Chapter 142

Justin POV

She whimpers aimlessly through the night. Randy and Russo both sat with me near the fireplace, steering conversation away from my mate as she was drug right back into the Huntsman possession. The sun was threatening to come over the horizon outside when I had enough.

“I have to wake her up somehow,” I snarled.

Randy caught me first, Russo standing between my beta and my mate, as a failsafe backup in case I made it any closer. I looked through the pixie on Russo’s shoulder, furious with the small creature.

“You can’t wake her up, it could send her into shock,” Randy huffed. “You have to let it play out. He didn’t kill her all those other times he invaded her sleep, Justin. He won’t do it now.”

“I can’t be sure of that until her eyes open,” I snapped. “I have to save her. She needs me.”

“She needs to let that monster out of her head naturally,” Russo added. “Let it happen and when she wakes up, we will be able to give her another dose of poison.”

We all watched the pixie flutter off his shoulder, leaving a trail of sparkle in the air until she proper her little body on my mate’s shoulder. I snarled and I’m almost positive that tiny creature rolled her eyes at my toothy threat.

“I’m getting really tired of that winged witch,” I mumbled.

Russo’s eyes crossed narrowly at me. I threw my hands up in defeat, moving to sit back down until I heard my mate groan. I managed to get past the Fae and my beta, seeing Helen’s eyes open, bloodshot and swollen.

She sniffled, a line of blood coming down over her cheek and creasing into the purse of her lips. She met my gaze, her eyelids fluttering shut again before she strained to open her eyes.

“Dear mate,” I panted, shaking all over in heat. “Are you okay? What did he do to you?”

She opened her mouth to speak, her body going numb at the same instant her eyes and mouth shut. She passed out effortlessly and I panted in a hurry, snatching the poison from the drawer and pulling her to sit up. I shook her back slightly, Randy finally stepping in to help me.

He tilted to vial up, my hands working to keep her conscious enough to swallow the poison. She eventually did and I laid her back down, Russo coming over with a warm rag. The pixie threw a bit of dust in the air over my mate.

I blew it all away from coming into contact with Helen, knowing if she was to fix the outside wounds, it would pull the poison out of her blood stream again. I couldn’t put her in that spot again. I wanted to protect my dear mate at all costs.

“Please, just go,” I panted.

Freya finally fluttered off, out the nearby window. Russo groaned a noise and sat down, watching her fly off. He looked and sounded more exhausted than I have ever witnessed.

“You need to go easy on that little one,” Russo purred. “She’s the last of her kind. You know what that is like.”

I shook my head. “We can’t be sure of that. William might have some in hid dungeon still. We can’t know if she’s the last one until we raid that stupid rogue’s village.”

Russo nodded at last, hopeful. “You’re right, but still. Please be easier, Lycan.”

I agreed to his terms just to keep this conversation light and almost nonexistent again. I needed to help Helen right now, above all else. If she wasn’t wounded from me last night, that pixie would have never healed her and the poison would be working still.

It’s still my fault.

“Hey, what’s that?”

I turned toward Russo as he looked out the window. There was a measly little human in the middle of the village, her hair tangled in blond curls. I could already tell there was going to be trouble just by the sight of her so distraught.

“That would be Martha,” I panted. “Ezequiel’s human half-sister.”

“Want me to handle it?” Randy asked, seeing a crowd form around the little human while she shouted from the street. “She’s upset. I can talk her down from doing anything brash. She doesn’t belong here anymore if her brother is dead anyways.”

I held my hand up in opposition. “My mate is adamant in letting her stay. I don’t want to undermine her on that,” I admitted begrudgingly. “Randy, you and I will go. Russo, I want you to stay here with Helen.”

The Fae nodded, taking over the warm, wet rag and wiping my mate’s flushed cheeks with it. “Go on, save the pack. Be nice to the human girl.”

I sniffled a sigh. “Why do you always assume I’m going to be terrible?”

Russo didn’t answer, thankfully, because I didn’t need an excuse to beat him up. We made it outside and had to push through the crowd of wolves, hearing Martha scream out about conspiracy theories against her brother’s mysterious death.

I made it to the front with my beta and we watched on in confusion, seeing her scream out in angst.

“It was a wizard! I saw it with my own eyes! He took my brother and like a mindless zombie, he was forced to carry out that evil—” she stopped, her eyes wide on me suddenly. “Alpha.”

“Don’t address me like that,” I hummed. “You are mortal; a human. You have no more ties to this pack but out of respect to my mate and your deceased brother, I will keep you here but you have to lay low.”

She shook her head, turning to point at a wolf across the crowd. I recognized Oscar instantly. “He is my mate!”

I cocked my head. “Wait—what?”

Oscar shrugged shyly. “We’re dating, Alpha. That’s all. Besides, I was there that night. I can tell you that I saw the wizard as well. I saw him lead her brother out of the house beyond his will.”

I pondered for a long moment. “What made you think it was beyond his will?”

“Was he restrained? At gunpoint?” Randy probed.

The odd couple shook their heads. “No, but he kept his hands pinned behind his back, without restraints.”

I took a cautious, shocked step backwards. I’ve seen that very same thing before but how would they know that?