Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Ember

M y head throbs as I blink awake, but it’s nothing like the pain in my side.

“She’s the alpha. I’m telling you, you don’t want to disregard her command,” the kid says.

“I haven’t heard her issue a single order,” an unfamiliar voice says, scoffing. “Get the fuck outta here.”

“She’s the alpha?” a different dubious voice asks.

“She is. She came out of nowhere and saved my ass,” Anders says.

I’m still cradled to his nude chest, and he smells delicious. My nose roots around his muscular shoulder, but it’s my wolf guiding my actions. She thinks he smells…familiar. Or maybe not familiar, but comforting.

“You’re saying Aimes is dead?” the first voice asks.

“She straight-up destroyed him. She might not look like much, but trust me, you don’t want to mess with her,” the kid says. “Let my mom out. Our alpha needs a healer.”

My eyes pop all the way open.

We’re standing in front of a brick enclosure that gives outdoor dog pen vibes, and not just because of the rancid smell.

“Jesus Christ,” I hiss as my head rolls around. “Tell me your alpha doesn’t have prisoners in there.”

“He does,” the boy says. “Or he did. My mom wouldn’t do what he wanted, so he put her in there. That’s why Anders challenged him.”

My mind races, but it’s foggy and everything is confusing.

Oh, God. There’s no way I just huffed this poor guy’s scent while all he was trying to do was get me to his captive mate so she could provide me with medical treatment.

“Put me down,” I command.

Anders goes rigid, but his hands tighten instead of releasing me. “No fucking way. You can barely speak. You’ll face-plant if I put you down.”

“I’m fine.” I slap his hand.

God, what a dick. His hand rests on my ass, under his shirt, while his kid tries to negotiate his mate’s release from what amounts to a dog kennel.

“Let his mother out. Are there any other females in there?” I stare straight at the guards to make sure they know I’m asking them directly.

“No,” the guard on the right says, shaking his head. “Four prisoners. Three of them may have earned their way in there. Sofia isn’t one of them.”

“Then release her now ,” I growl.

My patience is running very thin, and the radiating pain in my chest still makes it difficult to take an entire breath.

The guard who answered me spins around, unlocking the exterior door and heading inside, while the other stands with his arms crossed. Something in the way the second man watches me sets my wolf on edge. She doesn’t like him, and she’s sure he’s judging how weak we currently look.

I bare my teeth, and he finally looks away. It’s a good thing for him that he did. If not, my wolf was about to force a partial shift.

“Put me down, Anders,” I say as firmly as I can.

The infuriating man doesn’t comply.

“No.” His nostrils flare as his eyes glow with the same unnatural illumination.

I don’t think he’s only a wolf. There has to be some other kind of supernatural mixed in there.

I wiggle in his hold, but the feeling of warm blood trickling down my side stops me. Or it could be the way Anders growls. Yeah, I’m like ninety-seven percent sure he’s not just a wolf.

“I’m taking the alpha home,” Anders says. “Wait for your mom, Kent. When she’s out, come straight to my house.”

“Got it,” the kid—Kent—replies.

Anders takes off through the trees down a gravel-lined path. He stomps at a rapid pace toward a row of small houses, but he does his best to keep from jostling me around in his hold.

I haven’t spent any time in this area of the pack lands, but if I had to guess, I’d say we’re on the outskirts of the small town.

“I can walk.” My teeth grind together as his hand tightens on my backside.

“Kent wasn’t joking when he said your ribs are visible.” He continues walking in the same direction without even considering my request.

“I’ll live, but you should be back there, waiting for your mate to be released.” I hiss as fire licks down my side.

Okay, new game plan—do not tense my muscles.

“My mate?”

“Yeah, is that not your son’s mom?” I know someone said her name, but I’ve already forgotten.

Hell, maybe they aren’t actually together. My head is a fuzzy mess, and I’m barely keeping my eyes open.

Normally, I’d sleep to heal.

What I really need to do is call my brothers.

This is a cluster of a disaster that I don’t have the first clue how to fix.

My wolf growls in my mind. She doesn’t want to think of ways to fix the problem. She’s quite smug that she took down that alpha male, and she fully intends to defend her right to run her newly acquired pack.

“Sofia is my sister, which makes Kent my nephew.”

“Oh,” I say, finally relaxing back into his strong form. There’s a small possibility I could have assumed that from his implication that they live in different houses, but I got stuck on my first impression.

“Yeah.” His amber eyes stare down at me as his head tilts. “Why did you intervene?”

“It wasn’t a fair fight. Also, Kent asked me to. I thought you were his dad. It didn’t seem right to let him watch you fall.”

“Thank you,” he says, bowing his head. His shoulder-length golden brown hair bounces as he moves. “Let’s get you settled in.”

I need to go home .

He opens the door to one of the small cottages and heads inside.

My eyes clench as I bounce in his hold. He’s not actually doing anything more than walking, but damn, my side burns worse than it has yet.

A soft gasp escapes as he places me on the long end of a sectional sofa. “Why aren’t you still injured? I saw him dig into you at least as bad as he did me.”

“My other half gives me immunity to wolfsbane,” Anders says, rearranging a few throw pillows behind my head. “I’m going to grab supplies.”

“Thanks for not saying something ridiculous like don’t move .”

He chuckles, pats my thigh, stands, and heads out of the room.

My head falls back as my mind races.

Yeah, I’m an alpha.

That doesn’t change the fact I’m female…

Challengers are going to have a fucking field day when they realize I stepped in and claimed the biggest pack in North America. Even that isn’t saying much, since the numbers I saw out there were dismal.

There have been rumors for years that packs are falling apart. Most completely dissolve due to infighting and unrest.

I have a feeling this is about to get serious.

“Stop!” I slap at the shooting pain radiating from my side through my entire body.

“Enough,” Anders growls, gripping my hand and yanking it away. “I’m sanitizing the wound, of course it’s going to hurt.”

“Did I pass out again?”

“You did,” a woman says, kneeling beside Anders. She’s got long golden brown hair and amber eyes. If I had seen the two of them together, there wouldn’t have been a doubt in my mind—they’re definitely related. “It’s the wolfsbane. I’m surprised you’re this coherent.”

“Not all that coherent,” I admit.

“I’m Sofia, the pack healer. I need you to drink this,” she says, grabbing a cup from the small coffee table.

“Why?”

“It’s to help your system fight the toxins in the wolfsbane. It tastes disgusting, but it will bond to the poison to prevent any further absorption. It should speed up your healing time by twenty percent.” She nods to her brother. “Help her up enough that she can drink without spilling any.”

Anders doesn’t hesitate to follow her instructions. He sure didn’t give me the same courtesy when I demanded to be put down.

I’ve still got his T-shirt on, but it’s tucked under my breasts.

I glance down and frown because I’m also in a pair of basketball shorts.

“Did you put those on me?”

“I did,” he says, swallowing thickly. “Would you like to growl at me about that too?”

“No thanks.” I groan as his forearm wraps around my lower back. He helps tilt me up, and Sofia brings the revolting liquid to my lips.

“It’s best if you can get it down in a few gulps. I’ve heard it gets harder to force your body to swallow if you’re just sipping it,” she says in a tender tone.

“Where’s Kent?” I ask as she forces the liquid into my mouth. It’s warm and chunky, but I swallow, anyway.

“Here,” Kent says. I jolt as he appears at the arm of the couch out of nowhere. “Let me pinch your nose. It always helps when she gives me gross stuff.” He doesn’t wait for my approval.

I fight the urge to slap away all the hands that are touching me.

I got enough hugs as a kid.

I’m also not going to be rotten when they’ve obviously had a rough go of it lately too. The warm sludge in the cup continues to pour into my mouth.

I sputter and choke, but somehow manage to get it all down.

“The worst thing I can do is interfere with your body’s ability to heal itself.” Sofia stares straight into my eyes.

I’m a little impressed. It’s rare that someone can keep eye contact with me without blinking.

It frustrates me in my day-to-day life.

Most people look at each other while speaking, but the dominance in my gaze forces most to glance away. It’s not something I can turn off at will, and it got old years ago.

“You need rest while the tea does its job,” Sofia says, standing. Her long hair is greasy and knotted. The dress she’s wearing is mostly gray, but I have doubts that it started that color.

“Thank you.” I bow my head in a nod of respect.

Anders still has his arm wrapped around my lower back, but he stretches out a hand to stabilize his sister.

“I need a good meal.” She gives a tight smile, but it’s forced.

“Thanks, Alpha Ember,” Kent says, patting my head with his small hand.

“Anytime, but just Ember is good,” I reply as my head gets heavy.

There’s some low murmuring, but I feel all warm and tingly inside.

I hope they didn’t poison me.

I don’t know Anders.

What if he wanted to be alpha?

I assumed he challenged the alpha to get his sister released, but I should be a lot more vigilant.

Being injured is no excuse.

“Would you like some water? Is there anyone I should call?” Anders asks.

“If you poisoned me, I’ll kill you.”

“Of course, you’re feisty,” he murmurs, nuzzling his cheek to mine. “Rest, Alpha. I’m here. I’ll watch over you.”