Destined for Disaster ✔️

Chapter 11

Austin's feet carried him to the woman. Her fur had receded to give way to pale skin and thin limbs, and her muzzle had turned into a lightly freckled face framed by ash blonde hair. He had never seen her before but he would have recognised her anywhere. His breath caught and he crouched beside her.

"You silvered her?" Sky glowered at Conall, who was standing some way off, loosely holding a bow.

"You said you needed someone to end it," Conall said, approaching. "I ended it."

"You killed her!"

"She isn't dead," Ellis said, kneeling on the other side of Austin's mate. "Austin, pick her up. I already linked Ridge. Sky, you're coming. Your father needs to look at that wound."

"It's fine," Sky said, looking at the claw marks drawn across her side. "He'll have his hands full dealing with her."

"You're still coming, no negotiations. Conall, you too. I have some words for you. Come on, Austin. Hurry up. The silver is going to kick in any minute and put her in a world of pain."

Austin gathered her brittle limbs in his arms and was surprised at how light she was. It was the first time he really touched her and he could feel – just feel – the mate bond growing stronger as he carried her. He hurried to the infirmary, the others trailing after him.

"I got hurt trying to be gentle and you just went and shot her!" Sky said, shoving against Conall's shoulder.

"I had to do something, no one else was doing anything."

"So you silver her – the girl who's been silvered four times already? You signed her death warrant."

"I followed protocol."

Ellis moved around Austin to open the door to the infirmary and they all burst through the doors. Ridge was already standing beside one of the empty beds and gestured for Austin to put her down on it. He lay her down gently, on her stomach so Ridge would have access to the wound on her back.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Conall silvered her," Sky said.

Conall rolled his eyes but said nothing. Ridge bowed over her, examining the cut. The skin around it was turning silver and the girl stirred, her features twisting in pain.

"That was about the worst thing you could do," Ridge said, looking up at Conall.

"It's protocol," he said. "You might all care so much about fate and mates and all that nonsense, but she was a risk to our pack and I took her out, just as our rules prescribe. If she were anyone else, you would be asking me why I didn't shoot her dead."

"You might as well have." Ridge took a cloth and wiped away some of the dirt surrounding the wound. "I'm going to clean this first, hopefully before the silver kicks in. She'll be hard to handle then. Someone go get some cuffs so we can chain her to the bed. She'll be a danger to herself and others when the silver takes effect."

"I'll link someone," Ellis said.

"Ask them to bring some clothes while you're at it."

"You could have used a normal arrow," Sky said to Conall.

"I made sure it only grazed her. A normal arrow would not have done anything to stop her, or I would have needed to hit her somewhere vital. This was the best I could do on such short notice."

"What if you had missed? You could have hit me."

"I'm a good shot and you know it."

"You have good aim but you're sloppy and impatient. You could have hit me."