Page 75 of Ruined Wolfsbane

I like a good bloodbath as much as the next guy, but rushing off without a plan won’t help Briar. Unfortunately, my damn wolf doesn’t understand this. I’m getting sick of his constant growling and howling.

I’m contemplating excessively violent ways to shut him up when Rory giggles. Glancing behind me, I see Xander walking a golden retriever toward us, complete with collar and everything. I snort at the sight of Bastian on a leash. Xander’s carrying a bundle of clothes for Bastian to change into after he tracks Patrick’s scent.

The shielding amulet Bastian’s wearing makes him look like a dog instead of a mammoth wolf. With his tongue lolling out of his mouth and a wide canine grin, Bastian looks like your average, everyday family dog. As long as you ignore his eyes shining with too much intelligence to ever be a pet.

As they reach us, Bastian’s too-human eyes squint at Ronan, Rory, and me. He chuffs and rolls his eyes as Rory dissolves into laughter.

I can’t help the laugh that slips out at Bastian’s annoyance. Xander and Ronan join me. We take a few moments to settle down. When we do, my heart squeezes uncomfortably. It feels wrong to be laughing when Briar’s in danger. My wolf growls in agreement, irritated that I took my focus off our mate for even a minute.

Sighing, I turn to the student lot entrance just as three black Rovers pull in. The cars are barely stopped before my mom hops out and runs over to us. She wraps her small arms adorned with a ton of bangles around me before pulling away to hug Xander, Ronan, and Rory.

She looks around for Bastian before he barks at her. She takes him in and giggles, the sound tinkling like bells. Smothering her laughter, Mom turns her moss green eyes to my brother. “Xander, how many times do I have to tell you that your brother isn’t a dog!” she playfully scolds him. Xander’s lips twitch into a small grin.

While we’re talking, Dad and the enforcers get out of the cars. I raise an eyebrow at their fully kitted-out appearance. All ten enforcers are dressed in all black—black shirts, black cargo pants, and black combat boots. We’re not going for subtlety, clearly.

My gaze scans over the enforcers. I don’t see Jude or Knox, my only friends outside of my brothers.

I do see Bryce and Todd leaning with their arms crossed on one of the cars. They’re in charge of all the other enforcers. Where Bryce is a massive golden wall of muscle, all blond hair and fair skin, Todd is the opposite. He’s slimmer with mocha skin and brown hair and eyes. When they see me looking, they each give me a small dip of their head.

Other than my dad, I’m the highest-ranking and most dominant member of our pack. It can be hard to have relationships, friend or otherwise, when everyone’s tripping over themselves to show me the proper deference.

That’s one thing I love about Briar. She doesn’t care who I am. Briar’s quick to call me out on my shit. Verbal sparring with her is one of my favorite things to do. She’s so cute when she’s riled up.

A lump forms in my throat at the thought of never arguing with my mate again. I shut that train of thought down real fast. Briar will be okay. There’s no other option.

I don’t have time to be sappy. Instead, I channel my worry into white-hot anger that will burn down the world if Briar is hurt.

My dad strides over to our little circle. In his perfectly pressed suit, neatly cropped black hair and beard, and mirrored aviators, Dad looks every inch the powerful alpha he is. He stands behind my mom and puts his tattooed hands on her waist. Pulling her against his front, he leans down and kisses the top of Mom’s blonde head.

I want that casual intimacy with Briar, but I don’t know if I’ll ever have it. We were just getting her to trust us. Then, fucking Patrick stole her out from under us. Patrick shouldn’t count on living long. He’ll be begging for death when I get my hands on him. My wolf flashes increasingly gory images of what we should do to Patrick. I approve.

“Kai?” Dad asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

Fuck. I missed everything he said while wrapped up in my rage. Gritting my teeth in annoyance at myself, I grate out, “Yeah? Sorry, I didn’t catch what you said.”

“I asked if everyone is ready to go. Are you all right, son?”

“Yes, I’m ready, and I’m fine. I’m not the one we need to be worrying about.” My dad gives me a look, telling me without words that he knows I’m not okay, but he listens to me and calls the enforcers over.

Ronan and Rory head over to their car. They don’t have the training necessary to come with us, much to Rory’s disappointment.

When everyone’s gathered around us, Bastian yips and takes off after Patrick’s scent trail. We jog to keep up with him. My brothers and I lead the procession with Dad, Mom, and the enforcers running after us.

Once we’re out of the center of town, Xander unclips Bastian’s leash. Free from his tether, Bastian runs even faster. Xander and I have to sprint to keep up with him. With how fast we run, I have no idea if everyone else is keeping up. I’m focused entirely on not losing Bastian.

Bastian leads us to the outskirts of town. He keeps running past the occasional house built out this far toward the abandoned warehouses on the edge of town. Winding between the warehouses, Bastian stops in front of the most rundown looking one. We’re all breathing heavily from sprinting.

Glancing behind me, I see that everyone else was able to keep pace with us. Good. We don’t have time to waste.

Xander bends down to take the collar off Bastian. He shifts and pulls on his clothes as he talks. “They’re in there. I’m going in.” Bastian sprints inside.

“Fuck,” my dad says under his breath. He waves half of the enforcers in with Bastian. “You can go after your brother, boys. We’re still waiting for the extra help we called in to arrive. We’ll be right behind you.”

I start toward the warehouse when I realize Xander isn’t following me. He’s staring at the building with haunted eyes. This must be bringing back memories of finding Bastian that night. All I can do is hope we find Briar in better shape than Bastian was.

“You don’t have to go in there, Xan. You can keep watch out here.” I try to offer him an out. My words pull him out of his memories. Giving me a grim look, he shakes his head and brushes past me.

Screwing my eyes shut, I try to brace myself for what we’re going to find in there. I’m no stranger to gruesome scenes. I can’t be as the next alpha. None of the things I’ve done to stain my soul pitch-black have prepared me for the possibility of my mate being horribly injured.

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