Chapter 94

Alyson

My body is tired, my mind is racing, but my eyes are cold on the sight of Olivera. He is outside in the rain, slamming an axe into the center of a log, splitting the wood into two pieces. The healer hasn't returned, and neither has Ryan. I worry for my mate, not able to tap into the mind link because of the wolfsbane. I wait patiently for it to happen, for the toxins to wear off and for me to hear my mate again, but my mind is far too focused on the rogue Alpha.

My knees are weak, and I sink to the floor, leaning against the window. I have half a mind to pull the tube from my wrist again, the over abundance of fluid in my system making my head spin rapidly. I wish it would end already and I could sleep until Ryan returns, but it doesn't appear to be working all that well. I'm wide awake.

Olivera grunts, slamming the axe down, and tossing another stack of logs under the awning outside to keep the wood dry, even if he isn't. When he finishes, he grabs a handful of the wood logs and brings them inside, tossing a few of the large logs into he fireplace. My stomach turns, seeing him play with the matches until it strikes successfully and warmth fills the cabin.

He looks to me next, his light eyes baring down the sight of me. I feel so insignificant kneeling before his mighty large presence. I swallow hard, unsure what thoughts toil in that mind of his. I would ask but I find myself too stricken with fear to mutter a word.

"Why did you pull that loose again? I can't wait for the healer to return for him to fix it. Lover boy Alpha of yours said to keep an eye on you and right now I think you're being detrimental to your health." He shakes his head, eyeing the needle. "You need the fluid to wash out the wolfsbane in your blood, sweetheart."

I sneer a look up at him. "The wolfsbane you put in there."

His disapproving look makes my skin crawl. I shudder. "You are a grudge-holder, you know that?"

"Don't give me a reason to hold a grudge and I won't."

"You're so sassy today, blood pet, maybe you need a nap."

"I am not a child," I bark.

He rolls his eyes, smirking all the while. "Then don't act like it so much."

"This is all your fault," I hum, looking aside. "You just wanted to kidnap me and then I got hurt and I can't heal right because of the wolfsbane and you are telling me I'm the difficult one. This wouldn't be happening at all if it wasn't for you!"

He opens his mouth to speak, to no doubt argue back in rebuttal, but his eyes flicker up toward the wooded forest outside the window. I perk up, expecting to see Ryan returning from the palace, but instead I see the healer. Something is off though, he is limping toward the house slowly, blood soaking his rain-drenched clothes, and as he appears closer, the sight of metal, sharp cuffs come into view around his tangled wrists.

Olivera hikes me off the ground, throwing me over his shoulder and rushing through the little cabin in the woods. My breath hitches for a moment, too much for me to ask what the hell he thinks he is doing, but as I look back toward the window in our retreat, I see a group of murky, angry rogues walking with the healer.

My stomach hurts at the sight.

"Is that—are they—"

"They aren't my rogues, sweetheart," Olivera pants.

He slams through the back door, splintering it into a pile on the ground as he shifts and holds me on his dark fur back, giving me only a moment to brace myself before he takes off sprinting into the dark woods.

My body is cold in the rain, my heart pounding hard against my chest, seeing the rogues behind us all shift, one of them slicing a paw through the healer's back, sending him to the ground lifelessly. I can't watch the sight of his death or watch the rogues charge toward us in a large, hefty group. I can only bow my head into Olivera's back and grab onto his fur for dear life.

He is sprinting as fast as possible, zooming through the woods recklessly, and sliding through the mud as we find the bank of a river that flows through a deep crevice in the woods. He runs through the shallow parts, kicking up more water, the rogues gaining speed as they jump off the cliffside and land in the water of the creek where we sprint now.

My body is soaked, only wearing a shirt that I had from the healers house, and all I can think of is seeing how they simply killed him, obviously only using him to take him to the cabin where we resided.

I'm blindsided, seeing spots, feeling my body slam sideways into the riverbed, my head swinging straight into a sharp rock and blood pooling into the cold water around me. Olivera howls a noise I have never heard before in my life, his daunting paws caging me under his heavy chest while he hovers over me protectively.

I blink slow through one eye, the other cloudy with blood, seeing a pack of rogues swarm around Olivera and I closely. They look like sharks, sniffing my blood as it drains through the creek, their teeth all showing and snarling at us like fresh meat.

I groan a noise, leaning back into the ice-cold water, my back aching from the fall and my head pounding in utter agony as bruises form from my fall. I grab for Olivera's leg, pulling myself closer to his paw, as if hiding under the guise of the rogue Alpha will help me. he is panting, exhausted, and when he peers down toward me as though to say, I will protect you, the rogues strike, pouncing on us both until my head is sent into a frenzy of darkness.

I think of my mate, hoping he is close to returning out here to find us.