She squinted at me, and there was no bond for her to read, but she somehow knew what I really sought. “You want to check on the witch, don’t you?”
“Confirmation would be good for my beast,” I admitted. “But I suspect the enforcers are inside now too, so they’ll be upstairs.”
Emme nuzzled against my throat, and then Finley’s. “You both smell amazing,” she whispered. “Like home and mates.” When she choked out more sobs, I rocked her back and forth in my arms. “I’m so fucking sorry I had to break the bond, but she would have murdered us all. I couldn’t risk you dying.”
She reached up as if to rub her bites, but her skin was smooth and unblemished.
Breaking the bond had stripped it all away. Her face crumbled as she felt the unmarked skin.
I cupped her pretty face and drew her closer, my lips pressing against hers. Her sweet taste filled my mouth, and my wolf eased up on his relentless howling. “We will fix it,” I assured her. “Whatever it takes.”
Finley kissed her too, and Emme melted into his bear hug, letting herself collapse momentarily. “I was worried that your bear would think I’d abandoned him again,” she whispered.
Finley’s hold tightened as if he would never let her go. “We understood why you made the choice. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still pissed you sacrificed yourself for us, but since we would do the samefor you, I won’t hold any anger. You’re so precious to us, Emmeline. We honestly couldn’t live without you, so even if she did kill you and we then killed her, we’d all follow you. I meant that when I said it.”
Emme shook her head, her breaths rattling harder. “The thought of you dying is enough to send me into the sort of spiraling panic attack that not even Dr. Karen could get me out of.”
Finley bopped her on the nose. “Same, Ice.”
A reluctant smile crossed her face, then she straightened her spine, showing the grit and emotional strength that had gotten her through many hard years. “Okay, let’s check on the witch and enforcers. Oh, and I forgot to mention Cora and Warrick too. They got hurt in the fight, but were stable when I stumbled down here. We should call some healers for them since they did try and save me—after they led me into the witch’s trap of course.”
With that revelation, I debated whether we should burn their fucking house down with them in it.
Finley and I both growled, the menacing sounds filling the street. Emme’s smile was more like a beam as she patted our chests. “We can rage about them later, when I’ve told you the whole story. For now, let’s check on Jewels. You’ve got me paranoid, even though I held her dead heart in my hands.”
“Explains the blood,” I said with a low chuckle. “Our violent little mate. I kinda like this side of you.” I kindalovedall fucking sides of her.
Emme tried to hide her smile. Tried and failed. “At least checking on her will kill some time until the rest of our pack returns.”
Finley froze, and I forced myself to breathe normally. There was no point in breaking her heart until we got an update from Casey. For now, there was still hope they’d all survived.
Emme didn’t notice our weird reaction as she was heading back inside. “Okay, come and rescue me, big guys,” she called over her shoulder.
As soon as she was out of sight, my wolf howled loud enough that it spilled from my lips. Finley and I crashed into the house, to find Emme waiting near the stairs. I could hear footsteps on the second floor, and I loved that she hadn’t gone up there with strange alphas.
“My heroes,” she called, beaming at us.
My arms went around her, and I hauled her up against me,needing to feel every inch. She wrapped her arms around my neck and legs around my waist. “Upstairs, mate,” she ordered, and my chest caved in at her using that word, despite our broken bond. Fuck, who cared? We would always be mates, even if we could never bond again.
Emme directed me upstairs, and I followed voices to find a dozen or more enforcers in a room on the second floor. They were standing around what looked like an actual massacre.
“Baby,” Finley breathed, his eyes wide as he took in the carnage. “You tore her fucking heart out.”
I set Emme on her feet, keeping one arm around her as every alpha in the room snapped to attention. “You did that, Emme?” Horton asked, smiling far too friendly-like.
“About to be a second massacre if you don’t stop that,” I warned him. I might not be Slade, but he heeded my anger and shut that shit down.
Emme snorted. “So dramatic.”
“We have called in healers and the council,” another enforcer said, standing very straight and rigid as if we were still under attack. “You all should wait outside for them.”
Not wanting Emme to have to stare at death any longer, I took their advice and left the room, keeping one arm around my mate, while my brother stayed behind us.
“How did you take her down?” I asked, when we were back outside, inhaling the fresh, brisk air.
“You shared your energy with me,” she said simply, her breaths slow and steady. “I was filled with all of our essences, so, in a way, we all tore her heart out. Between my magic, beast, and the quintet essence, she was no match for us. Jewels thought she was facing a weak omega abomination, but I was more than she ever expected.”
I dragged her against my side, which dragged Finley too, since he was wrapped around her. “You’ve always been the strongest of us all. What happened when you first left the arena? We were on our way home when Kassidy called us and said we needed to get over here as Jewels was holding you hostage.”
