Page 22 of Wolf's Endgame

“How are you feeling today?” Royce came into my sight line, and with relief, I was able to turn my head back and stare at the ceiling.

“Still like I’ve been stabbed with a silver blade.” I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye, and I tried to smile.

“We’ll find her,” he promised. “She will pay for this.”

“Or she’s as much a victim as you are,” Doc muttered. I didn’t need to look to know Royce was glaring at him. I would be too if I could turn my head again. “There’s no sign of her. No one has seen her. Everyone we’ve asked thinks she’s here. Stop glaring at me Royce. Before we know for definite that Kezia is against us, let’s leave room for doubt.”

“He’s right.”

Huh, I hadn’t known Hannah was here. The grunt of pain that left me when I tried to move again caused her to step closer. “Stop it,” she admonished gently. “You don’t need to look at me to speak.” With a cool cloth, she wiped my brow. “But Mal’s right. Until we know for certain Kezia was working with Tev and that the Anterrio Pack is rising against us, we need to remember exactly who your mate is.”

She was right. They both were. But I still remembered the pain of betrayal when the knife went in, and it was nothing to the slice to my heart when Tev said, “Kezia says fuck you.”

“Water?” I asked and within seconds, Hannah was placing the straw in my mouth as Doc tipped my head gently, giving me support to drink. I was drinking through a straw. A fucking straw. I managed two sips before another wave of fatigue crashed over me.

“You need to rest, Alpha.” Hannah took the straw away, and Doc placed my head back on the pillow.

I wanted to tell her that all I had done for weeks was rest. Honestly, what I needed to do was die and stop being this burden on my pack.

“Let him sleep,” Hannah murmured to the others. “The more he rests, the more his body can heal.”

Another one in denial.

I could have slept for minutes or hours, but again I was wakened by the shouting in the room. Much louder this time. It startled me awake.

“You fucking touch him, bitch, and I will slice you open.”

Nikan. Finally.

“Move, or do you wish the alpha to die?”

That voice. I knew that voice. Kezia? How did she get here? Struggling to move, I felt the crest of pain rise within me.

“Cannon, no,” Hannah whispered urgently beside me. She pressed me into the mattress and then swiftly turned her back to me again.

She was protecting my prone body with her own. This was bullshit.

“We can save him.”

“Fuck you. You’re the reason he’s like this.”

“You are stupid.”

Not Kezia, I realized. Moonstar. Shit, I really would have preferred Kezia.

I heard a scuffle, and then the face of my dreams appeared above me. Or were they nightmares? I no longer knew.

Brace yourself, Alpha, this will hurt.

I screamed as white hot pain erupted within me, and then there was only blissful darkness.

The pain ebbed and flowed, leading me through moments of lucidity and others of utter disorientation. It was within every inch of my being, yet remained elusive, shifting like sand through my grasp. At times, my blood seemed to ignite and burn within me, while at others, I felt as desiccated as an ancient husk.

But everywhere, shafts of golden light pierced the darkness. It wasn’t sunlight—there was nothing natural about the light that bathed this empty room.

Pain swept over me again, and my muscles clenched tightly as if they were desperately trying to shield me once more from its assault.

You need to be stronger.

---