Chapter 121

Chapter 121

Alessia’s POV

40

Xavier turns around too late for him to react as Jude pierces the blade into his chest.

I howl, leaping towards them, my mind intent on murder and I watch Jude push the blade deeper, causing Xavier to let out a growl laced with pain.

Jude doesn’t see me coming, too focused on draining the life out of Xavier to notice the huge brown wolf charging toward him.

I grab hold of the hand holding the knife, locking it between-my jaws and ripping it right out of his shoulder, leaving a protruding bone behind. Jude’s screams fill the battleground as I spit out his decapitated limb onto the ground.

Ignoring Jude as he cries out and clutches the place where his appendage was once present, I shift to my human form and rush over to Xavier’s side.

O

His wolf is slumped on the ground, not a sound coming from him. My heart slams frantically against my chest, trying to escape from its confine.

N

Falling to my knees beside Caden’s wolf, I hold my breath as my gaze flies over his body, looking for a sign that my greatest nightmare hasn’t become a reality.

My whole world is about to crumble before me when…he moves! Then he groans.

The breath that I’m holding rushes out of me in pants. “Caden,” I rush out, placing a hand on his fur.

“I’m going to get you out of here and get you help.”

I don’t know how I plan on lifting a full-blown wolf without any assistance, but I’d much rather die than leave Caden unattended to. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the blade still lunged in his chest was laced with the same venom that killed Jake and my Dad. He needs immediate attention right this f u ck i n g moment.

Looking around at the chaos still ongoing, I try to pick out a familiar figure. Anyone at all will be appreciated. I just need a helping hand to get Caden out of this battlefield.

Thankfully, I don’t need to search for long. Alex is rushing over to our side, pushing through the bodies and 174

Chapter 121

kneeling once he gets to us.

His gaze moves over Xavier’s body like I did earlier. “Is he-”

“He’s alive,” I bite out, not wanting to hear the words spoken out just in case they become willed into existence.

Alex’s eyes slide shut, relief washing over his whole facade.

“He needs to see the pack doctor,” I rush out. There will be time for us to rejoice but right now, he needs to get

out of this war zone.

Alex’s eyes glaze over, the same look Caden has when he’s mind-linking someone from the pack.

My suspicion becomes proven when Rapheal rushes over with some warriors from the pack.

“We need to get him out of here,” Alex orders, lifting from the ground.

The warriors hunch down, sliding their hands beneath Caden’s wolf and lifting him off the ground. Their faces are strained from his weight but they start moving.

“Come with us,” Raphael says, placing a hand on my good shoulder. “He’s going to need you by his side.” His

eyes fall to my wounded shoulder and he grimaces. “You also need to get that checked.”

Leaving Caden alone was out of the question. I doubt the Moon goddess herself could have taken me away from

this side.

Alex walks at the front, fighting off anyone that tries to come our way and Raphael stays at the back, doing the

same as Alex.

watch as the warriors carry Xavier’s motionless body in their arms and I can’t help but feel like I should have

done something to prevent this from happening. I mean, it happened right in my f u c ki n g face and I wasn’t able to do anything to stop it. It’s a thought that will forever eat at me.

We get to the pack house and Alex holds the door open for us to pass through. Xavier is taken to our room and laid out on the bed which he dwarfs with his frame. It’s a miracle that the bed doesn’t give out from under him.

stand by his side, running my fingers through his fur and watching his chest move unevenly. That movement is the only thing that keeps me standing.

I flinch when I feel something draped over my shoulders, so immersed in watching Xavier’s chest rise and fall that I didn’t notice the footsteps inching my way. Pulling the blanket closer to my body, I shoot Alex a thankful smile. He gives me a soft one in return and then his eyes fall to the bed, effectively wiping away the remains of his smile. “He’s going to be ok,” he states firmly and I think more to himself than me. The door opens and the pack doctor enters, s k i p pi n g through the pleasantries and heading straight for Xavier. His gaze lands on the blade in Xavier’s chest and he frowns. “He needs to shift. I can’t observe the extent of his injury in his wolf form.” He eyes the blade. “I need to pull it out.”

My stomach twists. I can’t even imagine the pain it’s going to cause him. “You should step out for this.

You don’t have to see it,” Alex says, giving me a sympathetic smile.

I square my shoulders and level him with a glare. “I’m not going anywhere,” I promised myself that I was going to

be by Caden’s side through it all and I wasn’t about to back down.

S

He nods and then sighs, accepting defeat. He signals to Raphael who has been watching this whole encounter from his position by the wall.

Raphael moves closer to us and the two of them flare Caden’s sides, each holding down a forelimb.

Alex nods at the pack doctor and he steps closer.

I swallow the barf rising up my throat and watch as the pack doctor pulls out the knife in one go.

Xavier rears up and growls, his eyes midnight black and his body bucking under the weight holding him down. Even in his wolf form, the crippling pain on his face is clear as day.

“You need to shift, Caden,” Alex states firmly. “Shift!”

Xavier’s body trembles under their hold, trashing around as he tries to get them off him. He doesn’t shift and the

wound in his chest oozes blood now that the blade wasn’t lunged in it anymore. Blood that he couldn’t afford to

lose.

I finally move from my spot, my feet feel heavy as I stop at the very edge of the bed.

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Chapter 121

“Xavier,” I whisper, and Xavier stills. “You have to shift. Caden needs to be treated,” I beg, reaching out a trembling hand and placing it on his fur. “Please.”

Bones start shifting and screams echo through the room as Xavier’s furry body changes to Caden’s naked form.

A gasp

falls out of my lips as I see the wound on his chest. The blood is now black and the wound a very dark purple. It doesn’t look to be healing at all.

The pack doctor sighs and my heart shatters. “It’s just as I expected. The wound is too severe for it to heal on its

own.” A pause where everyone waits with bated breath. “He needs the antidote else he dies.”