Pack,my wolf assured me, so I could keep my focus where it belonged—on our female.
Lucien dropped to his knees next to me, worry etched into his features.
“What happened?” He placed a hand on Olivia’s shoulder, probably funneling his power into her through their mate bond. The tremble in her hands lessened as the green bubble around Elodie’s arm flared brighter. I was infinitely grateful for the added support.
“Two Drakenia assassins,” Galyna said, kneeling at Elodie’s feet with a grim expression. “She killed the first, but not before he struck her with a poisoned dagger. She had the second on the run before the poison took her down.” There was a deep regret in her words, and I held back my anger that she’d seen and known what was happening to Elodie andhadn’t interveneduntil it was almost too late.
Only the fact that Elodie wouldn’t want me to rip her head off kept me from snarling at her.
“You’re sure that’s all?” Lucien asked, shooting a wary glance toward the dim corners of the basement.
“I searched them both and cleared every room down here. We’re secure for now.” Galyna placed a hand on Elodie’s shin as if she could pour her own power into her, but the maiden’s partner bond didn’t run as deep as a mate bond, and all she could offer was moral support.
Lucien nodded, shoulders loosening a bit with the news. “The town is cleared, then. There was a third man, but he took off into the woods after cutting the power. Samuel’s overseeing repairs right now, and I already put in a call for Kane and the others to come from their bunker point. They’ll be here any minute, and Brielle?—”
“I’m here!” the omega healer shouted down the basement stairs, racing at top speed across the basement and skidding on her knees to Elodie’s head. Without another word, she plastereda hand to her forehead and to her chest. Her eyes flooded with white light as she bowed her whole body over Elodie.
A still-water scent filled the air, and the hair on my arms stood on end as power charged the entire space.
In less than a minute, Elodie gasped, jolting in my grip as her eyes flew open. “Assassins!” she whisper-shouted, trying to surge up from the ground even as her muscles failed her.
“Whoa, there,” Fiona chided, shaking her head. “You’ve just been at death’s door. The assassins are dead, and you need to rest.”
Elodie sagged with relief, her gaze finding Galyna. “You finished them off?”
Galyna shook her head slowly. “The first one was already dead. Lover boy took the second’s head off.” She nodded my direction, and Elodie’s wide eyes shifted to my face.
“You lived.”
I snorted. In any other situation, I might have been offended that she thought a single attacker could take me out. But, given the circumstances, I was too damn grateful she was alive to insult me. “I lived.”
“You ripped his head off?”
“With pleasure.”
The slight pinking of her cheeks was a balm to my soul, the steadier way her chest rose and fell. Olivia and Brielle continued pouring magic into her for a while longer, until they deemed they’d done all they could.
But Brielle’s expression was torn when the white light faded from her eyes and the electric magic receded from the room.
“Elodie, when you’re feeling up to it, I need to speak with you privately.” She squeezed Elodie’s hand, the smile she wore forced.
Elodie’s whole body tensed, her eyebrows drawing together as she slowly sat up and turned to face Brielle. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I promise. But… it’s information I think you’d appreciate receiving with less of a crowd.” The healer’s eyes flicked to mine for only a second, but the intent was clear.
Information she wanted to give my mate withoutme.
What the fuck?
Elodie chewed her bottom lip, her usual red lipstick not even smeared after her near-death experience. Guilty eyes flicked to mine. “Could you give us a few minutes? I’d rather know now. I hate waiting.”
There was nothing I could deny her. I nodded stiffly and let go of her hand. I hadn’t even realized I’d shifted to holding it as she no longer needed me to prop her up.
The rest of the males followed me up the stairwell to the main floor of the mansion, already discussing who would have sent two Drakenia assassins after us and how we could track down the untraceable.
But none of that mattered to me in this moment.
My mate was alive, but the experience of almost losing her had carved out the center of my chest with a rusty knife. And that was before we had mate marks or a bond. How the fuck would I deal with the coming war if she agreed to bond with me?
