Page 23 of Freed Wolfsbane

A grim smile crosses my lips at the mage’s comment about me. He’s right. I’ll rip them to shreds before they even get close enough to hurt her.

She gives him a tired smile. “I’ll be fine. Believe it or not, this isn’t the worst injury I’ve had.”

A low growl rumbles up from my throat at the reminder of the other time she would’ve died without mage intervention, and my wolf howls in pain in my mind. Both of us desperately need her to stop getting into these situations. I lean down, my breath feathering over her ear. “Almost get yourself killed again, and I’ll spank your ass so hard you won’t be able to sit for a week. Understand?” I make sure to keep my voice low enough that only Briar hears me.

While I know none of this is really her fault, I can’t control what the Knights and other people do. I can try to keep her safe, but that doesn’t work when she willingly jumps headfirst into danger. All I can really do is make Briar think twice about sacrificing herself so I can protect her.

Her eyes widen, and a faint blush stains her cheeks as she stares at me in shock. I pull back and cock an eyebrow at her, wordlessly demanding her response. “I understand,” she squeaks. I give her a satisfied half smile at her agreement as she gapes at me.

Rhys shakes his head at Briar casually mentioning that she’s experienced worse than getting shot and stabbed but doesn’t say anything. He hovers his hands over her wound. While I can’t see it, I can feel the energy raising the hairs on my arms.

Briar winces but doesn’t make a sound. She smooths out her facial expression after a moment. Pride at how strong my mate is wars with rage that she had to learn to be this strong.

“Where are Xander, Bastian, and Saint?” Briar asks softly, the effort to speak seeming to drain her.

“They’re on the other teams clearing the building. Once all of them finish with their sections, I’ll radio and let them know we found you. I don’t want them getting sloppy and rushing to come to you.” We were apparently the first team to clear our section, so we’re still waiting to hear back from the other three teams.

She dips her chin slightly before bouncing her gaze between mine. Biting her lip, she seems to think about what to say for a long moment. “Are… you… they… mad?” she asks, struggling to get the words out.

My brows jump up in shock when I piece together what she’s trying to ask. “What? No! None of us are mad at you. We’re just so fucking relieved to finally have found you. Why would you think that, baby girl?”

“Because… forced… portal,” she rasps as she fights to stay conscious.

“I’m not mad about it,” I attempt to reassure her. While I was and still am enraged that she sacrificed herself to save us, I’m not mad at her. I just don’t think I can handle her doing something like that again.

Briar gives me a weak smile before her lids flutter shut, and her hand goes limp in mine. My panicked gaze jerks up to Rhys. “What happened?” I demand. “Why did she pass out? Did something go wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Rhys tells me through gritted teeth. Sweat is beading on his forehead as he funnels magic into my mate. “Her body is shutting down to protect itself. That’s actually a good thing. When her body isn’t fighting so hard to stay awake, it can focus more on healing.”

The hand not holding Briar’s clenches hard enough that my nails bite into my palm. I’m trying to keep ahold of my wolf, but it’s hard when Briar looks like she’s barely alive. “Will she wake up when you’re done healing her?”

His mouth twists into a frown. “She should wake up in a day or two.”

“Should?” I growl, not wanting to hear any uncertainty on whether my mate will wake up.

Rhys pins me with an exasperated look. “I don’t know what to tell you, wolf. I’m doing everything I can to ensure she does, but there’s always a chance she won’t wake up at all.”

CHAPTER12

BRIAR

As I fight my way to consciousness, the first thing I notice is how much I hurt. It feels like Ryker took a sledgehammer to every part of my body. The second is how freaking bright the light is. Usually, the lighting is pretty dim in our cells, which is good for sleeping. I wonder what made them decide to crank the light up to eleven.

I wrack my brain to try to remember what happened before I passed out. After struggling to organize my thoughts for a moment, I’m bombarded with flashes of Ryker stabbing me, Anson shooting me, and Malachi swooping in to rescue me.

I snap open my eyes, praying to any god that will listen that the last part was real and not just a dream. When I see white ceiling tiles, white walls, and sterile white furnishings, I feel a sob bubble in my chest. I’m able to keep from crying at the realization that I dreamed up Malachi saving me, but a strangled noise still escapes my throat.

“You’re awake,” a rough voice to my left says.

I hear the scrape of a chair against the tiles and footsteps as I turn my head. My eyes widen when I see Malachi’s navy ones peering down at me from the side of the bed. “You’re here,” I whisper as the tears I was trying to hold back finally spill down my cheeks.

His lips tilt into a half smile as he swipes the tears off with his thumbs. “I am.” His voice is just as quiet as mine, like he’s worried about shattering the moment between us.

Despite the relief and elation flowing through me at seeing Malachi, the walls start to feel like they’re closing in on me. The room is too similar to the experiment rooms at the Knights facility. While I’m used to the physical violence from Patrick’s beatings, the emotional toll of having to perform so kids wouldn’t be hurt has taken its toll on me, I guess. “Where are we?”

“The infirmary.”

I give him a nod before moving to yank out the IV jabbed into my hand. Malachi’s fingers fly out to cover the small wound. He pins me with a glare and places one of his large hands on my chest to hold me down as I try to sit up.

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