Chapter 199: Nadine's Body (Lucky's POV)

I left Wyatt with Vincar to do whatever it was he needed to do with the reapers. While I ran to the front of the packhouse, I tried to call Molpe on her cell phone. There was no answer— in fact, it sent me straight to voicemail. When the door to the packhouse swung open and I stepped outside, I froze.

Day had seemed to turn to night, and there was an eerie silence permeating the surrounding area. Darkness had fallen despite it being midday. Not even the crickets or cicadas were providing their comforting trill. All noise from the training grounds seemed to be muffled. It was as if I’d stepped through a portal that only I could see.

Reika stepped out in front of me, hackles raised as she looked toward the edge of the forest. The siren blood within me seemed to thrum with a familiar feeling. My wolf took off for the forest edge, and I followed suit. Dirt kicked up behind me as my feet pounded against pavement, grass, and underbrush. Reika stopped about fifteen feet into the forest and let out an ear-piercing howl.

Molpe stumbled forward from the depths of the dark forest, her ebony skin pallid in shadows. At first, I thought it was just her. She was gripping her side and dragging her left foot behind her. But then I saw that she was gripping a rope at her side and pulling something along with her.

I darted forward. Molpe looked up and smiled when she saw me, shoulders sinking with relief. It was as if seeing me sapped whatever strength she had left, and she fell to her knees. As I ran, I dropped and slid across the forest floor to close the final bit of distance. Pine needles dug into my knees as I stretched my arms out and caught me Molpe just as she collapsed fully.

Wyatt, even in my mind, my voice was panicked. Wyatt, I need you. Or Aksel. Someone.

On my way, his response was gruff.

Slowly, I lowered Molpe’s unconscious body to the ground. Her hand was still gripping the rope at her side. My fingers yanked the rope from her grasp and tugged. It didn’t have any give, so I wrapped my hands around it and pulled. Something was dragging, scraping against rock and dirt. My muscles went taut as I pulled and pulled.

Finally, the front end of a makeshift gurney appeared. When I saw the mess of blood-soaked blonde hair appear, I stopped pulling on the rope and scrambled over. I ran my hands over Nadine’s pale face. Her eyes were open, staring blankly into the distance, unblinking. For a moment, I thought the worst. There was a slow rise and fall to her chest that told me she was at least alive, just catatonic.

Several cloth tourniquets were bound around various parts of her body. All of them were drenched in a deep maroon. She was naked. Bruises covered her tan skin and were often coupled with cuts of varying lengths and depths. Her right ankle was swollen to about four times its usual size.

“Nadine,” I whispered as my eyes continued to rake over the countless wounds, “What have they done to you?”

The sound of paws against dirt echoed through the still-quiet woods. Reika huffed in greeting to Lyall, the two obviously exchanging something mentally. Right behind the wolves was Vincar and a few others from the hospital. The healer slowed, eyes glued to Molpe’s body on the ground. He swallowed visibly before wrenching his gaze from her and finding me. The moment he saw Nadine, he motioned for two others to go to Molpe and started toward me.

Those who were shifted into their wolf form took off toward the quiet woods, taking Reika with them. Vincar knelt beside Nadine. His hands gently wrapped around mine, removing them from her body. I looked up at him, meeting his milky gaze. He furrowed his eyebrows.

Vincar’s voice was soft, soothing. “You’ve done all you can, Luna Queen. Let me take it from here.”

But I didn’t know how to get up and leave her. The lump in my throat was making it impossible to speak. I just stared at Vincar, who just sniffled and nodded. As his attention turned back to Nadine, I stayed kneeling and looking down at her. Several of the tourniquets were adjusted or replaced, and eventually one of the others who was helping Vincar came and knelt across from him. Both of them worked together feverishly as Molpe was carted out of the woods on a gurney.

Wyatt’s voice boomed around me suddenly, making me jump out of my skin. “You can’t take her.”

My head whipped around so that I could look at him. He was stark naked and staring at something near Nadine’s head. Wyatt cocked his head to one side as if he were listening to someone, but I could see or hear nothing. Vincar had gone still, his eyes flickering to me. There seemed to be a bottomless pit of pain in his gaze.

Reapers. There were reapers by Nadine. She was dead. And Wyatt was trying to tell them they couldn’t have her.

Nothing quite like trial by fire, is there?