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“Tsk, tsk, can’t you see by now, magic can’t hurt me?” he asked with a smirk.

“I do,” I smiled as if this wasn’t a shock. Letting him see any amount of weakness would be a mistake. My pack was right outside and would be here in a second.

Now that my magic had calmed, I let my gaze take in the room, spotting a wooden beam above his head. I let a strand of focused magic wrap around it, holding the other end in my palm. I could feel the thread hot and ready in my hand.

“But there are workarounds to everything,” I pointed out. His eyebrows furrowed as I yanked hard on the magic. For once, my powers obeyed as I pulled on the golden thread with everything I had. The shock on his face was priceless before he was buried under the weight of it.

From his groans of pain, he was still alive. That just meant he’d have to face his crimes and I was more than happy to watch that play out.

With the loud thud and shower of plaster, my guys ran back in to check me over. Finally, the late and great Moonlit Grove magistrate guards burst in, guns and magic at the ready.

“Glad that we handled this for you,” Rook sneered. “You can do the clean up.”

The guard in charge looked from the four of us to the litter of identical bodies on the ground along with my brother trapped under the ceiling beam, just his feet poking out like the wicked witch. “What happened here?”

“Oh, you know, just the evil brother gets thwarted. Just another day in Moonlit Grove,” I commented and I could tell that my guys were holding back their laughter. The fact their dark humor was shining through told me I’d made the right choice in packs.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Blake groaned. My bestie was a fighter, but she looked rough. Her red hair was covered in grime still, bruises bloomed along her face and arms, especially where the shackles hit.

She promised she was okay, just in pain. It felt like decades he had her, but he was mainly interested in telling her how awful I was, not hurting her. The only reason she looked beat up was how hard she fought when he took her.

Something she was quite proud of.

My bestie was feisty as hell.

“I’m sorry,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time. But I couldn’t help it. Tripp was my brother and he was after me. She was just a means to get me to him at the station.

“They’re letting me go today,” she promised, sounding fully confident. “Nothing is broken, this will heal, and your asshole of a brother is in magistrate custody. Word on the street is that they are livid he got past their guard and spells.”

“I can’t believe he admitted to cursing me,” I whispered.

“I’m sorry. This is exactly why you wanted nothing to do with them. We’re family enough,” she said as she gave my hand a squeeze.

Before we could say anything else the doctor was sweeping back in, file in hand. “It looks like your bloodwork and x-rays are showing you’re in fairly good condition. The IVs have cleared up the dehydration, and with some rest and relaxation you should be back to yourself in a few weeks.”

“Thank fuck,” Blake groaned, being a good little patient as he checked her vitals until he was satisfied.

“I want to see you in two weeks,” he said firmly. “For now, my nurse is working on your discharge paperwork.”

“You’re coming back with us,” I told her, crossing my arms and doing my best to look authoritative.

She wrinkled her nose at me. “No offense, but absolutely not. You have a pack and I want my own bed. He’s gone and I have a charged phone. It’ll be okay.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “But one call and I’m there.”

“I’ll call if I need you. For now, I just need my prescription and my own bed.”

In forty-five minutes, I was able to give her that. She had electrolytes and water by her bedside, her meds were taken, and she was all tucked in.

My pack was waiting outside. Dorian and Rook in particular had been hovering like crazy. But I couldn’t help but go up to my beta. He’d been unusually quiet after the doctor checked him out.

“You okay?”

“You’re asking me?” he asked, looking at me like I was crazy. “You’re the one who had her whole life torn apart and her best friend taken.”

“We’ve all been in this and you got hurt,” I argued, hating that they were also affected.

“I’m fine,” he promised, giving me a soft kiss. Merrick and I had taken things slow but I hoped he’d be up for changing that soon.