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“I can’t find a wound.” There was no burble of blood, no gushing bullet wound.
“The gun fired. I thought—” Leo’s eyes were round and terrified, his face pinched with the same agonized worry we all felt.
“Demi. Sunshine,” Knox called, placing his hand over her chest just to feel her breath.
“Darling,” Thane rasped, pressing his own bloodied lips to her forehead as he leaned over her. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Please, Baby Girl. Come back to us,” I pleaded harder than ever before, praying to any god who would listen. “We can’t live without you.”
Jamison, face stoic, leaned close to her ear and barked, “Demi.” Alpha authority prickled through the air, sending goosebumps rising along my extremities.
Unconventional, but if there’s ever a time to use a bark—
Demi’s lashes fluttered against the curve of her cheeks, and then they lifted.
“Baby!” I pressed a fist to my lips to hold back the sob of relief rising in my throat. I swallowed, jamming it back down, but it didn’t stop the single fucking tear that escaped and dripped down my jaw.
Demi’s brows furrowed adorably. “You’re… crying.” Her voice was a strangled rasp, the words gravelly and raw in her ruined throat. Bruising already ringed her neck like a macabre necklace that would take weeks to heal.
“You’re alive. We almost lost you,” I explained through the riot of emotion welling from the center of my chest.
Arm trembling as she lifted it, Demi cupped the side of my face, brushing her thumb over the wet trail, soothing the ache in a way only my Omega could. I covered her hand with mine.
“I’m okay,” she promised.
“You’re not.”
She swallowed and winced, but took stock of herself. “I am. My head hurts. So does my throat, but I’m… I’m not shot.” She appeared as surprised as the rest of us.
“Where does your head hurt?” Eli prompted, his fingers gently lifting and prodding, checking for head wounds. His fingers came away bloody, and his wild eyes swung to ours.
“Hospital?” Jamison asked, barking the question like a demand.
“There’s no question. She needs a CT. Maybe an MRI.”
“I’m okay,” she parroted again.
I shook my head. “You’re going to the hospital, Baby Girl. My heart can’t take anymore. I need to know you’re alright.”
“Can you stand?” Knox was ghastly pale, but he was holding his shit together better than the rest of us.
“I think so.”
I offered her my hand and gently helped her sit, then pulled her gingerly to her feet.
She swayed, and I was fucking done.
I bent and easily scooped her up, cradling her in my arms and safely against my chest. A roiling, unsettled part of me calmed as I held her.
“I’m sorry.” Her face fell as the weight of the evening barreled down on her.
“Shh, Baby Girl. You did so well. So fucking well.”
Her eyes brightened slightly. “I used one of the maneuvers you taught me.”
“Good girl,” I praised, loving how she nestled deeper into my arms.
She blinked up at me, sniffling against the torrent of tears I could tell she held back. “I wouldn’t have had to if I hadn’t ruined everything.”
