“A double-edged sword indeed,” he said.
The sound of metal scraping against the wood table had my mates putting themselves in front of me. Mercer curled over me protectively, and Conrad shielded us both. West’s gun went off, aiming for Benjamin’s shoulder.
I would have been terrified of the coming gunshot, but in those milliseconds of panic, I tuned in to his emotions again.
All he felt was smug. He knew he’d won, and in that instant I knew what he planned to do.
Benjamin’s hand didn’t shake as he pulled the trigger, despite the blood streaming from his upper arm.
I watched in sheer horror as the bullet tore through his own torso, the resounding boom of the gunshot echoing around the wide-open warehouse. Deep red blood spread rapidly throughhis clothing and dripped down onto the concrete floor, creating a puddle.
Benjamin laughed, and the gun clattered to the ground.
“See you on the other side, bitch.”
The pain hit me all at once.
It seared through every part of me. My bondmate’s pain mixed with his emotions, creating a cocktail of hatred and distress. I screamed, dropping to my knees and fighting to block out what I could.
It was no use.
Our bond was breaking. He wasdying. I should have known better than to think he would ever let me live a happy life after him.
Through teary eyes, I watched as Benjamin collapsed, his laughter making him cough up blood. He’d killed himself to ruin me, but there was no regret in his emotions now—only his insanity. Only his smug superiority.
We hadn’t considered that he would go this far. Hadn’t been cautious enough.
West rushed over to Benjamin, stripping his shirt and pressing it over the wound. He let out a string of curses when it soaked through within seconds. Even alpha healing wouldn’t save my bondmate—we needed a hospital, and we were nowhere near one.
He was going to die.
And so was I.
Conrad crouched down in front of me, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him. “Calm down, princess. We can fix this.” His tone had a hint of desperation to it.
No one could fix it.
With my bonded mate dead, I would die too. It was almost a certainty.
At least I would have the loves of my life to watch over me in my final days. Or hours. I wasn’t sure how long my body would be able to hold on.
I collapsed into Conrad’s lap, devolving into a series of sobs and whimpers. Benjamin’s presence in my mind was fading rapidly, his vile, negative emotions leaving as he lost consciousness.
His pain remained.
Or was itmypain?
I couldn’t tell.
Whoever it belonged to, it tried to devour me whole. I buried myself against Conrad, taking comfort in his hand stroking my hair and his gentle words of reassurance. It helped until the final moment.
Benjamin’s last breath.
The fading bond finally snapped as he left the world.
I’d never experienced anything as visceral as the agony that overcame me in that moment. It was like I was dying too, like his pain all transferred to me and now I had to live with it. His fatal wounds were mine, but I didn’t have the gaping hole that would end it quickly.
My end would come slowly.
