Chapter 107: Willow’s Wolf
"What sort of alpha are you if you don’t give a damn about whether your pack members live or die?" I growled, sneering at him.
Cassian’s eyes widened just a fraction. But as he slowly digested the words I had just spewed, the look in his eyes darkened, and the grip of his hand tightened on my wrist. I hissed in pain, but he didn’t loosen his grip for even a second.
"Enough of one to punish you for speaking out of turn," Cassian snarled. "You’re forgetting your place, Briar Argyris. Just because my brothers are bewitched by you doesn’t mean you get to call the shots here."
"I never said I wanted to," I said. "All I want is to find Willow."
Finding her will fix everything. The fact that she is alive will prove that I am innocent― at least it will absolve me of the accusation of being a murderer. With her back, the triplets might want to crown her as the Luna instead, which gives me a kick at Violet’s smug ass.
More importantly, maybe Rowan and Soren will finally lose their obsession with me, and I will be free to look for Lucien.
It was a win-win situation for all of us. Well, except Violet. However, she could rot for all I cared.
"Willow is dead!" Cassian yelled.
"She isn’t until I see her damn body!" I argued.
"How many times do we have to hammer this into you?" Cassian growled. His fingers wrapped so tightly around my wrist that a burst of pain shot through me. I could even hear my joints starting to pop.
"Cassian..." Soren said, frowning. He took a step forward.
However, I didn’t wait for him to do anything, if he was ever going to. The lesson I had learned was to never wait for Soren to step in. I was better off doing things on my own.
In my anger, I mustered as much strength as I could, intending to push Cassian off me. The grip he had on my wrist was so tight that it felt as though the bone would snap if he put in just the slightest bit more strength.
Yet, even though I had hoped to push Cassian off, I didn’t expect that I would actually succeed. I pushed back harshly, and to everyone’s surprise, Cassian stumbled back. He instinctively let go of my wrist, staggering back and into Violet’s waiting arms.
Even though she successfully caught him, Violet’s eyes were wide with surprise. She glanced back and forth between Cassian and me, her lips slightly parted as she blinked in confusion.
"How did you―" she muttered, completely dazed.
I breathed heavily, staring at my hands.
The arm injury I had sustained in the brawl back with the rogues had completely gone away by now. There wasn’t even the slightest prick of pain, and if I didn’t actively think of it, I wouldn’t even have remembered I sustained such an injury. Likewise, the spot that Cassian held onto me just now was a little red. But even that redness faded away in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, the strength I had mustered to push Cassian off sent him staggering back a significant distance. The Alphas didn’t know that I could randomly tap into this sealed strength yet. And even if they did somehow find out, they would’ve never suspected I would have enough strength to push an alpha wolf back, albeit he was caught off guard.
Hell, even I didn’t expect myself to succeed.
"Briar," Rowan said warningly, "don’t."
I looked between the three men, then at Violet. She had shed the nonchalant expression from when I first stated I caught Willow’s scent. Now, the look on her face was complicated, but I could still make out enough to know that she was in the same boat as the others― she didn’t want me to go snooping around either.
I wasn’t sure if it was for the same reason as the Alphas, but a gut feeling told me that there was more to this than meets the eye. Violet definitely didn’t care about my safety. If anything, she was probably worried that I would run off, effectively dodging punishment once more.
"Briar," Soren said. "Let’s talk about this."
My gaze completely swept past him, unwilling to linger.
Finally, my eyes landed on Cassian. His eyebrows were furrowed, and the gold of his eyes told me that his wolf was on the verge of losing control.
Lowly, he said, "Don’t you fucking dare."
I didn’t wait for them to react. Instead, I turned on my heels and immediately darted into the trees.
"Briar!"
I could hear one of the three brothers yelling after me, but I didn’t turn back. With the wind whistling in my ear and the trees rustling as I pushed past various branches, I could barely even tell which of the three men it was too.
It didn’t matter. They could yell at me all they wanted. What mattered was that I found Willow before they could catch up to me, which meant that I didn’t have much time.
I tracked her scent with fervent desperation, my legs moving faster than ever before. I ran and ran, not daring to stop for even a second, in fear that the triplets would catch up to me and drag me back, stopping me from finding Willow.
No matter what all of them said, I knew what I smelled. I knew my sister’s scent, and it was getting thicker, practically flooding my nostrils. She was close.
My heart raced in anticipation, and I raised my voice, desperate. "Willow! It’s me, Briar! Where are you?"
I heard the faintest hint of a groan a short distance away, nestled between the bushes. Like a rocket, I took off, throwing my entire body through the bushes, uncaring of the thorny bristles that stood in my way.
Behind me, I could hear the howling of wolves. The warriors who were hiding between the trees had most likely been sent after me. Even if the triplets didn’t come for me themselves, their warriors would no doubt find me effortlessly.
I fell to my knees, letting out a gasp as I caught sight of a dark lump tucked away protectively in the undergrowth of the bushes. There were drops of fresh blood on the thorns still on the thorns, and I wrenched them aside with a snarl, revealing the shape of a mangled wolf lying in the undergrowth of the bushes, its brown fur stained with blood.
"Willow! I’m here, I’m here. Please, please hold on!"
I stared at my sister’s wolf with an unabashed heartache, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. My sister was sickly for the most part ever since I returned, but never had I seen her in such a dire condition. In fact, I had never seen a wolf look so terrible.
Her fur was badly matted with blood and dirt, and it was even falling out in certain parts, revealing her reddened skin that had been scratched by the thorns. Every breath she took seemed laborious, yet the bones of her ribcage barely shifted, even as they stuck out through her fur. One of her legs was twisted awkwardly, as if it were broken.
She was barely hanging onto life. I felt guilt rise within me. If I had tried harder when I first spotted her, she wouldn’t be in this state.
"I knew it. I knew you weren’t dead," I choked out. "I should have found you... back then..."
I reached out gingerly to touch her, and she seemed to shudder with pain at the slightest brush of my fingers against her face. At her reaction, the tears that I tried so hard to stop from falling landed on her body. Her eyelids fluttered open, and for the briefest moment, her eyes that were so clouded with pain seemed to flicker with faint recognition.
"It’s me, Willow. You’re safe now," I whispered. "Just hang in there, okay? You’ll recover soon, please, just keep breathing!"
However, as soon as she opened her eyes, she closed them. She let out a slightly heavier exhale as her eyelids fluttered closed. She was still breathing, but the shift in her chest was getting weaker and weaker with each passing second.
Willow had held onto life for so long, but even she was reaching her limits very quickly.
"Shit," I muttered, looking around.
I didn’t know if I had the strength to lift her. Even if I did, would that be of any use? Moving her by myself with my on-off strength could bring her more harm than good. If she actually died right here in my arms, I would definitely be branded as her killer. More than that, I would have to live with the guilt of watching her die when I could’ve helped her.
I stiffened when I suddenly caught a whiff of a vaguely familiar scent. However, it didn’t belong to one of the Alphas, Violet, or even any of the Shadowclaw warriors. It wasn’t Lucien’s as well.
I recognized this scent, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Nonetheless, my body seemed to. I could feel goosebumps rising across my skin, as though preparing for an attack.
At my wits’ end, there was nothing else I could think of. I bit my bottom lip hard before steeling my resolve.
"Rowan! Soren! Cassian!" I yelled as loudly as I could, my voice tearing through my throat. "Help!"
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