Barking. Howling.

A large bull-headed creature barreling toward me with a violent hunger in its silver, pupil-less eyes.

Alrik lunging forward and shoving me aside.

The minotaur diving and plunging its horn into his leg.

A splatter of blood decorating the dirt.

It all happened far too quickly.

One moment I was ripping the head off a deafening banshee, and the next, my fingers were dripping in Alrik's blood.

"Ty che, suka, o'khuel blya!" I snapped at him furiously, but he was in so much pain that he didn't pay any heed to my yelling. His chest was rising and falling rapidly as he lay on his side, panting harshly with a whimper escaping every few seconds.

There were rapid footsteps behind me as I tried to add pressure to the wound, and Daxton fell to his knees beside me, "What the fuck happened?"

"The idiot saw a minotaur coming for me and decided to jump in front of it," I growled, running my fingers over the bloody tufts of fur, "Where is that despicable bull?"

"You mean that one?" Daxton gestured to a burnt pile of limbs a few feet away that still had smoke drifting up from it, "I saw what happened and took care of it for you."

I shook my head and stared at the curved horn that was impaled in Alrik's leg, "We need to remove this. A minotaur's horn is poisonous, and if too much of that poison enters his bloodstream, then–"

The sinking feeling in my stomach was enough to send bile up my throat.

"Leon can help him," Daxton said, picking up Alrik's leg carefully to examine it, "We need to move him back to the camp fast."

"I can take him."

Yerik appeared behind us and reached for Alrik with caution, picking him up slowly to not jostle his wounded leg too much. As he straightened and stood to his full height, he pressed his lips against my temple in a comforting gesture, "Ya ponesu yemu. On budey v poryadke. Dover'tes' mne."

I raked a hand through my hair, trying to remain collected, "Let's go. He doesn't have much time."

***

"What the fuck?"

Yerik placed Alrik on the bed of grass gently as Leon hurried over and threw his crutches aside to study the minotaur's horn embedded in Alrik's fur.

He was still conscious from what I could tell, but his eyes were squeezed shut and tightened periodically as if the pain overwhelmed him in waves. My chest felt like a thousand bricks were piled on top of me as I watched him suffer silently.

"What can you do to help him?" Yerik asked the dragon warrior, voicing my thoughts for me.

"I can remove this, but he has lost a ton of blood," Leon said, trying to pry the horn out with his gloved hands, "Dragon blood will cancel out the poison, but he will need his mate here to help his wolf heal."

I glanced at the neon numbers on my wrist and nearly pulled my hair out from frustration, "I don't know if Jaslynn can make it here. The portal will be closing any minute now."

"Unless one of you can arouse his wolf and force him to start the healing process, Jaslynn has to be here. There's no way around it and not much time to come up with a different solution."

Daxton pursed his lips, "I'll bring Jaslynn and send Wilbur and Reagan to take her place. I know she wants her hands on Malcolm, but she'll have to give up her revenge plot for Alrik if needed."

There was a tense silence as Daxton disappeared with those parting words, and Leon began extracting the horn with the utmost meticulousness to not create any more damage. I dropped to my knees beside him as Alrik's breathing became labored and massaged his back gently.

"Come on, brat. Don't stop fighting now," I murmured, trying to keep him awake.

His ears were twitching so I knew he could hear me, but he was still being a little bitch and not opening his eyes to look at me and tell me he was going to be alright.

I had just gotten my little brother back, and I was not letting him leave.

***

"Where is he?" Jaslynn demanded, storming towards us with a murderous expression on her face.

I was about to point him out, but her eyes found his exhausted form almost immediately, and a heartbroken look overtook her face.

Knowing Alrik, he had blocked his connection with her so she wouldn't feel how much pain he was in, but there was no doubt in my mind that the torment she was feeling at this moment was almost at the same degree, if not more.

It's one thing to be pain, it's another to see your mate, who you love more than life itself, in pain.

Leon had removed the horn and was applying pressure to the hole even though the blood flowing from it had become just a trickle.

"His wolf isn't conscious?" Jaslynn asked quietly, petting Alrik's snout.

"He's barely holding on. His heart rate is slow, and he could go into sudden cardiac arrest if we don't arouse him."

She was silent for a few moments, observing Alrik's chest rise and fall.

Even though she was running her fingers through his fur and massaging his chest, Alrik didn't seem to be aware of his mate's touch.

"Your contact isn't working, we need to try something el–"

Jaslynn raised her palm to stop Leon and shook her head slowly, "How embarrassing. The supposedly ruthless and invincible Alpha Alrik Kuznetsov is brought to his knees by an itty bitty horn."

My jaw dropped open.

I had never heard her use that condescending tone before, but she managed to piss me off with the first few words itself. Everyone else was staring at her in disbelief, except for Yerik, who was calmly wiping the minotaur's horn clean.

Alrik's ears twitched.

"All bark and no bite, aren't you, Alrik? So many empty promises. What did you tell me before we got here? You're going to protect your mate and your pup with your life? When is that going to happen? After we both die?"

I could hear Daxton muttering under his breath beside me, saying something that sounded like, "I feel attacked, and I didn't even do anything."

Suddenly, Jaslynn stood up and sauntered toward me with a sultry smile on her face that could have been considered attractive if she wasn't my brat's mate, and if Yerik wasn't in my life.

It was so random that all of us, but Yerik, took a step back, wondering if she had gone insane from the agony of seeing her mate suffer.

However, the suspicious expression on my face didn't deter her, and she came to a stop right before me, scraping her fingertips up my chest in a seductive manner.

My eyes widened further as she fisted my hair and yanked me closer. I looked at Yerik in horror, wondering how he was still so calm when she was touching me, but all he did was continue to stare with a glint of amusement in his eyes.

Jaslynn wrapped her other arm around my bicep, causing me to direct my attention back to her. Even though she was supposedly flirting with me, she had the most apologetic expression in her eyes.

And that was when I realized she wasn't being creepy out of instability, she was trying to make Alrik furious enough to awaken his wolf.

My lips curved into a smirk, and I placed my hands on her hips, taking a peek at the still wolf as I played along, "What would you like, kroshka?"

Strike one: using his pet name against him.

His paw moved.

"I need a strong Alpha wolf who can protect me and my pup," Jaslynn said softly, her voice wobbling as though she was overcome with emotion, "Someone who doesn't break their promises because they're weak."

Strike two: hurting his Alpha ego.

His snout moved, and his ears twitched a few times.

"I can take you back to Russia with me, kroshka. I'll take good care of you."

The two of us struggled to contain our awkward laughter as we heard a grunt.

I made eye contact with Yerik again, who had the same smirk on his face as I did while he approached us and stood right behind Jaslynn. His hands gripped her hips right above mine as he leaned in, "We'll both take good care of you."

A fierce growl broke up our sandwich, and we all turned to face my furious brother.

He had risen onto all four paws, baring his teeth at us, threatening us with a miserable time if we moved any closer to his Luna.

Strike three: two studs attempting to steal his mate.

The adrenaline and fury in his veins apparently gave him a lot more energy than anyone expected so it was a shocking surprise to watch him shift back.

And there he stood, his muscles tense, a snarl on his face that was the definition of rage as his eyes darted back and forth between Yerik and me.

Jaslynn squeezed her way out and threw her arms around his shoulders, burying her face in his chest. He wrapped an arm around her waist in response and tugged her closer in a possessive manner, narrowing his eyes as he glared at the two of us.

I rolled my eyes, "Relax. We weren't being serious."

He grunted.

I wanted to growl at him for glaring at Yerik, but Jaslynn pulled his attention away from us by cupping his face, "Come on, Alrik. We have a war to win."

His eyes softened just a tad, and he kissed the top of her head before allowing her to move away to pick up the minotaur horn that Yerik had cleaned off.

She eyed the sharp tip closely before tucking it under her armor.

"And the two of us have a wizard to crucify."

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