Page 41 of Midnight Bond (Wolves of Midnight #5)

brIELLE

I only remembered flashes. Brief glimpses that felt like a dream.

Like a nightmare.

There was pain as my bones snapped. Terror as my wolf broke free of her cage. Sorrow as death rose up to claim me. I thought that would be the end. It should have been. And yet . . .

More images came to me. Memories. Shocking ones. Horrific ones.

Shattered glass everywhere. And blood. So much blood.

It painted the white floor a garish red, pooling darkly beneath a male body.

A body covered in armor with the helmet missing.

The face was unrecognizable, mutilated so violently that it no longer looked human.

But the electrical prod lying beside him told me everything I needed to know.

It was Mr. Coolidge. He was dead.

Bloody prints surrounded his body, and with growing horror, I realized who they belonged to.

Me.

Had I . . . had I killed him?

My mind immediately tried to reject the idea, but deep down, I knew that I had. I’d killed him. I’d killed a human.

My stomach heaved, but when I turned my head to throw up, nothing happened. My body wouldn’t listen. It was running on autopilot. No, on instinct. I felt oddly detached from it yet perfectly aware of its every move, like a backseat driver unable to reach the steering wheel.

I’d felt this way before. Many times. Every time that I’d—

Oh, no. No! I’d shifted. I’d shifted into my wolf. She was racing through the dark woods at full speed, plowing through the snow and any obstacle that stood in her way. But how? I couldn’t feel the pull of the full moon. This shouldn’t be possible. I should be dead right now.

And where was Jagger? Where was my mate?

I quickly sifted through the horrific memories and found one of him on that same blood-spattered floor, his face ashen and still. Too still. Was he . . . was he—?

No. I couldn’t say it. Couldn’t think it.

He wasn’t. He couldn’t.

We have to go back! I screamed at my wolf, frantically trying to wrestle back control. How had this happened? How was I still alive, and how had my wolf escaped? Why did she leave him there? How could you? How could you!?

She ignored my screams, ignored my cries. Ignored everything except the instinct singing in her bones, demanding she keep going.

Home, home, home, it chanted, so incessantly that I knew exactly where she was headed. Not to my parents but to my pack, to the family that had taken me in, that had accepted and loved me unconditionally. That had kept me safe.

As my mind melded more and more with my wolf’s, her memories of the past few hours became mine.

I saw an overturned wheelchair, heard the frantic shouts of Dr. Sloane.

Bullets and darts zipped through the air.

More glass shattered as my wolf barreled through the lab in a desperate surge to escape.

I realized then that she hadn’t fled out of cowardice or fear.

Leaving Jagger behind had gutted her. She would have killed everyone in that dreadful place in order to protect him, but she couldn’t do it alone.

She needed help. She needed our pack.

Suddenly, I remembered receiving an influx of strength shortly after she’d taken over.

I’d felt reborn, as if new life had been breathed into my lungs.

The energy, the power had been unlike anything I’d ever felt before.

It had given my wolf the strength she needed to break free of that horrible prison and the people in it.

The energy had been wholly familiar, and yet it hadn’t been mine. It had almost felt like . . .

Oh, no.

With a sinking heart, I finally pieced together what had happened. Jagger had sacrificed himself for me. I was alive right now because of him. Because of the bond that tied us together. He’d given me his essence. His life.

Oh, Jagger, I sobbed, heartbroken that he’d given up everything for me.

Before I could succumb to grief over his sacrifice, I felt a flutter. A faint pulse in my chest where our invisible bond was. It was so weak that I almost missed it, but that tiny thrum of energy sent hope soaring through me.

He was alive. My mate was alive!

I cried out in joy, and my wolf released the sound in a howl that echoed through the night. For the first time ever, it felt like we were in perfect sync. Her instincts had driven her to seek help, and although every mile away from Jagger was agony, I trusted her. I trusted her to save my mate.

And so I stopped fighting. Stopping trying to take back control. She knew what to do, and I trusted her.

Hurry, hurry, hurry, I urged her onward, knowing she wanted the exact same thing that I did.

Her slim legs practically sprouted wings, carrying us through the countryside at breakneck speed.

She was unstoppable, fueled by the power of my mate.

The soulmate bond continued to weakly pulse, and I clung to it like a lifeline, willing Jagger to keep on living.

Please, I whispered, praying he could hear me somehow. Please don’t give up.

The moon was high in the sky when I started to recognize sights and smells along our northwestern trek home.

My wolf ran even faster, spurred on by the fact that we were almost home.

When the main gates to the Rivers’ family estate finally came into view, she didn’t stop.

She jumped right over them and kept on going, her sides heaving and breaths clouding the air as she doggedly approached the end of her mission.

We were racing across the vast front lawn when the door of the mansion burst open. The second I spotted a pregnant female with fiery red hair standing in the doorway, I burst into tears. My wolf started to cry as well, whimpering as she approached my best friend.

When we leapt onto the porch, Nora rushed forward and wrapped her arms around my wolf’s neck without hesitation, loudly sobbing, “Oh, Brielle.”

I cried harder, and my wolf did too, relieved to be reunited with one of our favorite people. Moments later, our relieved cries turned to cries of pain, and my wolf’s legs gave out. As she collapsed onto the porch, worry shivered up my spine.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

The energy that had carried us for the past few hours felt drained. Empty. That energy had been keeping us alive. Now that it was gone, we were starting to die again. I could feel it.

“Vi, get out here! It’s Brielle!” Nora urgently yelled, kneeling beside my wolf. “It’s okay, Brie. You’re safe now. I’m going to help you shift back.”

My wolf weakly whined, nervous yet wholly trusting our alpha female to help us. She’d saved us once from death, and I knew she could do it again. Her magic was powerful, allowing her to heal almost anything.

A familiar dark brunette joined us on the porch then, gasping when she spotted me. “She’s shifted. How is she still alive?”

“I don’t know, Vi,” Nora grimly replied, “but she won’t be for much longer if we don’t help her. I need you to hold her steady while I do this.”

Vi nodded and knelt beside my wolf’s other side.

Both females were weeks away from giving birth, but that didn’t stop them from helping their friend in need.

I was grateful, so grateful for them. I’d left, and they’d readily welcomed me back.

My past feelings of betrayal felt so small now, and I wanted nothing more than to make amends.

But when I tried to speak, all that came out was a pathetic whine.

“Shhh, it’s okay, Brie,” Nora soothed, running her hand over the fur on my face. “I’m going to fix this.”

My wolf shuddered, closing her eyes as our strength continued to rapidly decline.

“Now, Nora,” Vi said. “Her heartrate is slowing.”

Sudden light burst behind our eyelids, and a wave of warmth swept over us, through us. “Shift, Brie,” Nora quietly yet firmly ordered. “You have to shift.”

My wolf resisted, flinching away.

Vi grabbed my wolf’s shoulders, surprisingly strong as she held her down. My wolf thrashed in her grip, whimpering as the warmth intensified, growing hotter and hotter.

“Shift!” Nora barked, her quiet demeanor falling away to reveal the alpha within. Her fingers dug into my wolf’s face, the magical light pulsing from them and into our body sharp and demanding like her voice. “Shift, Brielle!”

The command jolted through us, shoving us over the edge. One of our bones snapped, and I screamed, the sound belting from my wolf’s mouth in an agonized howl. Vi and Nora worked together to hold me still, staying by my side as I painfully transitioned from wolf to my human form.

When it was finished and I lay panting on the cold porch, naked and utterly spent, they both gathered me into their arms. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I sobbed, beyond grateful to have survived.

Already, I felt my strength slowly returning.

Not Jagger’s this time, but mine. At the mere thought of him, my sobs grew hoarse until I could barely breathe.

Still, I began to tell them everything. About my heat and our time in the barn, about how Jagger used our soulmate bond to save me, about the fact that I loved him and could barely function knowing that I’d left him all alone in that godawful place.

They listened without interruption, quietly offering me their support and comfort.

The second I was done, though, Vi stood up and hurried back inside the house, saying over her shoulder, “I’m calling the boys.”

Apparently, Kolton and Griff had been scouring the earth ever since discovering that Jagger and I had been taken. They weren’t the only ones, either. The entire pack was out looking for us, even Mrs. Bailey. Even my human family.

If that wasn’t acceptance, if that wasn’t love, I didn’t know what was.

“Don’t worry, Brie,” Nora said, wiping the tears from my face. “We’re going to get him. We’re going to get your mate back.”