Page 47 of Hellfire to Come
But I…fuck, I didn’t know if I could bear to watch her bleed for it.
I clenched my jaw, feeling the sting of my own helplessness settling in deep, iron-clad around my heart. If Laughing Crow asked for something unreasonable…if she dared ask for Brooklyn’s life in exchange, or her power, or her soul…I didn’t know if I could just stand here and let it happen.
I wanted to be the male who respected my mate’s choices.
But I was also the mate who would burn this entire goddamn reservation to ash before I watched her die.
That fracture lived in my chest, widening with every breath.
I’d never been good at standing still while the people I love suffered. I was a creature of movement, of instinct, of violent solutions. I wasn’t made for ceremonies and soul-rending bargains. I was made for teeth and claw. For protecting what I considered mine. For blood if needed.
She’d never forgive me if I intervened. I knew that. Her fury was a living thing, and I’d be the target if I stepped in, if I snapped the shaman’s neck before a price could be named.
But I’d take her hate over her absence.
Every time.
My fingers twitched at my sides. My panther was pacing beneath my skin, crouched low in the background, ears flat, tail lashing. The animal didn’t understand restraint. He knew only this: our mate stood at the center of a sacred circle, and we were outside it.
Powerless.
He didn’t like it.
Neither did I.
Across the firelight, Laughing Crow’s voice grew louder. She spoke to something I couldn’t see, a ripple in the veil between worlds. I could feel it though. A presence gathering just out of reach. Not like a person stepping into a room but like a storm looming just out of sight, measuring whether we were worth the rain.
Brooklyn lifted her head at last and looked up into the dark, into the wind and stars and firelight. Her voice was steady when she spoke, even though I knew she was fraying inside.
“Great Spirit,” she said. “If you hear me… hear not for my sake, but for hers. For Alice.”
Her voice cracked just a little on the name.
“If there’s a debt to be paid, let it fall to me. Not to her. If I have to give my life, I will. Gladly. But help her. Please. Break whatever curse was placed around her soul. Free my friend, I’m begging you.”
I took a step forward.
Couldn’t help it.
She didn’t turn to look at me. She didn’t need to. Her presence thrummed against mine through the bond, a quiet echo: Stay back. Let me do this.
“Name your price.” My mate breathed, bracing for whatever came at her.
Gods, she was so fucking brave.
Too brave.
If the shaman turned now and demanded her soul, I knew exactly what would happen.
I would shift.
I would kill.
I would tear down this entire sacred forest if I had to.
I didn’t care if it meant every wolf, every elder, every soul here turned on me.
I would not watch her die for anything.
