Chapter 30: Malachi

MALACHI

As I pace the parking lot, my wolf thrashes in my head. He throws himself against the cage in my mind that keeps him from forcing a shift. He wants to break free, find our mate, and tear out the throats of anyone who hurts her.

I like a good bloodbath as much as the next guy, but rushing off without a plan won't help Briar. Unfortunately, my damn wolf doesn't understand this. I'm getting sick of his constant growling and howling.

I'm contemplating excessively violent ways to shut him up when Rory giggles. Glancing behind me, I see Xander walking a golden retriever toward us, complete with collar and everything. I snort at the sight of Bastian on a leash. Xander's carrying a bundle of clothes for Bastian to change into after he tracks Patrick's scent.

The shielding amulet Bastian's wearing makes him look like a dog instead of a mammoth wolf. With his tongue lolling out of his mouth and a wide canine grin, Bastian looks like your average, everyday family dog. As long as you ignore his eyes shining with too much intelligence to ever be a pet.

As they reach us, Bastian's too-human eyes squint at Ronan, Rory, and me. He chuffs and rolls his eyes as Rory dissolves into laughter.

I can't help the laugh that slips out at Bastian's annoyance. Xander and Ronan join me. We take a few moments to settle down. When we do, my heart squeezes uncomfortably. It feels wrong to be laughing when Briar's in danger. My wolf growls in agreement, irritated that I took my focus off our mate for even a minute.

Sighing, I turn to the student lot entrance just as three black Rovers pull in. The cars are barely stopped before my mom hops out and runs over to us. She wraps her small arms adorned with a ton of bangles around me before pulling away to hug Xander, Ronan, and Rory.

She looks around for Bastian before he barks at her. She takes him in and giggles, the sound tinkling like bells. Smothering her laughter, Mom turns her moss green eyes to my brother. "Xander, how many times do I have to tell you that your brother isn't a dog!" she playfully scolds him. Xander's lips twitch into a small grin.

While we're talking, Dad and the enforcers get out of the cars. I raise an eyebrow at their fully kitted-out appearance. All ten enforcers are dressed in all black—black shirts, black cargo pants, and black combat boots. We're not going for subtlety, clearly.

My gaze scans over the enforcers. I don't see Jude or Knox, my only friends outside of my brothers.

I do see Bryce and Todd leaning with their arms crossed on one of the cars. They're in charge of all the other enforcers. Where Bryce is a massive golden wall of muscle, all blond hair and fair skin, Todd is the opposite. He's slimmer with mocha skin and brown hair and eyes. When they see me looking, they each give me a small dip of their head.

Other than my dad, I'm the highest-ranking and most dominant member of our pack. It can be hard to have relationships, friend or otherwise, when everyone's tripping over themselves to show me the proper deference.

That's one thing I love about Briar. She doesn't care who I am. Briar's quick to call me out on my shit. Verbal sparring with her is one of my favorite things to do. She's so cute when she's riled up.

A lump forms in my throat at the thought of never arguing with my mate again. I shut that train of thought down real fast. Briar will be okay. There's no other option.

I don't have time to be sappy. Instead, I channel my worry into white-hot anger that will burn down the world if Briar is hurt.

My dad strides over to our little circle. In his perfectly pressed suit, neatly cropped black hair and beard, and mirrored aviators, Dad looks every inch the powerful alpha he is. He stands behind my mom and puts his tattooed hands on her waist. Pulling her against his front, he leans down and kisses the top of Mom's blonde head.

I want that casual intimacy with Briar, but I don't know if I'll ever have it. We were just getting her to trust us. Then, fucking Patrick stole her out from under us. Patrick shouldn't count on living long. He'll be begging for death when I get my hands on him. My wolf flashes increasingly gory images of what we should do to Patrick. I approve.

"Kai?" Dad asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

Fuck. I missed everything he said while wrapped up in my rage. Gritting my teeth in annoyance at myself, I grate out, "Yeah? Sorry, I didn't catch what you said."

"I asked if everyone is ready to go. Are you all right, son?"

"Yes, I'm ready, and I'm fine. I'm not the one we need to be worrying about." My dad gives me a look, telling me without words that he knows I'm not okay, but he listens to me and calls the enforcers over.

Ronan and Rory head over to their car. They don't have the training necessary to come with us, much to Rory's disappointment.

When everyone's gathered around us, Bastian yips and takes off after Patrick's scent trail. We jog to keep up with him. My brothers and I lead the procession with Dad, Mom, and the enforcers running after us.

Once we're out of the center of town, Xander unclips Bastian's leash. Free from his tether, Bastian runs even faster. Xander and I have to sprint to keep up with him. With how fast we run, I have no idea if everyone else is keeping up. I'm focused entirely on not losing Bastian.

Bastian leads us to the outskirts of town. He keeps running past the occasional house built out this far toward the abandoned warehouses on the edge of town. Winding between the warehouses, Bastian stops in front of the most rundown looking one. We're all breathing heavily from sprinting.

Glancing behind me, I see that everyone else was able to keep pace with us. Good. We don't have time to waste.

Xander bends down to take the collar off Bastian. He shifts and pulls on his clothes as he talks. "They're in there. I'm going in." Bastian sprints inside.

"Fuck," my dad says under his breath. He waves half of the enforcers in with Bastian. "You can go after your brother, boys. We're still waiting for the extra help we called in to arrive. We'll be right behind you."

I start toward the warehouse when I realize Xander isn't following me. He's staring at the building with haunted eyes. This must be bringing back memories of finding Bastian that night. All I can do is hope we find Briar in better shape than Bastian was.

"You don't have to go in there, Xan. You can keep watch out here." I try to offer him an out. My words pull him out of his memories. Giving me a grim look, he shakes his head and brushes past me.

Screwing my eyes shut, I try to brace myself for what we're going to find in there. I'm no stranger to gruesome scenes. I can't be as the next alpha. None of the things I've done to stain my soul pitch-black have prepared me for the possibility of my mate being horribly injured.

Taking a steadying breath, I open my eyes and run after my brothers.

Bastian's already heaved open the old metal door. It slams against the wall with a loud clang. Walking through the threshold, I note that the rest of the warehouse isn't in much better shape than the outside. Holes in the roof, a partially collapsed catwalk, and rusted metal galore adorn the rundown space.

Following the sound of voices, I head to the stairwell to the basement. Bastian's voice floats up to me as I descend. "Open your eyes, pretty girl. Please. Show me those baby blues."

My stomach drops at the desperation in his voice. Whatever they found down there isn't good. Even knowing that, it doesn't prepare me for the sight of my mate lying lifeless on the dirty concrete floor.

Her raven hair is fanned around her, making her pale skin look even paler. Blood drips out of the corner of her open mouth. One of Briar's eyes is swollen shut, and her lip is split. From the rips in her bloody clothes, there doesn't appear to be anywhere Patrick hasn't hurt her.

My wolf lets out a growl when I spot the circular hole in her shoulder. That motherfucker shot her. I'm going to enjoy inflicting on him every ounce of pain Patrick caused Briar. My focus now has to be on getting Briar through this.

Not counting her unseen internal injuries, Briar's worst injuries seem to be on her arm, hands, and both legs. A white gleam of bone pokes through her right arm, and her legs are twisted at unnatural angles. Her delicate hands are a mangled mess of broken bones.

If I hadn't interrogated my fair share of threats to the pack, I'd probably be throwing up at the sight of Briar's injuries. As it is, my rage simply burns brighter, preparing to lay waste to this plane and the next if Briar doesn't make it through this.

As soon as I reach the bottom of the stairs, I rush over to her and drop to my knees, uncaring about ruining my expensive suit pants.

Hovering my hands over her broken body, I try to find somewhere uninjured to touch. Placing one hand on her upper arm, I press my other to her neck. I hold my breath as I check for her pulse. When I feel a faint flutter against my fingers, I almost shout in joy. Our fierce mate is holding on.

Looking up, I lock eyes with Bastian. He gives me a subtle nod that he's holding it together. When I look at Xander, I see him hanging his head in defeat. "Don't you dare give up on her, Xander. She needs us now more than ever."

He whips his head up to meet my gaze. Opening his mouth to say something, he pauses as he tilts his head, listening to something. Tentatively reaching his hand to her neck, Xander feels for the same thing I did. When he feels her pulse, he whispers, "She's still alive."

I give him a sharp nod. He closes his eyes to gather himself. When he opens them, they shine with determination. "Find somewhere to touch her," he barks at Bastian and me. "Skin-to-skin contact with her mates will accelerate her healing."

One of the enforcers sucks in a breath at Xander saying she's our mate. Clearly Dad didn't fill them in.

It's a huge deal that the next alpha and betas have found their mate, which is exactly why we haven't announced it. Briar has no idea she's a wolf, let alone the future luna of our pack. When people find out she's our mate, Briar's going to have a massive target on her back. We need to prepare her for that before that happens.

The enforcers better keep their mouths shut. I can't focus on that right now. Once Briar's stabilized, I can deal with them.

Xander's muttering to himself, probably figuring out what Briar needs next, when I smell the peppery scent of magic. Snapping my head up, I see my dad heading down the stairs with a small redheaded girl trailing him. She's a mage and a threat to my mate.

Shooting to my feet, I stride over to the stairs to stop the mage from getting any closer to Briar.

A deep growl rattles my chest as I stare down the mage. She's a few inches shorter than Briar. Her hazel eyes are currently fixed on me, brimming with annoyance.

"Where do you think you're going?" I hiss as I widen my stance in preparation for a fight. There's no way I'm letting some random mage near Briar when she's injured.

"To help Bri."

"You think I'd let a mage close to my mate?" I ask incredulously.

"Mate? Ah, shit, Saint's not going to be happy about this," the mage breathes. She turns wide eyes to my dad, who gives her a curt nod in confirmation. Shaking herself out of her shock, the mage glares at me. "I'm not a random mage. I'm her cousin, numb nuts. Move your wolfie ass out of the way so I can help her!"

It's my turn to look at my dad for verification. Briar never mentioned a cousin. It's impossible that she's biologically related to a mage. Wolves can only have kids with wolves, mages can only have kids with mages, and so on for each species. Interspecies babies just don't happen.

Dad sighs. "You can trust her, Kai. I've known Emmy since she was a baby. She won't hurt her. Emmy's Briar's best chance at a full recovery, so let her do what she needs to."

I study the mage for a moment. Now that I know they're related, I can see similarities in their facial structure. The mage has the same heart-shaped face and button nose as Briar. After assessing the mage, I decide to give her a chance. Leaning in so we're only inches apart, I growl, "Hurt her, and I'll make death seem like an easy way out. Understand?"

Instead of cowering in the face of one of the most powerful wolves in the country, the mage cocks an unimpressed brow at me. With a nod, Emmy sweeps past me to tend to her cousin.

Maybe they are related after all because Emmy's almost as fearless as Briar.

"Bri!" Emmy exclaims brokenly as she gets a look at our mate. She rushes over to Briar's head and drops to her knees. "What did they do to you?"

As she waits for an answer, Emmy sets down her beat-up leather satchel. She pulls out a mortar, pestle, and a variety of jars. Each jar contains different plants or herbs.

I follow the mage back to Briar and resume my place on her left side. She looks so tiny surrounded by us.

With tears silently streaming down her face, Emmy turns to my dad. "She was supposed to be safe here! You were supposed to protect her!" she screams at him, voice breaking in anguish.

After yelling, Emmy shakes her head and starts going through her supplies while muttering to herself. I'm guessing she's starting a potion of some sort to help Briar.

Bastian edges in front of the mage, likely worried Dad will hurt her for her blatant disrespect. While my dad is a benevolent alpha, he still has to keep order. Disrespect earns a mild maiming at the least. Sighing, I tense, ready to intercept Dad to keep the mage safe. I can't let Briar's dumbass cousin get herself injured or killed.

"Hey, mage lady," Bastian starts. I snort at his wording. "I know you're upset, but you really can't speak to the alpha of North America's largest pack like that."

Emmy's eyes widen as she looks at my dad. Instead of backtracking like a sensible person, she asks, "You're the alpha of pack Wyldhart?"

"Yes, Emmy, I am," my dad tells her patiently. He doesn't snap or snarl at her, and I wonder what the fuck is going on.

She turns her wide eyes to Briar. "Jesus fucking Christ. What the hell is your mom mixed up in, Bri?" She strokes a shaking hand through Briar's hair before looking back up at my dad. "I don't give a flying fuck what position you hold. You were supposed to keep her and Aunt Evie safe! You failed. I'll show you respect when you earn it."

I wince as she finishes. This is how the world's stupidest mage gets herself killed. I sigh, trying to think up some story I can give Briar. Something that will explain why the man she's terrified of killed her cousin without her hating my entire family.

Instead of throttling the mage, my dad flinches like she hit him. Blowing out a breath, he agrees, "You're right. I failed. It won't happen again. I swear it."

I meet Bastian's and Xander's wide eyes. What alternate dimension are we in that Alpha Wyldhart lets a mage talk to him like that?

"It better not," the bold-as-hell mage huffs. "Where is Aunt Evie, anyway?"

"She's dead, Emmy," my dad responds gruffly, devastation flitting across his face before he blanks it. That's… strange. Dad seems to care a lot for a woman he didn't know.

"What? No!" Emmy lets out a gut-wrenching cry at the news. Tears track down her cheeks and splash onto Briar's hair. She bows her head and grieves for Briar's mom, silent sobs shaking her slight shoulders. After crying for less than a minute, Emmy pulls herself together. I begrudgingly admire her ability to deal with her emotions. Emmy angrily swipes her hands across her eyes. "When?"

"Seven, almost eight, years ago," Dad says slowly, brows lifting in surprise that Emmy doesn't know the answer. "I thought your parents knew, Emmy."

"No, no one knows back home." She stares at the ground. Flicking my eyes between Emmy and my dad, I see the confusion, anger, and sadness cross his face. Emmy focuses back on Briar. "Fuck. Briar doesn't have time for this shitty trip down memory lane."