Page 40 of Wolf Sacrificed

I sighed as I pried my eyes back open. “This is all from the car. I hit my head, and my leg got stuck.”

Brandon gingerly moved my leg and ripped at the soiled fabric around the wound. He repositioned me so that I lay across the back of the seat on top of everyone’s laps.

Then he wrapped something around my leg.

My eyelids grew heavy and were so hard to keep open.

Lincoln shook me. “Hey, you have to stay awake.”

I blinked my eyes open, but they were leaden and didn’t want to stay open. “I’m awake. Promise.”

My words sounded jumbled even to my own ears, like I was underwater. It kind of felt that way too, like I’d held my breath for too long.

Someone pulled whatever they were wrapping around my leg tighter. I hissed, my eyes flying open as pain radiated through me, now more awake and alert.

Brandon looked up at me. “Sorry.”

He turned to Lincoln. “You should’ve seen her, man. You would have been so proud of her. She got to the one enforcer before he got out of the car and smashed him with the door. The other guy who was wrestling me… She kicked him like she was trying to score the winning field goal in the Super Bowl. Broke his neck from how hard she got him.”

Chance nodded and met my gaze in the rearview mirror. “Good. We always knew that Sloane was kick-ass.”

I grimaced and sat up a little straighter in Lincoln’s lap. “I wish I didn’t have to do that.”

My stomach twisted. Killing was becoming a common occurrence. I knew we were at war, and killing was inevitable, but I didn’t like it.

Chance must have read my mind. “None of us like having to do that, Alpha, but we do what we must for the betterment of the pack.”

I shifted my focus to the trunk, where TJ lay. Dead. All because he’d volunteered to come along on this trip. A trip that had ended up being for nothing.

I put my hand on the lever that would pull the seat down and ran it between my fingers. “Did TJ have any family in our pack?”

Ian shook his head. “No, he was by himself. One of the enforcers from my parents’ pack.”

I put a hand on his shoulder. “Ian, I’m so sorry.”

He looked down at the ground. “He knew the price of coming out if we got caught. I’m sorry that it cost him his life. Best thing we can do now is fight to make sure that his death isn’t in vain.”

I squeezed his hand tightly. “I promise it won’t be in vain. We will defeat Alpha Dane.”

The rest of the ride back to the pack was quiet. But when we rolled down the drive, people began to gather outside of the enforcers’ quarters.

Chance pulled into a parking spot and killed the ignition. It looked like everyone stood on the porch and in the yard.

Dread pitted in my stomach like I’d eaten rocks. I opened the door and crawled out, shifting my gaze over my pack members.

My mom watched us, her hand covering her mouth as she leaned against the porch railing. She was biting her nails, something she only ever did when she was nervous.

Thomas stomped forward and stopped only a few feet in front of me. “You took two cars, and there should be one more of you.”

Like he couldn’t tell from my bloody clothes and face that something had happened.

Anger and righteous indignation flared in his eyes. I knew what was coming, but I prayed I could stop it.

I stood tall and met his gaze. “We were attacked on our way back. We lost one of ours. TJ. Alpha Dane lost some of his men, too.”

Thomas narrowed his eyes and pumped his fist at his side. “And the alliance?”

I gritted my teeth. I knew I had to tell them the truth, and it wouldn’t go over well, so here went nothing.

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