Page 8 of Crave

I nodded. I wouldn’t let them go out like this.

Dominic turned to us after he hung up, his eyes more wolf than man now. “I have to find Courtland.” There would be no talking him out of doing that.

“Merrick will stay and keep them stable until help arrives. I’ll go with you and call in reinforcements,” Murphy stated. It wasn’t a request, but I nodded my agreement anyway. I was already moving around, pulling out the things I’d need to give them blood transfusions and stem the bleeding the best I could until someone could fix what was broken.

“No, no Legion Force. The kid from the Sanctum said it was a guy in a Legion Force uniform who shot Bonnie. I don’t know who to trust.”

I froze. It was the Legion who was doing this? The organization I’d devoted my life to? Murphy was agreeing, already on the phone as they walked out the door. I had to trust that Murphy and Dominic had it handled, even if I feared for the man who was my mate. He may be my partner, but he was also one hell of a soldier. My job was to keep two people—these two amazing Manix—alive until help arrived.

Because the Alpha General might never forgive me if I let them die. I would never forgive myself either.

I packed gauze into Radic’s wound, hooking him up for a blood transfusion. My field medicine skills were rough, but I hoped they’d be enough. For what felt like a lifetime I ran between the two injured Manix, praying to the Goddess the whole time, even though I’d never been particularly devout.

When two vampires burst through the door of the doctor’s office—one dressed in a Hawaiian shirt covered in cats with party hats, and the other one huge, tattooed, and scarred—I’d never been more relieved in my life.

“I heard there was a blood buffet?” the scarred one said in a gravelly British accent. I froze, my eyes twitching toward my gun.

The other vampire might look less scary, but his power made my Beast prickle beneath my skin. He elbowed the big one. “He’s kidding. He’s actually a very good surgeon, though he hasn’t managed to find his decorum. I’m Nico. This is X. You’d better show us the patients, because the scent of death in here is getting stronger. I fear we don’t have any time to lose.”

“Bonnie has a collapsed lung, and Radic has lost far too much blood,” I told them as dispassionately as I could so I didn’t Beast out at vampires being so close to my injured friends.

With that, all mirth left the big, scarred one, and he became all business. “Get a line in that one,” he pointed to Radic. “We’re going to need a few more infusions and a hell of a lot more blood, so he’s the walking, talking Red Cross for now.”

He rolled up his sleeves and got to work, Nico expertly putting a needle in my vein and draining me of all the blood I could afford to lose.

As they worked, I sent a thanks to the Moon Goddess that these psychos existed.

5

SUSANNAH

Iwoke up to Quinn wrapped around my body, and my brother hovering over my bed next to an unknown vampire. My body went rigid, and I scooted up toward the headboard, my eyes flicking between Mikhail and the vampire.

“What thefuck, Micky?” I screeched. Quinn rocketed up in bed, his body curling toward mine protectively.

The vampire just looked bored. “Where is your Alpha?”

I shook my head, because what the fuck was going on right now?

My brother lifted his chin, casting a cool look at the vampire. “Sorry to intrude. This is Wilfred; he’s a part of the Convocation Member Raine’s personal guard. We’re looking for Wilkie. Do you know where he is?”

Quinn peeled himself off me slowly. Mikhail was my second oldest brother, and a Legion soldier through and through. But he’d loved and protected me when my father had succumbed to grief at the loss of our mother, and he’d more or less stayed in that role for years afterwards.

Quinn cleared his throat. “We haven’t seen him in a week. Errol said he’s been returning home late, but he hasn’t seen him in a couple of days either. We’ve been holed up somewhere else since the frenzy.” He didn’t drop Merrick and Murphy in the shit with my protective older brother, who barely tolerated Wilkie, but would have definitely had something to say about me spending my heat with two unmated Alphas. “Why are you looking for him? And what is with the bloo—er, Wilfred?”

Micky’s face went hard. “Get dressed and pack a bag. There’s been a coup, and your Pack Beta, Green, just murdered Doc. The Alpha General is injured, as are his Beta and Omegas. I’m taking you back to Father’s home until we get this shit sorted out. I am not leaving you here with thisPack.Do not argue with me, Susannah.”

Micky’s voice was hard, like he expected me to put up a fight. And I had, earlier in my relationship with Wilkie’s Pack. Because Micky had wanted to murder Wilkie when he’d seen the obvious signs of violence on my skin, but Quinn’s parents had beaten the shit out of him when he’d asked to come home, told him he couldn’t leave his Pack and he wouldn’t be welcome. Wilkie had made threats. So while my family would have welcomed me home, it would have meant leaving Quinn alone. So I’d fought against his good intentions and stayed.

No longer. Things had changed, and I wasn’t a stupid kid anymore. Quinn had options now that there was new leadership. We weren’t trapped, so we’d take the out that was being handed to us.

“We’ll come.” I couldn’t keep the relief from my voice. “Quinn comes too.”

Micky shook his head, a fond curl tilting his lips. “As if I’d have it any other way.”

Quinn was shaking his head, like he couldn’t believe Micky’s words. “Doc is dead? Bonnie’s hurt?”

Pain constricted my chest. Doc was a stalwart in this town. The last of the old-world Manix who treated each of us with rough respect, not as servants. He’d healed all my wounds, even delivered me into the world. Maxton wouldn’t be the same without him.

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