Page 92 of Reign of the Beast

One of the worst things to say to an Alpha wolf.

A growl rumbled in my throat.

She shoved her wrist at me. “I need your claws again.”

“What?”

“I need you to slash me. Deep. My skin can’t be penetrated by any forged weapon outside of an Immortal blade right now until the protective element of the power I invoked wears off. Your claws are natural. Plus, we’re mates, so my power shouldn’t be defensive with you.”

“You’re seriously asking me to hurt you, your mate who is an Alpha wolf? Do you not get how insanely overprotective and possessive I am with you?”

Her hardheaded, determined expression softened for a moment. “I know and I’m sorry. I understand that it’s abhorrent to you.” She gestured at Ryker who was still violently seizing beneath my hold. “He’ll die, Jaxon. I can’t let that happen. I can save him.”

“You can?” Lucian asked, jerking his head toward us.

He’d been immersed in his grief and torment at the state of Ryker, blocking everything out and just focusing on feeding him his blood.

“How?” I added, eyeing Mia warily.

She held up the syringe she’d tried to inject into herself. “This is my father’s blood. I stole it from the Guardian Archives before I left a few months back, as a precaution. It has incredible healing properties. It will numb the unbearable pain the Immortal blade infection is causing Ryker, and give him one hell of an adrenaline boost that will jolt him awake.”

“Him being unconscious is the only reprieve he has from this suffering,” Lucian argued.

“He must be conscious for the next step to work.”

“Next step?” I asked.

“I need to spark that defensive magic of his with a… jumpstart. Ryker has the ability, with his new type of power, to disintegrate even Immortal magic upon contact with his.That’swhat this infection is. Magical.”

Lucian cocked an eyebrow. “You’re saying he has the ability to heal himself from an Immortal wound?”

Jesus Christ.That was a hell of a thing.

“Not right now. Not in this state. But he will once I jumpstart it for him.”

“Jumpstart? What are we talking about here? Like a defibrillator?” I asked.

“Pretty much. Just magical rather than electrical.”

“That’s a great risk, given the state of him,” Lucian cautioned.

“Exactly why I need to bolster him with the blood first.”

“Why do you need me to cut you?”

“A non-immortal can’t take a shot of pure Immortal blood. It will overwhelm them. So, I need to use mine, that of a half-Immortal, to dilute it a little.”

“Just add Cornelius’ to mine,” Lucian said, gesturing to his bloodied wrist still dripping into Ryker’s open mouth.

Mia shook her head. “Too diluted.”

She thrust her wrist at me again. “Do it. Please, Jaxon.”

I grasped her wrist, but stopped short to eye Lucian. “You got this?”

He pulled his wrist from Ryker’s mouth, then stroked a hand gently through his hair. “Whatever it takes to restore my beloved. This transcends even bloodlust.”

Wow.Their love was… extraordinary.

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