Chapter 23
Ezra ran. He ran like he'd never run before. And he was faster than ever before. It had to be adrenaline, but he found it so much easier to run today than he had when he'd tried to leave the pack.
Shixyll was trying to kill Rourke. She had ordered the clan to kill Ezra, believing it would kill Rourke. The moment she'd given the order, he'd seen the fear on Rourke's face, which made him believe it might be true. Would the mate bond kill Rourke if Ezra died?
He didn't know, but he couldn't chance it.
His breaths rasped in his chest, and his legs ached from the strain he put on them, but he had to stop her.
She flung another curse at him, but he sidestepped. It made her grin a chilling grin, and she drew power anew.
"Mom." He didn't think she heard him. "Please." The last was a whisper. Pleases had never helped before, he didn't think they would now, either.
Farkas gave a pained yip, but then an arch of blood painted the air, so he believed whomever it was who had hurt him had been taken care of.
He couldn't look. Looking away from Shixyll now could cost him his and maybe Rourke's lives, and what would the pack do then?
How would they continue without a leader?
Would they all be slaughtered here on the field?
Ezra was only a few steps away from Shixyll when her curse hit him straight in the chest. He screamed.
She'd flung her magic at him many times before, but then she'd always tried to control it, make it slow and excruciating.
Now she urged it on. His skin stretched thin, the pain enough for black dots to dance before his eyes as his chest burst open.
He kept moving, kept running despite not being able to make out more than the shape of her.
When he was close enough, he raised the car key and jammed it into her throat. She screamed and the curse dropped.
Ezra panted as he blinked away the dots. Something wet and sticky was trickling down his chest, but he didn't look. He stared at Shixyll. What had he done? He placed a hand on her arm. Her fingers curled as if she was gathering power despite having a car key sticking out of the side of her neck.
In the next moment, a huge form appeared behind him. He was too weak, too tired to react, but his mind told him it was Rourke. A snarl loud enough to make the planets tremble rose from him, then a clawed hand reached past Ezra, and Rourke tore out Shixyll's throat.
For a second, Ezra believed she would try to talk, then a smile stretched her lips, and the life left her eyes.
There was blood everywhere, her hands limp against her side.
"Mom." Ezra touched her shoulder, and Rourke made a sound he'd never heard before. Ezra sent him a pleading look, a silent cry for help. Horror was written all over his face, and he did nothing but stare at Ezra.
"Mom?" Ezra shook her and tears trickled down his cheeks. He bent over her and rested his forehead against her belly.
A sob rocked him, and he was unable to move.
Ulric's voice rose over the tumult, but Ezra didn't hear what he said. Rourke was a quiet shadow next to him as he cried.
People moved around him, but he didn't stir. He had no idea how much time passed--seconds, minutes, hours. He didn't know. His tears ran dry, but his body didn't stop shaking.
Silence settled, then he heard a familiar voice. "We will take her now."
"Ezra." Rourke's hand gently squeezed his shoulder. "Baby, come on. Let them take her."
Ezra raised his head and wiped his cheeks. Jazax met his gaze. Sorrow shone in his eyes, and he gave Ezra a short nod before bending and grabbing Shixyll's body.
Rourke pulled him into his arms. "I'm so sorry, honey." He kissed his forehead and squeezed him hard. Ezra dug his fingers into his back and sobbed against Rourke's chest. He had no tears left, but it didn't stop the sobs from coming.
"You never told me she was your mother."
Ezra shrugged. "She didn't want to be."
"Aww, sweetheart." Rourke rocked him.
* * * *
Rourke hugged Ezra and met Ulric's gaze over the blood-stained grass. He'd killed his mate's mother. How the fuck did you move on from that?
He hadn't known Shixyll was his mother. And what kind of mother ordered people to kill their child? He tightened his hold on Ezra. She deserved to die, but he wished it had been someone else who'd done it.
Tala walked closer. "Are we heading back?"
Rourke nodded but didn't move. She patted Ezra's shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss, Ezra." She caught Rourke's gaze and grimaced. He sighed. Fuck.
"Babe, how bad off are you? I smell blood."
Ezra stirred and tilted his head to meet his eyes. "Chest. It's okay, I think."
Rourke tugged at the hem of his shirt, carefully lifting the wet fabric from the skin. Ulric appeared by his side and looked alongside him. There was a gash where the skin had split open, but it would heal. There might be another scar, though. The last Shixyll ever gave him.
"We need to get home and get everyone bandaged up." Ulric didn't look away from Ezra's chest. His skin pebbled in the cold, but Rourke was reluctant to let go of the soaked shirt.
"Take my shirt instead." He undressed Ezra right there on the battlefield, then tore his own shirt off and put it on him. It was way too big, but at least it was dry.
"Are you well enough to walk, love?" He pulled Ezra close and kissed his forehead again. He didn't know what else to do.
"Yes, I'm fine."
Fine wasn't the word Rourke would use, but together they started walking in the direction of pack land.
"What's the verdict?" He glanced at Ulric who walked by their side.
"Cana was killed, Theron is badly off, split skin almost as bad as Jiprix--"
"You need to stop the bleeding." Ezra's voice was low. "The fissures are most often shallow, but you can bleed out, and infection is a problem."
Rourke and Ulric shared a look, then Ulric spoke. "We'll have him shift as often as he has the energy to. Shifting speeds up the healing, but it takes a lot of energy."
Ezra walked faster. "Food, he'll need food."
Ulric smiled and nodded.
Rourke reached for Ezra and hefted him into his arms. "Let's go home.
" Then he ran while carrying Ezra bridal style.
Ulric kept pace with him as did several others.
Geri and Farkas were still in wolf form and Rourke wondered how injured they were.
Farkas had been burning, and Geri had been hit by Shixyll's curse too.
They'd assess when they got home.
"This is awkward." Ezra looked at the pack around them, but he sounded more like himself so Rourke smiled.
"It's the fastest way home."
"I left Jiprix in the car."
"But took the key." Which was buried in Shixyll's neck still, unless someone had pulled it out.
For a moment, Ezra looked a little green. "Yeah."
"It'll be okay."
Ezra shook his head, and Rourke didn't know what to say.
Things might not be okay, but as he deposited Ezra in the kitchen in the pack house, and watched him pulling things from the refrigerator and pantry, he believed they'd find a way to be. He nuzzled Ezra's neck. "How are you holding up?"
He shrugged. "She wasn't a good mother, but I loved her."
Rourke nodded. "I'm sorry I--"
"No." Ezra turned around and wrapped his arms around his neck.
"She would've killed me or had one of the others kill me.
It was why she sent Jiprix here. I wasn't thinking.
Jiprix said I had to help him get back home, and I got in the car.
It wasn't until we were on clan land, I realized there was no reason for me to be there.
Jiprix was driving, not me. He didn't need me to get home, he only needed a car. " He winced. "I'm sorry."
Rourke shrugged. He wasn't pleased about having lost a car, but they could deal with it later.
"I don't think Jiprix was aware she planned to kill me, but if she believed you'd be weakened by my death, then it might have been the plan all along.
Hand the least important witch over to the monsters, have them form a bond with the alpha, then kill the witch to incapacitate you for long enough to strike. "
"Long enough? Incapacitate? Weaken?" Rourke tilted his head to the side. "Babe, if you die, I die."
Ezra's eyes widened. "What?"
"You're my heart, my soul, my life. We're bonded.
Our lives are merged into one. She was right.
If she'd killed you there on the field, I'd have died.
There would've been chaos, and they might have slaughtered us all.
" He squeezed him. "Which is why, next time you plan a road trip, you let me know when you're leaving, where you're going, and why. Okay?"
Ezra didn't speak, didn't so much as breathe, then he shook his head. "But I can die any second. I have no superpowers."
Rourke chuckled. "I think you do." The scent of magic, the good kind of magic, had already spread in the kitchen, and Ezra hadn't started cooking yet.
"And I'll always do my best to protect you.
You're mine, and I'm so glad you're the one Shixyll handed over.
I hate that she did so without your consent, and I'll dedicate my life to making you happy, Ezra.
You're my heart, and I never want you to want for anything.
Now, we're not a rich pack, and I have no idea what will happen with the war--"
Ezra cut him off with a kiss. "Thank you." His words caressed Rourke's lips. He didn't have a clue what Ezra was thanking him for, but he didn't care. Ezra was kissing him, nothing else mattered.
* * * *