Page 59 of Sold Bullied Mate

“He looks okay to me, but in order to wrap his wounds, we need him back in his human form.”

A beat passes as Dorian lets out another low whine, writhing in the dirt. “He’s going to shift now.”

“Okay,” I nod, wanting nothing more than to see his face again. But Emin shakes his head.

“It’s—without the Amanzite, it’s going to be—you shouldn’t watch, Kira.”

I’m about to protest, to insist that I stay for it, when a hand lands on my shoulder, and I look up to see Beth gazing down at us resolutely. To our left, smoke is still billowing out of the building, white now. Several men hold massive hoses, spraying out water and dousing what’s left of the flames.

“Beth,” I breathe, standing, and that’s when Ash reaches us, falling to her knees beside her brother, next to me.

“His Amanzite,” she rasps. “Oh, fuck—”

Her hands shake as she slides a bracelet from her wrist, saying, “He can take mine—”

“It’s too late,” Emin says, as Dorian twists, letting out a howl.

“Come with me,” Beth says, taking me by the shoulders and drawing me to my feet. “I know you want to stay, but I can’t imagine he wants you to see him like that.”

I want to protest, but she’s right. Dorian would not want me to see him like that. The moment I get to my feet, I realize the bottoms of my feet are aching, searing with pain. In fact, that pain is present in all parts of my body, from my hands, which are blistering, the my lungs, which feel like I breathed in all the dirt in the valley.

“Here,” Beth says, sitting me on the back of the fire engine and handing me a bottle of water. “Drink it slowly. The paramedics should be here shortly.”

“How did you know?” I ask, wincing when I hear another howl of pain coming from Dorian’s direction. Beth sets a hand on my shoulder, smiling.

“You’re not the only one who has premonitions, you know.”

“Kira!” I turn to see Emin walking toward me, the sleeves of his shirt pushed up to the elbows. His hair is a mess, and his face is streaked with dirt. A deep gash on his right arm is actively bleeding, but he acts like he doesn’t even notice it. “Dorian shifted back, but he said Jerrod was here? Where—”

“He got away.”

I watched as he tucked his tail and ran the moment Dorian let go of him. It was a pathetic, limping sort of run, but he’s surely long gone now, back into Grayhide territory.

“Fuck.” Emin puts a hand over his chin, then raises his eyes to me. “I saw two dead Grayhides near the building. How did you…?”

“Long story,” I rasp, laughing a bit and taking another sip of water.

“Kira,” Emin says, and when I meet his eyes, there’s no mirth in them. He swallows, looks to the ground. “Dorian said—Mom—”

I open my mouth to respond, but the thought of it makes my throat swell with tears, and I close my mouth again, nodding instead. He curses and turns away, running his hands over his face, kicking at the dirt.

“Fuck.”

“Emin,” I say quietly, and he turns back to me. My brother. The brother who tormented me as a kid, and is now looking over my wounds like he’ll fight the fire that caused them.

The only other person on this Earth who understands what it’s like to be betrayed by our mother like this. “Tomorrow, I can tell you more about what happened. But right now … I think I know where you can find the stolen Amanzite.”

Chapter 37 - Dorian

The first thing that comes back to me is the pain. Throbbing in my left leg, just at the Achilles heel. Of course, one of the most difficult injuries to heal from. At least, as the alpha leader, I have the privilege of healing faster.

The second thing that comes to me is the sweet, swirling scent of cinnamon, warm and cozy like a bakery in the middle of a snowstorm.

“Dorian.” It’s a whisper, Kira’s voice, and I recognize her straight away. The soft tenure, the gentle brush of a hand across my cheek.

I realize her voice has been playing in my dreams, replaying what she said to me out in the dirt, when the transformation was starting to ease over my body, and there was no Amanzite to soften the blow.

“I’m sorry. I love you, Dorian. I want you to be in my life. This was—I should have trusted you.”

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