Page 76 of Ruined Wolfsbane

Taking a steadying breath, I open my eyes and run after my brothers.

Bastian’s already heaved open the old metal door. It slams against the wall with a loud clang. Walking through the threshold, I note that the rest of the warehouse isn’t in much better shape than the outside. Holes in the roof, a partially collapsed catwalk, and rusted metal galore adorn the rundown space.

Following the sound of voices, I head to the stairwell to the basement. Bastian’s voice floats up to me as I descend. “Open your eyes, pretty girl. Please. Show me those baby blues.”

My stomach drops at the desperation in his voice. Whatever they found down there isn’t good. Even knowing that, it doesn’t prepare me for the sight of my mate lying lifeless on the dirty concrete floor.

Her raven hair is fanned around her, making her pale skin look even paler. Blood drips out of the corner of her open mouth. One of Briar’s eyes is swollen shut, and her lip is split. From the rips in her bloody clothes, there doesn’t appear to be anywhere Patrick hasn’t hurt her.

My wolf lets out a growl when I spot the circular hole in her shoulder. That motherfucker shot her. I’m going to enjoy inflicting on him every ounce of pain Patrick caused Briar. My focus now has to be on getting Briar through this.

Not counting her unseen internal injuries, Briar’s worst injuries seem to be on her arm, hands, and both legs. A white gleam of bone pokes through her right arm, and her legs are twisted at unnatural angles. Her delicate hands are a mangled mess of broken bones.

If I hadn’t interrogated my fair share of threats to the pack, I’d probably be throwing up at the sight of Briar’s injuries. As it is, my rage simply burns brighter, preparing to lay waste to this plane and the next if Briar doesn’t make it through this.

As soon as I reach the bottom of the stairs, I rush over to her and drop to my knees, uncaring about ruining my expensive suit pants.

Hovering my hands over her broken body, I try to find somewhere uninjured to touch. Placing one hand on her upper arm, I press my other to her neck. I hold my breath as I check for her pulse. When I feel a faint flutter against my fingers, I almost shout in joy. Our fierce mate is holding on.

Looking up, I lock eyes with Bastian. He gives me a subtle nod that he’s holding it together. When I look at Xander, I see him hanging his head in defeat. “Don’t you dare give up on her, Xander. She needs us now more than ever.”

He whips his head up to meet my gaze. Opening his mouth to say something, he pauses as he tilts his head, listening to something. Tentatively reaching his hand to her neck, Xander feels for the same thing I did. When he feels her pulse, he whispers, “She’s still alive.”

I give him a sharp nod. He closes his eyes to gather himself. When he opens them, they shine with determination. “Find somewhere to touch her,” he barks at Bastian and me. “Skin-to-skin contact with her mates will accelerate her healing.”

One of the enforcers sucks in a breath at Xander saying she’s our mate. Clearly Dad didn’t fill them in.

It’s a huge deal that the next alpha and betas have found their mate, which is exactly why we haven’t announced it. Briar has no idea she’s a wolf, let alone the future luna of our pack. When people find out she’s our mate, Briar’s going to have a massive target on her back. We need to prepare her for that before that happens.

The enforcers better keep their mouths shut. I can’t focus on that right now. Once Briar’s stabilized, I can deal with them.

Xander’s muttering to himself, probably figuring out what Briar needs next, when I smell the peppery scent of magic. Snapping my head up, I see my dad heading down the stairs with a small redheaded girl trailing him. She’s a mage and a threat to my mate.

Shooting to my feet, I stride over to the stairs to stop the mage from getting any closer to Briar.

A deep growl rattles my chest as I stare down the mage. She’s a few inches shorter than Briar. Her hazel eyes are currently fixed on me, brimming with annoyance.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I hiss as I widen my stance in preparation for a fight. There’s no way I’m letting some random mage near Briar when she’s injured.

“To help Bri.”

“You think I’d let a mage close to my mate?” I ask incredulously.

“Mate? Ah, shit, Saint’s not going to be happy about this,” the mage breathes. She turns wide eyes to my dad, who gives her a curt nod in confirmation. Shaking herself out of her shock, the mage glares at me. “I’m not a random mage. I’m her cousin, numb nuts. Move your wolfie ass out of the way so I can help her!”

It’s my turn to look at my dad for verification. Briar never mentioned a cousin. It’s impossible that she’s biologically related to a mage. Wolves can only have kids with wolves, mages can only have kids with mages, and so on for each species. Interspecies babies just don’t happen.

Dad sighs. “You can trust her, Kai. I’ve known Emmy since she was a baby. She won’t hurt her. Emmy’s Briar’s best chance at a full recovery, so let her do what she needs to.”

I study the mage for a moment. Now that I know they’re related, I can see similarities in their facial structure. The mage has the same heart-shaped face and button nose as Briar. After assessing the mage, I decide to give her a chance. Leaning in so we’re only inches apart, I growl, “Hurt her, and I’ll make death seem like an easy way out. Understand?”

Instead of cowering in the face of one of the most powerful wolves in the country, the mage cocks an unimpressed brow at me. With a nod, Emmy sweeps past me to tend to her cousin.

Maybe they are related after all because Emmy’s almost as fearless as Briar.

“Bri!” Emmy exclaims brokenly as she gets a look at our mate. She rushes over to Briar’s head and drops to her knees. “What did they do to you?”

As she waits for an answer, Emmy sets down her beat-up leather satchel. She pulls out a mortar, pestle, and a variety of jars. Each jar contains different plants or herbs.

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