Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Luca
“This way,” a sharp female voice—Katie’s—cuts through my panic roaring in my head. “Bring her down here; I can help.”
My arms lock tighter around Sofia. She’s limp; blood has soaked through her clothing.
How much has she lost? Every instinct in me snarls against the idea of following Katie.
She’s leading us downstairs—toward the basement.
The place that smells of death and desperation. My wolf thrashes. Not there. Not again.
“I can’t—” My voice cracks, jagged with fury and fear. I stand stock still as Katie pulls open a door and calls out to one of the other omegas.
“Now, Luca,” Katie snaps. “Or she’ll bleed out in your arms.”
Jackson’s hand clamps my shoulder, urging me forward. His eyes say what I already know: however awful it is down there, Sofia dying in my arms would be worse than not trying to help her. My feet feel like stone, but I force them to move. Resentful of every step I take.
“Put her down on the table,” Katie directs, and I do as I’m told. I grasp Sofia’s hand and squeeze it tight in mine as Katie cuts away Sofia’s top, revealing the gunshot wound to the side of her abdomen.
“Get out,” I snarl at Jackson. He raises his hands in a defensive stance and turns his back. He gets it; he wouldn’t want me to see his mate undressed either.
“I mindlinked Doc,” he says from outside the door. “Sofia had sent him further away with Tyson when she got here and realized we couldn’t be contacted. He’s on the way back. I’ll send him down when he gets here.”
“Why isn’t her wolf pushing the bullet out?” I ask as Katie washes her hands and puts on gloves.
“Silver bullet. Her wolf would be mostly dormant. I don’t know how she even managed to extend her claws in this state. I need to get it out so she can heal,” Katie responds before glancing at me. “Are you her mate?”
I nod without taking my eyes away from Sofia. “Okay, then stay. Your presence will help. But keep quiet, and don’t get in my way. Got it?”
“Whatever she needs,” I whisper, bringing her hand to my mouth and kissing her knuckles. “I’m her mate, and I’m not going anywhere.”
I stroke Sofia’s damp hair back, ignoring the bile that burns my throat as Katie works.
The metallic stench of blood saturates the room.
The sound of her gloved hands digging inside Sofia’s body makes my stomach twist. My wolf claws against my ribs, howling to tear Katie away, to do something—anything.
But I lock my jaw until it aches. Nothing matters except Sofia being okay.
Even unconscious, her eyebrows are scrunched up, and her scent is tinged with the unmistakable bitter tinge of pain. This is all my fault. I wanted to keep her safe, but instead I put her and everyone else in danger.
Minutes bleed into an eternity. My whole world shrinks to squeezing her fingers in mine, to the fragile rise and fall of her chest.Finally, Katie curses softly and pulls a warped hunk of silver free. She drops it on a tray with a sharp clatter, then bends to stitch Sofia closed.
The door bangs open. “Katie?” Doc stumbles in, his breath hitching when he sees her.
“She’s lost a lot of blood. I’ve only really done a patch job.
Enough to keep her alive so you can get her home.
I don’t have the equipment to do scans or check for internal damage here,” she responds as she finishes bandaging Sofia up before making eye contact with Doc.
A glimpse of the former Katie appears as her face softens when she takes him in.
“You did good, kid,” Doc whispers.
For a heartbeat, her eyes shine. But then she blinks, and the emotion passes. Like a mask visibly slides into place, and Katie goes back to the hardened version of herself she has become. “She’s stable enough to move. Get her out of here.”
I slip one arm beneath Sofia’s knees, the other behind her shoulders, and lift her carefully into my arms in a bridal carry. She feels fragile. Too light. I breathe her in, grounding myself. She’s still here.
Careful not to jostle her, I carry her up the stairs and back outside.
The omegas stand around, huddled together in small groups; uncertainty hangs heavy in the air. They look to Katie for leadership when she comes up. I guess she has become their alpha in the absence of a real alpha to hold them together.
“Where the hell is Ryan?” I ask, realizing there’s no sign of him.
“Beta, something is wrong with the alpha,” Rob, one of the warriors, answers. “After you took Sofia downstairs, he shifted again, scented the omegas, and took off into the forest. He’s been blocking out mindlinks ever since. Jackson went after him.”
Fuck. We always knew it was risky for him to be here on the full moon. But I can’t leave Sofia and follow after them.
“It’s moon madness,” I tell Rob. His eyes widen, and his eyebrows shoot up.
“I don’t know where the tranquilizer gun went when I shifted.
You need to find it and then find Jackson.
Find out where they are and shoot the alpha.
He’ll be unconscious for about twenty minutes afterwards. I shifted inside, near the main door.”
“Yes, Beta,” Rob says, nodding his head before moving.
“Why the hell did you bring a moon-mad alpha wolf here? Where’s Alpha Elliot?” Katie asks, and it hits me how long she’s been gone. How much she has missed.
“Luna Rose rejected him and left years ago. Ryan has been alpha ever since. He’s been losing it to moon madness, but we thought his mate might be here. Might be able to pull him back.”
"Unbelievable," she says with a scoff, tearing off her gloves and flinging them to the ground.
“So, after all this time, that's what brought you here? So, your alpha would be okay? Well, if you think he can just take one of my girls, you can think again. It’s not fucking happening. No one will separate us!”
The click of a safety switch being disengaged behind my head freezes me. Cold steel presses to my skull. My wolf surges. And I cradle Sofia closer to me. What the fuck? One wrong move and it could be game over for me. And then I can’t protect the one thing in the world that matters to me.
“Katie, what the hell is going on? We came to get you out of here as soon as we found out you were alive. We have housing in Caleb’s pack.
He took over Iron Fang, and half of the warriors left.
There are plenty of vacant houses for you and your girls.
No one is trying to trap you. Don’t you want to find your mate? Find happiness?”
Katie stares intensely at me. If that collar around her neck wasn’t blocking it, I’m sure it would be her wolf staring me down. Or maybe not. She doesn’t seem like an omega anymore. She’s all alpha.
It goes against my nature to reason here. I want to take Sofia and walk out of here. Let them do whatever the hell they want. But that gun is still pressed against my skull. And I refuse to leave Sofia. Even by death.
“We just want to get you out of here. Go back to Caleb’s pack, at least until we can get those collars off. Then, you can do whatever you need to do. Go back to your original packs; stay together. It’s up to you.”
The gun stays pressed to my skull for way too long. My pulse roars.
Finally, Katie jerks her chin. The weapon withdraws.
“Fine. But we’re taking the guns with us.”
“Wouldn’t expect anything less,” I say with a nod. “Now, how about we get the fuck out of here so I can get my mate home?”
Katie stares at me for a few moments before shaking her head. “I can’t believe you guys ended up mates. Sofia must have been over the moon. She always had such a crush on you.”
A ragged chuckle escapes me as I nearly get whiplash from the flip between wanting to blow my brains out to reminiscing. I dip my face into Sofia’s hair, inhaling her scent, reminding myself she’s alive. “Not quite. But we’re working on it.”
The other omegas watch us curiously. Seeing how gentle I am with Sofia seems to have eased some of the tension from them, but we need to get out of here. Who knows if there’s more of them out there.
“Camille, I’m so sorry…” Caleb’s words trail off, and I look back to see a female who must be his sister cowering behind another female who glares at Caleb. “Camille, it’s me. Caleb. Your brother. I’ve been looking for you for two years.”
Katie stands between them and props her hands on her hips. “You need to give her space. You have no idea what she’s been through at the hands of men.”
“She’s my sister,” Caleb snarls. “I’ve been looking for her since the night she was taken. I would never hurt her. Or any female… you of all shifters know that.”
What’s that about? How would Katie know anything about Caleb?
“Well, then, waiting a while longer shouldn’t be a problem, should it?
” Katie snaps, squaring up to Caleb. There’s no fear from her, or guns on him.
Almost like she knows he will listen to her.
“We have agreed to go back to your pack for now. But we’re bringing the guns, and if you can’t respect what we need, then we’ll be out of there faster than you can imagine, and you’ll never see your sister again. Do I make myself clear?”
Caleb’s jaw flexes, his hands curling into fists. For a moment, I think he’ll fight her. But then he exhales sharply, mutters, “Fine, you’re the boss,” and storms off.
At the door, he throws a look over his shoulder. “We’d better move.”
“Of course.” Katie’s voice is cool, commanding. “But not until I find every record of the Keeper’s buyers and torch this place to the ground.” Her eyes burn with something fiercer than hatred. It’s resolve.
And standing here, with Sofia in my arms, I know she means every word.