Chapter 401
As I approached Maple Grove in my Midnight Maybach, my enhanced werewolf senses detected a familiar scent. Victoria Frost.
She should have been confined at Moonstone Psychiatric Facility. A sense of dread washed over me like ice water.
I looked up to see flames visible through Olivia’s cottage windows. My wolf howled in alarm at the threat to our mate.
“No!” I roared, my Alpha voice echoing through the night.
Without hesitation, I accelerated and struck Victoria with my vehicle. The impact sent her flying with the force of an enraged Alpha.
She hit the pavement hard, her body crumpling like a broken doll. But I ignored her as she lay injured on the ground.
My mate was in mortal danger. Nothing else mattered.
I called the fire department while rushing toward the cottage complex. “Emergency at Maple Grove, third floor cottage fire!”
I knew the firefighters would take at least fifteen minutes to arrive. Olivia didn’t have that long.
I knocked frantically on a first–floor resident’s door. An elderly wolf answered, his eyes wide with alarm.
“Alert building management! There’s a fire on the third floor!” I commanded.
I pushed past him into his bathroom, soaking myself with water from head to toe. The cold liquid would provide some protection against the flames.
Then I charged up the stairs, my Alpha strength driving me forward despite the danger. Each step brought me closer to my mate.
The heat was intense even outside the cottage. It tested even my Alpha constitution as I approached the door.
I grabbed a fire extinguisher from the stairwell. Using it, I doused the flames at the entrance as much as possible.
Then I broke through with my enhanced werewolf strength. The door splintered under my assault.
I covered my head with my wet Ethan’s Black Alpha Overcoat and plunged into the inferno. “Olivia! Evelyn!” I called through both voice and our weakened mate bond.
The smoke was thick enough to choke even an Alpha. I quickly made my way to the bathroom to rewet myself.
The water hissed as it hit my already heated skin. But I pushed through the pain.
I headed first to the master bedroom where Evelyn was trapped. My wolf drove me to protect my mate’s family.
The flames were everywhere. They licked at my clothes and skin as I fought my way through the cottage.
I found Evelyn semi–conscious in a corner of the room. Her human frailty made her more vulnerable to the smoke than a werewolf would be.
“Evelyn!” I called, wrapping her in my coat.
I carried her through the flames, ignoring the burning pain on my skin. My Alpha regeneration would heal the damage, but she didn’t have that luxury.
The property management staff had arrived outside. I handed Evelyn to them immediately.
“Get her to Crescent Moon Medical Center immediately,” I ordered before rushing back into the burning cottage.
My wolf was desperate to reach our mate. Every second counted now.
Following the same procedure, I soaked myself again in the bathroom. The water was barely lukewarm now, but it was better than nothing.
I burst into Olivia’s room. The sight that greeted me shattered my heart into pieces.
She lay unconscious on the floor, barely breathing. Her wolf was too weak from smoke inhalation to maintain consciousness.
“Olivia!” I cried out, dropping to my knees beside her.
I wrapped her in my coat and held her tightly against my chest. Her body was limp, her breathing shallow.
“Don’t be afraid, I won’t let anything happen to you,” I promised through our mate bond.
I lifted her carefully, cradling her against me as noved toward the exit. My Alpha strength was the only thing keeping us both alive.
The flames seemed to part before my determination. Nothing would stop me from saving my mate.
Just as we neared the door, a burning cabinet began to fall toward us. The structure of the cottage was collapsing around us,
With only a few steps to safety, I raised my arm to block it. I had to protect Olivia in my embrace.
The cabinet crashed into my shoulder and back. The pain from the burns intensified, and my Alpha strength began to fade from inhaling too much smoke. At that moment, Lucas Blackwood appeared at the doorway. He must have sensed the danger te Olivia through the territory’s emergency alert system.
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Chapter 40
In my last conscious act, I pushed Olivia into Lucas’s arms. The cabinet crashed down on me as I collapsed.
“Ethan Stone!” Lucas called out, hesitating only briefly before carrying the unconscious Olivia to safety as I fell amid the flames.
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