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She’s standing over me with a crazed smile on her lips. I snarl as I hear a whimper behind me, yet I keep my focus on Bree as she stalks closer, smiling wickedly. I lift my foot at the last second, kicking her in her nasty vagina. She grunts but doesn’t drop as a man would. It’s enough for me to get to my feet, though, only to hear a threatening growl from behind me.

Turning to the side, I realize I’m trapped with Corbin on one side and Bree on the other. Leo is naked on the floor by the stairs, trying to get up. Bree snatches a blade from the knife rack as Corbin’s claws click on the floor. Drool and blood drip from him onto the tiles. He stalks at me just as Bree slashes me with the knife. I twist, catching the blade in my arm instead of across my chest, only for Corbin’s jaws to rip into my thigh, making me scream.

He shakes his head just as Bree plunges the blade into my side. I gasp. Corbin suddenly lets go when he’s tackled, smashing into the kitchen island. I am also tossed, hitting the fridge from the momentum.

Blinking and groaning, I try to get to my feet, only for Bree to kick me in the face. My head snaps back, and I fleetingly see Thane’s wolf ripping into Corbin’s. My nose is bleeding, and my eyes sting as Bree goes to kick me again.

My newly heightened senses catch the movement, and time suddenly stills. My hands move without thinking, grabbing her ankle. She shrieks as I twist, and she loses her balance, falling backward. I pull the blade from my side, gasping at the horrendous pain as she rises to her feet. With one foot off the ground, she shifts and lunges at me.

I try to shift, but my injuries prevent it, and she collides with me. I slam against the counter as she tears into my neck. A gasp leaves my lips as I choke. Her attack suddenly halts, and she wheezes. She is forced to shift back as I continue to choke on my own blood.

Blinking, my vision dulls and flicks to Bree. She’s naked and on top of me, blood spilling from her lips and dribbling down her chin. Her eyes are wide as she gasps and chokes for air, each breath stuttered. Her hands feebly clutch at mine, and my eyes fall to see the knife sticking out of her chest.

With whatever strength I have left to muster, I shove her off me. My bleeding doesn’t slow, even as I clutch my neck. I stagger to my feet, but my surroundings turn on their axis as I fall into the island. I feel like I am walking on the moon. My vision doubles as I make my way over to Thane. His wolf has torn Corbin’s intestines out and spilled them onto the floor, unraveling like spaghetti. One of his legs is completely torn off and lying next to Leo, who is clutching his chest, pale as a ghost while his Alpha dies.

My heartbeat sounds loud in my ears, each beat louder than the last. I pull my hand back from my neck, and it’s covered in blood. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the blood spurt from my neck. I clamp my hand back over the wound and feel my eyes roll into my head, just as Thane’s huge wolf turns to me.

The roar that leaves him will be forever ingrained in my memory, my soul, and every aspect of my being, as death takes me. “Scarlett …” I murmur, wanting my daughter, to see her face just once more. As the coldness seeps into my bones, I feel the life drain from my body. I almost see the motion of me falling, but I don’t feel the impact.

I blink up at the ceiling, my eyelids growing heavy as exhaustion wraps around my limbs. Thane’s face appears in my line of vision. His lips move, yet I am deaf to the world around me. But he is here. Thane came for me like I knew he would, knew they all would. His lips move as he tries to talk to me before I see him scream.

His hands try to hold my neck together. I want to tell him it’s ok, that it doesn’t hurt. I don’t know if I speak the words or only think them as I peer up at him. My eyes lose focus just as Leon’s face comes into view, then everything goes dark.

That familiar cold sensation slivers up my spine, entangles my nerves, and stiffens my bones. I only hear one sound, and I manage to focus on it.

Thump… thump… thump.

Chapter Forty-Six

Thane

My heart nearly stops as I turn to see Harlow staggering toward me. She’s drenched in blood. It’s spurting out of her as she clutches her neck. Her lips part, and she tries to speak as I watch her body go limp. Her hand drops from her neck, and I see the huge gaping wound. My eyes widen, and I feel the blood drain from my body as I force myself to shift back. Her blood spills across the floor as she hits the ground with a thud.

I run toward her collapsed body. Her neck spurts blood, and I clamp my hand down on the wound, trying to stem the bleeding. She stares up at me, almost dazedly. Her blinking slows as I try to get her to stay awake. The light slowly fades from her eyes as she continues to stare at me. She tries to speak, yet her words are lost over the frantic beating of my heart. Fear moves through every atom in my body. “I’m right here. Stay with me, Low,” I plead with her before shouting for my other mates.

“Leon!” I scream, sounding broken as she begins to gasp, her eyes widening. Each thud of her heart sounds thick and forced. The length between each one stretches out further. “Leon!” I scream, seeing her face drain of life. She is dying in my arms when Leon finally smashes through one of the few remaining windows, along with the others.

“No!” Rhen gasps.

My eyes dart to him. He collapses to his knees just as her heartbeat stops. The silence is deafening as I wait for the next beat to come, but it doesn’t. I start CPR. How can she die on us again? What are our chances when fate seems relentless in trying to take her from us?

A snarl rips out from somewhere behind me. I can’t force my attention away from Harlow, but I see Rhen and Raidon take off to finish whoever it is. Leon is forcing his blood down Harlow’s throat while I try to keep what little blood she has left pumping through her veins. The wounds on her neck start closing, painfully slowly. She feels dead beneath my hands, yet my mark isn’t burning. I’m not in agony, so I know she is still here.

She has to be. I can’t lose her. I need her. Scarlett needs her. We all do. This can’t be the end for us. I won’t accept it. Leon slaps her face gently.

“Come on, baby. Wake up for me,” he murmurs. His pain courses through me, as if he blames himself. But this is all my fault. We’re here because I failed to keep her safe from everyone, including myself.

A loud howl rips through the air, the sound soul-crushing. I know it’s Leo. He made the same sound when I killed Corbin. It sounds exactly like what it feels like to lose a mate. It screams of the despair, agony, and coldness that floods through you. I refuse to let that feeling settle in me. Harlow will not die, for if she does, I know I will lay down and die right beside her.

Leon’s mouth covers hers as he breathes for her between my sets. We wait a few half seconds each time, listening for signs of life before I continue. Raidon drops down next to me. His shoulders sag, and he’s drenched in blood. Not seeing Rhen, I glance over my shoulder to spot him sitting next to Slater’s dead body. His head is in his hands as he rocks back and forth, wailing for our mate. It was all for nothing. We’re too late, and they all feel it.

Yet my hands refuse to stop, and I refuse to give up hope. If anyone can defeat fate, refuse it twice in a single lifetime, it’s Harlow. Leon slaps my hands away, his ear tilting toward her chest, listening intently. I go to shove him away and continue compressions when I feel it. The zing of the bond through my bloodstream. Then one soft thud.

Thump…

Thump …

Thump … Thump … Thump. My heart jolts in my chest as hers picks up tempo, gradually growing stronger, and I break. My body collapses onto hers as I clutch her to me, smoothing her hair back. I crush her limp body to my chest as I pull her into my lap. I sink my teeth into her neck, rocking her as I feel my bond fall back into place, strengthening her, and her heartbeat picks up more.