Chapter 11
V erity took the sharp turn leading to the Pack Clinic, and sped toward the front. Time felt suspended and meaningless. I was too stiff, too numb. My chest was tight, and I couldn’t suck in deeply.
“Wait here,” I ordered and jumped out of the car, sprinting toward the glass doors. The woman at the desk looked up, her eyebrows furrowed.
Her eyes widened at my face.
“Luna, everyone has been searching for you,” she shouted.
“Lucian needs medical attention, quickly.” I struggled to catch my breath. She only took a moment and then reached for something behind her desk.
“Code Blue-A at the front.” Her voice echoed over the intercom. Everything seemed so still for a moment. I felt frozen.
Swinging doors slammed open, and a group of three people dressed in scrubs, one of them being Melodie, ran out, wheeling a gurney. Seeing them sucked me back to the present, and the noisiness rushed back to my ears as if I’d been underwater.
I ran out after them to find Verity parked and holding the door open.
“There may be multiple broken limbs,” the male shifter in orange scrubs snapped.
“We don’t have time to take it slow; his pulse is weak, we need to get him in,” Melodie added.
“The risk is worth it. Otherwise, he could bleed out.”
Orange Scrubs nodded, and then the three worked quickly.
The larger male, the one who had agreed with Melodie, went to the other side where Lucian leaned against the car door. He opened it and caught Lucian, sliding his hands under his arms. The other male stood by while his coworker pulled him out enough for him to grab his legs.
They hoisted Lucian onto the gurney and took off with him. I jolted forward to follow.
Melodie stepped in front of me.
“We’ll take care of the Alpha.” She squeezed my arm. My lip trembled, but I stiffened it and nodded jerkily. She ran after the others.
“What’s this clinic? I’ve been living in Seattle for years, and I’ve never heard of this place.” Verity’s comment faded into the background. I crouched in place, burying my fingers into my hair and trying to breathe.
“Why did they call him Alpha?” she mumbled. “What cult are you in, Joey?”
Shit. I needed to get her out of here before she saw anything more that she shouldn’t.
Once on my feet, I grabbed her shoulders.
“If you see or hear something, no, you didn’t.”
“I feel like I stepped in some bad fucking shit,” she muttered wearily.
“You did, so don’t ask questions.”
She nodded so hard her nose ring swayed. Her eyes widened at something over my shoulder. I sighed, knowing she was seeing something that put that expression on her face.
“Josephine? Now there’s a naked guy running toward us.” I turned as Alex jogged closer.
“He found you,” he said, his eyes on me then flicking over to Verity. Immediately, he grew cautious.
He hesitated, sniffing.
“Verity, I’ll call you later, okay?” I turned to her while her eyes remained fastened on Alex. I nudged her arm, and she pulled out of whatever had such a concentrated look on her face.
“Okay,” she replied slowly, inching around Alex to head to her still-running car. He watched her steadily until she peeled out.
“Alex?” I bit out, bursting forward to get in his face. “Did you know?”
He offered me a scowl that reminded me so much of his brother it made my heart throb.
“Know what?” His eyebrows furrowed.
“What you’d done by sending me into the Red Fang Pub?” The accusation seeped into my tone.
He blinked, incomprehension on his face.
“What are you talking about?”
“Did you know you were sending me onto Drake’s private land?”
He gawked.
“No, that’s not possible,” he muttered, shaking his head. He understood the implications.
“So you didn’t know?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
“Where’s Lucian?” His eyes widened and fixed on the blood staining my borrowed shorts and white shirt before moving them toward the clinic.
“Not again,” he croaked. “What did Drake do to him?”
“Again? What do you mean by that?” I snarled, my temper snapping.
“I . . .” Alex’s panicked eyes kept flicking around.
“When he was a kid, barely a teen, Drake’s father took Lucian.
They had him locked in a cage, starving for weeks.
He never speaks about his time with that pack, but when he returned, there were so many bruises.
” Alex’s mouth pinched. “I’d heard things here and there, but on top of starvation, they’d put Gideon Drake and Lucian in multiple fights.
” He shook his head. “The only problem was, there was only so much strength Lucian could have while malnourished.”
My heart throbbed. I’d rather he slap me.
What Drake had done to Lucian was all in an attempt to bring back the humiliation Lucian experienced.
“You said you contacted people to tell you where Stools frequented. Who gave you that information?” I asked sharply.
“Duane . . .”
Duane was one of the dominant three. He was the snake . He had to know something about Cierra’s whereabouts.
I gritted my teeth. He had to be the other voice. I raked my fingers through my hair. Finding him could wait. My mate needed me.
As angry and hurt as I was, he’d taken a beating to both his pride and his body because I’d fucked up and stepped onto another Alpha’s private land. Even as enraged as he made me, I didn’t want him to suffer. Not like this.
Without saying anything more, I spun toward the Clinic and shoved through the glass doors.
I beelined directly for the cushioned chairs in the waiting area, pacing the entirety of the room. There hadn’t been news, and the lady at the front desk was gone. I sighed, scrubbing my palms on my face.
Alex plopped on a chair, now wearing a pair of simple scrubs.
The doors leading to the back burst open.
“Luna, we need your help,” Melodie gasped. I was on my feet, running to her. “He’s going crazy. He keeps saying your name and trying to get up. He broke the strap holding him down. If we can’t get him under control, he’s going to harm himself even more.” She swiped the blood spilling from her nose.
My fingertips tingled with nerves. Instead of walking straight down the hall, Melodie took a sharp left upon going through two sets of swinging doors. She burst through and into the first section, divided by a curtain.
Lucian lay on the stretcher, his hand squeezing the life out of the thinner of the males, while the bigger one yanked and pulled at him. The frayed straps of the restraints lay in tatters.
“Lucian,” I shouted. He jolted like he’d been struck.
A burst of speed had me at the bigger man’s side, struggling to pull at his arm.
Lucian snarled, his feverish gaze turning to spear the bigger guy, his lip curling.
He kept focusing on the men. The bigger guy bumped me with his struggle against Lucian.
I had to do something. Fast.
I climbed onto the bed, crawling up until my knees straddled his thigh, and I grabbed his face.
My fingers dug into his stiff, clenched jaw.
“Lucian!” He whipped his head toward me. His bloodshot eyes were glazed and unfocused. He wasn’t here .
I squeezed his jaw.
“Lucian.” He shivered, and his eyes focused in that split second. His eyebrows furrowed, and his shaking hand settled on my arm. Though his mouth moved, nothing came out, as if he’d run out of fuel.
Melodie moved at his side, injecting him quickly.
He snarled and turned to face her, but he was too slow. She avoided his grip, and I pushed on his arm, but I needn’t worry; he swayed. I grabbed his shoulder before he toppled off the bed. He struggled to keep his eyes open.
The large guy helped me lay him back.
“Hopefully that’s enough to keep him knocked out.” Melodie swiped the sweat from her temple. “He woke up while we were giving him a dose, and he wasn’t fazed.”
The curtains rustled.
The pack doctor approached, but I couldn’t see what she was doing because Melodie stepped in front of me. Her arm went around my side, and she shuffled me away.
“They’ll take care of him, Luna,” she murmured. “Let me take a look at you.” Her gaze was focused on my mouth. I slid my tongue across my lower lip. The tang of blood spread on my tongue.
“I’m fine.” I moved to the side and out of her grip. She reached for my arm and stopped midway.
“Are you sure?”
“Just take care of Lucian,” I said and strode away.
I pushed through the swinging doors and stopped in the short hall before the nurses station.
Backing up until I was flush against the wall, I exhaled.
This was all so much. My heart continued to gallop, hands trembling on my thighs.
I exhaled shakily and slid down until my ass hit the rubber floor.
Goose bumps raised on my skin, but I couldn’t feel anything.
Even my fingertips were numb. I breathed shakily, and it came out as a sob.
Every strike at Lucian’s body was ingrained in my memory. He’d known it wouldn’t be safe for him to go, but he’d still shown up. My lip wouldn’t stop trembling. The suffocating pressure settled on my chest. How could he have done that? Why?
Fuck, I knew why, I just didn’t like the answer. His actions didn’t fit with the narrative I’d been building in order to keep my distance. His selfless act . . . He’d tried to make me feel better even as he bled.
Tears trickled out from the corner of my eyes, and I swiped them away with the back of my hand.
This had been a coordinated effort. Duane had set it up. As much as Lucian had betrayed me, seeing him beaten didn’t bring me any pleasure.
Someone stepped in front of me, jolting me out of my frozen state. It took me a moment to recognize Alex.
I didn’t get a bad feeling from him, and I’d learned to trust my gut, but I still had to make sure.
“When you told me to go there, did you know it was Drake’s land?” I stared up at him steadily. He frowned, and genuinely didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. Once I got to my feet, I studied him. His eyebrows were high on his forehead.
“No,” he blurted. “I’d never want Lucian harmed.”
“In exchange for letting us leave his land, Drake had Lucian beaten.” My lip trembled, but I stiffened it.
Alex only gawked.
And forced Lucian to hand over land, but that was the least of it.
“You said when he was younger, that pack ,” I spat out. “Starved him and forced him into fights. And Duane knew this?”
Alex licked his lips and scratched his scalp.
“Yes, he’s one of Lucian’s dominants, he would know.”
I gritted my teeth so hard that my jaw creaked.
“How did he get away?”
“Our father finally cut a deal and offered land in exchange for Lucian. When he returned . . . he was different.” He grimaced.
“How old was he?” The words hurt to push out of my throat.
“Thirteen.”
I sucked in a harsh breath. Today made more sense. It was a humiliation ritual. It was what had started his hatred for Drake. He’d told me to keep my distance from that man because of this.
“Find Duane,” I hissed.
Alex’s eyes widened, and it was clear he’d caught on to what I was saying.
“Duane,” he whispered. “He’s one of Lucian’s most trusted.” Alex shook his head, his eyes still wide and shocked. “How could he betray him?” His voice was low like he was speaking to himself.
“Find him,” was all I could say, my brain was starting to freeze up.
Alex’s mouth tightened, and he nodded. As he retreated, my stomach seethed, a mess of nerves.
All I could do was sit here, waiting for news.