A snarl rose in my chest.Briellehad done this to my Firecracker?Shehad nearly drained the life out of her, not an enemy warlock?
Rage was a war drum in my chest where my heart used to be. Brielle reached for Elodie’s cheeks, and I snapped at her fingers, warning her back.
“Brute, no!” Elodie said weakly, but she couldn’t even try to push me away.
“Please trust that this was an accident. I need to push the power back to her now. It’s the only thing I can do. I won’t hurt her.”
You already hurt her!
But the wolf paused, lip lifted in a snarl as he lay his muzzle protectively right over Elodie’s heart.
Brielle slowly touched her cheeks, eyes falling closed as her omega power pouredintoElodie. Color came back to her cheeks as her heart began to beat more solidly.
It wasn’t long, and Elodie was still weak, when Brielle pulled back. “I’m sorry, that’s all the gas I have left in the tank. She’s going to be tired, but she should be okay. I’ll apologize to her in the morning. Can you shift back to take her home?”
Home? My wolf lifted his head, and I realized the field was empty of enemies. I didn’t know when they’d retreated, but the sun was nearly up. Wherever they’d gone, we had a temporary reprieve.
The shift back was slower but no less painful as I took skin once more. Without a word, I scooped my sleeping mate from the ground and carried her away from the battlefield. The only thing that kept me together was the knowledge of our bond, solid in my chest.
I got the impression she was dreaming, valiant dreams of victory over our enemies.
They were very Elodie dreams. It calmed me, and I stayed tuned inward, hanging on to the steady anchor of that bond in my chest when she felt so frail and lifeless in my arms.
My wolf was still furious that one of ourown pack mateshad harmed her.
If I’d guessed one thousand outcomes for the battle, that would never have been one of them.
I carried her straight to our shared room, even though my wolf was chafed that it was in the family wing, right down the hall from the wolf who’d done this to her.
I locked the door behind us and then looked down at my mate, then over to the pristine white sheets. She was covered in half-dried and starting-to-flake gore. Her hair was a sticky brown mass, and she wouldkill meif she woke up in bed like this.
So, I warmed up the shower and carried her in. After a few minutes of warm water, she woke up enough to stand on her own so I could help her wash and strip off the disgusting clothes.
I wrapped her in a towel, sat her down on the closed toilet seat lid, then hastily scrubbed all the muck off myself too.
She was dozing upright by the time I was done, even though I was fast. I pulled a nightgown over her head and tucked her into bed, and she snuggled up against me, her ear to my chest. And within seconds, she slept.
I didn’t.
I stared up at the ceiling, running it all through in my head over and over and over. Wondering what I did wrong, what I should have changed, and how we could move forward, knowing there were more battles to come.
Honestly? I was angry. With Brielle, yes. But also with Elodie. She’d put herself at risk by running off alone, and I’d felt honor bound to carry her friend in to the healers.
But did I fail in my duty to my mate by not being there to protect her?
I was angry at myself too.
Lying awake and simmering in anger wasn’t a recipe for success, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. My phone buzzed on the side table, and I sighed. There was no way I was fit for company, but it might be important. And I hadn’t heard an update on Fiona or Kane.
Day one, and we’d suffered two major injuries in our pack alone, not to mention the greater losses.
It was grim, and grimmer was still coming.
I picked up the phone, surprised to see a text from Savvy, asking if she could come check on Elodie. I texted her back a thumbs-up and carefully extricated myself from my personal sleeping beauty.
Savvy knocked softly not two minutes later, and I let her in.
“How is she?” She moved right past me to kneel next to the bed. She gently brushed back Elodie’s hair.
