Page 107 of Healer’s Betrayal

“Is she okay?” I ask, without looking away from Sherese.

“She will be,” Garrett says in response. “He’ll make sure she is.”

I turn to Jade. “Are you okay?” I take in the bruising already forming on her face and the scratches. “You look awful.”

She lifts her eyebrows. “Have you looked in a mirror?”

I reach out and squeeze her hand. “We’re out.”

She nods and then glances behind us. “Who are those guys? They look terrifying.”

I turn around. “That’s Garrett; he’s the alpha of a really big pack. And that’s Max. I’m pretty sure he just growls at people and intimidates them,” I whisper, knowing full well they can hear me.

“He’s my head enforcer,” Garrett says dryly.

My eyes widen. “For what?”

Garrett’s eyes meet mine, and I see the briefest flash of humor. “He keeps our pack members in line and keeps us all safe, amongst other things.”

I meet Jade’s eyes. “Yeah, that’s not shady at all,” Jade says.

I glance over at Sherese, but her head is still down. Hunter hasn’t left her side. I glance back toward the direction we came from. “Shouldn’t Jackson be back by now?”

“He’ll come,” Garrett says.

I watch the area, but there’s no movement. The seconds tick by, and I start to get a really bad feeling in my gut. What if he’s hurt? Or worse. I stride towards Hunter, not caring that he might snap at me again. “Hunter, will you take me back over?”

“No.” He doesn’t even turn around to answer me.

“Why not?” I ask, looking at the back of his head from where he’s crouched next to Sherese.

“Because your mate will end my life if I take you back into vampire territory.”

“No, he won’t,” I argue. I turn to Garrett, hoping for back up.

“He will,” he agrees with Hunter, not giving me any help.

I want to ask Sherese, but she looks tanked. I turn around and face the barrier. “If something happens to him, I will hold all of you responsible.” Still no one says anything. Anger flares in me, and I whirl around. “If he doesn’t make it, you all are going to wish you had. If he—”

Threatening people, Beautiful? I didn’t know you had it in you.

I whirl around. “Jackson!” Relief at seeing him here and whole flows through me, followed simultaneously with horror. I rush forward. “Alicia. What happened?”

“The vampires turned on her,” Jackson says, voice grim.

Chapter 48

Kayla

“Put her down; I’ll work on her,” I tell Jackson.

“Not here,” Garrett says. I whirl around, ready to take him on. “We’re too close to the barrier. We have a plane nearby—” One minute he’s talking to me, the next he’s in the air...and a wolf. A second ago, there were no vampires. Now, they’re literally surrounding us. Four wolves fight back. I grab Jade’s hand and move over to Sherese, but she’s back on her feet. The wolves encircle us and fight off the vampires, but there are too many of them. One of them breaks through, and Sherese fights against it. Jade and I try to help, but we’re not a whole lot of help. Before I realize what’s happening, one of them reaches for me. I know how fast they are, and if they get me to the other side, I'm gone again.

The vampire picks me up. “Jackson!” I scream as the vampire throws me over its shoulder. Jackson’s wolf leaps at the vampire, and we’re thrown to the ground. His wolf kills it instantly, and I take a breath. “Thank you.” But his wolf is already moving, preventing more vampires from taking any of us. It’s a bloody battle, but it ends soon after with four wolves standing. The remaining vampires are either dead or have disappeared back through the barrier. I whirl around, trying to account for everybody. “Jade?”

“I’m good,” she says with wide eyes.

I turn to see Sherese bent over. I move to her quickly before Hunter shifts and gets mad at me again. “Are you okay?”