Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future
Chapter 76

Milo's POV

We had been orchestrating our plan of attack since Lady Camille came and spent most of the day speaking with Lenora and I. Delilah went in and looked at Kas's vision of Bronx killing her. She was able to study, evaluate, and determine details that Kas would never have been able to see. Delilah worked with her mother to help explain what they believed would cause the event, when it would happen and some ideas of how we could prevent it.

Lady Camille had one of the coven's sisters conference call into the meeting...well, sort of...she used magic instead of the actual phone, but she was there. She was a fortune teller, which I was sceptical of but I listened respectfully anyways.

She explained what would happen if we didn't step in and stop Bronx. Short story: Kas would die. Bronx would be charged with murdering the Luna Regent of the Blood River pack and high treason. He would be executed for his crimes by the High Council and we wouldn't be able to stop it.

Then she told us Saint was going to be really unstable when he came back from his near death experience in France. Bronx, for the most part, would keep him under control but that was just on the surface. If Bronx had any crazy ideas, it was Saint manipulating him and we were to just go along with it. Well let me tell you, that ended up with Kas and Lex having a mental breakdown and Ryan Connors almost killing her. Oh, and Bronx almost dying...again. 2

Finally, she explained if we stopped Bronx from killing Kas, it was close to a ninety percent chance we would succeed. Seems like a no brainer, right? Well there was a catch. There's always a catch. If Saint doesn't believe he had killed Kas, he would keep trying until he succeeded. He needed to see the damage he had done to his mate to snap him out of whatever his psychosis was. I

Unbeknownst to us, Delilah is a potions master. Because she signed the charter to be able to live on pack territory, there were certain things she agreed not to do. Mixing potions is one of those practices that can be extremely dangerous, so she just studied theory and worked with Kas on perfecting her baking skills instead.

"Gray magic," Lenora said flatly at the revelation, looking directly at Delilah," Did you know if that potion you gave Kas the other night would hurt her or not?"

Delilah turned her eyes to the table.

"Did you know?" Lenora repeated again with a growl, slamming her hand on the table.

"Take it easy, Sugar," 1 placed my hand on hers. I wasn't sure exactly what she was talking about, but I didn't need things to escalate.

"I-I knew it has never hurt anyone before. I had to take the chance to take her fear away," Delilah turned red as she spoke with a shaky voice. Her eyes started to well up with tears.

"Beta Lenora, please, you don't understand. You didn't walk around in that vision. You didn't see what happened. If I hadn't given her that potion, she would be terrified of Alpha Bronx until the day he killed her. Imagine walking around in fear of your mate. I had to give her a chance at love. A chance to defend herself," Delilah justified her actions.

Lenora was not necessarily happy with that answer but she let it go for the purposes of the conversation.

Delilah went on to explain she could not prevent whatever it was that was going to send Saint off the deep end, without going into dark magic territory, which she was not willing to do, but she could use a potion to help weaken him enough for us to be able to subdue him. Kind of a natural sedative. It would be just enough to give us a chance to capture him, let him see what he did to Kas, then take him to the dungeon until Saint stopped being a psycho. She also said she could make a solution of weak wolfsbane to sedate him but she wouldn't administer it. She refused to cause anyone pain if she could avoid it. Someone else would have to do it. Lenora looked at me, then looked back to Delilah.

"I will give my brother the wolfsbane if it comes to that. Have it ready. So what do we do about Kas? We can't let him kill her," Lenora stated, sounding extremely worried.

"We just have to let him think he has. I-I can give her a potion that will mimic death, but it's also dangerous. It will make it seem as if she had a heart attack. The antidote is derived from Calabar bean and has to be administered within three minutes of her heart stopping or the poison takes over. You won't be able to revive her," Delilah said. Her voice sounded small now as she avoided our gaze. Lady Camille placed her hand over Delilah's, comforting her daughter.

"I think you skipped over what the potion is made out of, Delilah. What the Hell kind of potion are we talking about?" I asked.

"Deadly Nightshade," her voice was almost indiscernible, "The antidote will kick start her heart to make it beat again."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Lenora said, pushing away from the table and standing up, making Delilah cowel.

"Lady Camille, Delilah, will you excuse us for a moment," I bowed and pulled Lenora away from the table. After about half an hour of convincing, she finally reluctantly agreed.

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We hear Kas screaming almost to the minute Delilah and Lady Camille had indicated in our meeting. As soon as we hear the commotion starting inside, we set our plan into action.

Marco, James, Tyree, and Reggie plow the battering ram against the apartment door. Lenora and Delilah stand to the side waiting nervously. As soon as the door crashes in, I rush in front of everyone and charge into the bedroom.

Bronx is there with his hands tightly around his mate's neck, blood coming from where his claws are piercing her skin. Kas hanging limply, eyes wide and glassy, not blinking. My Goddess, no. Just no.

I launch myself at him before he has time to register what is happening. The rest of the guys follow suit and each grab a limb. Even with the first sedative, the five of us are barely able to keep him down. His eye is pure black. I don't know why he hadn't shifted but lam grateful for it. None of us could take on Saint. Even a group of five warriors. Lenora rushes forward and plunges the syringe of wolfsbane into his neck. He howls out in pain, then relaxes enough for us to hold on to him.

Delilah catches Kas before she hits the ground and lays her down gently.

I see the tears in her eyes as Lenora looks at Kas limp in Delilah's arms, " BRONX! What have you done?! What have you done?!" The horror in her voice cannot be faked.

Bronx stops struggling slightly and looks at Lenora, snarling and straining to get out of our grip. His eye looks down at Kas's corpse lying on the ground staring at him.

Suddenly he stops struggling.

"K-Kas?" he whispers. He starts struggling again but now to try to get out of our grip to go help her. Fortunately, the wolfsbane was already taking effect.

A howl louder than I have ever heard from a werewolf in human form bellows from my best friend's chest," NOOQOO0Q000000000000!!"

"Come with us, Bronx. Don't struggle. Please," I beg him, "You can't change it now. We need to take you down to the dungeon. We will contact the Council in the morning."

He doesn't look away from Kas, he just nods and starts muttering under his breath, and lets us stand him up. We lead him out of the room, taking him down a side stairwell to avoid being seen by any pack members. He doesn't struggle or fight back. He just keeps muttering. I look at Reggie who just shrugs. It isn't until we get to the dungeon and lock him into a cell that he starts to freak out again. This time it isn't fueled by anger. It is fueled by grief and the pain of the mate bond breaking. It's a full on tantrum. Complete with tears and punching walls and begging to see his mate one more time.

"Bronx, please, calm down. I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but it's going to be alright. I promise," I say to him from the other side of the silver bars.

He looks at me with the most helpless, miserable look I have ever seen. Definitely not a look I have seen from Bronx before. He doesn't say another word. He just sits down in the center of the cell and puts his face in his hands. His chest heaves as he sobs. I can't believe I am doing this to him but I also can't believe he had it in him to kill his mate.

Tyree puts his hand on my shoulder and cocks his head toward the stairs, "Come on Beta. Nothing we can do now."