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“You did good. He’s still with us. I can feel him,” I tell her, as my hands replace hers. She bites her wrist as I continue pumping his chest.

“I panicked. I didn't know what else to do. Harlow is going to hate me,” she sobs, feeding him more of her blood. She lifts his shirt to see his wounds slowly closing.

“He’s not dead. She won’t hate you. We just gotta keep him alive long enough for him to heal,” I say. She sobs and nods, re-biting herself before looking at me.

“You’ll heal him faster, being his mate,” she says. I offer her my neck, and she slashes her nails under my chin before grabbing his head and forcing his mouth open. My blood streams out, dripping all over his face, and I know she hit an artery. Leila moves his head, letting my blood pour down his throat before she shuts his mouth. Her fingers grab my neck to stem the flow of blood, but I am already healing. Still, I pump his chest, knowing that if he dies with her blood in his system, two things will happen.

First, he will turn into a hybrid; then he will become sired to her.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she sobs, making me look at her. “I hope she doesn’t hate me. I didn’t want this.”

“Leila, you saved his life. You did good. You got to him in time, and the bond didn’t fully break. He will be fine. I felt it come back. You didn’t sire him.” And no sooner do I say it than Rhen gasps, lurching upright. His eyes are wide and bulging as he grips my arm.

“Get to Harlow!” he chokes before coughing. Leila wails as she clutches him. I exhale, but only feel relief for a brief moment before I feel Thane’s rage and Leon’s fear. Then, as if a switch is flicked within Thane, gone is our mate. In his place is our Alpha.

And whoever brought that beast forward better fucking run.

Chapter Nine

Harlow

Leon is tense as we shower, and it has me on edge. I climb out as Leon finishes washing the shampoo from his hair.

“Wait, don’t leave without me,” Leon says, frantically scrubbing at his scalp as I wrap a towel around myself.

My face scrunches up, wondering what has gotten into him. He’s barely said anything to me since Thane and Raidon left. Hearing the doorbell, I glance at the bathroom door.

“Harlow!” Leon snaps at me, but I ignore him, retrieving one of Raidon’s shirts and slipping it on.

“I’m just answering the door,” I huff before moving into the bedroom. The moment I step into the hall, I hear the front door get kicked down, making me jump.

A scream of fright leaves my lips, only to be muffled by Leon’s hand. My breathing is harsh as he sniffs the air. I hear the housekeeper downstairs, demanding to know who they are.

“We are here for the Omega,” comes a gruff voice.

My eyes widen at the demand. Leon holds a finger to his lips and lets me go before ushering me to the back stairwell.

'Thane, get back here!' Leon snarls through the link. I’m cursing myself for not marking them earlier. I can hear them, but with an incomplete bond, I can’t reply. Leon grabs my arm, quickly leading me down the back stairs and into the library. He glances at the door that leads to the kitchen, where we can hear the housekeeper arguing with them to leave. We hear a sickening slap, followed by her whimper.

Leon growls. His eyes burn bright red as he leads me to the huge glass window. Footsteps above us tell me a few of them went upstairs. From the different scents, I can smell at least seven people, three of which I can tell are Alphas.

I hear another car pull up out front as Leon quietly slides the window open before grabbing my hips and lifting me through the window.

“What are you doing?” I hiss at him.

“Head for the sheds at the back of the property. I will come find you. Stay out of sight.”

“Wait.”

“Can’t, love. Now run,” Leon says, not giving me a chance to protest before he drops me to my feet and quickly closes the window.

I duck down, scanning my surroundings and spotting the huge sheds by the edge of the tree line, where the gardener keeps his tools. With one last glance at the huge mansion, I start across the lawn, using the hedges for cover and keeping as low as possible.

I hear a commotion inside before a man is tossed from the second-floor window. The glass shatters, and I freeze, watching him hit the roof of the first story, only to roll off and hit the concrete below. I duck down, watching as he tries to get up. He clutches his neck, which is spurting blood everywhere. My eyes move to the window above to see Leon fighting another man.

Ducking back down, I run. As I reach one of the sheds, I push the door open enough to slip inside. Looking through the gap, I see the housekeeper being dragged outside, and a tall man with dirty blond hair, clearly an Alpha, lifts his gun and shoots her in the head.

I gasp as she collapses to the ground. My hands cover my mouth at what I see. What the hell is going on? Only a few tense seconds later, I watch as Leon is dragged from the house and tossed beside the dead housekeeper, whose name I feel bad for not remembering.