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CHAPTER NINETEEN

STONE

Once I brought Zuri back to our pack house to rest, I walked alone to Wyatt’s house to check in on his mate after last night. She had requested privacy to heal from her mate dying in my hands, but I needed to make sure she was okay.

Guilt rushed through me. After everything that had happened with my father and brother, I’d vowed to protect my packmates from anything. And then I—tears built in my eyes—had killed one of the men who had trusted me the most.

After knocking on her door twice with no answer, I rocked back on my heels and promised myself that I wouldn’t break down in front of anyone today. I had done this with my own two hands. I had to pay the consequences.

The distinct stench of blood drifted through my nostrils, and I tensed. The fuck is that?

When I didn’t get an answer after the third knock, I broke the lock on the door and followed the smell of blood to their bedroom. I knocked—for decency—and yet again didn’t receive an answer, so I opened the door and nearly hurled at the stench.

Wyatt’s mate lay in a puddle of her own blood with a pregnancy test in her hand.

My stomach dropped, and I immediately scooped her up into my arms and sprinted toward the pack house, heart racing. I didn’t know what she had used, but the slits on her wrists were inches deep. She had cut multiple veins and blood vessels and wasn’t healing.

“What happened?!” a doctor exclaimed.

I placed her into his arms and shook my head. “I found her like this at her home.”

“We’ll take care of her, Alpha,” a nurse said, ushering the doctor into another room.

“Keep her alive,” I said, chest tightening. “Please.”

“You should get cleaned up,” Riley said, grabbing my wrist and bringing me to the bathroom. “Luna Zuri won’t want you coming home all bloody.” She ran some water in the sink and washed off the blood of Wyatt’s mate. “How is she doing after last night?”

“Okay,” I said, mind numb.

What had happened to Wyatt’s mate? After last night, she seemed … okay. I mean, much better than she did today. She had never been the type to … to think about even doing something like this, but … maybe the pregnancy test had thrown her off.

“She’s having a pup,” I whispered.

“Zuri is?!” Riley exclaimed.

“No, Wyatt’s mate.”

Zuri didn’t want my pups, not yet.

And while it killed me on the inside, I had to respect her wishes.

* * *

“Fuck,” I whispered, sitting on the edge of our bed and running a hand through my hair.

Zuri glanced over her shoulder at me and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said, refusing to turn around now and let her see me like this. “Go to bed.”

After a moment, the bed shifted, and Zuri’s arms came around my shoulders. “We might not be mated yet, but I can feel your emotions, Stone. You’re an asshole most of the time, but you don’t usually feel like this.”

“I’m fine,” I said, running another hand through my hair.

I didn’t want to tell her because I didn’t want her to think I wouldn’t—or couldn’t—protect her from my brother.

But I couldn’t get over the fact or the thought that he had made it through my borders and corrupted one of my good friends.

I couldn’t believe that I had killed one of my best and closest warriors because I thought it was him.

“I visited Wyatt’s mate tonight to see how she was doing,” I admitted.

“And?”

“And I found her in a puddle of her own blood,” I whispered, my entire body tightening and tears building in my eyes. I balled my hands into tight fists, letting my claws sink into my palms. “She was holding a positive pregnancy test.”

“Oh my Goddess,” she whispered, pulling me closer. “Stone, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I mumbled, though my heart was crumbling.

My pack would be torn apart because of my actions. The doctors were working on keeping her alive as we spoke, and I … I was here, about to cry in front of the one person I had sworn to protect.

“I don’t know if she’ll live,” I whispered, clutching on to her elbow.

When Zuri’s arms tightened around me, I opened my mouth and let out a sob. While she had been vulnerable in front of me way more than once, I had never wanted her to see this side of me. I wanted her to be confident that I would protect her at all costs.

Because she needed it.

She didn’t think that she was strong or that she deserved love.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “Both of you must be going through so much pain. This doesn’t compare, but I remember when my mother died when I was just a child. I felt so much hurt that I wanted to … to do that too.”

“No,” I said, a low growl leaving my throat. I whipped my body toward her and shook my head. “Don’t fucking say that, Zuri.”

She swallowed hard. “I don’t want to now, but the thought crossed my mind. She was my rock and the only person who ever truly cared about me. It’s hard when the person you love the most is torn from you.”

“Is that why you don’t want to get close to me?” I asked.

She stiffened and pressed her lips together, not saying a word.

“Zuri,” I whispered, the tears and stress building in my eyes. “Is that why you don’t want to mate with me, why you continue to refuse wanting to mate me or to have my pups? Because I’m not going to leave you.”

“Life is so precious,” she whispered. “You don’t know what will happen.”

“The Moon Goddess won’t let it.”

“That’s what all wolves believe,” she said.

“That’s what I know. There’s something different about us. About you .”

I didn’t know what it was, but I could feel it in my bones. We were mates, but Zuri was one of the most powerful women I had ever met. Not only on the outside, but on the inside too. And she was sweet—almost too sweet.

She had more love than hatred for her sister who had bullied her. She hadn’t wanted me to kill any one of the people who had made her life miserable because she loved life. And now … now, I knew why.

Still, Zuri was different. I truly believed that. One day, I’d prove it to her.

But for now, the only thing I could do was love her.