Fated to the Warrior Wolf (The Hunted Omegas #3)

34. Leigh

THIRTY-FOUR

Leigh

W ithin ten minutes, I felt fine. Even the little pink lines of neat scar tissue had disappeared, melting away into nothing but smooth, tanned skin. But I didn’t leave my post on the couch because Bri was still down, pale against Kane’s olive-toned chest. Olivia had confirmed that her pulse was steady and she was stable, just… out. She’d drained herself.

It was as terrifying as it was guilt inducing that she was helping me and hurting herself in the process. On the one hand, I wanted to tell her to stop using her power, but on the other… I wanted my baby to be okay. It just sucked that a curse was stopping her from tapping her Goddess-given gifts. And I was stuck in the middle, halfway to relief at having her help, halfway to purgatory with watching my friend suffer the consequences of helping me have a safe pregnancy.

But as I watched the rise and fall of her chest with the intensity of a grade-A creeper, I vowed not to let her use it anymore on anything that wasn’t life or death. I could handle the nausea, I could handle anything normal for a pregnancy.

Getting her to agree to that would be a little more difficult, but after this, I was pretty sure I’d have Kane’s backing .

He looked serious but calm as he stroked her back and held her close. He caught me staring and sent me a half smile.

“She’s going to be okay. My wolf isn’t worried,” he whispered, not wanting to disturb her.

“This is my fault, though, Kane. I was okay. The baby was okay. She’s got to stop hurting herself to fix me. Unless the baby’s in danger…”

He shook his head, sorrow filling the depths of his eyes. “That’s not who she is, Leigh. And to ask her to change is to ask her to break a part of herself, maybe the truest part of herself. All we can do is support her and help her get back up again when she’s knocked down. I learned that the day she took down Jasline.”

I bit my bottom lip, the worry about Gael going out into the castle alone, worry for my friend’s health, worry for Shay and Dirge, who’d been bleeding steadily and who we could no longer see on the security camera, for my baby, who was in danger just for existing… it all reached a boiling point, and tears welled in my eyes.

“Maybe we shouldn’t accept that that’s all we can do anymore. Maybe it’s time to say, fuck the haters. Let’s take the curse off her. The Goddess gave her this gift, and maybe we’re flying in the face of her will by letting this keep dragging on.” I blurted the words with passion, if a little bit of embarrassment at the fact I couldn’t keep from crying while I said it.

He was her mate, and I was her best friend. It wasn’t my place, but damn. I was tired of everything being against us.

Kane sighed, pressing a tender kiss to her forehead before he spoke again. “I don’t disagree, Leigh. I really don’t. But she’s refused. She won’t put a target on our backs if she can manage the symptoms. I told her that we were willing to fight, to stand up for change. But she wants to try it through the council first. She doesn’t have any appetite for bloodshed—she’s a healer to the bone. ”

I smirked, shaking my head at the way he painted her, like some distant saint on a cathedral wall. In his eyes, she could do no wrong. And I kind of loved him for that, but it also made him blind to some things.

“You’re right, and you’re wrong. She normally has no appetite for violence, that’s true. But if the shoe were on the other foot, she’d rip someone to pieces for you, for me, for anybody she loves. Maybe it’s time we stood up for her the way she stands up for everybody else.”

He went silent then, and I thought for sure I was about to feel the wrath of not my best friend’s mate, but of the high alpha of the nine great packs. Instead, what I got was a resolute nod.

“I agree. And if the council doesn’t see reason, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Satisfied at having said my piece—and my thoughts being surprisingly well received, at that—I stretched and scanned the rest of the room.

Some of the chefs must have decided that the best way to keep calm was to keep busy, apparently, because the smells of meat cooking came from the kitchen, and I could hear the chatter of busy people. Sergei had shifted back to skin and procured himself a pair of sweatpants as he circulated the room checking on people.

I didn’t want to bother Kane, but Sergei had been with them. He could give me a status update on everyone else.

As I pushed off the couch, Olivia stepped up to my side. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just going to ask Sergei for an update.”

“Good idea.” She cast a glance at Bri and bit her lip.

“Stay here—it’ll make you feel better to keep an eye on her. I’m all healed up,” I said, flashing her my perfectly healed abdomen. I squeezed her shoulder, and she nodded with relief.

It had to be hard being new to a pack as tight-knit as ours, but she was a sweet wolf, and she’d grown on me almost immediately.

I crossed to where Sergei was talking quietly with one of the housemaids and waited patiently for them to finish.

“Leigh, is everything okay?” he asked, his English wrapped in a softly lilting accent.

“That’s my line,” I joked, but he was dead serious. These Romanian alphas were something else. “Yes, everything is fine with me. I was just wondering if you have any information on what’s going on up top.” I pointed to the ceiling, where the castle loomed over our heads.

“Ahh, good question.” He scanned the room and, apparently satisfied that no one else needed him at the moment, waved me over to the control pad for the security system. “Let’s check and see, shall we?”

“Thank you. I just want to make sure everyone’s okay. They’ve been gone for a little while now.” I forced my lips closed, resisting the urge to fill the anxious, empty space with words. Damn, I had a problem.

“I’m sure they’re all fine, but it can’t hurt to confirm that, yes?” He smiled but didn’t offer more as he began to flip through camera angles.

“Stop there!” I pointed at the screen, where I could see a wolf’s tail turning down a hallway. “That’s got to be one of ours, right? He’s black.”

“Yes, let’s see. That’s the west wing. Hold on, there’s a view of the hall he’s turning down.” He flipped in rapid succession a few times, and then a bloodied, weary Dirge came back into view from the front, a smaller but equally fierce honey-and-coffee wolf at his side. Shay .

I sighed with relief at the sight of them both still upright and kicking.

“That’s Dirge and Shay. Where are they?”

“Probably just clearing the floor, looking for stray attackers,” he answered. Sure enough, we watched for a minute, and they poked into each open room along the corridor and sniffed along the cracks of any closed doors, checking for foreign scents.

We slowly continued through the feeds, and one by one, spotted only our packs, working methodically through the castle to clear it for us to go back up, and once, a fully suited butler dragging a dead shifter out of one of the rooms with a disdainful twist of his lips.

We found Gael again, on one of the exterior cameras. He had his head down, sniffing back and forth as if he’d found a trail. When he took off toward the back of the property, my nerves nearly got the best of me.

I turned to Sergei. “That looks like he’s tracking someone. Shouldn’t he have backup?”

“I can ask Kane to send him some help through the pack bonds.” He left me there, anchorless, as I watched the empty lawn, the worry coming back with full force.

Goddess, keep him safe.

I peeled myself away from the empty view, checking on Brielle and Olivia again as a wave of exhaustion hit me. Healing wounds took a lot out of you, and I hadn’t forgotten my promise to WBD. So, after I ensured that they were both still fine, I took myself to the bunk room, found an open bed, and fell into it with the kind of bone-deep tiredness that could only envelop a pregnant woman.