Chapter 1
FOUR YEARS LATER
I cradled her in my arms, water sluicing down my body. My mate was too still in my arms.
“Josephine,” I whispered, slightly jostling her like it would animate her.
I staggered up the embankment and gently lowered her onto a patch of grass. She hadn’t moved or twitched. She’d been face down and motionless in the water. How long had she lacked breath?
With my lips against her, I puffed air into her mouth. I lifted and started chest compressions.
“Breathe,” I snarled, making sure to keep the rhythm. Once I finished the round, I dropped my mouth to hers again.
Please. Please wake up, Princess .
My hands were growing numb, and it was only spreading. I lifted to apply pressure on her chest again.
“Josephine,” I choked out. I would do and give anything, anything for her to?—
She hacked, water bubbling to the surface of her lips. I rushed to move her onto her side, so she didn’t suffocate. Thank fucking Moon . She inhaled harshly, the sound pained.
My heart squeezed with relief. She was breathing, which was the first step. She went still, no longer spitting up water. Her eyes hadn’t opened, and she didn’t move .
I pressed my ear to her chest to listen to her heart; sluggish but present. I had to get her to the clinic. Quickly, I collected her into my arms.
“You’re going to be okay,” I vowed, striding through the compact trees bordering the river.
A branch snapped, and I whirled, snarling. Bruno and Duane slowed and bared their necks. That bitch wasn’t with them.
“She got away, Alpha,” Duane rumbled.
Josephine whined, hand flexing in my shirt.
“Start the truck,” I barked. Bruno took off at a sprint. “Do whatever you must to drag that cunt back here.”
I left Duane without waiting for his response. My attention narrowed in on getting to the truck. I broke through the trees. Our house stretched in the distance, the orange hue of the falling sun casting shadows across the ground.
One of my trucks roared across the gravel, leaving the side of the house where my other vehicles were parked. Bruno sped over the gravel until he reached me. I yanked open the passenger door and pulled myself in while balancing Josephine with one arm.
He peeled away, kicking up dirt and pebbles with the tires, heading toward the Pack Clinic.
Josephine’s breathing hitched, and she whimpered.
With my arm under her shoulders, I lifted her higher.
Once I let go of her legs, I tucked her hair behind her ear, feeling her cheek. She was much too clammy.
The pressure in the bridge of my nose had only built. I hated seeing her unconscious and ill. My little mate deserved peace. I swiped my thumb across her eyebrow.
Bruno cleared his throat and then said, “I found Sorin with his throat slit.”
That was why he hadn’t contacted me to inform me that there was an attack on my mate.
I gritted my teeth. I’d left for one fucking moment.
All that said was the bitch had lain in wait, watching my fucking moves.
I brushed my thumb across Josephine’s cheek.
If Cierra was this organized, she’d likely planned to flee as far as she could.
Bruno careened onto the gravel drive that led to the pavement in front of the clinic. He navigated to the front, screeching to a stop. I roughly shoved open the car and carried Josephine inside.
“Get a doctor now,” I bellowed.
The attendant at the front desk gasped, “Yes, Alpha,” and picked up the phone. I strode past her; no way in hell would I just wait around. Using the flat of my foot, I kicked open the swinging doors.
Melodie ran toward me, rolling a gurney. I lay Josephine on it, and the nurse was already leaning over to strap her on.
“She was drowning. I gave her CPR.” I couldn’t recognize my voice. It sounded agonized, like there were razors in my throat.
Melodie kept her fingers on Josephine’s wrists, and her eyes widened. She reached to open Josphine’s eyes. The elderly pack doctor, Velma, ran up as she pulled on gloves.
“Her vitals are extremely weak,” Melodie mumbled to Velma.
“Let’s get her to the back.”
The doctor and nurse began rolling the gurney away and I stepped forward to follow.
Melodie let go of the bed and got in my way. I growled, and she jerked her head to the side, baring her neck.
“Alpha,” she snapped. “We will save her life, but you need to let us work.”
Bruno gripped my arm, pulling me away. Melodie rushed off, and they disappeared past a second set of swinging doors.
I couldn’t breathe. I staggered until I hit a wall. A boulder took up residence on my chest.
“Duane is still looking for Cierra.” Bruno’s voice sounded far away. He might have been speaking for a while now, but I couldn’t make any sense of it. He kept talking, but it was a buzzing in my ears.
If anything happened to her . . .
I closed my eyes and tipped my head back, fighting the urge to vomit.
“Alpha?” The urgency in the voice ripped me to the present. I inhaled sharply. It took a couple of blinks for me to process the fluorescent lights beaming down.
I’d been catatonic.
Bruno stood at my side while Melodie hovered beside him.
I shoved up to my feet.
“Where is she?” I asked gruffly.
“She’s going to be okay?—”
“Take me to her.” I strode past Melodie, heading toward the swinging doors.
“Wait!” she cried. “She’s still unconscious?—”
I whirled and growled. “I don’t care, take me to my mate.”
Her throat bobbed, and she cringed.
“Yes, Alpha.” She swept past me. “We had to pump her stomach.”
Pump her stomach? They did that usually when there were substances . . .
“She was drugged.”
“Yes, I’ve sent the blood samples to our lab techs to find out exactly what it was, but fortunately, we managed to make her expel everything.”
I yanked my fingers through my hair.
“We’ve placed her in the suite,” she said, heading toward the door at the end of the long eggshell-colored hall, with numerous rooms lining the right-hand side and a busy nurse’s station to the left. Melodie propped open the door. “I made sure to clean her up.”
Within seconds, I was beside the bed. Josephine lay with a blanket tucked around her waist. The top button of her gown was loose.
I didn’t want her to be cold.
The door shut behind me, but I didn’t bother looking. My harsh breathing mingling with the beep of the monitor were the only sounds in the room.
Carefully, I reached for the two sides of the clothes, pushed the button through the hole, and smoothed it over her chest. Her silky hair lay around her face in a mess. I leaned down to press my lips to her forehead.
“Josephine,” I whispered. I closed my eyes, breathing her in. The pressure in my chest pulsated, making its presence known.
I dropped to my knees at her bedside, slid my hand in hers, and lay my head on her pillow, hyper-focused on the rise and fall of her chest.
I wouldn’t breathe or function until she opened her beautiful brown eyes.