Mated Girl (Wolf Girl #4)(47)

Oh God.
When he bit into her shoulder, I pulled the stake from behind my back. Dragging my bum leg across the forest floor, I bent down before her, the bear keeping her pinned to the spot as she grabbed at him weakly, trying to throw him off. He must weigh over a thousand pounds and she was too injured to fight him. This was the end for her.
“This is for everyone you tortured in your pursuit of power. Say hi to Vicon in hell for me.” Then I slammed the tip of the stake right into her heart.
A final gurgled scream left her throat and then cut off mid yell. Black veins crawled up her neck as her body decomposed into ash, first turning into a crusted shell of skin and then becoming powder.
The bear backed up, looked at me and then took off. Either he was freaked out by her decomposing or he figured his work here was done. He’d rid the sacred forest of her threat.
I stared at the pile of ashes, numb to the realization that I’d actually done it.
I killed her. It’s over.
Reaching out, I brushed my fingers against the black ash, rubbing some between my fingers as if I couldn’t believe this was real.
The queen of the vampires, the mother of my rapist, the woman who tortured Seam’s daughter, stole my wolf, tried to kill my husband, and brought war to our people … was dead.
My throat constricted with emotion as the tightness in my chest finally released and I felt like I could breathe for the first time in so, so, long.
“I’m here!” Sawyer called out, and I spun to see him holding two stakes, one in each fist, blood and bruises covering his shoulders and the side of his neck.
I shook my head, indicating the pile of ashes on the ground as the tears spilled over and I quickly wiped them away with the back of my hand.
“I took care of it,” I told him, my voice vacant. I still felt empty, unfinished, and I didn’t realize why until I remembered that I didn’t have my wolf. This wasn’t over until I got my wolf back. Where the hell was she?
“While you were napping, your girl killed the most powerful queen the vampires have ever seen.” Luka strolled up and patted Sawyer on the back. “How does that feel?”
Sawyer flipped him off and I shook my head at Luka before looking down at my thigh and wincing at the horrible sight.
“They hurt, huh?” Luka stared at the stake protruding out of my thigh. Then he lifted his shirt to showcase over fifty puckered scars all around his chest and abdomen. I hadn’t noticed them before…
My mouth dropped open. “You’ve been staked that many times?”
He grinned, and holy hell he was super good-looking. If Sage and Walsh didn’t figure their shit out, I might just be okay with her hooking up with a vamp. Or I’d have to set up Raven with him.
He nodded. “It will leave a scar, but you’ll heal.”
Sawyer dropped his stakes to the ground and pushed forward, yanking me into his arms. He tucked me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me, and I took in a deep breath. “Let’s get you back to medical. Dr. Pearson can work on this,” Sawyer mumbled against the top of my head as he held me.
I nodded, reaching up to stroke his beard as I pulled back from him a little so that I could look him in the eyes. “Sawyer … my wolf. I can’t feel her. I … need her back.”
He frowned, nodding. “I’ll figure it out.”
With that, we headed back to the cabin, where I found Creek safe with his auntie, and hopefully uncle by the way Walsh was looking at Sage. Luka had to dodge a few falling trees, but we all made it out, the trail still leading us to the Paladin lands, just as it had when I’d opened the cave and proved myself. Sawyer insisted on carrying me, and I looked over his shoulder the entire way, watching the cabin get smaller and eventually fade into the distance.
I would miss this place. As fucked up as that sounded, it was true.
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Once back in Paladin Village, Luka said goodbye and left for Spokane to hide out as the month of mourning for the queen would begin. Because the queen had been the one to lead the war against the wolves and essentially forced the other races into it, now that she was dead, none of them had come forward to continue the war. We’d won.
Sawyer left me with Dr. Pearson and then went to publicly declare the war was over and officially take our land back. The trolls’ magic had worked beautifully, and we’d pushed their forces all the way back to the eastern wall. Luka said the vampires would feel their queen die and he was right. Once they did, their army had surrendered and went into mourning, back in their city.
Dr. Pearson gave me some really good drugs. I was in and out as the one-inch hole in my leg healed with a little help from skin glue and stitches. Astra was asleep in the bed next to me.
Sawyer stopped by when I was lucid and told me that our people came up out of the bunker and now the planning would begin. We’d have defector trolls, witches, and two types of wolves living in Wolf City, but we wouldn’t want it any other way. This was how it should have always been.
I felt the heaviness of sleep pull on me just as Sawyer was telling me about his plan to repair and rebuild Wolf City. Right before I closed my eyes, I felt her. My wolf. She was alive, injured but okay, and someone had just removed a magical collar from her.
‘Where are you!?’ I screamed, trying to jump to her sight so that I could see where she was, but the drugs were too heavy.
‘With the Magical Creature Council. They’re coming, and they want both you and Sawyer in prison. You need to run.’
Oh shit. It was the last thought I had before I slipped into a drugged oblivion.