“You just take a moment and relax. I’ll handle the rest.” Hunter turned and looked at his pack members. “Get your things and shift back. We’re getting out of this place.” He then looked over at Chasen and Jin. “Come with me. I need you to look after Freja for me.”
Erica and Reed, along with the witches who were supposed to join them, were waiting for them outside. They were both holding a few bags and looked immediately relieved to see Hunter as he walked through.
“Thank goodness,” Erica said as she and Reed ran up to them. Erica looked at Freja and grabbed a blanket from her bag. “Here, put this on her. I also have some bandages and stuff in here. Reed has bottled water and some other things. We didn’t know what you would need. As soon as we heard our witches couldn’t get in, we rushed over. Meryl somehow knew about everything. She made it so other witches couldn’t come into the manor. We were so worried. What about Meryl?”
Sam jogged up to his aunt and uncle, having shifted back to his human form. “Thanks for the stuff. Just give them a quick second.” He nodded to Hunter, who smiled at him in appreciation. “Dad is back at the vehicles. He broke a bone in his shoulder, but his wolf is healing him up.”
“We are so sorry, Sam,” Erica said.
“It’s not your fault. And we’re all going to be okay. Don’t worry about it.” Sam looked back at Hunter, knowing Hunter wouldn’t blame them for this. It wasn’t their fault.
Hunter wrapped the blanket around Freja’s shoulders, rested his arms around her, and pressed his forehead against hers. “Do you want Chasen and Jin to go ahead and take you home?” He knew she was going to say no, but he was worried about her. She needed to rest so she could heal faster.
Freja smiled. “I’m not going anywhere without you.” Their eyes met, his gray and hers emerald. He leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose.
Hunter turned and looked at Erica. “We’ll have to talk in more detail later. I need to take my mate home and tend to her. You’ll find the witches’ bodies inside, along with Meryl’s. Also, it was Myra’s advisor who leaked the information about us coming. I’m assuming you guys wish to deal with this? If not, I’ll be happy to.”
“She will be dealt with. Of course, go and take care of yourselves. You look a bit rough, too. We can talk tomorrow.” Reed smiled and Hunter nodded back.
“Yes, tomorrow then.” Hunter wrapped his arm around Freja.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Freja said quietly.
“What am I supposed to do? I’m mated to a stubborn queen who looks like she’s ready to collapse.” Hunter smiled gently at her. “Let’s go home and get cleaned up.”
She nodded, and they walked back to where they had left their vehicles. She saw Sadie standing with Tony, wearing a man’s shirt and joggers. Ander approached them when he saw them coming. “How is everyone?” He looked over Freja and Hunter. They had gotten it worse than everyone else.
“We’re okay. You guys?” Hunter asked, looking over everyone as well. It seemed like everyone else ended up okay. A few scrapes and bruises, but that was nothing with werewolf healing. He still needed to talk to Caden. He couldn’t believe how hard he was trying to get to him.
“Good. Tony is very good. He found his mate.” Ander looked back at his friend. “Who would have thought she’d be locked up in a place like this? I guess the two of them can relate there. They’ve both been held captive before.”
“So that’s why he ran off like that,” Jin said from behind them. She and Chasen had been quietly trailing Hunter and Freja. “Well, that makes more sense now.”
Adam, Winston, Caden, and Sam walked up to Hunter’s side. “I’m glad we all managed to make it out of that trap alive. But I wonder if my nose will ever be the same.” Adam frowned as he tried to smell. His nose was still a bit numb.
“It’ll be better by morning.” Freja smiled and leaned against Hunter for support.
“Alright, let's head home.” Hunter looked at Freja from the corner of his eye and then back at the others. He needed to get her cleaned up and in bed.
Freja stepped back and noticed how Hunter still had a few spots that were dripping with blood. She furrowed her brows. “You aren’t healing.”
“It’s not a big deal. I’ll take care of it at home.” Hunter wasn’t concerned about it right now. He would get Freja taken care of and then dig out the silver shards inside of him.
Freja backed away from him and frowned. “Let me see.” She quickly lifted his shirt to inspect the wounds. There were a couple of deep gashes that were oozing red. She could see a fleck of silver, and she bit her bottom lip. He had to be in so much pain right now. For some reason, silver didn’t bother her. She wasn’t sure why. Hunter was a tribrid, too. Maybe it was the witch part in her? But Hunter had fairy in him. She guessed it must be one of her special abilities. In either case, she knew that it was debilitating to werewolves. And he had it lodged in his skin.
Caden saw them inspecting Hunter and walked up from the car. He looked at the young alpha and clicked his tongue in anger. “We’re getting you taken care of first.”
Hunter looked over at Caden. “Thanks for trying so hard to get to me earlier. How’s your shoulder?”
“I’m fine. I’m in much better condition than you are now. We need to get the silver out.” Caden looked back toward the cars. They had medical bags in there that they could use.
“I’ll be okay. I’ll take care of it after we get back.” It was incredibly painful, but he was worried about Freja. He wanted to see her back home and resting. His needs came second.
Freja looked up at Sam. “Sam, get what we need. We’re getting these out of him before we leave.” She then turned and glared at Hunter. “Don’t you dare try to argue with me. Alpha or not, this is a fight you’re not going to win.”
“I’ll hold you down if I have to, Hunter.” Chasen agreed with Freja and placed his hand on Hunter’s shoulder.
Hunter relaxed his shoulders and shook his head, smiling. He knew it was useless arguing any further. “Fine. But I want you sitting in the car.” Hunter raised his eyebrows as he looked at Freja.
