Page 75 of Freed Wolfsbane

I try to struggle to get free, but I suddenly can’t move any of my muscles.

Before I can freak out, Dido tells me,“I’ll handle this, child.”

With Dido in control of my body, I twist back to face the man. My hand darts out to land a quick strike to his throat, which has him gasping in pain and loosening his hold. Dido reaches up to grab his wrist of the hand grasping my hair and twists it to the side. At the audible snap, the Knight howls in pain and clutches his hand to himself, releasing my hair.

Now that I’m free, Dido launches a hard kick at the guy’s exposed ribs, and I can feel them give underneath my foot. The Knight clutches his side and doubles over, giving her the opportunity to grab his head and knee him in the face. Blood sprays all over my pants as his nose is crunched from the hit.

When he drops to his knees in pain, Dido places her palms on either side of his head and spins it around fast, his spinal cord snapping with the movement. The Knight collapses, his muddy brown eyes frozen in wide-open surprise.

Marching back to my mates, Dido keeps all the other Knights who try to get too close away with well-placed kicks and punches. Within a minute, I’m back with my guys, and they surround me.

Once I’m safe, Bastian barks and gives me a doggy grin, seeming pleased with my performance. I mean, I am too because I don’t know an ounce of hand-to-hand combat. Having Dido hitching a ride in my body sure is handy.

Thanks, Dido.

She smiles at me and looks extremely satisfied with herself.“Anytime. I do always enjoy killing Knights. I’m more than happy to take out more if you would like.”

I huff a laugh at how eager she sounds.I think I’m okay for now, but thanks. I’ll let you know if I need any more help.

Now that I’m back with them, my mates attack the Knights with renewed vigor and determination to get us to the castle. Who knows what’s waiting for us beyond the iron gate. Whatever it is has to be better than the utter mayhem happening out here, though.

We successfully push our way to the large metal doors at the entrance to the castle. The mages and shifters who came with us keep most of the Knights from getting too close as we try to figure out how the thing opens.

Malachi pushes and pulls at the gate to no avail. Saint flings a few spells that don’t seem to do anything. Bastian and Xander both ram into it, but the iron refuses to budge.

My frustration is building when Dido says,“Feed it your magic. The castle is keyed to our family’s signature.”

I resist the urge to smack my forehead because I should’ve tried that first. This is Dido’s castle, after all. I’m sure there are tons of places that are accessible only with my power.

Shaking my head at myself, I let my magic trail out of me. When it hits the metal doors, it lights up all the intricate scroll work with an ice-blue glow. My power seems to seep into the iron, and the shine fades. When nothing happens after a long moment, I deflate, thinking my magic is defective.

Then an earsplitting screeching sound comes from the doors as they ever so slowly swing outward. We have to move back to avoid getting smooshed as the metal that needs a good oiling opens fully.

I grin at Saint and Malachi, who return my proud smile with ones of their own. Then I turn back to the battlefield, hoping to usher in the mages and shifters fighting behind us. Unfortunately, there are even more Knights clashing with them. I don’t think most of them will be able to get to us before the Knights break through again.

I guess this means we have to do this part on our own. It would’ve been nice to have backup, but it’s not necessary. I’m about to spin back around when I see Vale stumble forward and let out a pained breath. Dark red blooms on the center of his black tee shirt as he drops to his knees on the ground. He must’ve taken off his vest at some point because the bullet went right through him.

“Uncle Vale!” I scream as I start to run over to him. A Knight behind him raises his rifle to take another shot as I lunge forward.

Strong arms grab me around my waist and haul me back against a hard chest. I thrash around and desperately try to get out of the hold, but it’s no use as I’m dragged backward. “You can’t go to him, baby girl,” Malachi rasps in my ear, his voice pained as he helplessly watches what’s happening to his dad. “You’ll never make it in time. And we’ll lose the chance to get into the castle if you jump back into the fight.”

Malachi easily carries me past the iron gates, despite me struggling to free myself. As soon as we’re over the threshold, they start slowly closing.

“I have to help him!” I shout, my voice breaking on the last word as I watch the Knight fire twice more at Vale. His body jerks forward from each impact, and blood starts dripping out of his mouth.

At my scream, Vale looks up at me, his navy eyes hazy with pain. “I love you, boys. I love you, Bee,” he mouths to me. The last thing I see before the gates close completely is Vale’s eyes falling shut and him collapsing to the ground.

CHAPTER36

BRIAR

“No,” I whisper hoarsely as Malachi lets go of me. My legs give out, and I land on my knees on the marble floor. Tears slip down my cheeks as I’m frozen in shock and grief.

Vale was like a dad to me, and now he’s dead when all he was trying to do was protect me. All while I stood by doing nothing. My heart feels like it was ripped out, stomped on, torn apart, and shoved back in my body a bloody, dysfunctional mess.

I’m not the only one hurting. I hear a mournful howl sound behind me, soon joined by another one. Xander and Bastian’s sorrowful song echoes in the empty fortress entrance. At their wolf cries, I swipe my hands over my cheeks and shove to my feet. While Vale was like a father to me, he was their dad.

I turn around to comfort my wolves, and I stop in my tracks when I see tears trailing down Malachi’s cheeks. I’ve never seen my strong and stoic mate cry, and it seems so wrong to witness him like this. His nighttime ocean eyes are swimming with an aching grief that I hoped none of my Wyldhart mates would ever have to experience.

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