Page 90 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
“Bryn? What should we do?” Tavi was watching me, wanting to hear that I had come up with some strategy to get us out.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I’m so sorry…” Tears streamed down my cheeks as the emotions became too much.
“Bryn, don’t cry.” Tavi leaned her head against my shoulder and pressed the back of her hand to mine. It was a poor substitute for her usual, warm hug, but I would never refuse the comfort of my friend, no matter how selfish that made me.
“Come on,” she continued. “We have to come up with a way to escape.”
But I couldn’t stop my tears. I knew I had doomed us both to whatever terrible fate Troy Redwolf had planned for us.
37
NIGHT
Iwas in my wolf form with Dom at my side, vibrating with rage in my mother’s cabin. With the stench of Redwolf and blood permeating our noses, we were itching to hunt him down.
All over the compound, I heard the howling of my wolves. They knew their Alpha was enraged, and they were eager to get to me and find out why. I could hear the sound of their paws scraping through dirt and leaves as they drew closer. Soon, I’d have the resources I needed to make sure I put Troy and every wolf who’d helped him in the ground.
Dom and I rushed out to meet my wolves, but a tiny groan from the entry of the cabin stole all of my momentum. I shifted back to my human form and about-faced, rushing back to the spot where I’d left Mom’s body.
I’d placed her hands over her stomach, but when I arrived, I found she had moved. Her hands were on the ground, her claws partially extended, her nails digging small scratches in the wood.
“Mom?” I dropped to my knees beside her. “Mom!”
She didn’t respond.
With a trembling hand, I touched her throat. At first I felt no pulse, but when I applied a bit more pressure I could feel it beating—only barely.
Relief slammed into me so hard that my own heartbeat stuttered. Beside me, Dom dropped a pair of pants for me. He was still in his wolf form, but must have anticipated my need.
“She’s alive?” Dom asked.
I nodded, pulling on the pants. “She’s got a pulse, but it’s weak.”
“I’ll get the doctor.”
“Wait.” He stopped immediately. “Tell Doc to come to my cabin. It’s not safe here. And let the others know to stand by.”
Dom nodded, but hesitated before he left. “Her wound. It smells sort of strange, doesn’t it?”
It did. In addition to the stench of blood, there was a sickly-sweet, almost licorice smell to it. I thought I knew the cause of it already, but I wasn’t ready to confirm my fears.
“Tell Doc that she was bit by an Alpha,” I said. “And tell him to fucking book it.”
Dom shuddered, his skin rippling under his fur in horror. Within seconds, he was out the door, his wolf kicking up dust and dirt in his wake.
Gingerly, so gingerly, I scooped Mom into my arms and ran to my cabin. I was sticky with her blood—it was smeared over my chest and arms—and my nose was filled with it. My mom was such a strong, incredible woman, it ripped at my soul to see her like this. My wolf whined and howled, torn in two. He wanted tomake sure our mother received the assistance she needed, but at the same time, our mate was gone.
I gritted my teeth. I felt like I was being ripped in half.
At my cabin, I placed Mom in the same room where I’d kept Bryn. It looked the same as the day she’d left to live with Mom. Clean, beige linen and a faded blue quilt lay folded at the foot of the bed. It was sparse, simple, and so very, very unlike Mom’s bright, colorful cabin.
The moment her head hit the pillow, I left her just long enough to throw on a shirt and grab a clean linen sheet. There was a gaping, gory hole at the spot where her shoulder and neck met. Since she was alive, the wound should have started healing, but it hadn’t. The skin around the wound was puckered and covered with thin, black veins. Those veins prevented the muscle and sinew from knitting back together.
I knew the cause of those black lines from the bitter, saccharine stench of it. This was an Alpha wound. Those veins would send Troy’s will for her to die through her body like a virus, one that she would have to fight off even after the wound healed. The wound would scar, and the black veins would remain like a brand.Ifshe healed.Ifshe survived.
I was vibrating with rage as I tore the linen into strips. I pressed the cloth to the wound and applied pressure to slow the blood flow. When I thought about Redwolf, I thought about vengeance and death. I wished I had the monster in front of me now. I longed to taste Troy’s blood on my tongue. I wouldkillhim even if it took my dying breath.
After what felt like hours, Dom and the doctor arrived. I turned as they stepped into the room. Dr. Damon Stan was in hismid-fifties, with short, wheat-blond hair that was graying at his temples. He was small for a wolf, but clearly that hadn’t stopped him from pursuing his hard choice in career.
