Page 33 of Wishes in the Moonlight (Rocky Mountain Wolves #4)

~Amanda~

“Get down!”

Before I could react to the order or the loud bang that preceded it, Jasper yanked me off my chair, throwing me to the ground and beneath the table.

My breath hitched as I hit the hard floor, the force of the movement jarring my ribs.

Savannah joined me from the other side, her eyes wide, as Jasper shielded my body with his own.

“That didn’t come from the window or the door,” he panted. “Where the hell are they?”

A sickening realization slammed into me. “The walls. There’s a secret passage from this room. Someone must be in the passage.”

My father designed it that way when he had the current pack house built thirty years earlier. Most of the house was connected with a narrow passage between the walls of each room, kept secret from all but those with the highest clearance.

When I helped Jasper and Savannah against Kyle a few weeks earlier, we made use of those same passages, so he immediately understood what I meant.

“Where’s the entrance from this room?”

“Next to the fire. There’s a switch behind the portrait of the first Alpha.”

“Got it. Stay here.”

With that, he dashed away to give chase to our would-be assailant while Savannah called after him to be careful.

My breath came in shallow pants, my entire body coiled so tight I thought I might snap.

Someone had just tried to kill me. Inside my own office, a place that should have been safe.

My pulse roared in my ears, drowning out everything else… until I saw him.

A body lay sprawled on the floor, face-down and motionless.

Troy.

My stomach plummeted, the world tilting around me as my brain connected the dots. He bolted forward just before the noise, practically leaping from where he stood to the spot directly behind me. He saw something. He tried to protect me.

No. No, no, no.

I scrambled forward, still on my hands and knees, but Savannah’s hand clamped down on my shoulder. “Jasper said to stay here. You might still be in danger. I’ll go.”

To hell with that. “He’s my mate. Let go.”

Cinder’s authority infused my words, merging with my own, and Savannah’s hand immediately dropped as she blinked over at me in surprise. I’d have to explain it to her later, but for now, I could barely breathe past the crushing weight on my chest.

“Troy?” I croaked, my throat raw as I reached him. “What happened?”

His head was turned away, his face obscured, but when I placed a trembling hand on his shoulder, he groaned, a soft, pained sound that sent ice down my spine. He moved slightly, just enough to turn his face toward me, and my breath caught.

His skin had gone pale, the color drained from his lips, his expression unnervingly slack.

“You’re okay,” he breathed out, his voice weak but filled with relief.

A sharp pang of fear shot through me. “I’m fine. What’s the matter with you?”

I tried to turn him but could barely budge his solid frame. His body felt limp and unresponsive, and I made no progress until Savannah appeared beside me, helping to roll him onto his back. He landed with another groan.

Immediately, my eyes dropped to the dark spot on his black t-shirt, a thick, spreading stain. My fingers instinctively went to the spot, and when I lifted them, they came away red.

My stomach twisted violently and the world blurred at the edges.

“Get a doctor, now!” I ordered Savannah.

She didn’t hesitate, her eyes clouding over as she put out the call.

My hands pressed down on his chest, desperately trying to stem the flow of blood, but it kept coming, warm and thick between my fingers.

The metallic scent of his blood stung my nose.

His pale eyes locked onto mine, heavy-lidded with something I couldn’t name. “Is it silver? Does it burn?”

His head moved an inch downward in a barely perceptible nod. “Silver, yes. Doesn’t burn. It’s… numb.”

Fuck. That didn’t sound good at all. Not only was he losing blood, the bullet doing who knew what to his internal organs, but the silver could be leaching into his bloodstream, weakening him more by the second.

Werewolves had incredible healing ability, but the silver would prevent it.

That bullet needed to come out of him. Now.

We might not be able to wait for the doctor.

“Get me Kalo!” I barked at Savannah and she bolted from the room without question or comment, confirming she saw the severity of the situation as well as I did.

That didn’t make me feel any better.

When I looked back down, Troy’s eyes remained fixed on me, still with that odd, wistful expression. “Thank you. For last night,” he whispered. “I’m glad we… had that.”

The words sent a spear through my heart.

No. We were not saying goodbye. Not now.

“It won’t be the last night. I promise,” I choked out, my voice shaking as I pressed harder against his chest.

A faint, ghost of a smile touched his lips, but just as quickly, it vanished. His beautiful brown eyes dulled, his gaze turning unfocused, as if he were staring at something past me.

“Troy?”

My voice cracked as I pushed down harder with my hands. My fingers turned white from the pressure.

“Troy! Look at me.”

My plea echoed through the room as agony erupted in my chest, white-hot and all-consuming.

This wasn’t the dull ache of our incomplete bond. Something ripped through my chest, shattering and exploding inside me. A raw, primal scream tore from my throat, a sound that I’d never made or even heard before.

“Alpha!” Strong hands gripped my shoulders, trying to pull me back. “Where are you hurt?”

I blinked through the haze of agony and found the doctor kneeling beside me. “Not me. I’m okay. He’s been shot. The bullet is silver; it needs to come out.”

The room spun as more people flooded in, cutting open Troy’s shirt to get to the wound underneath.

So much blood.

So little movement.

“We have no pulse,” someone said.

No.

“Get the bullet out!” I repeated, Cinder’s agony joining mine in a guttural growl. “He’ll heal if the bullet comes out.”

The doctor’s grimace felt like another tear across my heart, but he nodded at the paramedics with him. “Start CPR. We’ll move him to the operating room.”

They obeyed, one beginning rhythmic compressions on Troy’s chest while the others prepared him to move, but I could read it in all their faces. My body said the same thing.

He was already gone.

At last, Savannah blew back through the door, physically dragging Kalo behind her. The genie’s golden eyes quickly surveyed the scene in front of him, understanding dawning immediately, before they landed on me.

In three smooth strides, he was at my side. “What do you wish?”

My hands clenched into fists. “Bring him back. Now.”

His grimace reminded me of the doctor’s. “It’s not that easy. Some things are beyond even magic. If he’s truly dead…”

But he’s not , Cinder howled in my head. He can still heal. He’s strong. He’ll fight.

She was right. We just needed that damn bullet out.

“I wish for you to remove the bullet from his chest. Take it out and he’ll heal himself.”

Kalo bowed his head, and just like before, a warm glow began to build between his hands. Energy crackled in the air, stealing all the breath from my lungs as I waited, before erupting around us.

I felt no rush of power this time, no dreams of glory.

Only desperation.

It had to work. It had to.

I crawled back to Troy’s side, pulling back the hands of the paramedic performing CPR, and sure enough, a moment later, a silver cylinder bubbled up out of the open wound. I snatched it from his skin, ignoring the way silver burned my skin, and tossed it away.

“Start the compressions again,” I ordered the paramedic. “Don’t stop until I say so.”

His eyes flicked to the doctor but he didn’t contradict his Alpha as he resumed his movements, pressing down on Troy’s chest to keep the blood moving through his body.

This time, I felt it. With each pump of his hands, the pain in my chest receded. The broken bond began to stitch itself back together until it pulled taut, and Troy’s chest rose with an inhale.

“We have a pulse,” one of the paramedics breathed.

A sob tore from me, relief and fear and all the emotions of the last few minutes escaping in one desperate exhalation. Colour began to return to Troy’s face, and I glanced back over my shoulder at Kalo with a whispered, “Thank you.”

He nodded in acknowledgement but worry lined his brow and tight lips, and it took me a moment to realize why.

I only had one wish left, a wish he wanted me to use to undo every wish made before. But now that my wish had saved my mate’s life, how could I possibly wish it undone?