Page 130 of Soul of the Chaos

“No,” Grimm’s growl transformed into an anguished whimper as he shook his head, pretending he hadn’t heard our mate’s dying plea. “I can’t. Don’t ask this of me, Doc.”

49

BITTER DEMANDS

Mongrel

“I can’t. Don’t ask this of me, Doc.”

Grimm’s haunted words would stick with me until my last breath even as my wolf snarled and pushed impatiently for my skin. I knew what I had to do. Grimm might have been my brother in every way but birth, however Sasha came first. Always.

I stripped off my shirt and yanked open my jeans.

“Stop that,” Grimm snarled. “I know what you’re doing and I won’t let you take her from me.”

I ignored him. Words were beyond me now anyway. I kicked off my jeans, preparing to shift.

Sasha was already leaving us, whether Grimm was ready to admit it or not. My animal would give our girl her dying wish. Our mate deserved to have a wolf inside her to match that fierce, selfless soul before she slipped into the great beyond.

“Won’t work, Mongrel,” Doc muttered, sounding like his heart was giving out right alongside hers. “Sasha needs the alpha’s bite and the alpha’s call to draw that wolf out in time to save her life.”

With a curse, Grimm dropped Doc to the ground like he’d been burned and punched his hand through the wall. Behind him, Sasha’s body convulsed under the strain while the monitors sang her final song.

“You’re not only asking me to turn her but you’re asking me to give her the alpha’s call? To torture her in her final moments and rip that wolf straight out of her? Is that what you’re fucking telling me, Doc?!”

“Yes. Only you can save our little alpha now. The choice is yours.”

Silver whimpered then snarled in pain as Sasha’s life force flickered in and out through our bond.

I grabbed my oldest friend and forced him to look me in the eye. “Do it, Grimm. For the love of the Goddess, give her a chance to fight for this. For us. You have to believe in her. Give her the wolf.”

Grimm swayed under the weight of my conviction but it was Winter who felled our alpha’s last resolve. Sharp as a whip, her tone cut straight through all the testosterone in the room. “You better give my friend your bite, alpha—and I mean right fucking now—or I will slay you in your sleep.”

With a terrible snarl, Grimm’s deadly black beast obeyed. Tearing from his skin, our alpha leapt onto Sasha’s writhing body. Taking her shoulder in his slathering maw, he bit down. Deep and true. Infecting her with the wolf.

A beautiful sigh left Sasha’s lips and she fell still on the table.

“Do it, alpha,” yelled Doc. “Now! Call your mate, call her to your side!”

Grimm leapt straight to the ground. Sitting back on his haunches, he lifted his bloody snout to the heavens and called.

Deep in my soul, my wolf responded to his alpha’s command. The beast tore breathlessly from my skin. Writhing in burning ecstasy, I tipped my face up to the skies and joined my alpha’s forlorn cry.

The remaining wolves in the room shifted, too. Addy and Benji. Doc and Checkers. Even Carbon as Winter cursed and got out of his way.

All over the compound, shifters offered up their voices to strengthen our alpha’s plea. As one, we begged the Blood Moon Goddess for this boon. Our prayer was a chaotic song which pulsed with the promise of life and begged her to banish the whiff of death from our lives.

In a feat of strength, Silver was last to succumb. Releasing our mate’s hand with a whimper, he gave in to his wolf and added a gut-wrenching howl to our pack’s song.

The monitors bleeped, then flat-lined once more.

Then they bleeped again. Sasha body convulsed—arching mightily off the bed—before flopping back down to the table. Lifeless.

Grimm drew in another fortifying breath and called. This time, determination pulsed through our pack bond. Each and every one of us doubled down, feeding our magic into the insistent call.

Surging in sudden splendor, Sasha’s essence flickered back to life through our mating bond. Branding my soul with a beautiful lightning strike of pure agony. Fighting to be born, the beast imprisoned inside Sasha’s exhausted body shuddered beneath her skin.

A silent howl from the wolf trapped inside our mate’s still form.

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