20. Jax

20

Jax

I managed to catch her before she hit the floor.

Mate.

My wolf came tearing out of me, but unlike last time, I did not hand over the reins. Grounding myself at the surface, I roared as I shifted. The bed broke under me, and I clutched at Anna's body.

Something had happened. Had she been poisoned? How could someone have gotten to her?

Healer. Healer, now.

I agreed with the monster living inside of me. His own fears of his mutation were stowed. Anna was in trouble, and we needed to help her. Holding her as gently as I could, I kicked the door down and roared.

The door opened at the end of the hall, and a woman I didn't recognize stared at me in shock.

Danger. Surrounded by danger.

Clutching Anna, I howled and barreled toward the woman. With a scream, she jumped out of the way, and I entered the main part of the infirmary. Frantically, I searched for Saul's bond to call for him only to remember that I'd broken it off.

Kenzi.

I pulled hard on her bond and turned my head. There were too many people in the infirmary, and none that I recognized.

I needed to get free. Needed to go somewhere to keep Anna safe.

Grunting at them, I raced out of the infirmary and crashed through one of the large windows. Glass rained down on me, and I hovered over Anna's prone body to protect it.

I was free. I could go anywhere. Take her somewhere safe.

Home.

My control was slipping. I knew that I couldn't go home. It was too damn far, but my wolf's instincts were taking over. Anna was not safe. We needed to go home.

Snarling inward at myself, I started moving again. I just needed to find Saul, and everything would be all right. She would be safe.

A bond pulled inside of me. Kenzi. I tried to focus on it and locate her, but my insides were on fire. Everything seemed so damaged and frayed. Even the magical bonds inside of me.

Only the mate bond pulsed bright and strong. Anna was still alive.

Running upright as best I could, not caring how I looked, I headed for the trees. Cover. I needed cover and to make a den. Protect my mate.

"Jax!" A voice howled behind me.

Not pack. Not important. I kept going.

No. It was important. Ally. Help. I tried to reason with my wolf, but something shifted inside me.

The mate bond. It was dimming.

My control slipped, and the monster rose to the surface. Helpless to stop it, I watched from inside myself as we raced into the woods. For hours, it felt like we ran. Entire trees bent to our will, and the ground shuddered with each awkward stomp we took. At no point did we release Anna.

Occasionally, there would be a nip at our heels, but we didn't even look down. We never slowed.

Until three wolves dropped in front of me. Recognizing them, my wolf stopped suddenly and dropped to three paws, still awkwardly clutching Anna with the fourth. We growled.

They growled in return.

"Jax. Jax's wolf." Janelle walked slowly toward us. "Anna is in trouble. We need to help her."

Witch. My wolf had no love for witches at the moment, especially considering what this one could do. We growled at her.

She didn't bat an eye. "If you keep taking her farther and farther away from the infirmary, away from Saul, then you'll kill her. Anna will be dead. If you want to run, run, but put her down first so we can help her."

We would never release Anna. Never. We snarled at her.

"Release your wolf, Jax. Tell us what happened to her so we can save her."

We could leap over them easily. Kill the witch. Snap her neck and keep going. They would never be able to catch up.

Except she was ours. We could feel the bond within us. The witch. We had claimed her.

I had claimed her.

And the wolves, they were ours. Even if the bonds were gone. They were ours. Amelia had saved Anna from being raped. Finn had given up his entire life to see us to safety. Kenzi had risked her life to save Anna.

They were here for her.

Slowly, I felt the wolf's grip loosen. I rose to the surface and gently placed Anna on the ground.

A dozen or so needles embedded in my back. "Shit, what did you do that for?" the witch yelled.

I turned to face a dozen of London's soldiers. Threats.

My wolf snatched control, and I roared loud enough for the trees to shake. I crouched, poised to launch myself at them, when magic hit me from behind.

My body slumped to the ground.

"Great," Kenzi hissed. "How are we supposed to carry him back now?"

I passed out.

Light flooded the room. Machines beeped every few seconds. A headache formed at the back of my eyes, and my skin itched. Groaning, I floundered for a moment. Where the hell was I?

Annoyed at the strange patches on my skin, I opened my eyes and ripped them out.

The machines went into overdrive. Furious, I grabbed the one nearest to me and pulled. I broke apart easily, and I used it to throw at one of the other machines.

"Stop," someone snapped. "Damn it, Jax, those machines are expensive and take forever to order!"

Whipping my head around, I focused on the voice. London. He sat in the chair next to me and growled back at me.

It all came back. The drug. The infirmary. I patted down my body. "Human," I muttered.

"Yes. Your healer was furious when we carried you back full of sedatives and witch magic, but at least you didn't kill anyone. Once the sedatives took hold, you shifted back, and the witch magic kept you under until Saul could reverse the effects using Anna's blood. Makayla is on the mend as well. I'll let him tell you at the details."

"Anna," I groaned and tried to sit up. "I need to get to Anna."

"You're not going anywhere. Saul said it's going to take some time for you to get your strength back, and we didn't separate you. Anna is here. She's…" London looked suddenly sad. "She's right next to you."

My head whipped around. Anna was in the hospital bed, but she wasn't hooked up to any machines or wire. She was just lying there, almost like she was asleep.

But I knew something was wrong. The mating bond was so angry and full of terror. "How long has she been like that? What's wrong with her? Why isn't anyone helping her?"

The door opened. "Ah, I see our patient is awake. Good. I need to draw some more blood, and it turns out you're angrier about it when you're unconscious," Saul said. "London, Cruz is looking for you."

Rising, London nodded and left without answering any questions. When Saul held up a needle, I glared at him.

He sighed. "The two of you have been unconscious for about two weeks. It's been three days since I started administering the cure to you. A little longer for Makayla. She woke up after four days, but her system had more damage than yours."

"Anna?"

He injected me with the needle. "Yes, her blood was the answer. It turned out that the reason I couldn't identify the final chemical was because it was a potion made from plants that should be considered extinct. If we ever find who made this drug, I want to kill them but only after I praise them for their biochemistry engineering. The other chemical was insulating the magic, making it impossible to detect. Anna's DNA destroyed it completely, and I was able to reverse the other issues."

"Saul," I whispered. Why was he not looking at me?

"I suspect someone was trying to turn werewolves into super soldiers. More animal than human. Brainless hard-to-kill weapons. Lucky for us, they have a long way to go before they succeed. All this did was mutate the wolf and nearly kill them."

"Please."

With a sigh, he pulled the needle out. "There's nothing I can do for her, Jax. She's not injured. She's not sick. There is nothing medically wrong with her. I tried to monitor her vitals, but she short-circuited the machines. London is not happy about that, and I imagine he's not happy about the damage you did here. I'm giving her nutrients and fluids. I had the witches examine her. Jax, she's brimming with magic. Flooded with it. It shouldn't be possible."

Squeezing my eyes tight, I cursed myself. Cursed my own damn curiosity. "You know London's theory?"

"That her mother is a witch? Yes, I know. Still, she is a null. Magic is repelled from her. It doesn't cling to her like that."

"What if it's her own magic." I opened my eyes. "Saul, she could read and write. She's educated."

"Yes. She's very smart. What does that have anything to do with…oh. Someone taught her."

"I asked her three times who taught her to read. Three times in the last two days. She knew about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Her father told her classic horror stories, but he was not educated. So how did he know that? When I asked her who taught her to read, it was like the question slid right off her. She didn't even remember me asking, but then she was reading to me in bed, and she just passed out. Like maybe she remembered."

Turning his head, he stared at her. "A triggered spell, flooding her with magic, and trapping her."

"Inside what? Her own body? Her own mind?"

"Ava and Janelle have a theory, and based on my examination of her, I think they're correct."

"What?" I demanded.

"We believe that Anna is trapped in a nightmare, and unable to wake up."