CHAPTER 45
FINLEY
She broke the bond.
The anguish of losing our quintet connection was so immediate and debilitating, that Kellan and I slammed into the ground.
We were outside Warrick’s place, where we’d been trying to smash through the windows. Enforcers raced around us, having been sent here by Slade, but they couldn’t see what attacked us. It was all internal.
As the voices of my brothers faded, my bear was alone once more. The weakness in my veins felt like death, and it was more than losing my pack, it was the depletion of essence that I’d shoved at Emmeline right before she severed the bond. None of us had hesitated to share our power with her as she took on the witch, and with the connection gone, I hoped she’d held on to that part of us all.
Emme used to fear that we’d steal her power, and it felt right that we’d gone the opposite way and given her everything of ourselves.
Alone.We were so fucking alone.Everyone leaves.Everyone dies.
Emme.Emme was gone.
Half my soul was missing as I metaphorically bled out on the ground.
Not dead! Our mate. Not dead.Through the bellows my bear spoke, which he did so rarely that it snapped me from a fraction of my despair.
My biceps shook as I pushed myself up to stand, finding Kellanclawing at the ground as he too started to emerge from a state of debilitating shock. We were surrounded by enforcers, all of them protecting us as our bond got shredded.
“Alphas,” Horton snapped, “what happened? Were you attacked by magic?”
I waved him off. “Try and destroy the spell on the house,” I snarled, half-feral. “We are fine.”
With one last worried stare, they obeyed my order and left Kellan and I alone.
My brother scrubbed a hand over his face to wipe his tears. “How did she do that?” he whimpered.
I had my own tears, which I completely ignored. “She must have found the research from Fletcher’s notes. But how she did it is less important than the fact that she’s on her own in there.” Ragged snarls spilled from me, my voice shot to shit. “She’s on her own in there with that fucking witch.”
Kellan sobbed and rubbed his hand over his cheeks once more, fighting for composure. “Jewels was trying to take us all out by killing Emme, wasn’t she? Emme just saved our fucking lives in place of her own.”
I nodded, gritting my teeth against the pain crushing my chest. “Yep, and Jewels is going to be out for blood.”
With a few ragged inhalations, Kellan finally pulled himself together. He stood taller, staring up into the window of the Annandale pack house. “We sent our energy into her, and considering how drained my beast is now, hopefully Emme is packing power. It has to be enough to keep her alive until our brothers get here, right?Right?”
We were existing on hopes and fucking dreams, and all I could do was nod.
Even surrounded by allies and enforcers, none of them could break through this shielding.
We needed Slade and Talon.
As Kellan pounded against the wall, moving up and down the perimeter in the hopes of finding a point of weakness, I called Hunter. But his phone didn’t even ring. Slade’s either.
In my desperation, I tried Casey. “Alpha Finley,” she said, answering on the second ring.
“Have you heard from Hunter?” I asked his assistant.
She hesitated for a beat. “Not for a couple of hours. Have you tried his phone?”
A growl escaped me that was so loud I swore I heard her jump on the other end of the line. “Yes, I did. It isn’t even ringing. Can you track him?”
“Of course,” her reply was instant. “Is there anything else I can help you with in the meantime?”
A derisive rumble of laughter left me. “Not unless you have a means of cutting through a magical shield.”
