Dedicated to my squad's "Regina George"

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~MIKHAIL~

Finn ripped off the bandaid on Amaya's arm, cringing when his mate shrieked, lowering her voice to subtle whimper. 

"The quicker the better," he soothed, rubbing her arm in a comforting manner.

I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms as I laid on the couch with Ryker and Ryland across me, staring at Amaya as if she were an alien. 

"Who's she?" Ryker questioned cautiously, moving around to me.

"That-" I gestured to the sobbing mess who we called Amaya. "is the result of having sex, pups."

They both flinched before Ryland spoke up. "Any news of my wife?"

I sighed heavily, resting my head back against the pillow as I stared at the newly replaced ceiling paper. "No. Katya hasn't been responding to me. It's as if there's a block there-" I paused, frowning. "Wait- did you just call your Luna your wife?"

I didn't have time to scold them both because the slide open doors slammed back into their retreating state as a blonde stormed in. "Who the fuck decided to take a piss on my territory?"

I immediately rose to attention, pushing myself off the couch as a crowd gathered from my pack. I took a quick whiff of the air- the first thing I noticed was this fierce blonde belonged to the pack up north- the Redwood Pack.

The second thing that hit my nostrils like a train wreck was the warm scent of cinnamon and honey. My pupils dilated and I lunged forward, cupping the back of her neck so I could get a good look at her.

"Mate?" she exclaimed.

My jaw clenched. "Rosalie Parker."

The girl I bullied in fourth grade was my mate?

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~STARK~

Katya's eyes fluttered shut as she lost balance, dropping like a sack of stones. I quickly caught her, sweeping her small form into my arms before laying her onto my bed, the others crowding around her.

"Jazz, do something!" Iris hissed as she nudged her way beside me and the lamp post, tearing open the sleeves of Katya's flannel pajamas to examine the protruding veins in her caramel skin. 

"I can't-" he stammered, dragging a stressed hand down his forehead. "She's in the second stage, it's not like with Alric where I can remove it right away."

"You have to!" Iris pressed, "I can slow down her bloodstream so it's doesn't spread too quickly to her brain but that's as far as I go concerning poisonous fluids!"

Lorena moved around to the other side of the bed, ripping her flannel down her chest, buttons flying everywhere. "Stark, don't just stand there- cut off her oxygen, quick!"

I snapped back to attention, swallowing past my fear of losing her. Rushing forward, I cupped the nape of her neck, tilting her head back so her neck was stretching and her airways would open. I covered her soft pink mouth with my hand, pressing firmly. "How long until the lack of oxygen kills her?"

"Hopefully longer than the time it takes to kill some of her red blood cells." Draver muttered, holding her legs steady as her body unconsciously thrashed.

"Jazz, at least try." I demanded, scenarios of life without Katya flickering like a fast forward film in my mind with every passing second. "You're the only one of us who actually has a chance of removing the vampire blood from her blood!"

"Why can't you use your affinity?" he scowled, though deep down I knew he was scared. I would be too, if I was in his place. He had so many things limiting him. 70% of water or not, it was difficult to draw out vampire blood from a system as complex as werewolves.

I gritted my teeth, glancing back at her reddening face. "You know why I can't."

"I can do it." Jazz jumped. "But only with your help."

I slipped on a mask, going through the possibilities and risks if I used my affinity to bring her back from the brink of death.

"We're losing oxygen time!" Iris announced, "Someone save her!"

I slammed my eyes shut, removing my hand as she gasped for air- the poison breathing for life along with herself. I met Jazz's worried gaze.

"I'll do it."

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~KATYA~

The feel of sandpaper in my mouth had my eyes blink open. The harsh fraction of warm light that hit my vision caused my pupils to shrink as I grimaced, trying to lift up a limp arm to cover the light- however my limbs were frozen by my side. 

Soft linen was tucked under my arms, draping over my chest. I gasped as I took a breath, my chest contracting painfully with every intake of air. My face was in a state of confusion, one side was basking in the warm glow of what I was assuming to be sunlight while the other was faced with the biting cold of the room temperature.

"Sorry about this." Jazz muttered, his golden sculpted face appearing above me.

I tried to voice out my question, but he shook his head before I had the opportunity to ask him, "Don't talk. Well, you can't. But don't try. You won't succeed."

"How's her stability?" The silky and lilting voice of Lorena made me crane my neck to the side to find the source of her honey tone.

She stood at the doorway, something I noticed once the light of the room adjusted with my blurry vision.

"She's fine." Jazz replied almost numbly, taking a step back. "I'm surprised she woke up this early."

"Stark," Lorena looked out of the doorway, down the hall. "Come on, she's awake."

I closed my eyes, the amount of light too much for me to hold. After a brief moment, I felt a warm hand glide onto my frozen one, tingles spreading across my palm. 

"Hello." Stark said quietly. "Are you alright?"

I gulped, parting my cracked lips. I managed to croak out syllables that formed a close relation to the word "water". Lorena marched forward, lifting a cup from my bedside. Instead of tilting it to me, she waved her hand across the surface, drawing the water out of the depths of the cup, guiding the liquid to my mouth.

"Slowly," Lorena whispered, her silver gaze locking on mine. "Don't rush. Your entire body could spark in pain with the wrong movement of your jaw. Just take your time."

I nodded violently, the water a hair's breadth from my mouth.

"How long until she can be up?" Stark claimed as I drank the water feverishly.

Draver entered the room with Iris, both of them sending me a weak smile. 

"How are you holding up?" Iris asked softly, concern lacing her voice.

I wanted to assure her that I felt (somewhat) fine- that soon enough I'd be back on my feet, walking around Spain for however long we were going to be stuck here for, but one glare from Jazz had me press myself back against the firm yet fluffy pillows.

"She'll be okay." Stark answered for me, his thumb brushing against my forehead.

Jazz lifted my wrist up slowly, a faint fiery pain shooting up my arm until it faded to a slight numbness. He examined the vein on my wrists and the rebound of my fingers after being pulled flat out. "An hour." he declared, giving Stark a disbelieving smile. "Katya will be back to normal in about an hour, but that's only if we loosen the stress she has to face."

No one blinked.

Jazz dragged a palm down his face. "That's means all of us have to be out. We need to meet up with Castor and Alric at the front desk anyways."

A unanimous groan echoed in the room before the Lycans proceeded out of Stark's room with Jazz holding the door open. "Including you, Xerxes."

Stark shook his head, his grip on my hand tightening. "I won't. I can't."

Jazz looked at me for confirmation and I sent him a nod through my eyes, letting him close the door. 

The moment his footsteps faded, Stark peeled the layered sheets off of me, sliding himself between the sheets. He guided my head to rest on his arm, gathering me to him as if I was a teddy bear.

"I'm sorry." he murmured. "I shouldn't have handcuffed you. The cuts caused by it on your wrists were infected with vampire blood."

I nodded my head quickly and he laughed. "Honestly, though. I really, truly apologize for my rash behavior. I didn't know how you would react to knowing that we were headed to the same place where yet another female of my past lived."

I just closed my eyes, taking in deep breaths, letting myself recover once more.

"How?" I whispered hoarsely. 

"Did we get the vampire blood out of your system?" he questioned.

I nodded, something I suppose I was going to have to get used to without my voice. 

"I had to use my affinity and Jazz's. We drew out the toxins from your blood with Jazz's affinity for water. And you're probably wondering why Lorena didn't do it- Jazz's is concentrated with the liquid form of water and Lorena's is more on the ice state, not to say that they can't do either or. It's just what they specialize in. If Lorena had tried to extract the vampire blood from your system, she wouldn't be able to maintain the right degree needed to enter your bloodstream and would've frozen some of your veins. Now sleep, mea lux. I'll answer any questions when you wake up."

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~STARK~

"Are you insane?" Alric stressed as we all rode the elevator up to the seventh floor.

I tensed under their scrutinizing gaze, "Hardly. Look, the faster we get to Sicily, the better. Kendra's the only Ancient we have on our side- and if we can, we should see what we can squeeze out of Kaleesi."

Lorena scoffed, tossing her red curls back. "And what makes you think that conniving bitchy Siren wants to see your face since the incident?"

My jaw ticked and I levelled my glare to Lorena. "I can handle her. You all just focus on getting a way out of this damn hotel without a vampire finding us out."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Draver exclaimed. "They're crawling around the city since Katya went into the second stage! We have no one on the outside to pave a way for us to get out of here, much less on a fucking plane,"

We all contemplated on that bit of information. All my connections laid in Ireland, Russia, Sicily and Greece. Spain wasn't exactly my forte.

"Yes, we do." Castor spoke up, pushing himself off the back of the elevator.

"We do?" Iris frowned.

"My sister."

Iris instantly went on the offensive, her eyes burning. "Your sister? The one who tried to kill us when we came to drop off your stupid Egyptian cotton sheets last decade? Hell no. I am not about to deal with your psychopath of a sister. She's way too protective for her own good."

"She's changed." Castor assured, "Katya and I met her at the pavilion the other day."

That concerned me. 

"Alright." Jazz eased in, "We have Winry- but now what? How are we going to communicate with her?"

Alric grinned. "Well that's what I'm here for, Ladies and Lycans."

"I don't think so." I warned. "You know how deadly it is to use your affinity- almost as dangerous as it would be to use mine."

"Well you brought out your big guns last night." he walked out of the just-opening elevator doors, leading us to the door of my room where Katya laid. "So this time it's my turn to let loose."

I prayed to the Moon Goddess that Winry wasn't a superstitious person, otherwise we would end up resorting to messy circumstances that would lead me to purchase a new pair of jeans yet again.

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What state do you think I live in?