His bond with Talia wouldn’t have broken if he was still holding on. Our claiming bites wouldn’t have stuck if she still had a bondmate who wasn’t part of our pack. That was the most reliable proof of death there was.
“Talia needs to be checked by a doctor,” Mercer barked an order to the team like they were his to command.
“He needs stitches,” Conrad added, tilting his head to Mercer.
The man who’d stopped to check Benjamin’s pulse stood, holding his arms out. “Miss Talia should come with?—”
All three of us snarled in a feral symphony.
I pulled out my gun again, pointing it toward the floor in front of the man. “She stays with us. I won’t hesitate to fill you all with holes if you try to take her.”
He backed up, placing a finger on his black earpiece. “Fine, that’s been approved,” he said. “Let’s move.”
As if he was going to be able to stop us if itwasn’tapproved. Yeah, they had bigger guns and more bullets, but would they risk shooting the daughter of their boss while trying to take her from her mates?
We were her mates, now. Despite the bond connecting our souls together, it didn’t feel real. I doubted it would feel real until we knew she was going to live.
God, she had to live.
We’d all die without her, wasting away without her sweet bond to nurture.
I kept my gun in my hand and followed beside Conrad as Jurah’s team led us from the building. Lavinia was waiting outside with Emilia, their surveillance van abandoned. She rushed up when we stepped outside, grabbing one of Talia’s hands.
“Oh my god. She’s…” She trailed off, tears dripping down her cheeks.
“Benjamin shot himself,” I said. “He’s dead.”
She sniffled. “Then, Talia is going to die.”
“No, she won’t,” Conrad barked. “She’s our scent match, and we all have complete bonds with her now. She has to live.”
Lavinia scanned Talia again, apparently noticing the fresh bondmarks for the first time. Her gaze snapped to Conrad’s neck, then found the matching omega bite marks on Mercer’s and mine.
Grabbing Lavinia’s hand, Emilia pulled her away from us. “Lav, let’s go. We’ll know more when the doctor has checked her over.”
The group of Jurah’s guys led the way to another van, this one black and equipped with bench seats in the back. We all slidin, and an Alfieri-employed paramedic went to work on Mercer’s shoulder.
He hadn’t gone feral yet, so we had to assume Talia was right about them not using the poisoned bullets. Mercer was way luckier than Conrad had been, for once.
It was a solemn ride, the only sounds coming from the rev of the engine and Mercer’s pained grunts. There were no windows back here, so I couldn’t tell how far we’d gone or how close we were to home. Eventually, we came to a slow stop, and someone pulled the back doors open.
I was the first out, eager to get inside and have Talia checked over, but I didn’t get far.
A harsh impact sent my head snapping to the side. I cursed, grabbing my weapon as I spat blood onto the ground. I had it half lifted when Lavinia stepped in front of me and I realized we weren’t under attack.
We were safe and sound on the Alfieri Estate again.
Nico had just greeted me by punching me in the fucking face.
I shoved the weapon into its holster again, growling under my breath. I couldn’t say I didn’t deserve the violence. Talia had gotten hurt because of this plan, and I’d promised to protect her.
Would have been nice if he’d announced himself first. I’d thought he was an attacker coming for Talia.
“Nico, stop it!” Lavinia snapped.
He glared past her at me as I rubbed my aching jaw. “He promised to fucking protect her.”
“This was Talia’s plan. Hurting them is the same as hurting her, now.”
