137
KNIGHT
Aspen and Heartley were severely injured. They lost a lot of blood and scared the fuck out of me if they would not make it. The West and North twins were healing, but one of our eldest pack members had just died.
“Alpha, I got a lot of scents over here,” Tucker reported from the east.
“Don’t go far and strike alone if you find the attackers. Wait for us,” I said through the pack link.
“Copy that.”
“Tucker just found some scents in the east.”
“Alpha!” Azrel came running. “Miss Zarah said the girls will make it through.”
“Thanks.” I looked at his arm. He was bleeding. “Go get that check-up before your arm falls off.”
“I’m good, Alpha.”
“Don’t be a pain. You’ve done your part. Watch the infirmary closely. Report back if there’s any development.”
“I will, Alpha.” Azrel ran back towards the pack house.
I pulled off my tie and slipped it in my pocket as we headed towards the woods. “Uncle, you don’t have to come with us. I swear to you I will bring McKaye back.”
“I’m coming, son. He’s my son, and I can’t lose him.”
“You won’t. I will do everything to get him back, even if I have to switch places with him. Just stay here and check for what they need.”
“Okay.” He respected my rank, even if it was hard for him.
I took my jacket off and gave it to him. “We have to go.”Content is property of NôvelDrama.Org.
“Be careful. We can’t lose you, too.”
I nodded as I followed Kaleb, Maddox, and Luka. Califf and his guys joined us, searching for McKaye.
“I haven’t seen those sons of bitches before. Why in the hell the shield didn’t work? How did they get in?”
“Good question. Maybe they have a witch in their pack, too.” Luka took off his shirt. “I’m shifting. I can scout faster in my wolf.”
“Be careful. I have enough- What the fuck.” I hated to stop. Luka paused, and all eyes were on McKaye laughing his ass off, but that was not what shocked us to the core.
“I thought she’s locked up,” Califf said silently.
“I left her still inside the confinement,” Zack said.
“What do you mean she’s locked up?” Kailin was gripping my shirt.
“Nirvana?” I called her name.
Her head snapped in our direction. The moment our gazes locked, I felt our connection got stronger- it had awakened wild desires, but there was something else-something more- rage and fury- so much rage pulsing through her, flashing in her eyes, almost glowing.
Growling, she raced in our direction. A sudden ear-splitting cry tore off from her, pouring out into her fist, and a torrent of rage exploded on my jaw. I heard a snap. An excruciating pain shot right into my face later.
With her strength and power, I landed on my ass a few yards away, and I had a feeling it wasn’t her full strength, knowing I was still alive.
A low growl rose from my throat as I tried getting up, spitting out the blood from my mouth.
“You, son of a bitch!” Nirvana wasn’t nearly done. She wanted to kill me, and it came directly from her. She started throwing punches at me, and I tried to block her.
Frustrated at not getting hit, the power inside her erupted, and she just threw her fist in the air. I flew away, rolling on the ground, dust flying, debris shuttering my skin.
The sickening sound of my ribs breaking echoed as I tried to roll over. My mouth was bleeding, blood trickling on the ground. No matter how painful I felt, I couldn’t hurt her more than I already did.
I deserved all of these because I loved her, and I couldn’t watch her getting herself killed. Call me selfish, but my duty as her husband and mate was to protect her even if I had to pay it with my life.
“What the hell is going on?” Kailin screamed out in frustration as no one came in between to stop us.
“I told you I will kill you, asshole!” She dashed towards me at her unnatural speed. Her knees were on my broken ribs as she punched me in the face.
I saw stars behind my lids. My eyes busted, the sun blurring my sight, and my nose broke from her fist.
“Enough!” When Zarah yelled, her fist hung in the air, just a thread on my other eye.
“Do it. I betrayed you. I deserved it.” I watched her eyes filled with anger and so much pain.
She raised her fist again, but Zarah called her name, “You made your point! If you kill him, you also kill yourself. I know he betrayed your trust, but he did what he thought was good for you. That’s what a mate should do, protecting his other half.”
“If it’s what it takes for you to forgive me, just do what you must. Take the life you saved, Nirvana.”
“Fuck you!” She grabbed me by my hair and looked down at me with so much hate. “I hate you! And if killing you is showing you mercy, then you don’t deserve it!” She banged my head on the ground before she got up and ran away.
“How did she escape?” Zack asked.
I closed my eyes when I felt like I was going to pass out.
“Take him to the infirmary. Let him heal there,” Zarah ordered them.
“I don’t know what’s going on between you and Luna, but she must be so hurt to do this to you, Alpha,” McKaye said. “I know how much she loves you, but she must feel so betrayed by the person she trusted the most.”
“You, too, McKaye. Clean your wound so you can heal fast.”
“For once, listen to one of us, brother,” Kailin said gleefully. “I thought I lost you.”
I felt being lifted.
“If not for Vana, I might be tortured and skin alive like a blood eagle execution, and I know why they attacked us.”
“Why?” I opened my eyes to look at McKaye.
“Get yourself checked up, Alpha, then we can talk.”
“I’m fine. Stop. Put me down.”
“Don’t be so stubborn. We’ll talk once your pack doctor clears you,” Zarah said.
They still brought me to the infirmary and cleaned up my face. When Duncan checked my chest, he shook his head. “You’re badly roughed up, Alpha.” And he hadn’t seen the rest.
“How are they?” I looked at Aspen and Heartley in their beds.
“Healing well. I gave them blood transfusions. They’ll be fine in two days, but those scars are pretty nasty.”
“Thank you. I’m so sorry this happened to Heartley.” I looked at his daughter one more time.
“Heartley will be fine. And don’t thank me. I wish I could be out there helping.”
“You are needed here, doc. It’s more than enough than risking your lives out there, and that’s our job.”
“Just take a rest first.” He put the stethoscope on my chest. “How did this happen? I thought you were in the council when the attack happened.”
“Luna happened,” said Luka in dismay.
“Luna? Why?” Duncan looked taken aback.
“Long story.”
“Oh, Goddess.” Duncan opened the buttons of my shirt and looked at my exposed chest in horror. “No wonder she got you pretty bad.”
“Check his brain, too. I think he got grade three concussions,” Califf chuckled.
I raised my middle finger at him. “Asshole, you let her escape.”
“He didn’t. Nirvana is smart. She found a way to escape in the bathroom. I kept that part open so in case there’s an emergency, she can’t be trapped, and if she did not escape, you might lose McKaye today.”
“Thanks.”
“Stop fighting already, Knight. She’s maybe your wife and mate, but she’s an adult living independently since she turned eighteen. That’s who she is. You can’t control her. If she decides to fight against Cyrius, all you can do is be her anchor, and she’s not going there alone. You have us, and maybe things will change by then, and she’ll survive.”
“Zarah is right,” Califf agreed. “You can’t leave your territory unprotected. You may have enforcers here, but they need an alpha to command them. They are stronger when you are with them, leading. And you have to consider Nirvana’s feelings. I’m sure this is not easy for her, knowing she can get killed. So be there for her, and don’t make her feel alone and abandoned in this battle.”
“We still have a problem.” McKaye caught our attention as he showed us the printed picture of Nirvana.