“Do you have the drugs?” the same voice asked.
“Yes,” another voice, deep and curt, said. “Fucking finish the job and shove her in the driver’s seat.” My eyes were too heavy to keep open.
Ambulance sirens sounded in the distance.
“Fuck,” voice one snarled. I struggled to blink and groaned, moving my fingers. The outline of the first figure came toward me with strides so hurried that I didn’t have a chance to move.
Then pain . . . followed by nothing.
1
FOUR YEARS LATER
Icradled her in my arms, water sluicing down my body. My mate was too still in my arms.
“Josephine,” I whispered, slightly jostling her like it would animate her.
I staggered up the embankment and gently lowered her onto a patch of grass. She hadn’t moved or twitched. She’d been face down and motionless in the water. How long had she lacked breath?
With my lips against her, I puffed air into her mouth. I lifted and started chest compressions.
“Breathe,” I snarled, making sure to keep the rhythm. Once I finished the round, I dropped my mouth to hers again.
Please. Please wake up, Princess.
My hands were growing numb, and it was only spreading. I lifted to apply pressure on her chest again.
“Josephine,” I choked out. I would do and give anything,anythingfor her to?—
She hacked, water bubbling to the surface of her lips. I rushed to move her onto her side, so she didn’t suffocate.Thank fucking Moon. She inhaled harshly, the sound pained.
My heart squeezed with relief. She was breathing, which was the first step. She went still, no longer spitting up water. Her eyes hadn’t opened, and shedidn’t move.
I pressed my ear to her chest to listen to her heart; sluggish but present. I had to get her to the clinic. Quickly, I collected her into my arms.
“You’re going to be okay,” I vowed, striding through the compact trees bordering the river.
A branch snapped, and I whirled, snarling. Bruno and Duane slowed and bared their necks. That bitch wasn’t with them.
“She got away, Alpha,” Duane rumbled.
Josephine whined, hand flexing in my shirt.
“Start the truck,” I barked. Bruno took off at a sprint. “Do whatever you must to drag that cunt back here.”
I left Duane without waiting for his response. My attention narrowed in on getting to the truck. I broke through the trees. Our house stretched in the distance, the orange hue of the falling sun casting shadows across the ground.
One of my trucks roared across the gravel, leaving the side of the house where my other vehicles were parked. Bruno sped over the gravel until he reached me. I yanked open the passenger door and pulled myself in while balancing Josephine with one arm.
He peeled away, kicking up dirt and pebbles with the tires, heading toward the Pack Clinic. Josephine’s breathing hitched, and she whimpered. With my arm under her shoulders, I lifted her higher. Once I let go of her legs, I tucked her hair behind her ear, feeling her cheek. She was much too clammy.
The pressure in the bridge of my nose had only built. I hated seeing her unconscious and ill. My little mate deserved peace. I swiped my thumb across her eyebrow.
Bruno cleared his throat and then said, “I found Sorin with his throat slit.”
That was why he hadn’t contacted me to inform me that there was an attack on my mate. I gritted my teeth. I’d left foronefucking moment. All that said was the bitch had lain in wait, watching my fucking moves. I brushed my thumb across Josephine’s cheek. If Cierra was this organized, she’d likely planned to flee as far as she could.
Bruno careened onto the gravel drive that led to the pavement in front of the clinic. He navigated to the front, screeching to a stop. I roughly shoved open the car and carried Josephine inside.
