Page 149 of Finding the Forward: Part Two
“I’m on it,” Kaiko said as she got out her phone, glaring at Derva.
All I could do was clutch Verity’s hand as everyone else moved and spoke around me. She looked so still. Almost like…
My chest got tight.
“Get Grif back from her so I can look. Good job applying pressure, Dean,” a male voice said.
“Breathe, Grif. Just breathe. It’s going to be okay, Boo-Boo. Dr. Mosser was at the party and he’s looking at Verity. The ambulance has been called.” Arms wrapped around me.
I pressed my face into AJ’s shoulder and inhaled his vetiver scent, trying to get comfort from it. From him.
“She took a bullet for me. I didn’t even see the gun until after Verity screamed.” My voice came out muffled and ragged, my heart in my throat.
Verity.
“Alphas can be like that, especially when protecting their mates. It’ll be okay. We’ll take care of her,” AJ soothed, rubbing my back.
What if she wasn’t okay?
“Is that Dimitri?” Jonas looked out into the darkness.
Peeking up from AJ’s shoulder, I saw a large figure come toward us on the other side of the fence.
“Let me go. Let me go!” a woman shrieked.
“Police. There was a shooting?” a voice said from the doorway to the atrium.
“I caught her.” Dimitri let himself in through the small gate in the fence. The woman who shot Verity kicked and shouted, slung over his shoulder.
“She didn’t mean to. Winnie got upset with Grif Graf because he put her husband in jail. She’s pregnant and has a toddler. It’s a lot,” Derva blubbered, trying to seek comfort from Freddie.
Freddie pushed her away. “I’m tired of hurting Verity to make other people happy. While she can be an insufferable perfectionist, she’s not awful.”
“Don’t talk about her like that. I love her,” I snapped. I shivered a little in AJ’s arms. It was cold out here.
Dean put an arm around me, sandwiching me between him and AJ, love coursing through our bonds.
The paramedics rushed onto the scene, and I sat there, frozen and terrified, clutching AJ as they put her still body on a stretcher. Blood marred the beautiful dress she and AJ spent so much effort fixing.
I ran after them. “That’s my alpha. I’m going with her.”
The thought of leaving her side made bile rise in my throat.
“Go. We’ll follow,” AJ told me, patting my shoulder.
“Go for it,” the paramedic told me, then turned to AJ. “We’re going to Manhattan General.”
I held her hand as we got into the back of the ambulance. At least she was breathing.
But I couldn’t feel her in our bond. Her driftwood scent went rotten, choking me. I felt hot, almost stiflingly so. I shrugged off my jacket and covered her with it so she’d have my scent with her.
She looked so still.
Fuck. Chet’swifetried to shoot me.
Verity took a bullet for me. My love. My alpha.
My mate.
