39. Anna

39

Anna

My wolf wasn't coming.

Rooted to the spot, I desperately called for her again. Around me, blood and violence reigned. Wolves leapt down from above us. We were grossly outnumbered, even more so because my wolf wasn't coming .

This had never happened before me. There were times when I couldn't call to her. Times when I refused to call her, but when I did, she always came. Every single time.

I could feel her. Feel her stress and her fear, but she was choosing to ignore me. Choosing to stay put.

Saul's roars reached me, and I turned to see four wolves piled onto him. Finn broke free from his in time to join in on the fray, but it wasn't long before he was dragged away again. Everything was happening in slow motion, but it was only seconds.

Once those seconds turned into minutes, it would be over. My mate and my friends would be dead.

What are you doing? I screamed at my wolf. We have to help them.

Desperately, I tried to force her to me, but she didn't budge.

Look at them.

Her voice was calm as she spoke to me. Calm and resolute. Tears welled up in my eyes. I was looking at them. They were dying.

Feel their bonds.

Bonds? I was only bonded to Jax. Finn and Saul still weren't bonded with him. He hadn't wanted to use that much power while we were in rogue territory.

See the threads.

Suddenly, my wolf wasn't alone. The strange sensations that I had been fighting to ignore these past few days swelled up inside me. Every color imaginable swirled around my wolf, playing with her, supporting her, protecting her.

We are one.

Well, shit.

I stared at my wolves again. I could see the threads swirling around them. I saw a paler shade of the gold that connected Jax to them, and if I followed each thread, I knew that they would also connect to me. These wolves were mine.

It wasn't just Katherine locking up my magic that had damaged it. It had also been me. Isolating myself for years and years. Refusing to get close. Refusing to connect. Opening up to Jax had changed that. These threads were mine, and they made me powerful.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. My wolf rose happily to the surface, carrying all the magic, and I accepted it. Accepted them both.

"Enough," I roared and exploded. Magic erupted from me. The wolves didn't just scatter. They flew through the air.

It wasn't enough. They'd attacked my wolves. Nearly killed them. I wanted them dead. Rising up, I gathered my energy again and focused. Saw the threads running through them. Connecting them to each other. To their alpha. To the earth. I wanted to sever them. Cut them off from everything so they would know only darkness and fear.

So they could feel what I had been through.

But I couldn't. Maybe I wasn't strong enough. Maybe I was never going to be strong enough. All I could do was pull them away again, toward the cliff and down hundreds of feet to meet their death in the rushing river below.

A weight crushed down on me, and I stumbled. I was so heavy. So damn heavy, but I wasn't done. Jax. Finn. Saul. They were barely moving. Their threads were dimming.

I couldn't let them die. Saul was closest. I moved toward him and searched through his threads. Saw the pain collecting and paralyzing. His spinal cord had been severely damaged. Placing my hand on the open wound, I focused. Whispered to it. Knitted it back together.

Rising his head, Saul stared at me. There was still pain. Still wounds. I put him back together as best as I could and turned.

Finn. I took a few steps and fell to my knees. Heavy. I was still so damn heavy. Finn had sustained too many wounds, and he was bleeding out. Magic wrapped around him, knitting him back together. The open wound on his side. The gash by his ear. The broken leg. All better.

Jax. I turned and found that Saul had shifted. He'd made it to Jax first. How long was it taking me to heal? Too long.

I couldn't walk. I crawled.

"Anna." Saul's eyes were filled with tears. "Anna, I don't think there's anything you can do. He's almost gone."

Almost. Almost wasn't gone. I couldn't walk. Too heavy, but I crawled to him.

Jax's wolf whimpered and shook, but he didn't open his eyes. I looked up at Saul and saw the grief in his eyes.

"I can save him," I whispered. "I see the threads. I feel him."

"You're pale and weak, Anna. I know enough about magic to know that you've using too much too quickly," Saul said urgently. "We cannot lose you both."

He wasn't. My energy was down, but I knew where I could get more.

So much more.

I blew open the pack bonds. They had been forged before I swore my oath. They'd been forged on that stormy night all those years ago, when I found my mate. When I found my freedom. They were mine, and they were his.

And they would save him.

"She's fucking glowing," Finn said weakly behind him. "What is she doing?"

"Killing herself," Saul said darkly. "Anna, you need to stop this."

Jax had fought to protect me. He hadn't left my side. He would never leave my side. Everything that he'd ever done was for me.

"I love him," I whispered. "This is for him."

I pulled. The energy flowed to me through the bonds. All the love the pack had for their alpha. The strength they got from him. Security and peace. I took and took until I could feed it into him. Thread his wounds together. Give him energy. Give him life.

"Anna, you did it, but you have to stop," Saul said urgently. "I don't know what you're doing, but you can't keep it up. Stop. I can take care of him."

All that energy, all that magic.

"Anna! Stop!" A new voice. One that I recognized. Opening my eyes, I looked up at the witch. Lunessa. The most powerful witch I knew.

I could kill her. Snap my fingers and pull apart the threads that bound her together.

"She's pulling from the pack. She needs to stop now, or she'll drain them all dry," Lunessa said urgently. "I can't stop her."

Drain them dry.

No. No, I couldn't hurt Jax's pack. My pack. I couldn't.

Shutting my eyes, I pulled my magic inward. Forced what I could back through the bonds. Fed them. Strengthened them.

Then I blacked out.