Evelyn POV
I brace myself, for death to come but it isn’t as instant as I thought it would be.. or as painful.
But it is painful. My leg…why can I feel the pain in my leg. In comparison to my head wound that still thumps it is nothing.
Until…until I feel something starting to burn around the wound. Wolfsbane. The bitch switched the bullets for the wolfsbane ones.
Rex, goddess bless my clever boy, he knew my alpha healing would work fast on a bullet wound to the leg, but he doesn’t know about the poison. That is quickly travelling through my veins to my heart.
“Nice try pup!” Vicky growls as she pulls the gun from out of Rex’s tight grip.
“I shot her, like you said. You just didn’t say where…” He responds confidently, an aura circling around him. It was faint but noticeable, even by her.
“Once I kill you all I’m going to hunt down the little girl. Odin thinks he can betray me.” Vicky snarls, her eyes snapping to me as I try to keep the increasing burning sensation running through my blood supply under control.
“I won’t let you!” I moan, the pain starting to overtake that of the head wound.
“No offence Evelyn but you’ll be dead so not sure what you’re going to do. Maybe I’ll go get her now…” She scoffs at me, turning her back on me.
My wolf is having to top of my energy levels now, my breathing is becoming slow and wheezy. I give her control of my skin side which she uses to launch her attack.
Using her anger and alpha strength she pushes on the chains so severely that I bite down on my tongue to suppress the cry that wants to escape me. She bursts the chains apart, I am still chained up but at least I can now move.
My wolf lunges my body at Vicky and tackles her to the ground. The burst of energy from my wolf starting to disappear, she could feel the poison too, we are connected after all.
I push forward as she relinquishes control and wrestle Vicky on the floor, throwing her gun out of her reach, clawing her across the face in the process. I stand up, desperate to get Rex out, only to hear another gun shot fire.
I feel it hit me square in the chest, a force that penetrates through my skin instantly, taking the wind from out of me. The rogue, he had another gun. A smirk forms on Vicky’s face, she knows…she knows I can’t beat this.
“Elspeth!” I hear a voice call from outside… Reuben’s voice.
“Daddy!” I hear my baby girl scream as my legs collapses from under me. Vicky’s eyes widen from the noises from outside, before they dart to the shipping container entrance.
Good, I didn’t imagine it. He is here. She heard him too. I hope he rips her to pieces. I don’t feel my upper body collapsing to the floor, I only feel it when my head bounces off the metal flooring. Thank you moon goddess, he found us.
He can save Rex now.
Reuben POV
I swoop Elspeth up in my arms and take her back to Donnie and Harry. She’s shivering in my chest as I hold her tightly to me, Donnie wasting no time in breaking her free of her hand cuffs.
“Elspeth darling…who’s been shot?” I ask, already dreading the answer. Her sobs are uncontrollable, big gulps of air reaching her lungs but she struggles to exhale them.
“Mummy…” She can barely talk, but her whisper was deafening to me. “Mummy?” I ask, my throat starting to burn from the pain of confirming it. She nods her head, her sobs continuing.
My wolf lunges forward but there was no need, I was angry for the both of us. A fire exploded in the pit of my stomach from what my family has been through. I need to get to her.
“Harry..listen. I need you to take her… take her back to Pierce and Milo. You both run! Even if her legs hurt, you don’t stop. Do you understand?”
It’s half a mile, as long as they are fast they will be okay. Harry looks at me, his face pale with worry. “I’m entrusting my daughter into your care. Do you understand the importance of keeping her alive?”
“Yes Alpha!” Harry nods as he pulls Elspeth into his arms and hands her bunny, who she clings onto for dear life.
“Go!” I command. He doesn’t wait a second, he keeps her close to him. My heart pulls at me removing her but she will now be safe, that’s what I need to remember..
“Nate…prepare the medics.” I command through the mind-link but don’t wait for him to reply. Not ready to admit what I already know.
With a venomous growl I launch the attack, my men following my lead. We enter the shipping container to find the anonymous rogue entering some kind of hidden passage through the ground. So that’s how they do it.
“Get him!” I demand pointing my hand at the bastard trying to flee. No chance. My eyes scan the area and I find Rex crouched over Evelyn, stroking her face. Noah and Cassandra chained to chairs, exactly how Evelyn must have been.
My footsteps are heavy, my chest tightening at the scene before me. I have failed her. Failed to keep them safe.
I crouch down, cupping my boy’s face which is red and blotch….full of tears before I gently move him aside so that I can attend to Evelyn. Her eyes are struggling to stay open but she sees me, now here. she smiles knowing I am
I check her head wound and what is under her hand…she’s covering her chest. I pick up her hand to reveal a bullet wound with greenish poison working its way through her veins, working its way to her heart.
No!
“Don’t touch her!” Noah shouts as Nate unties him from the chains before moving on to Cassandra.
“Evelyn?” Noah collapses to his knees next to me.
“Noah…Elspeth?” She pants out, struggling to not only talk but now breathe. “We’ve got her, she’s safe.” I confirm, desperate to put her mind at ease as I stroke her face lovingly.
“Mum, I’m so sorry…” Rex sobs next to me, my own heart breaking for him. No, no I can’t let them lose their mother.
“Sshhh you had no choice. You protected your sister, don’t hold any guilt darling, you did the right thing.” She quells his guilt, she was right, he most certainly wasn’t to blame.
“I need to get the bullet out.” Noah shouts at Nate who is trying to get the medical team in, as my men take the rogue outside.
“Evelyn, just hold on.” Noah pleads to her. Once he has the tools, I watch as he starts to remove the bullet from her chest, working hard to get it out.
“Her leg, don’t forget her leg…” Cassandra is at Noah’s side, ready to help him in this unsanitary open surgery. Her leg? She was shot in the leg as well? Fuck!
A gasp leaves her lips as her breathing starts to slow down even more. “Don’t you dare!” I order from her, pulling her into my arms. My preparation for grief overwhelming me already.
“Mark her!” My wolf’s voice enters my head.
“What?”
“Mark her…she’ll gain our strength. She’ll feel part of the bond snap into place.” He seems adamant it will work and I don’t have anything to lose.
I pull her up slightly, closer to my shoulders as I continue to cradle her.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes!” He roars at me, knowing we were running out of time. I lick my lips, moistening them as I prepare myself. I pull her neck towards me, her breathing weakening as the poison was taking her from us.
Please let it work.
I sink my teeth into her neck, marking her as mine. I feel my teeth hit bone and take a moment to feel the bond vibrating through us. A pleasurable moan leaves me but I can’t help it, this is a sacred moment.
Her eyes widen and her body stiffens as I mark her. Her own pleasurable moan escaping her Her pain takes me off my guard, I can feel her inner scream. The pain I remember from when I was shot.
I pull my teeth out, my mark branding her neck. The royal emblem, a crown with a wolf howling to the red full moon. The royal mark.
“Just stay with me!” I plead to her before I let my wolf take control. He shifts as if knowing exactly what to do.
He lets Noah finish taking the bullets out, growling at him for taking too long. My wolf licks her chest, head and leg. Anywhere that is injured, including her wrists from the tight chains.
“Keep going Alpha.” Noah encourages my wolf as he places his fingers on Evelyn’s pulse point on her wrist. “It’s working!”
