Page 23 of Wolf's Endgame

I knew her voice. I knew her touch. I knew the imposter that wore my mate’s skin.

Let her go. My voice was weak, even in the mindlink. My Will was as depleted as my strength.

She knows what she asked of us. For her, we will heal you.

Her words were washed away when a torrent of suffering once more engulfed me, wrenching sounds from me that I wouldn’t recognize as human. The sound of my suffering seemed to linger, hanging in the dead air as if mocking me for my weakness.

As I lay gasping for breath, I felt her cool hands on my body. One on my forehead, the other on my chest over my heart.

It runs deep. Brace yourself.

That was all the warning I got.

Bitch.

Someone was burning sage.

Sage was a scent I’d never cared for.

If I didn’t know any better, I would have sworn they were burning it directly under my nose. Reflexively, I grabbed at the arm of the fool who seemed intent on fumigating my nasal passages with the foul stench.

“Holy shit, it worked!” The burning sage was dropped, and I opened my eyes to stare into Doc’s wide-eyed wonder. “Oh fuck, you’re alive.”

“You sound disappointed.” My voice was hoarse, my throat dry, and my tongue felt thick and heavy. “Water?”

He stared at me for a few more moments, seemingly immobile, and then he burst into action. He screamed for Royce and Hannah, the nearness of his shouting deafening me, causing me to wince. Pushing myself up the bed into a sitting position, I watched as Doc fell over his own feet trying to get me water, spilling more than he poured into the glass. When he went to pick up the straw, the sound of my voice made him jump.

“I don’t need a fucking straw.”

A raspy chuckle sounded from my left, and turning my head, I was astonished to see the shaman in the bed near me. He was sitting up like me. His body looked very frail, his eyes cloudy, but his skin had a good color.

“Welcome back,” he greeted me. “Luna graced you.”

Taking the water from Doc, I took a grateful gulp and then another. Nodding thoughtfully, I looked between the two of them. “Where is she?”

“Cannon!” Royce came barreling into the room, and I knew how lucky I was to be seeing him again. Hannah was close on his heels, and she didn’t even try to stop him when he engulfed me in a bone-crushing hug. I could hear Doc berating him, I could hear Hannah sniffling, and I was reminded how very lucky I was to be alive.

“Luna’s grace, Royce,” Nikan snapped as he approached us. “He just woke up and now you’re smothering him!”

Royce took a step back, unashamed of the tears in his eyes. “Fuck, Alpha,” he said, blowing out a huge breath. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“Die?” I asked him, but my eyes were on my brother. “You okay?”

He nodded, but I could see that he was not. Nikan looked haggard. Dark circles sat under his eyes. He was both bulked up and gaunt at the same time; it didn’t suit him. It seemed I wasn’t the only one being haunted by my mate.

“Where is she?” I repeated.

“Kezia?” Royce asked as he took a refilled glass of water off of Doc. “Gone.”

“I know it was Moonstar who was here with me,” I corrected him. “Where is she?”

Hannah stuck something in my ear, and when I jerked away, she tsked at me. “It’s a thermometer, stay still.”

She read whatever the reading said and made a note on a chart. I had a chart. I’d never had a chart before. Sucking my teeth, I looked between my beta and my brother. “Why are you avoiding the question? Where did you put her?”

Running a hand over his face, Royce shook his head slightly. “She’s gone.”

Gone? “Gone where?” An unsettling feeling was rising within me.

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