Page 79 of Savage Games

The memory floats back, fragmented, but clear enough… Brad's smirk.Searing pain in my back and a knife in my hand, coated with something that smelled so wrong.Toxic.

That bastard tried to kill me.To get my mate.

"How'd you find me?"My words slur together, my tongue too thick for my mouth as I take a tentative step, my legs heavy and awkward.

"Scented you," Jax says tersely, adjusting his grip as we stumble forward through the trees."Or rather, scented the blood.And the poison.Even though he tried to wash it off."

Lucky for me, Jax has a super sniffer.Best tracker around, according to Jamie, and thankfully, he doesn’t hate me as much as he does everyone else.

"Your heartbeat's all wrong," he adds after a moment, concern threading through his voice."Maggie’s concoction is keeping you alive, but only just.I only had time to grab what I could see."

The bandage around my torso pulls with each movement, the ointment beneath it burning like acid against the wound.But it's a different burning than before, cleaner, the skin tightening and knitting back together rather than rotting and dying.It's fighting the poison rather than spreading it.

"What is it?That smell," I ask with a grimace, gesturing vaguely toward my back.

"Old recipe," Jax mutters."Something from the fringes.For wolves with...problems.Like mine.Maggie’s been doing a lot of research, trying to help me."He doesn't elaborate, and I don't have the energy to press, but I’m impressed.I’m still alive, so he’s done something right.

We move in silence for a while, my weak grip on consciousness, all I can focus on.The mate bond is nothing more than a dull throb that seems to match my irregular heartbeat.I focus on it, use it to anchor myself to the present.

Naomi.

I need to get to Naomi.

The trees thin, and the distant murmur of voices reaches us.The competition.It's starting soon, and I can't miss it.Won't miss it.She’s close.

“Okay, we tell Dean what happened, then we go.He can deal with it.”

Definitely not.Brad is mine.

“Naomi won’t compete if she finds out.I just need to wait until the race starts, until she’s in the competition.”

She’s frantic with worry.I can feel her emotions clearer than my own.

"You can't be serious," Jax says when I try to straighten, to take more of my own weight."You can barely stand.What you need is rest, not another challenge."

I appreciate his help, but he won’t talk me out of this.Brad might have taken me out of the competition, but he’s not ruining Naomi’s chances.

"And what's your plan, Wyatt?Collapse and die in front of everyone?Because that's what's going to happen if you try to compete like this."

My vision keeps swimming in and out of focus, and the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other requires all my concentration.But the thought of Brad's smug face if I give up, the certainty that he'd use my absence to target Naomi, is enough to keep me upright.

He’s not running me off again.I’m not a scared teen anymore.

"Help me get there or get out of my way," I say, forcing steel into my voice.“He is not hunting my mate.”

Jax stares at me like I've lost my mind, but something in my expression must convince him, because he sighs heavily before adjusting his grip on me.

"You’re an idiot," he mutters, but he moves again, guiding me toward the clearing.“Don’t mention the stab wound, or they won’t let you stay.”

Good point.

The scent of too many wolves in one place hits me as we break through the treeline, making my stomach roll with nausea.Through bleary vision, I can make out the gathered competitors at the starting line, the imposing forms of the alphas who will hunt them.One silhouette stands out to me, and my wolf snarls weakly at the sight of Brad among them, looking freshly showered and utterly collected.

A hint of Naomi’s scent, enough to have my heart racing, pulls me closer until I catch the bitter tinge of fear, and I blink hard, desperate to get to her and protect her as a mate should.

The fury that surges through me provides a moment of clarity, burning away some of the fog.The silver and wolfsbane have weakened me to the point of near collapse, but they haven't killed me.

Not yet.

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