Chapter 16

~Lincoln~

The ride to Tia was silent and took way too long. I tried my hardest to drive as fast as possible

without getting pulled over by human police. I hate that we have been away for as long as we have,

and I hate that we were away for the reason we were.

I take off toward the tree line that's behind the apartment complex. “What is it? Where is she?” I

don't stop to answer Landon. Something tells me that we are on borrowed time. We need to get to

Tia immediately, or things are not going to be good.

I hit the tree line and look around. I don't see anything out of the ordinary then it hits me. I can

smell a trace of Tia's scent, along with a rusty smell. Blood! I take off running into the forest. I follow

the scent of blood and my mate, praying to the Moon Goddess that the blood isn't hers. Something

inside of me is telling me to be prepared because I'm not going to like what I'm about to see.

I continue to run into the forest, and the smell is getting stronger. I turn to the left, then to the right.

I run a bit more until I come to an open area where the trees are sparse; there are just a few fallen

logs. On one of those logs is my mate. She is barely recognizable, with open wounds and blood

everywhere.

I run to her and fall next to her. I gently touch Tia, afraid to hurt her more. I can barely hear her

heartbeat, and her breathing is much too shallow. I gently stroke her cheek, tears pooling in my

eyes. “T...Tia? Tia can you hear me?” There is no response. I look up just as Landon makes it to the

clearing. He takes the sight of us and immediately pulls his shirt off and brings it over. He lays it on

top of Tia and presses his fingers to her neck.

“She is still alive, barely.”

"We.....we have to get her back home. She needs help.” I'm having trouble speaking with the lump

that is in my throat. I want to scream and cry, but I want to help Tia.

“We can’t make it back to our pack with her like this. She may die on the way.”

“DIE?! She can't die! We have to help her...we have to do something!” I'm starting to get hysterical,

and I can feel Brutus bucking in my head. He is itching to get out, but he's torn between finding

who did this and dragging his mate to a hospital to be saved

“Calm down brother. We won't let her die. The Moonlight Pack is not far from here, 20-30 minutes

West. Let me call Alpha Brenner and see if we can bring her there.” Landon steps away, and I hear

his phone beeping. I trail my fingers down Tia’s arm to grasp her hand in mine. I hold her hand

gently, not wanting to let go but also not wanting to hurt her.

“It's done. He said we can head there. He will alert the guards to let us in and lead us straight to the

clinic. We need to hurry though because we don't know how long she has been like this. All of these

open cuts are concerning; they should be healed or healing by now.” I don't respond. I stand up and

gently pick Tia up. I hold her close to me, careful not to exacerbate her injuries. I hurry through the

trees to get to the car. We have to get her to the clinic as soon as possible. I put Tia in the backseat

with me, laying her head on my lap. Landon jumps into the driver's seat and takes off. “Don’t worry,

baby. I won't let you go. We will get you help.”