Page 31 of Freed Wolfsbane

Holding his hands up in surrender, Saint tries to look as nonthreatening as all six foot three of him can. “I understand, man. I was just surprised since I thought she didn’t have magic. I’d never tell anyone about it, even if you weren’t threatening me.”

“Yeah, well, she can’t exactly go around telling everyone she has magic, so this was the best solution we could come up with. Anyway, enough about her. How are you feeling, Briar?” His eyes soften as he looks me up and down. While his forehead is wrinkled in worry, he seems reassured that I’m up and standing.

I shrug. “I’m okay. Better than I was earlier.” As far as I know, I’m not bleeding, so that’s a win. The pain is also only a dull ache instead of a fiery stabbing.

Rhys gives me a half smile. “So, you’re healing up?”

“Yep. It seems that way at least.” I lift my shirt up slightly to show him the top of the ragged slash on my stomach. Possessive growls sound behind me when I raise my sweater. I roll my eyes. “Oh, calm down. I’m just showing him the wound.”

Malachi’s smoky scent curls around me as he steps up behind me. He wraps one of his large hands around my throat and tugs me until I’m flush against him. His breath feathers over my ear as he leans down. “I don’t like to share outside our group, baby girl. Put down your shirt before I have to kill the mage for looking at what’s ours.” I squeak and drop my sweater. He chuckles, the sound filled with dark satisfaction. “Good girl.”

My cheeks flame as Malachi casually steps back, like he didn’t just threaten to murder someone for seeing a sliver of my torso. I try, without much success, to tame the warmth that’s pooling in my core at feeling Malachi’s hard body against mine and his hand around my neck.

Rhys blows out a relieved breath and, thankfully, ignores what just happened with my bossy wolf mate. “Good. I was fucking worried when your magic shoved mine out. Before I realized what exactly was happening, I had Finn and Cian try to heal you, too. He doesn’t know you have mage magic in addition to your wolf, though.”

“What do you mean my magic shoved you out?” My nose scrunches in confusion because I don’t think that’s typically how magic works. Any mage can perform healing magic on someone else without consent.

Rhys shrugs. “I don’t really know how to explain it. Once I healed you to a certain point, your magic formed some sort of shield around you that prevented any of my power from reaching your injury. I portaled you to the pack doctor once I realized what was happening, but it wasn’t looking good. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

“You did what you could, and it all worked out,” I try to reassure him, feeling bad how down he seems. It’s not his fault that my magic is super weird. But I’m still confused about how he even knows. “How did you know I had mage magic and it wasn’t just my wolf? And why do you care so much? I’m just someone who used to go to school with your sister.”

Scrubbing a hand over his face, Rhys seems to debate what to say. After a long moment, his shoulders slump. “It’s one of my… odd abilities. I can tell what species people are through touch, so I knew you were both a mage and a wolf almost immediately. I have a soft spot for people with unique magic, I guess.”

I freeze at that information. “Is your ability common?” The last thing I need is a bunch of mages being able to tell exactly what I am. I’m extremely lucky that they didn’t have one of those mages at the Knights’ facility. There’s no way I’d have been able to pass off my mage magic as shifter magic.

“No, it’s not common at all. I don’t know anyone else with the ability.” Rhys lets out a bitter laugh. “My family’s fuckin’ weird, if you can’t tell.”

A genuine laugh bubbles up. “Mine is too, so you’re in good company.”

A small grin tugs up the corners of Rhys’s lips before he sobers. “If you’re all good, do you want to get back to the briefing? We have some questions you could probably help with.”

I’m already feeling a little weak and drained from all this standing, but I’m not ready to go back to lying down. For the past couple weeks, I’ve been confined to a cell, containment circle, or lunchroom. I missed the freedom to wander around, and I’m not ready to give that up just yet. “Yep. I’ll do my best to answer, but I’m not really sure how much I can help. I didn’t see much of the facility because I was either blindfolded or unconscious whenever they brought me places.”

Rhys tilts his head in confusion. “Why were you unconscious?”

“Oh, uh, because Ryker’s a sadistic bastard and liked beating me until I passed out.” I rush to get the words out quickly, hoping my mates miss most of what I say. I know they hate hearing about me hurt, but I spoke without thinking when I mentioned that I don’t know the layout.

“Fucking hell,” Bastian hisses behind me.

When an arm reaches around my chest to pull me against someone, I expect it to be Malachi. Instead, I’m drowning in the ocean pines scent of Xander. “We won’t ever let them touch you again, sweetheart,” he vows.

I give him a small nod because I know that’s not a promise he can keep, as much as we both wish he could. Ryker’s on the loose, and I still hold the key to unraveling the whole curse.

Supposedly.

Or so some vague prophecy and a millennia-old queen tell me.

I still don’t quite believe that I’m the one destined to fix this colossal problem that’s about to get even bigger if we don’t stop Ryker. But I don’t really have a choice. I have to at least try, and whatever happens, happens.

As long as I can undo their spell, the Knights are never going to leave me alone. They’re going to keep coming after me until I’m dead or the curse is completely destroyed. There’s every chance I could end up back at a similar facility in the future, despite how much we all want to stop that from happening.

Shaking my head because there’s no use worrying about what could happen, I reluctantly pull out of Xander’s arms and start walking toward the door. Before I get very far, Saint snags my hand in his and intertwines our fingers. I look at him in surprise. He just shrugs and gives me a smile as we exit the room.

Rhys quickens his pace to be at the front of our group. We’re all lost in our thoughts as we trek back to the dining room. Pushing open one of the doors, Rhys leads us around the large dining table that’s already mostly filled with an assortment of shifters and mages. When we reach the head of the table, he gestures for us to sit down in the four open chairs.

My mates have a silent conversation with each other before Malachi takes the seat on the end that’s only bordered by a chair on one side. Once he’s seated, he grabs me by my hips and plops me down on his lap.

I let out an embarrassing squeak of surprise at the unexpected manhandling. Turning, I level Malachi with an unimpressed glare.

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