Page 63 of Lycans & Lattes

It all happened in a split second. His muscles tensed, and my hackles went up. Bracing my body for impact, I watched as Gregory hurled himself through the air at me, fangs fully on display.

I heard Eloise cry, “No!” just as the shing of metal sounded, followed by Willow’s scream. Then a bloom of burning pain hit my side. I looked down, confused, at the knife still in Gregory’s hand. Then at the smaller one now lodged in my abdomen. Silver. My vision blurred before I could scour the crowd for who’d thrown it. My knees cracked on the pavement as I yanked the blade free. And my ears started ringing, drowning out the frantic faces that gathered above me.

A pair of glowing, heated hands pressed to the wound. It was Jordyn. Above her, Harlow held Willow back as she sobbed.

I turned my head to see Aisling and Liam standing over Gregory, who now lay on the pavement, as Liam bound his hands behind his back with his belt. The defeated look in Gregory’s eyes told me he wouldn’t fight his bonds. He knew it was over. With a wince of pain, I shook my head at him. He would have torn me to pieces, but I never wanted him to end this way. As alpha, I’d have to decide what to do with him . . . if I could remain conscious for long enough.

Eloise knelt beside me, hands shaking. “Shit, Wyatt. He lunged for you and—and I-I was aiming for him.”

“Of course it was you who threw a silver knife at me,” I gritted out, fighting to stay conscious.

“What are little sisters for, eh?” she tried to joke even as her voice wobbled. “It’s not the worst thing I’ve done to you, right?”

“It wouldn’t even make the highlight reel,” I rasped as my eyes rolled back.

Feet on pavement started to filter through the blood pounding in my ears.

“We’ve got to get the traces of silver out before it poisons him,” my mother directed.

Jordyn’s voice came next. “Help me carry him into the café.”

“He’ll be fine,” Eloise said, more to herself than to anyone. “He’s strong.”

“We thought we’d add a little Medieval Times-type battle into the new show this year,” I heard Billy calling to the crowd. “But it may be a little much for the younger kids. We’ll workshop it, folks. Who wants free ice cream as a reward for your input on our newest production?”

I had a feeling that if I survived this, Billy would be at my bedside telling me off. I imagined the citations and mountains of paperwork in my future.

Pain radiated through me as members of the pack lifted me off the ground. I groaned as an arm looped around my side, and I knew it was her wrapped all around me. Her warmth and her scent.

Willow. My Willow.

Something in me eased at the feel of her. I wanted to murmur words of reassurance, but I could only squeeze her back.

She was safe now. That was the only thing that mattered as I slipped beneath the waves of unconsciousness.

31

Willow

Wyatt was rushed to my place as it was closest, but the three large wolves that carried him up the steps hardly fit in the stairwell. Once they’d laid him down, Sandra shooed them away to give the witches room to work.

Jordyn managed to get all the silver residue out. Still, it had taken a frightening toll on Wyatt, who remained unconscious in my bed. Citrine, the owner of the crystal shop, had come to help Jordyn and Iris with the healing spell work. There was no way to tell if Wyatt had any further internal injuries without taking him to the hospital, which Eloise and Sandra rejected harshly. But Citrine was the most powerful healer in town, so I knew he was in good hands.

He only needed a few stitches, but due to how risky it was to treat him after such an adrenaline-inducing fight, it was safer for the witches to knock him out with a blend of wolfsbane, poppy essence, and chamomile.

It wasn’t until the fifth time Citrine had told me he was going to be okay that I managed to take a deep breath and let myself fall apart. To see someone as strong as him slipping in and out of consciousness wrecked me. Harlow held me in her arms for as long as it took for the tears to dry up.

The rest of the pack had long since gone home to wait to hear that their alpha had been healed. It wasn’t easy, but after Jordyn had confirmed he’d be okay, they’d relented. Their faith in the witches’ healing abilities was all they’d needed. Before she’d left, Sandra had looked at me with disdain in her eyes as she’d said, “Tell me when they wake him.”

I’d been too numb to do anything but nod.

“I still can’t believe she made Eloise leave with her.” Harlow had already raged about this, but with my tears finally stopping, she harped on it again. “I know your apartment is small, but what is she going to do at Sandra’s house? Just hang out?”

“Sandra is holding on to the last bits of control she still wields,” Citrine said sagely, her eyes closed and palms outstretched over Wyatt’s chest. “She’s trying to pull her wayward daughter back into the fold.”

As reigning matriarch, Sandra’s word was gospel but not law. While everyone in the pack held respect and her reputation in high regard, her end date as top wolf was closing in.

“That bitch needs someone to smack her across the face,” Harlow rebutted.