Page 141 of Wolf's Mark

I kept my finger on the trigger, my eyes watering from the gas and the pain as claws sliced into my arm and chest.

As a haze filled the room, all I could do at this point was pray.

In the few seconds after, images of Jax floated into my mind.

His smile.

His chiseled features.

His gorgeous body.

And the moment when we’d first made love.

My mind was already foggy, the mask incapable of keeping all the gas from reaching my lungs. As I coughed, my body starting to crumple to the floor involuntarily, all I could think about was him.

The words were easy to say.

Even if he didn’t hear them.

“I love you…”

CHAPTER 34

Jax

“She needs to be in a hospital,” Marla chided for the third time in less than an hour. She removed the stethoscope from around her neck, twisting her head so I could see the full effect of her glare.

“You know why we can’t do that,” I told her.

“He’s right,” Chase told her. “The last thing we need to do is to place the FBI on further alert or cause any trauma in the community.”

Trauma.

We had a killing field full of heads and massacred corpses on full display proving that there’d been a bloody battle. While cleanup was ongoing, ensuring no one would ever learn what had occurred in the dark, that would still take time. The area was being heavily guarded, but I continued to fear a breach. That would be disastrous.

I moved closer toward the bed, peering down at Sedona. She looked so pale, her soft skin blemished from chemical burns. But they would heal even without the full effect of her being a wolf. The toxins in her lungs were the most concerning. Marla was beside herself, Daphne as well. While they’d had no way of knowing what Sedona had planned given the chaotic situation, they blamed themselves for her condition.

Because they’d followed her orders.

Orders given by a future queen.

Using the gas had been a premature decision and Marla had had no idea how to handle the symptoms or if there was a cure.

I felt cold inside, dead in a way I hadn’t before. Sedona had asked me to trust her, disobeying my direct orders.

In doing so, she’d destroyed the werewolf primal family.

But at what cost?

I felt my legs starting to falter and suddenly both my brothers were by my side, keeping me upright.

“It’ll be okay, brother,” Riker said thoughtfully as he clapped his hand on my shoulder. “She’s strong. She’s a fighter. You’ve seen that.”

I had, but that meant shit at this moment. “What about the other injuries?” I asked Marla.

She pulled down the sheet, exposing the claw marks on Sedona’s arm and chest. “Well, there is no doubt the girl is Wolfen. She’s healing. More slowly than some of us would, but the process is working in her favor. The internal injuries would be consideredlife threatening in a hospital, but she’s stable at this point, all organs working as they should.”

“What are you doing to alleviate the toxins?” Daphne asked. “She can’t die. She’s brilliant. She’s beautiful. She’s one of us.”

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