Page 44

Grif

V erity moved in front of me. As she pushed me, I spied the outline of a gun. My kitten’s scream pierced the air as the crack of a gunshot echoed through the patio.

Intense pain shuddered through our bond, stunning me. Did she just take a bullet for me?

“No,” Derva yelled. “You’re ruining everything, you dumb bitch.”

“VERITY!” I shouted as she stumbled and fell to the ground. Hard.

“What is fucking happening?” AJ burst onto the balcony.

“Was that a gunshot?” Dimitri appeared behind AJ, eyes critically searching the scene.

Derva’s sister made a strangled sound, then took off into the darkness.

“She’s getting away.” My voice broke as I took Verity’s limp hand into mine. Please be okay. Please. Please. Please.

“Understood.” The Russian defensemen leapt over the fence and took off running.

Derva froze, looking out into the garden as her sister disappeared, like she was too panicked to do anything.

“Winnie Chesterton shot Verity.” Pain burst through my skull. Not my pain. Verity’s.

“Oh fuck,” AJ breathed as he crouched next to me.

“Wake up, Please. ” I shook her gently.

Verity didn’t respond. Probably because she hit her head so hard. Shit.

“It’ll be okay.” AJ got on his phone, putting an arm around me. “I’d like to report a shooting.”

“What’s wrong?” Jonas and Dean appeared.

“Don’t let them leave.” AJ indicated Derva and Freddie with his chin as he gave the dispatcher the hotel address over the phone and added, “We need an ambulance.”

Jonas took up residence in the doorway that led to the ballroom atrium, giving Verity a somber look.

“Verity.” Dean ran over to us. Taking off his jacket, he used it to staunch the bullet wound in her upper shoulder, blood all over her scarf and dress.

“What did you do to my sister, you fucking fuck-boy?” Mercy yelled, barreling into the patio in a flurry of red sparkles, Kaiko at her side.

“Is that why you wanted me to come? Not so I could network, but to lure Verity out so Winnie could hurt her?” Freddie roared at Derva.

“I didn’t know Winnie was going to shoot them. I didn’t even know she owned a gun. Shit, I thought she was going to yell at him, maybe throw a punch.” Derva shrugged, not nearly as worried as she should be considering her sister just s hot someone.

“You bitch.” Mercy lunged at her in a cloud of alpha anger.

Jonas caught her. “Not today, Squirt.”

Tears ran down Mercy’s face. “Let me at her, Bub. Or him. I need to hit someone.”

“I know.” Jonas held Mercy tighter. “I know. But we can’t. Not today.”

“I’m on it,” Kaiko said as she got out her phone, glaring at Derva.

All I could do was clutch Verity’s hand as everyone else moved and spoke around me. She looked so still. Almost like…

My chest got tight.

“Get Grif back from her so I can look. Good job applying pressure, Dean,” a male voice said.

“Breathe, Grif. Just breathe. It’s going to be okay, Boo-Boo. Dr. Mosser was at the party and he’s looking at Verity. The ambulance has been called.” Arms wrapped around me.

I pressed my face into AJ’s shoulder and inhaled his vetiver scent, trying to get comfort from it. From him.

“She took a bullet for me. I didn’t even see the gun until after Verity screamed.” My voice came out muffled and ragged, my heart in my throat.

Verity.

“Alphas can be like that, especially when protecting their mates. It’ll be okay. We’ll take care of her,” AJ soothed, rubbing my back.

What if she wasn’t okay?

“Is that Dimitri?” Jonas looked out into the darkness.

Peeking up from AJ’s shoulder, I saw a large figure come toward us on the other side of the fence.

“Let me go. Let me go!” a woman shrieked.

“Police. There was a shooting?” a voice said from the doorway to the atrium.

“I caught her.” Dimitri let himself in through the small gate in the fence. The woman who shot Verity kicked and shouted, slung over his shoulder.

“She didn’t mean to. Winnie got upset with Grif Graf because he put her husband in jail. She’s pregnant and has a toddler. It’s a lot,” Derva blubbered, trying to seek comfort from Freddie.

Freddie pushed her away. “I’m tired of hurting Verity to make other people happy. While she can be an insufferable perfectionist, she’s not awful.”

“Don’t talk about her like that. I love her,” I snapped. I shivered a little in AJ’s arms. It was cold out here.

Dean put an arm around me, sandwiching me between him and AJ, love coursing through our bonds.

The paramedics rushed onto the scene, and I sat there, frozen and terrified, clutching AJ as they put her still body on a stretcher. Blood marred the beautiful dress she and AJ spent so much effort fixing.

I ran after them. “That’s my alpha. I’m going with her.”

The thought of leaving her side made bile rise in my throat.

“Go. We’ll follow,” AJ told me, patting my shoulder.

“Go for it,” the paramedic told me, then turned to AJ. “We’re going to Manhattan General.”

I held her hand as we got into the back of the ambulance. At least she was breathing.

But I couldn’t feel her in our bond. Her driftwood scent went rotten, choking me. I felt hot, almost stiflingly so. I shrugged off my jacket and covered her with it so she’d have my scent with her.

She looked so still.

Fuck. Chet’s wife tried to shoot me.

Verity took a bullet for me. My love. My alpha.

My mate.

If she didn’t live, I didn’t know what I’d do.