.

James shakes his head, repeating what I basically thought. “Dani just said you’re idiots. There’s no attraction between us, it’s more of protection instinct ingrained in me to make sure she’s safe. Besides, I’m related to her. I’m more like an estranged grandfather than a lover, so keep that in mind anytime I try to help your mate,” he chastises them with a massive grin as I nod in agreement.

Jonnie shuffles to my side, “If that’s true, how come you seem to have a connection to her wolf that we don’t? She has no voice but it’s like you can read her thoughts? Only mates can communicate with their minds,” he questions.

James smiles softly letting go of my hand and placing it back on the bed, “Ah well you see, that’s because we have the same blood line. If Monique was here right now, she could communicate with Dani’s wolf, just as I am. The tie between all of you will develop more as your bond gets stronger. Right now, there is still so much doubt and confusion that Dani doesn’t feel the conviction of any of you staying with her. Once her subconscious and her wolf knows you won’t leave her, you’ll find that a lot more abilities will open up between you,” he smirks. “Now, I will leave you to get some rest. Make sure she sleeps. The Elders have agreed she can have today to recover and tomorrow the challenge will be issued.”

With those parting words, he leaves me and my mates to curl back into the bed. Nate hands me a notebook and pen, “Here Dani. If you need anything, just write it down and whack one of us for attention. Now go to sleep.” He watches me as I lay back in the bed, trying to get comfortable. I put the notebook to the side, while Jonnie snuggles in behind me. The others all climb into the larger than normal bed, and arrange themselves around me. My wolf is happier than she has been in a long time. With the knowledge that I’m safe with all my mates, I fall asleep, thinking of each of them.