Page 49 of Wolf Touched

Keith shook his head. “We don’t. The royal line has its own kind. His dad or mom are the best people to give him blood.”

Vision blurring, I took a ragged breath. “We know that won’t happen.” I exhaled noisily. “Are there any options left? Can you get him to stop bleeding long enough to let his body remake the blood?”

He gritted his teeth. “I can try.”

My world tilted, but I hung on to the bed, refusing to leave Raffe’s side.

Dave, Josie, Lucy, my brother, and Octavia joined us. They moved Dave from the transportation bed to the more stable one, and within seconds, they had him drinking blood.

I watched Dru like a hawk as he removed the bandages and dug inside Raffe’s wound. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he breathed heavily through his mouth. He held the edge of a knife to the injury, and blood squirted out. Raffe’s heartbeat quickened, and his breathing turned labored.

Something was wrong. “Why is he bleeding like that?”

“I … I don’t know.” Dru leaned over, squinting as if it might help him see better. “I see nothing that should be causing this. He should be healing. Something must be causing this bleeding. It’s like his blood won’t clot, but he’s a shifter, so that’s not possible.”

“Wait.” Lucy hurried over to us, her eyes wide. “A coven member stabbed him.”

“Yeah. We were all there, Lucy. Damn.” Keith shook his head, pacing at the foot of the bed.

What I saw on her face wasn’t confusion but fear. My pulse stopped. “What do you mean?” Once again, there was something I didn’t know. Add it to the fucking list.

“Don’t coven members have a poison that causes bleeding like that?” Lucy rocked on her feet. “I swear King Jovian told us about a poison like that in aBook of Twilight? That’s one reason the wolf shifters made the covens destroy the books—so powerful spells like that can’t be used against us.”

I swallowed.

“And they have access to those books in the secret fucking library.” Adam’s voice dripped with a malice I’d never heard from him before.

My blood turned cold, and my power wanted to hum, but I couldn’t lose control. Not when my fated mate needed me.

“You said a coven lives nearby, right?” I asked, turning to Octavia. “Can they help us?”

She licked her lips. “I … I don’t know, but we can ask them.”

That was all I needed to hear. “Then call them,please.”

“He won’t last much longer.” Dru swallowed. “If you’re going to do something, I suggest you get on it.” He began packing the wound again to slow the bleeding.

“Yeah, I can—” Octavia started, but magic filled the air around us.

We didn’t have to call the coven.

They were already here, and judging by the amount of magic they radiated, they were here to fight.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

My power hummed, and I had to get away from Raffe before I lost control. If I hurt him, I wouldn’t survive or ever be able to forgive myself.

Protect him,I linked to the others as I darted to the door.

“Wait!” Octavia shouted, but I blew past her. If they kept pushing their magic inside, they could hurt my mate worse.

Dammit, Sky,Keith snarled, sounding so damn much like Raffe that my heart fractured more.Raffe is out, and if something happens to you, all our asses will be dead when he wakes up.

I didn’t slow as I ran out of the garage door and came face to face with twenty-one coven members.

An older lady stood in the center, her face lined with thick wrinkles and her long gray hair blowing behind her. Despite her age, her eyes were the shade of evergreen needles. Four women of varying ages flanked her with tall men on either edge. Behind them stood another nine women with a man in the center.

They all had their hands lifted. Lightning crashed in the distance, and rain suddenly poured over us.

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