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I knelt next to Linda’s body and shook her shoulder hard. My hands shook so bad they slipped on the dried blood. “No. No it’s not possible. Linda wake up. This isn’t real.”
Jax furrowed his eyebrows and reached for my arm. “Luna she’s gone. We need to move.”
I jerked away and raked my fingers through my hair. “No! She’s not dead. She’s just hurt. Let’s just head back to the pack. They’ll fix her. Get up Linda. Please.”
Mark shifted on his feet and looked at Jax. “She’s in shock. We gotta get her out of here.”
I yelled louder and grabbed her hand. “She’s warm. See? She’s not dead. Linda come
- Wake up.”
Jax knelt down next to me. “Luna look at me. The blood’s dry. It’s been hours. She’s not breathing. We have to take her back but she’s gone.”
I sobbed hard and shook my head. “No. You’re wrong. Let’s go. Now.”
Mark nodded quick. “Okay. We’ll take you back. Jax carry her.”
Jax scooped Linda up careful. I stood up wobbly and started walking fast toward the pack borders. My legs hurt but I kept going. Tears streamed down my face. I wiped them with my sleeve over and over.
We reached the borders. The trees thinned out. Guards spotted us and ran out fast. Damien was with them. He stopped short when he saw us. His face went tight.
“What happened?” Damien yelled. He ran up and grabbed my arms. “Sienna? Talk to me.”
I couldn’t speak. I just stared at Linda in Jax’s arms. Tears kept falling. “Linda is dead.”
Everyone gasped. Alice pushed through the crowd. “What? How?”
I kept crying. My knees buckled. Damien held me up. “Linda is dead. She’s dead.”
Alice furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms. “Where on earth did you guys go in the first place? I was wondering. Damien didn’t tell me that you were going out like this.”
I shook my head fast. “I don’t know what happened. We were walking and then… black. I woke up and she was like this.”
Damien looked at Alice. “Not now.”
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the group. We walked to a separate
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spot behind a tree line. He let go and turned to me. “Talk to me. What happened? Tell me everything.”
I wiped my face with both sleeves. My voice shook. “We left like planned. Walking to the human road. Talking about human stuff. Favorite things. Coffee shops, movies. She asked what I wanted to do. Then nothing. I blacked out. Woke up at night. Twelve hours gone. Linda on the ground with a knife in her shoulder. Blood dry. Old. I called you but no signal. I ran for help. Found Jax and Mark. They said she’s dead. Now she’s dead. I think it’s all my fault. What do I do? Damien what do I do?”
He furrowed his eyebrows and raked his fingers through his hair. “You blacked out?
Like the hallucinations?”
I nodded fast. “Yes. But this time it’s real. She’s dead. I must have done it. In the blackout. What if I stabbed her? It’s my fault.”
He grabbed my shoulders. “No. You didn’t. You wouldn’t.”
I sobbed harder. “But I don’t remember. Twelve hours gone. Knife in her. Blood on me. It’s my fault.”
He pulled me against his chest. “Breathe. We’ll figure it out. You didn’t do this.”
I cried into his shirt. “She’s dead because of me. What do I do?”
He held me tight. “Stay calm. We’ll investigate. You’re not a killer.”
I nodded against him but kept crying. “I can’t believe she’s gone.”
I stood there in the side spot shaking my head fast. Tears kept falling. I wiped my face with my sleeve and looked at Damien. My voice broke when I spoke. “How can she be dead? We were just talking. I blacked out and now she’s gone. It’s my fault. I must have done something in that time.”
Damien grabbed my shoulders firm. He looked straight at me. “Stop. You didn’t do this. Me and the other alphas will try our best to investigate and see what we can do. You should just stay here. Rest.”
I furrowed my eyebrows and raked my fingers through my hair. “Stay here? How? Linda’ s dead and it’s my fault. I can’t just sit around.”
He shook his head slow. “Anything could have happened. Especially with rogues out for everyone. They could have ambushed you. Blacked you out somehow. We’ll figure
it out.”
I stared at him. He looked so calm. Face blank. Voice steady. I shifted on my feet and crossed my arms tight. “How are you so calm? Linda’s dead. Your beta. My friend. And you’re just standing there like it’s no big deal.”
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He looked at me for a second. “It’s a big deal. But panicking doesn’t help. We
investigate. We fix what we can.”
I wiped more tears. “I can’t believe this. She’s really gone.”
He nodded once. “Come on. Let’s head back downstairs. The others need to know.”
I followed him back to the main hall. My legs felt heavy. Everyone was still gathered. Alice paced the floor. Kade stood against the wall with his arms crossed. Rafe and Elias talked low in the corner. They all looked up when we walked in.
Alice stopped pacing and stepped toward me. “You cannot ask me not to ask any questions. Both of you disappear and return like this. She can’t even tell us any tangible story. You have to start speaking or I will have to investigate. And if you don’t want us to investigate then we’ll have to involve the elders. You know we don’t have time for that because this is such a horrible time with the war going on. We can’t be disrupting them without speaking.”
opened my mouth to answer. My voice shook. “Alice I-
Kade pushed off the wall. “She’s not dead. We can still resurrect her. We need a healer.”
Everyone turned to him. Alice furrowed her eyebrows. “Resurrect? Kade what are you talking about? She’s stabbed through the shoulder. Blood loss. She’s gone.”
Kade shook his head. “No. Healers can pull back from that if we act fast. Get the pack
healer here now.”
Rafe nodded quick. “He’s right. I’ve seen it before. Deep wounds, no pulse for minutes. Healer brought them back.”
Elias looked at Damien. “Alpha? Call it?”
Damien crossed his arms. “Do it. Get the healer. Move Linda to the infirmary.”
Alice raked her fingers through her hair. “This is crazy. She’s cold already. But fine. Try
it.”
I shifted on my feet and wiped my face again. “You think it could work? She’s really dead but maybe…”
Kade looked at me. “It’s possible. Healers have magic. Strong ones can restart hearts.”
I nodded fast. “Okay. Do it. Please.”
The group moved quick. Rafe and Elias picked up Linda’s body gentle and carried her toward the infirmary door. Alice followed them talking low to Kade. “If this doesn’t work we’re wasting time. We need answers from Sienna first.”
Kade shrugged. “Answers after. Resurrection now.”
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75 Voucher
I stood there watching them go. My hands still shook. Damien put his hand on my lower back. “Come on. Let them work.”
I nodded but my chest felt tight. “What if it doesn’t work? What if she’s really gone?”
He steered me toward the stairs. “We’ll deal with that if it happens.”
I raked my fingers through my hair as we walked up. “I can’t believe this. One minute we’re talking the next she’s dead. And I don’t remember anything.”
He opened the bedroom door. “Sit. Rest. I’ll check on the healer.”
I sat on the bed and hugged my knees. “Don’t leave me alone. Please.”
He looked at me for a second. “Fine. I’ll stay until we hear something.”
I nodded and wiped more tears. “Thank you.”
I hugged my knees tighter. “I hope the healer works. I can’t lose her.”
He nodded once. “Me too.”
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