I pushed my wet hair off my face and hurriedly jogged inside. Joella had a small triage set up in the main room. Three long tables had been brought in, draped with sheets, and equipped with medical supplies in red bags.
Joella rested her hands on Verona’s stomach, closing her eyes. I moved to the other side of the table and watched Joella. She growled, and her eyes opened.
“I need you,” she said. She grabbed my hands and placed them on Verona’s stomach. “I need you to help me heal her.”
“Jo, I don’t know how,” I rushed out.
“Just close your eyes and focus all of your energy on her. Think of healing her. Picture every cell in your body being transferred to hers. You’re a Luna, too, Margo. I can’t do this alone.”
I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on what Joella told me. I waited for something to happen and grunted when nothing did.
“Just relax. Focus.” Joella snapped. I moved a strand of hair and placed the hand back on Verona’s stomach. My hands started to tingle, and I cautiously opened one of my eyes to look at it. I shut my eyes again and imagined giving all my strength to Verona.
After a few minutes, I opened my eyes to see Joella checking Verona’s body. Her skin wasn’t as pale, and her breathing had evened out.
“She’ll be fine,” Joella said thankfully, grabbing a needle and some type of thread. She began to suture a gash along Verona’s arm.
I backed away, looking for Theo, who was arguing with Olympia.
“I don’t need any help,” she said sternly, smiling despite her anger.
“Your shoulder is out of the socket, if you leave it to heal like that, you could lose function of your arm,” Theo explained like he was talking to a child. Olympia smiled sarcastically.
“That seems like something I should worry about, huh?”
Joella brushed past me, grabbed Olympia’s shoulder firmly from behind, and before she could protest, pulled her arm back into the socket.
Olympia screamed loudly, sending chills down my arms. Theo looked pleased and left her side.
“Are you alright?” I asked her, leaning over the table. She turned her head and glared.
“Do I look like I’m okay? If it wasn’t for that bitch Saskia, I wouldn’t even be in this position. Fucking witch woman.”
“Witch?”
She grimaced, holding her shoulder tightly. “She came into our packs with scraps of fabric, claiming that they were from rogues who killed her family. She asked us if we recognized the scents. One smelled familiar to me, in a weird way. She told me they were probably my mate and that I needed to follow her to make sure he wasn’t in trouble.
“We visited a few packs, even my supposed mate’s brother’s pack. She made us wait outside, and we left as quickly as we got there. Went to a few more packs, and the next thing you know, we’re grabbed from the middle of the forest muzzled and shoved in crates. They brought us to that cabin and held us there for five days.”
“And Pilar and Verona, Saskia told them the same thing?” She nodded. I thanked her and walked over to Theo.
“This makes me sick,” he murmured, staring at Verona.
“It’s Saskia’s fault,” I told him, tugging on his arm to follow me a few steps away. “She’s the one that told the girls to follow her. She said their mates were in danger.”
“I thought they weren’t mated yet?”
“They aren’t, they recognized them by scents from clothes Saskia had.”
Theo looked over my head.
“Theo, she’s not lying,” I insisted. His blue eyes looked back down.
“I know. I just don’t know what Saskia’s end game is. Why would she tell us blatant lies only for us to save the girls?”
Joella set a roll of gauze down and walked toward us. We shifted to be facing her, bracing ourselves for any other news.
“What the hell happened to these girls? That one can’t stop crying.” She pointed towards Pilar.
“They were led into an ambush by Saskia,” I said lightly. “They were muzzled, crated, and held in a cabin for five days.” Sadness took over Joella’s expression, and she sighed. Felix walked up behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist.
“Joella, you should sit,” Felix said in her ear.
“I have to finish Pilar’s ankle first,” she told him, leaving his embrace but pulling his hang to follow her.
“You should rest,” Theo whispered to me. His hand wove into my hair, and he looked at me like he already knew I wouldn’t comply. I gave him a look.
“I’ll rest when Verona is healed.”
He sighed and let my hair go, bending down to kiss the top of my head.
I picked up a damp cloth and started wiping blood and dirt off Verona. She was caked in layers of filth. okmSuddenly, her eyes flashed open, and she gasped for air. I reached for her arms to press her back on the table.
“Verona, you’re okay. You’re safe.” I soothed. She thrashed against me, eyes rapidly searching the room. Olympia hopped off the table and came to the other side of Verona.
“You’re fine,” she said firmly. “V, it’s okay. She’s a friend.”
Verona settled back, resting her eyes for a moment.
“Verona?” I said softly. Her eyes opened again. “How did you get outside.”
“They tried to rape me,” she wheezed, looking off into the distance. I became stiff. “Dragged me out to the woods and started to tear my clothes off when your cars scared them off. They ran.”
“You’re safe now,” I assured her, grabbing onto her hand. She relaxed back on the table momentarily before her body started convulsing. “Joella!”
She ran over, placing her hands on either side of the girl’s head.
“She’s having a seizure,” she spat out angrily. “Help me turn her on her side.” We picked
