Chapter 51
Jade
The steps were a different kind of torture. My body screamed in protest with every single step. Somehow I managed to swallow back my sobs as we took them one at a time. Based on Micah’s wolf hearing, there were no wolves at the door. There was a commotion on the other side of the property. It sounded like a fight but he couldn’t be sure. It was enough of a distraction. We took a left at the top of the stairs and went straight for the rooms. My head spun but somehow I managed to stay upright. Micah kept his fingers on my elbow to keep me steady.
The hallways were quiet but there was surveillance in this part of the estate. If we weren’t careful everything would go wrong very fast. Micah said we had to look like he was escorting me back to my room. It was the best and only plan we had.
When he opened the door and shoved me through. Lucas immediately jumped on him. He hit him over the head with the chair leg and Micah sprawled to the floor. My vision swam and I took a dive sideways.
“Shit,” Micah grumbled from the floor. “I knew it was a mistake to come back for him.”
Lucas grumbled something under his breath while he picked me up from the floor. The pain was too intense in my stomach to think of anything else. The room around me was a blur.
“We came back for you before Micah broke me out,” my voice came out in a slurred mess. I pressed my hand against my stomach and I watched in horror as I realized it was soaked through and my hand came back red.
Micah swore again. “I didn’t know it was still fresh. He must have used wolfsbane to cut her open.”
Before I knew what was happening, I was being scooped up into someone’s arms and my eyes shuttered closed. “Don’t leave Lucas behind.” I breathed before it all went dark.
The pain in my stomach was what brought me back to consciousness. I didn’t know how much time had passed but I did know whoever was carrying was running for their life. There were shouts and growls then an explosion behind us. My head hustled this way and that. With all the movement I couldn’t make out what was going on and I didn’t have enough control over my body to hold my head still throughout it all.
“What’s happening?” I didn’t know if the words even passed my lips until Lucas looked down at me. He was the only thing I could focus on. His face was pained and his teeth were gritted together.
“Damian isn’t very happy about us taking his property.” Lucas grimaced.
“Where’s Micah?” I didn’t know how I was even speaking legibly.
“He’s holding them off for us,” Lucas squeezed his eyes closed as his body jerked like he had been hit.
“I can walk.”
He tightened his hold on me. “Like hell you can, your wounds are weeping blood and you smell sick. If you don’t let me get you out of here, all of this will be for nothing. We are not dying today, Jade.”
I could see it on his face that each step hurt him but he continued anyway. There was another explosion behind us and Lucas grinned. “I think our pack is excited.”
I closed my eyes again but this time I listened to all the commotion around us. My wolf instincts and abilities weren’t back to full force but I was trying. The commotion was deafening. There were pops and cracks of wolves transforming, electricity crackling in the distance, and subtle cries and grunts of pain.
“I have only transformed once, but I don’t know what else to do.” My eyes snapped open. There was no way Lucas could transform into his wolf with all the wolfsbane we had been consuming. He pressed his lips together as his eyes looked around us. We were still on Damian’s property but at least we were out of the actual building.
I shook my head against his arm. “No, we won’t make it if you do that.”
“No one is on our trail, it will only take a minute.”
Before I could protest, he was laying me on the grass and stripping his clothes off. A tear slid down my cheek as his bones cracked and popped out of place. This could very well be the last time we saw each other. I couldn’t transform with him. His brown eyes locked onto mine. “You’re going to have to get onto my back as soon as I am a wolf. Do not hesitate.”
I got up into a crouch, even though my body hated me for it. His face elongated into a snout as chocolate fur rippled and rolled over his skin. He fell forward onto his hands and knees before a howl ripped from his lips. Right before his tail extended from his backend, I jumped onto his back. I threaded my fingers through the fur at the base of his neck and he jumped forward. Agony shot through my middle but I didn’t ease my grip on him.
Heat at my back made worry course through my body but I didn’t pay it any mind and neither did Lucas. Was Micah back there? Was he going to make it out okay? I squeezed my eyes closed and pressed my face into Lucas’s furry back. He smelled like a new kind of home to me. Like pine needles and hot cocoa. Like safety and love. A different kind of love I had never experienced before. Tears pricked at my eyes again but I pushed them back. I had to keep a level head throughout all of this. We couldn’t afford my emotions right now. All that mattered was getting to safety then I could fall apart afterwards.
The wind whipped my hair away from my face and shoulders as we zoomed forward. Lucas’s heart raced beneath my hands. His rapid breathing matched my own. Sweat slid down my temples as he leapt into the sky then landed hard. I could barely feel the pain in my stomach as I felt my consciousness slip again. I blinked my eyes rapidly to stay awake. Lucas growled and I was abruptly brought back to reality. He must have sensed me slipping again.
I rubbed my fingers back and forth in his fur to let him know I was still awake. His responding purr sent a wave of comfort through me. When he came to a halt, I picked my head up from the warmth of his body. Two wolves were waiting for us on the other side of the path. One had a gray streak through his black fur and the other was pure white with a black spot over its eyes. They growled together before they slinked forward. I went to slide off of Lucas’s back when he bucked me back on. We would do this together. I swallowed hard as the wolves circled us. Their heads were low to the ground while their fur on the back of their neck stood up in the air. This wasn’t good.
The scent of my blood was still pungent. I couldn’t fight with Lucas or I would die out here. I couldn’t risk it with the wolfsbane keeping Nalia down. My fingers sunk deeper into Lucas’s fur before he pounced. The other wolf didn’t see it coming and dove to the dirt. It was exactly what Lucas had wanted him to do. We soared over the black wolf. Lucas didn’t let up his pace as we continue to run. How much farther? My stomach clenched with a dull ache and I knew I didn’t have much time. Would I actually live through this? Was it all for nothing?
Lucas tossed his head over his shoulder to look at me but his eyes didn’t meet mine. They looked at something beyond me. A howl split the air and I turned around just in time to see Micah covered in wolves while he transformed back into his human form. He continued to slash with his claw extended hands but it meant nothing when one of them wrapped his teeth around Micah’s neck. His shoulders slumped as he fell to the ground and my heart went down with him. His eyes glistened with tears as he saluted us before the wolves completely covered him from our sight.
