Chapter 272
Freya
Pain shot through my shoulder as I tried to push myself up from the concrete floor. The silver blade had done its job - my usual healing ability felt suppressed, like trying to breathe through thick fabric. Blood seeped through my torn blazer, and I could taste copper in my mouth.
"Thank God I made it in time," Valor murmured. He dropped to his knees beside me, his eyes scanning my injuries with genuine concern.
I winced as I tried to sit up straighter. "The hunters... they knew exactly when to strike. Charles's guards must have been drawn away deliberately."
Valor's jaw tightened. "This was a setup. Someone wanted you isolated."
The garage felt eerily quiet now, and I could sense movement in the shadows. More were coming - I could smell the metallic scent of weapons.
"You need to go find Charles," I said, gripping Valor's arm. "I can handle whatever's left down here."
His eyes flashed gold, and for a moment I saw the true Alpha beneath his usually easy-going exterior. "As an Alpha, I will never abandon you in the face of danger." His voice carried an authority I'd never heard from him before. "Please, Freya... give me a chance to protect you. Let me prove my worth."
Something in his tone made my wolf sit up and take notice. This wasn't the infatuated young Alpha who'd been pestering me for months. This was a leader willing to risk everything for what he believed was right.
I nodded slowly. "Together then."
The sound of boots on concrete echoed through the garage. At least a dozen figures emerged from behind the concrete pillars, all wearing tactical gear and carrying silver-edged weapons. The garage layout worked against us - they'd turned it into a hunting ground, with multiple levels and blind spots.
Valor and I moved back-to-back instinctively. "How many?" he asked quietly.
"Too many," I replied. "But we're not going down easy."
They came at us in waves. Valor moved like liquid lightning, his fighting style more refined than I'd expected. But the silver weapons were taking their toll - I could see dark lines spreading from cuts on Valor's arms.
I grabbed the nearest attacker's wrist, and twisted until I heard bones crack. The silver knife he dropped burned my palm, but I used it to slash at another hunter approaching from my left.
"Behind you!" Valor shouted, spinning to block a strike meant for my back.
We fought with desperate efficiency, but more hunters kept pouring in from the stairwells. The garage's acoustics amplified every clash of metal, every grunt of pain, every labored breath.
"This place is a damn trap," Valor gasped, blood running down his face from a cut above his eyebrow.
Valor was holding his own, but I could see exhaustion setting in. The silver wounds were preventing our natural healing, and we were both slowing down.
Then I saw it - two hunters with silver daggers moving toward Valor while he was engaged with a third attacker. He didn't see them coming.
No.
I threw myself forward, shoving Valor out of the way just as the first dagger came down. The blade meant for his heart found my shoulder instead, sliding between muscle and bone.
The pain was immediate and excruciating. Silver poisoning flooded my system, making everything feel heavy and wrong.
"Freya!" Valor's voice was filled with anguish. "You idiot! Why would you do that?"
I couldn't answer. The garage was spinning, and I could hear more footsteps approaching.
---
Lucas
The elevator seemed to take forever. Every second felt like an eternity while I could sense Freya's pain and fear through our bond. When the doors finally opened to the garage level, the smell hit me immediately - blood, wolfsbane, and silver.
Charles and his team were already there, moving with lethal precision. I watched as they systematically took down the remaining hunters, their coordination flawless. But my eyes were searching frantically for Freya.
I found her in Valor's arms, blood soaking through her blazer, her face pale as bone. My vision went red around the edges, and I felt my eyes shift to full wolf-gold.
I growled, wheeling toward them as fast as I could.
Valor looked up at me, his face streaked with blood. "She's hurt bad, Lucas. The silver..."
I transferred from my wheelchair to the concrete, pulling Freya into my arms. She was unconscious, her breathing shallow. The silver wound in her shoulder looked infected already, dark veins spreading outward from the entry point.
My wolf raged against my human limitations. If I could shift, if I had full use of my legs, none of this would have happened. I would have been here, protecting her.
"Freya," I whispered against her hair. "I'm here. You're safe now."
Her eyes fluttered open briefly, unfocused but aware enough to recognize me. "Lucas..."
Then she went limp in my arms.
Charles approached, his expression grim. "We need to get her to the hospital immediately."
I nodded, lifting her carefully back into my wheelchair with her across my lap. As we moved toward the exit, I noticed Valor hadn't followed.
He was on his knees in the middle of the garage, staring at his bloodied hands. The defeat in his posture was absolute.
"I couldn't protect her," he said without looking up.
Something in his voice made me pause. I said, "You fought beside her. That matters."
"Does it?" He finally looked at me and continued, "I'm not worthy of someone like Freya. I never was."
I started to respond, but Charles was already loading Freya into the medical transport. "We need to move, now."
Valor stood slowly, swaying slightly. "I'll follow to the hospital. Make sure she's..."
---
At the hospital, Jackson met us at the emergency entrance. His face was professional calm, but I could see the concern in his eyes as he examined Freya's wounds.
"The silver blade punctured clean through the shoulder muscle," he reported after an hour of tense waiting. "But we've removed all the fragments and neutralized the poisoning. Her healing ability is already starting to return."
I slumped back in my wheelchair, relief flooding through me. Charles looked like he'd aged ten years, and Valor - who had insisted on staying despite his own injuries - finally allowed the medical staff to tend to his wounds.
"She'll be fine," Jackson continued. "But there's something else."
His tone made my wolf go still. "What?"
Jackson's expression darkened. "We found traces of a toxin in her bloodstream. Something that's been building up over time."