Page 3 of Cursed Wolfsbane

Remembering that he’s injured, I shout his name as I scramble over to him. When I reach his side, I place one of my hands on his muscular bicep. “You don’t get to fucking die on me!” I snarl at him in an echo of what he told me last week. Then I slam my lips onto his in a hard, fast kiss. He doesn’t have a chance to kiss me back before I tear my mouth away from his and glare down at him, daring him to disagree with me.

Xander just stares at me, his lips parted in shock. It takes several moments before he shakes off his daze. With a pained laugh, he replies, “I wasn’t fucking planning on it, sweetheart.”

He rarely calls me sweetheart, and my heart skips a beat every time it slips out of his mouth, but I don’t have a chance to focus on him using an endearment as Xander’s laugh quickly turns into a cough.

“What’s wrong?” I ask frantically.

“I got shot,” Xander tells me dryly. His eyes slip closed, and his mouth twists in a grimace.

I roll my eyes. “Trust me, I’m aware. I meant why are you coughing?”

He attempts to shrug, but the movement pulls on his wound, and he winces. “I don’t know. I don’t think the bullet hit my lungs, but I can’t exactly check inside the wound right now. Blood loss is likely the biggest concern.” By the increasing puddle of rust-colored liquid behind his shoulder, I’d say he’s right. Xander hasn’t bled out yet, so I have to hope it’s nothing life-threatening.

As I open my mouth to ask Malachi when Uncle Vale will be here, Bastian storms over. He’s also wearing gray sweats without a shirt.

“Why the fuck did you do that?” Bastian yells at his twin.

He’s angrier than I’ve ever seen him. While Bastian usually wears a smile, his face is currently twisted into a mask of rage. The veins at his temple throb in agitation. His jaw grinds so hard I’m surprised he hasn’t broken any of his molars.

Bastian drops to the ground on Xander’s other side and clutches Xander’s hand in one of his own.

“To save you,” Xander replies weakly, struggling to open his green eyes. Eventually, he pries his lids apart and stares at his twin. His gaze shines with so much brotherly love it makes a lump form in my throat.

“You could have died!” Bastian roars as a tear slips down his cheek. He angrily brushes it away with his shoulder.

I want to comfort him, but I’m not sure he wants me to touch him right now. After all, I am the reason his twin got shot.

“Better me than you.” Xander loses the battle to keep his eyes open and lets them close again with a sigh of relief.

Seeing him so vulnerable and weak is making me nervous. When he blinked his amber wolf eyes at me, I thought he was fine—albeit with an extra hole in his body, but fine apart from that. Now, I’m not so sure. Hopefully help will be here shortly.

“No! Not better you! We fucking need you, you asshole,” Bastian chokes out. He hangs his head and squeezes his brother’s hand tightly.

“You don’t. You’ll be fine without me,” Xander mutters, his voice barely above a whisper.

The puddle beneath Xander’s shoulder is rapidly spreading now. Crimson liquid soaks into the knees of Bastian’s sweatpants. He doesn’t notice, though. “No, we won’t, you goddamn idiot! None of us will ever be fine again without you,” Bastian rasps, his voice hoarse with emotion. Tears prick my eyes at the raw anguish in Bastian’s words.

He’s right, though. None of us will be okay without Xander. The snarky, aloof man snuck right past all my defenses whenI wasn’t looking. Now, he’s lodged in my heart, causing me so much pain it hurts to breathe.

Xander doesn’t respond.

“Xander,” Bastian calls. Xander still doesn’t open his eyes or give any reaction to his twin’s words. Bastian tries shaking him, but nothing happens. Xander doesn’t so much as twitch a single muscle.

My heart sinks.

No!

No, this can’t be happening again.

CHAPTER 2

BRIAR

“Bastian!” Malachi barks. Bastian jerks his head up from where he’s focused on his twin. “Xander’s still alive. He’s passed out, but you’re not doing the bullet hole any favors by shaking him.”

With wide eyes, Bastian glances back down at his twin. When he looks back up at Malachi, his eyes shine with a guarded hope. He opens his mouth to say something, but he’s distracted by a woosh behind me.

Looking over my shoulder I see… a rip in the fabric of the universe. There’s a hole with purple sparks spinning around it just behind us. Instead of the parking lot, I see what looks like part of the Wyldhart mansion.

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