23. Colt
Colt
Just when I thought we’d made it through this fight without anyone getting majorly wounded, I heard the gun go off.
Whipping my head around, I saw Finley turn away from the blast. The scattershot caught her in the back and side.
Her naked body was littered with blooming spots of blood.
Her scream had me moving faster than my brain could keep up as I shifted and tackled my own pack mate, who’d pulled the trigger.
Ripping out his throat, I switched back to my human body and crawled over to Finley.
“Little one, look at me, come on, open your eyes,” I begged, brushing her hair out of her face. Every shift of her body had her crying out in pain, so I tried to be as careful as possible. “Rath.” I roared, praying that he would be able to do something.
The elf appeared at my side in a moment. “What the fuck happened? We’d gotten them all. Who the hell shot her?”
I nodded my head to the man behind me, someone that I’d counted as a friend for three years. Now he’d done the one thing I couldn’t forgive—he attacked my mate.
“But he’s one of ours?” Rath argued.
I snarled at the elf. “Don’t you think I know that? Fuck the bastard, and why he did it, Finley needs our help right now, not him.”
Rath reached out and placed a hand on Finley’s shoulder where it was free of damage and closed his eyes.
In a second, they snapped back open. “The shell was filled with silver and iron pellets. We need to get her back to the house so we can remove them before I can do anything to heal her. If we wait too long, the iron could cause permanent damage. It’s fatal to elves.
My hope is that being a werewolf too will help to lessen that effect. ”
Derven suddenly appeared behind Rath, biting into his wrist, then bending down and letting the blood drip into Finley’s mouth. “My blood should help to strengthen her. We are weak against silver too, but it might help slow down the iron poisoning.”
“Who’s the fastest out of us?” I asked. “We need to get her to Vanya so she can start removing them as fast as possible.”
Derven scooped her up, which pulled a strangled scream out of her. Then she fainted, her head lolling back almost as if she was dead, but I could hear her heart beating still. I met his gaze and nodded. “Get the fuck out of here, now.”
That was all he needed before he blinked away.
Elias let out a howl that sounded like a war cry telling me that he was not in a good place.
It was followed up by the twins and the other two alphas as they tore off after Derven.
Rath and I stood there for a moment as I looked at the guns scattered around.
“We need to get these locked away somewhere. They can’t just be left,” I muttered, my heart desperate to go after Finley but knowing this needed to be dealt with so we didn’t have more incidents.
Rath grabbed my shoulder. “Grab as many as you can carry. I’ll take what’s left and we’ll store them in the hidden shed where the cells are for now. It’s right by the pack house, so we’ll be heading in the right direction.”
Nodding, I grabbed the shotgun and many other weapons they had brought with the intention of murdering my pack.
They’d known to put silver and iron into the ammo, ensuring it would have maximum impact no matter what they were fighting against. Rath and I ran back to the pack house as fast as we could.
I was slower on two feet, but I pushed my body to the limit.
The bond I had with Finley was quiet, but I knew she was still alive.
I could feel the faint tug of it still being grounded in her magic.
Today was not the day we were going to find out if the soul bond meant we all died or not because Finley still had to save the world.
There’s no way she would have survived through everything up until this point, only to die at the hands of one of our own people.
How many others could there be? Did the Senate truly get in and infiltrate my pack without me realizing it? We haven’t had any new members in over a year. How could they possibly turn them against me? Seems the pack dinner was going to take on a whole new tone tonight.
Back at the pack house, I chucked the guns into the cell Rath picked and locked it so no one could get to them.
With my anxiety thick in my throat, I raced up the steps and slammed open the door.
There, on the dining room table, laid on a sheet, was Finley.
As Noah held the flashlight, Vanya was crouched over her with tweezers picking out pellets.
The others stood around the table or paced, trying to keep themselves under control.
Elias was still in his wolf form, lying under the table, his hazel eyes glittering with rage as they looked at me.
If Finley died and we didn’t follow her into the afterlife, no one would survive Elias’s rage. He would murder everyone in our pack in retribution for what they’d done to our mate.
When we’d found him and brought him to the pack, he was almost feral at that point. It took lots of work to bring him back. I don’t think there’d be any coming back from this for him.
Rath stood at the end, his hands wrapped around Finley’s ankles, his hands glowing green, telling me he was using his magic for something.
“He’s keeping her asleep and dull to the pain,” Noah answered my internal question, meeting my gaze.
“Things are moving slowly since her body wants to heal around the silver. The lead is just sinking through her flesh like it’s acid.
Before Rath took over her mind, she was screaming silently.
I could feel it in our bond when I touched her. ”
A growl rumbled in my throat as white-hot rage exploded in my body.
I wasn’t going to sit here and let this stand, not when my mate was lying there, losing her mind in pain.
Stalking to the spare room we kept extra clothes for shifters who needed them, I yanked on a pair of jeans and marched outside.
“Pack emergency meeting, now,” I ordered through my pack link, using my alpha energy to force the command. They would all be here within moments. “Rath, I don’t mean to distract you but can either Theodas or Kolvar spot lies like you and Finley can?”
“Theodas’ nature only responds to those of pure intention. He can see that in others as well,” Rath answered before he slammed the door in our connection. I couldn’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to be distracted either if I was keeping Finley from losing her mind to the pain she was withstanding.
There, I waited on the steps to the pack house that I had built, imagining one day I’d have a mate and children to fill it.
Now it was a refuge to elves who were taking a stand and announcing to the world they were still here.
They were part of my pack as much as these wolves were.
Each of them worked hard in the service of the greater good of our pack.
I’d truly thought my wolves understood that with Finley as my mate, also being an elf.
These new additions were family. If they were mad enough about the changes to let the Senate worm their way into this pack, then we are on shakier ground than I expected.
It didn’t take long for the majority of the members to arrive.
I could tell there were some that had been sent out to scout the perimeter after we got word of the attack to ensure we weren’t getting hit from multiple sides.
What I didn’t count on was them attacking from within.
If that was their plan all along, then they’d done well.
It was a shock and one I didn’t see coming in the slightest. Our attention had been outward attacks and looking inward seemed so pointless.
“Alpha, is it true we were attacked?” Lisa asked, writing her hands. She’d always been a worrier and this wasn’t going to help her nerves.
“I’ll explain everything in just a moment. I’m waiting for the scouts to come in,” I assured her.
Katie rushed up to the front. “Did I hear Finley got shot?”
“Katie, please be patient with me,” I asked. “I only want to have to say this once.”
She nodded and backed up to her sister Milly, wrapping her arms around her.
The same sort of tension was radiating through the rest of the pack as well.
I knew the attack would cause turmoil since I had everyone retreat to their homes, but we also did drills to ensure the new plan worked how we wanted it to.
Within another few minutes, all the members of my pack were present, along with the two elves. They chatted amongst themselves, curious about what the hell was going on. I signaled to Theodas to come join me and he did a little hesitantly.
“Yes, alpha?” he asked.
“Rath said you can tell the true intentions behind people’s words. Is that accurate?” I asked.
Theodas’s eyes grew wide. “Yes… but can’t our queen do that far better than I can?”
“She isn’t available right now and this needs to be handled,” I explained. “While I’m talking, I need you to pick up on anyone who feels guilty, rage, or any other malicious intentions and remember who they are.”
Zander stepped out of the house and walked up to me. “He can point them out to me and I’ll do what needs to be done.”
I nodded and turned back to face my pack, the people I had been providing for the past eight years.
“Today, we were attacked,” I announced, ensuring my voice carried so everyone could hear me.
“They came with the intent to hurt us, going so far as to bring guns along with them. Just as the fight was ending, which we had the upper hand in thanks to Finley’s warning, she was shot.
” The whole pack gasped. “It wasn’t one of the interlopers.
It was, in fact, one of our own. Drew Miller picked up a shotgun, aimed it at my mate, and shot her.
The shells were filled with lead and silver, ensuring that it did maximum damage. ”