Blood for Blood

Lexi

Jax pulled me close, his arm tightening around my waist as he scanned the area like he expected something to leap out of the shadows.

“Do you see anyone?” I whispered.

“Yes.”

The way he said it was so calm… so certain. It surprised me, because I couldn’t see a thing. He let go of me again, putting space between us. “It’s your friends.”

Keith stepped out from between the trees, Gayle right behind him.

“When we heard there’d been rogue attacks on the trail, I prayed you two weren’t caught in it,” Keith said. Gayle rushed toward me and pulled me into her arms.

“Where’s Alpha Dean?” she asked, eyes flicking to mine. I glanced at Jax, but he stayed silent.

“They took him.”

Jax’s voice cut in abruptly. “Where’s your car?” He turned to Keith.

“We left it back. Is that…” He sniffed the air, frowning. “…silver ash?”

Jax nodded once. I could practically see the suspicion forming in his mind that maybe Keith and Gayle had put the ash in our car but he didn’t say it aloud.

“Take her to Dane Pack,” he said, already sounding like he was ten steps ahead of everyone. Keith grabbed my hand. “And she needs a bath immediately. Both of you do. If that ash touched you, it might not react fast, but it’s deadly if it sits long enough.”

He didn’t even glance back at me. He just took off into the woods, leaving Keith and Gayle to lead me toward their pack.

Gayle kept quiet the whole way. She could tell I was shaken and worried sick about Dean so she didn’t push me to talk.

When we arrived at Dane Pack, a wave of memory washed through me.

The last time I’d been here… I’d been attacked right at the border. I genuinely thought it was Kloud territory at the time. If Alpha Max hadn’t been there, those wolves wouldn’t have bothered with me at all.

I’d thank him later. I really should.

Gayle arranged baths for all of us, and afterwards I was taken to the room reserved for Dean. Dinner was delivered, but I barely touched it. My stomach was too tight, my thoughts too loud.

A soft knock came at the door before a young man stepped inside.

“Luna Lexi?” he asked cautiously, like he wasn’t sure what to call me.

“Just Lexi. I haven’t officially been named Luna,” I said. He nodded quickly.

“Your presence is needed at the meeting. With Alpha Dean gone… you’ll have to stand in for him.”

My heart stuttered. I nodded anyway. I didn’t know what they expected me to say, but sitting here worrying wasn’t helping.

Before I realized it, I was standing stiffly at the meeting hall entrance, lost in my thoughts.

“You can go in,” the young man said, snapping me out of it.

I drew in a deep breath and pushed the door open, trying to keep my expression neutral. Strong.

But the second I stepped inside, the hall was already in chaos.

“I don’t know, Lester,” a man was saying, waving his hands. “If an Alpha like Dean can be abducted, what hope do the rest of us have?”

Max tried to calm him, but another Alpha cut in.

“And tell me why it’s not suspicious that he gets his former lover back and suddenly disappears? Jake is right. We should question her.”

“I mean, she has every reason to betray him,” a woman added sharply. “I heard how he chased her out of Bay Pack brutally, and now he takes her back just because he uncovered something about his ex? She probably set all this up. Bring her in!”

The whole room erupted. Everyone was arguing against Max, who seemed like the only person not out for my blood.

“Lexi. You’re here.”

Phoebe’s voice cut through the noise as she took my hands, drawing everyone’s eyes to me.

Silence.

The Alphas stared at me like I was a traitor. Their Lunas glared at me like I was filth.

“There’s really no need for you to be here. You should be resting after the accident,” Phoebe said softly, patting my head like she used to. It was her first time seeing me since I left.

“We’d like to ask her about THAT accident,” Lester said, climbing to his feet again. “Is this your doing?”

I opened my mouth, but before a single word left me, the door slammed open.

Jax stood there, his eyes wild as he searched frantically for someone. He was drenched in blood, yet I could tell that it was not his.

But all I could think about was why he was alone. Shouldn’t he be here with Dean?

Did he get lost in a killing spree, forgetting that his real mission is to save Dean?

“Where is Dean?” My voice shook. “You said you’d bring him back!”

Jax’s eyes snapped to mine. He looked me over once… then turned away.

The door creaked open again, and Dean entered, limping, bleeding, his face twisted with pain.

“I’m here, my love,” he said through a forced smile.

I rushed to him and wrapped my arms around him. He winced, and I pulled back, horrified by how much blood he was losing.

“Alpha Dean, you should be getting treated,” Phoebe said. “Why would you come here first?”

“To see my love.” He squeezed my hand. Then his eyes hardened, sweeping across the room. “And to tell whichever one of you betrayed me that your plan failed.”

A ripple of panic went through the room.

“What do you mean?” Max asked.

Dean’s eyes hardened. “There’s a traitor among you. Someone set me up.”

The room broke into chaos all over again.

“When I find out who it is…” His voice dropped. “He’ll wish he’d never been born.”

Dean tugged my hand. “Let’s go.”

I followed him back to his room, where healers tended to him. He kept reassuring me he’d never die and leave me alone, but when he left later for a private meeting with Jax, my anxiety only grew. I kept replaying the healer’s words in my head: his injury was severe, and he might not heal.

After tossing and turning in bed, I slipped out and wandered the halls, searching for him.

A low groaning sound echoed from somewhere up ahead. I followed it to a row of offices – each Alpha had their own. The sound was coming from Dean’s.

The groaning stopped suddenly, and moments later, Dean stepped out – completely relieved.

He was no longer limping or bleeding or injured.

Impossible. Wolves heal fast, but not from repeated silver-ash stabs. Not in minutes.

I watched him walk away until he disappeared around a corner.

“What are you doing?” someone said, making me jump.

“Jax,” I breathed when I saw him. Something was terribly wrong. His skin was pale, almost gray. His lips were cracked, and his breathing was ragged.

He looked like he was the one who got stabbed.

“Jax… what happened to you?”

He didn’t answer.

He just pressed a hand to his abdomen – the exact place Dean had been stabbed, and when he moved his palm…

Blood seeped through his shirt.

What the hell is happening?