Chapter 37 Olivia
THIRTY-SEVEN
Olivia
Ilost count of how many trips we’d made to and from the caves, carrying children through the dark and helping the elderly, until Leigh screamed, clutching her chest and falling into the leaf litter like she’d been shot.
Brielle shouted her name in panic, both of us racing to our fallen pack mate’s side.
“What’s wrong? What hurts?”
“It’s Gael,” Leigh sobbed, clutching her right shoulder.
“He’s been hit. I don’t— I don’t know if he’s going to survive.
” Her words were broken between the fountain of tears she cried as she clutched her own shoulder as if she’d been the one who was hit.
“His thoughts are scattered. I can’t tell what’s happening. ”
Brielle looked up at me with a determined expression that told me she was about to do something the high alpha wouldn’t approve of if I didn’t stop her.
“I’ll go,” I blurted, cutting her off at the pass. “I’m not as skilled as you, but I can triage, and maybe Elodie can help me carry him back here for you to heal?” I looked up to where she stood at my shoulder for confirmation.
“It would be faster if I went myself. I could heal him and then get back here.”
“No,” Galyna said. “The high alpha gave me a direct order not to let you near the fight. If they catch sight of you, you’re dead, and so is he through your bond. The packs can’t survive losing another high alpha. They’ll be fractured. Don’t put that on me.”
Brielle grimaced, holding Leigh in her lap as she cried.
“I refuse to let my best friend, her mate, and their baby die for want of medical care that I can provide. Bring him to me as fast as you can. If he takes a turn, I am coming.” Brielle was all high alpha mate as she issued the order to me and Elodie.
Lightning cracked nearby, striking a tree and sending shards flying through the air in every direction.
I snapped my gaze around to Fiona, who was fully shifted into her djinn form, amber eyes molten with simmering power. “I’m coming with you.”
“We don’t have time to waste. Let’s go.” Elodie was off at a full run, sheathing her sword only for speed. I barely kept up with her in human form, but I ran as fast as I could, calling on my wolf for strength when my lungs began to burn and my thighs felt like lead.
But as fast as we ran, Wrenchet was already burning, the flames licking hungrily at the velvet night air. Smoke clogged my lungs as unnatural fire hopped from building to building, consuming them with scalding heat that buffeted us even as we ran past at a distance.
“Can you do anything about that?” I gasped out the question to Fiona, who looked askance at the rampant inferno.
“Yes, but not until after we get Gael. He has to come first.”
I nodded, and we ran faster, roars and screeches of violent battle hitting us now that we were closer.
Anxiety was just more fuel to run faster, worry that Lucien or any of our pack mates would be next urging me on when I wanted to collapse.
When Elodie swore and skidded to a stop, I nearly ran into her. I dropped my hands to my knees and breathed hard as she surveyed the fight.
“I think they’re over there, in the middle of that knot of attackers.
The goblins are trying to get to them, but they’re outgunned compared to the enforcers.
” She pointed to a ring of attackers, so numerous they might as well have been ants on an ant hill, the crowd visible through the darkness with my wolf’s superior vision aiding me.
“Why aren’t they breaking away so they’ve got backup?” Fiona asked, her breath coming back faster than mine.
“Because that’s where Gael fell,” I said, finally able to catch my breath enough to answer as Elodie drew her sword.
“Stay behind me. They don’t need any distractions, and if either of you gets hurt, they might all fall.” Her grave words made me glad Lucien and I hadn’t bonded. Even if something happened to me, he’d be okay.
It was a small comfort as we stared down a slavering horde.
“Fuck that,” Fiona said, raising her hands and closing her eyes. “Just give me a moment.”
I looked up, expecting to see thunderclouds scudding into view overhead, but instead of rain, the ghastly howl of a tornado filled the clearing.
“Fi, how good is your control over that thing?” I asked as a towering funnel cloud ripped into the clearing, snatching massive trees up by the roots and plucking enforcers up as if they were dolls before they realized what was happening.
“Good enough for government work, as my father would say.” She gritted her teeth as she held the storm, breaking a path to our males.
“Let’s go,” Elodie hissed, taking off at a jog now that the tornado had enforcers running for their lives.
She slashed with her sword like a dancer, gracefully light on her feet even as she delivered death to every enemy we passed.
Despite the fray, no one got close enough to touch me without Elodie’s sword lopping something off their body.
She sang as she whirled, and within minutes, the three of us made it to our pack.
The second I saw Gael, naked and wounded in the middle of their circle, I shoved past Elodie, between two sleek, blood-soaked wolf bodies, to where he lay. My own exhaustion from the never-ending night was forgotten as I scanned him for injuries.
He was scorched from his jaw to his hip, second- and third-degree burns already blistering and peeling sickeningly down his right side.
He groaned in pain as the fight raged around him, and as soon as I touched his unburnt cheek, I knew he didn’t have time to be carried back to Brielle.
If his wounds were this bad after he’d already shifted… Fuck.
But what could I do? The ground around us was trampled, devoid of plant life that I could use as medicine.
Elodie squatted as if to lift him.
“No! Don’t touch him. He’s not well enough to be moved, and he doesn’t have time to go back.” I left my hand on his unburnt cheek, desperation making me dig my fingers into the earth, searching for any wisp of power, any help that was available to me.
I remembered Flantiera’s words, and I called the little green wisps of power with all my might, envisioning them flowing through my fingertips, forming a healing cocoon around Gael.
Heal him, I demanded, even as my own energy waned with alarming speed.
I’d barely used my powers at all, let alone for something of this magnitude.
I wasn’t sure how long I could keep it up, but I just needed him to survive until we could get to Brielle.
That was it. After that, I could collapse. Help me, I pleaded with my wolf.
“Holy shit,” Elodie whispered, and my eyes fluttered open.
Just as I’d envisioned, he was encased in a luminous green bubble of energy, his breathing already less labored and more even, the lightest burns along the edges stable, receding.
“We need to go. I can’t hold the power long.” My words were slurred, and I knew my time of acting as his life support was limited.
Thankfully, Elodie didn’t waste time. She and Fiona—who’d released her tornado at some point—squatted and grabbed him under his shoulders.
I winced as he groaned, knowing how much his burned flesh would hurt as they carried him, but seeing no other choice. He needed more than I could do for him here.
A human hand on the back of my neck froze me in place, until I heard Lucien’s familiar voice.
“Olivia? What the fuck are you doing out here?” He dropped to his knees in front of me, cupping my face in his larger hands, and I nearly wept as I leaned against him, too tired to hold myself upright and keep the energy flowing that was keeping Gael stable.
“We had to get Gael. Leigh felt it when he got hit. Brielle couldn’t risk it, so—”
“You are not expendable!” he roared, eyes flickering to his wolf’s orange as he stared into my own.
“Do you hear me? Don’t you ever pull shit like this again.
You could have been killed.” He wrapped me in his arms, hauling me against his chest. I went without resistance, basking in the glow of his anger even as I held the healing energy around Gael.
Because he was angry for me.
He cared. He cared, and in my exhausted state, it made me want to sob with relief. But I couldn’t do that. My pack mates were depending on me—Leigh and her daughter were back in the caves, depending on me.
“We have to get him back to Brielle, and you have to keep fighting. I’ll be okay. Thank you.” I pressed a kiss to his lips, salty with the tears I hadn’t realized had escaped.
He looked to the circle he’d left and back to me with agony written across his features. He needed to be there for the pack, but he didn’t want me to leave.
“I’m strong enough to do this, and so are you. Our pack is counting on us.”
He dropped his forehead to mine, letting his eyes fall closed for only a second. “You’re stronger than I ever gave you credit for, and I don’t know how I ever failed to see that. Let’s go.”
Lucien stood, pulling me to my feet and steadying me as I swayed.
“I’ll keep her safe, Alpha,” Elodie promised, Gael’s arm looped over one shoulder, with her sword still in her left hand.
“I dare any of these fuckers to mess with us,” Fiona snarled, holding Gael up from his other side. Lightning popped a dozen yards away, blowing a tiger shifter who’d been heading for Reed’s wolf to pieces before he could make it.
Her djinn was a little bloodthirsty, but, given the circumstances… who could blame her?
“Go.” He kissed me on the lips one more time and stepped back, retaking his wolf form in one smooth motion and shouldering his way back in to help with the fight.
“Ready?” Elodie asked me, not missing that I was depleted, the green energy around Gael already beginning to flicker.
“Yes. I’ll keep up.” I would, no matter what. I willed the green light to focus on his vital organs as we made our way out of the battle.
To my surprise, Lucien and Reed broke away from the group, bracketing us as we worked our way toward the city.
When we were free of the melee, they turned, standing guard between us and any pursuers.
We only made it another block before I had to stop.
“I’m sorry, I can’t keep going. I’m about to lose the power. You need to run. Get him to Brielle.” I finally broke, letting my desperation show, and Elodie flew into action.
“Stay with her, Fiona, and fry anybody who even looks at you funny.” Elodie scooped Gael into her arms and, with impressive speed, sprinted back toward the caves.
I felt it when the thread of power snapped out of my hold, the edges of the world around me going soft and fuzzy black, closing me up until all was darkness.