FINNEGAN
“The rogues were a fucking joke,” Logan’s voice rumbles through my mind as we run through the forest to get to Missy. “What were they even thinking?!”
Luckily, we could establish the position of where they should be thanks to Corvina calculating the radius of the erected protection shields. After we found the right direction, all we had to do was follow her scent.
It was feeble, and we were risking being lured in the wrong direction, but it was a risk we had to take.
‘Mate,’ Drake suddenly murmurs.
Burying my paws into the ground, I halt abruptly, sniffing into the air.
‘Where?’ I ask him, making him growl.
Closing my eyes, I concentrate on what he might be hearing or smelling as my heart stops.
“Please don’t hurt them.”
“Make it stop, please!”
“Get us out of here!”
Missy’s whispered words resound in my head over and over again, and suddenly, it strikes me.
An awful scream of pain tears through the forest, making us shudder.
‘Over here!’ I shout through the mind link, taking off in another direction, bringing us from the wrong track onto the right one.
I run through the forest as fast as I can, sensing my brothers and Hendrick following me closely.
Dodging the trees, I stop behind the last line of trees before a grass field and shift back into my human form.
“Is there a cave?” Logan asks dumbfounded, as we observe what is happening. “What are they doing outside? Why does he let her lie there all alone? Why isn’t he holding her? Isn’t she trembling?”
“I don’t know,” I answer him, my chest heaving as I want nothing more than to get to her. “But something isn’t right.”
We stare at the scene unfolding in front of us incredulously as Cayden gets us back on track.
“Hendrick and Fynn will get her and bring her to safety,” Cayden instructs us with a shaking voice. “Logan and I will bring Matthew down. We have to get them to the pack hospital as soon as we can.”
Hendrick steps forward, looking back at us. “I’ll take her. Just follow me.”
“Alright,” I confirm as I nod towards him, getting ready not to lose him out of sight.
But in the end, I practically have to follow my mate’s scent as he bursts through the trees, picks her up and disappears behind the cave.
We can hear my brothers fighting as he kneels down, holding her in her arms. “She is burning up.”
Laying a hand on her belly, he tsks. “I don’t know how long they can still hold on against all of this.”
“Let’s go. If we hurry, we can reach the hospital in time,” I say, feeling my throat constricting.
Please just make them keep up with the heat just another bit.
“There is no time for that, Finnegan.” He looks up at me with a serious expression. “Even if we were to reach the hospital in time, there is nothing the doctors can do!”
Groaning, I drive my hands into my hair as he continues to stare at me.
I know exactly what he wants me to do, but I can’t.
She won’t survive it.
“Finnegan, you have to mark her, maybe your… thing… can outwin his. Also, maybe her wolf is still in there and can actually mark you back. If that happens, you will be able to take him down.”
I take a step back, shaking my head. “I can take him down like this as well. I’m the strongest. And I don’t want to be the cause if she dies.”
“Well, you will be the cause of her death anyway. Because if you don’t do anything, she will die. And your pups will be following her in a matter of minutes.”
Passing my hand over my face, I take a deep breath. “Will you mark her too? At least she will have another one to give her another bit of strength against my demon.”
“Finnegan, she is not strong enough for this now. Even your mark is a high risk but it is the last chance we have. Please, just hurry up.”
I shift on my feet and I’m just about to protest again as I hear my brothers yelp, their screams exploding in the mind link.
Getting on my knees, I crawl closer to Artemisia, halting just inches before her face. “Please forgive me, this is all because of me.”
She continues to whisper, breaking my heart as she begs for someone to save the lives of our pups. “Be strong. Do it for me, princess, and I’ll get you out of here. Drake?”
‘Got it,’ he growls lowly before he pushes forward, trying to reach Cassy.
But he can’t seem to establish contact with her, making my heart sink. ‘Just try it. Mate is strong, she is certainly still fighting against the flames.’
Closing my eyes, I inch closer, shifting my head partly, to prepare for the mark. She is trembling horribly, and I wrap my arms around her as if it could help her feel better.
I let my tongue glide on her pale skin, which has nearly turned grey around the terribly disfiguring mark my brother left on her shoulder. Placing my teeth carefully over her shoulder, I sink my teeth into her skin slowly, feeling her stiffen in my arms.
Please, please, please. Just stay with me.
I hug her closer, my teeth marking her fully before I pull them back out slowly, hoping I didn’t hurt her too much.
Passing my tongue over the wounds, I seal my mark with it, hearing her whimper lowly.
Her trembling becomes increasingly less and I turn to Hendrick, flashing him a smile.
He smiles back at me with sparkling eyes just as we hear Artemisia push out an audible breath before she stills.
Panic rushes through me as Hendrick wraps his hand around her neck, his face falling instantly.
“No, no, no!” he shouts, and I touch Artemisia’s cheek, finding her skin icy cold beneath my palm.
“What the fuck happened?” I ask, my voice nearly failing me as Hendrick lays her down with shaking hands.
“We have to try and do CPR!”
“Are you fucking kidding me?!” I growl, and just as I lean over her, touching her face again, Drake stirs in me.
‘Mate!’ he growls, and my eyes widen as I look down, seeing that Artemisia has opened her eyes.
I don’t even get to release my breath of relief as she has already moved.
Wrapping her hand behind my neck, she pulls herself up, sinking her teeth into the crook of my neck.
‘I’m here mate,’ I hear Cassy’s voice streaming through my mind as Artemisia seals her mark with her tongue.