TM [Complete ✔️]

23. Basement

Sofia's P.O.V

I kept my eyes glued on the crying pup as female after female tossed her around, doing their best to soothe her, so she wouldn't draw attention to all of us.

I howled as two nurses held me down while the other readjusted the bone, white-hot searing pain flowing through my veins until I saw stars.

"Sorry!" She winced before going back to work.

Another few agonizing minutes later, I was finally allowed to shift back, being only too happy to grab the little girl back into my arms.

Clenching my jaw and grinding my teeth against the pain, I pushed Sam back, a few screams tearing from my throat before I was finally in my human form again.

Tears spilled down my cheeks as one of the nurses helped get me into a medical gown and held me as I limped my way over to the others, plopping down on one of the cushions against the wall.

"Pass her over!" I almost growled, the she-wolf holding Beyla looking over at me in shock before holding the pup out for me.

"There, there," I cooed at the little girl, brushing some of her hair away from her face and kissing the top of her head. The relief slamming back into me may have been short-lived with everything going on but it was also stronger than anything I'd felt in so long I nearly began to cry all over again. "You're safe now. We're safe. I've got you. Everything will be alright soon."

Whether I was telling her or myself, I didn't know.

"Sof?" The she-wolf who'd passed me the pup called. "What's wrong? How bad is it up there?" I shook my head sadly.

Everyone was staring at me, waiting for updates I wasn't ready to give. They weren't used to me not smiling and happy, either, hence why their stares were a little more than I could chew at the moment.

"It's," I started, pushing myself away from the wall so I'd turn away from them, "bad, but our warriors have been working hard, so I'm sure we'll be out of here in no time," I lied. Our warriors may have been working hard but most of them were young or never previously interested in fighting, which is why they were here and not dead or in the cells like Alpha Cedric's helpers.

And Zane...

The link between my mate and I was still severed, silent as if it never existed.

"Here," a nurse stepped in front of me, passing a bucket of clean water and some rags, "clean yourself and the pup up."

"Thank you." I gave her a small smile, dumping the rag into the freezing water.

"This is going to sting a little," I murmured to Beyla as I gently patted her skin with it, doing my best to be fast so she wouldn't get too cold.

"Goddess, she's covered in blood from head to toe!" Someone gasped from behind me.

"She's so young, who knows what trauma this will leave on her poor soul!" Another whispered.

I took a deep breath, squeezing the rag with all my might so I wouldn't hurl it at them all.

Didn't they know I tried to shield her from it as best as I could? That I would've never let her get splashed if I could've helped it?

"Shh, it's alright," I whimpered quietly, removing the cold towel away from her little body and rubbing my arms up and down her little legs to warm her up.

Beyla finally stopped crying and reached for the rag, playing with one of the clean ones I handed her instead as I cleaned myself off.

I hissed as the rag met my arm, finding a large open wound where one of the rogues must have torn the skin off my body. Instead of bothering one of the nurses, I carefully cleaned it up and wrapped one of the few remaining cloths around it to stop the bleeding.

"Is someone sleepy?" I smiled up at Beyla as she yawned, grabbing a blanket from the piles and throwing it over the two of us. I cradled her to my chest, her head laying on me as she reached to pull my hair, cooed, and stared at my face.

The nurses were swarmed back into work already, taking care of bleeding and roughed-up warriors, some of their limbs and body parts hanging on by a thread as they were stitched up before limping back into battle.

I knew our numbers were low still, but I didn't think they were this bad...

I turned away from the heavy sight, my gaze landing on Beyla's nanny, who had been hurt when I found the pup being dragged away by the rogues. She was sleeping in a corner now but didn't look like she was in pain, luckily.

Focusing on the precious little bundle in my arms, I watched as just like almost everyone else in the room, her eyelids drooped closed, her breaths evening out as she fell asleep, snoring light in my arms and snuggling herself further into my body.

"Sof," my wolf warned me sadly, "don't get attached. You won't be able to handle it when our mate takes her away again." The corners of my mouth lifted into a small smile. My beautiful, smart wolf always looking out for me.

"Thank you," I whispered, going back to looking down at the little pup.

With my adrenaline running out, my entire body ached and I couldn't stop shaking. My leg was almost healed by now and my arm would use only a little more time before it was too, but the horrors of today opened up way bigger wounds, only those couldn't be stitched up as easily.

My heart beat so fast it felt like it wanted to escape my rib cage, fly away until it was sure it was safe.

While I'd managed to keep myself going and remain calm and composed while dealing with the rogues, I was falling apart now that I knew it was safe to do so.

I never let myself fall in front of others. Knowing what it was like to lose yourself, I did my best to help keep everyone else together, even if it sometimes meant I'd have to wait to fall apart until I was alone.

But I couldn't this time.

I was struggling to breathe, the air not enough to fill my lungs, and the humid basement with no windows was doing nothing to help. Even more so, I had no idea, and no idea if I even wanted to know, what was happening out there and how and where Zane was.

I lost one mate to rogues...

No. Not going there. Whatever I did, whatever I thought of while down here, it couldn't be about either Rowan, or Zane. I refused to have the two males I've ever felt something for leave me in such way, even if one wanted nothing to do with me. I was content so long as he was alive.

"Gamma Ezra?" I mind-linked him, hoping I wasn't going to be a distraction. "Have you heard from the Alpha?" It wasn't suspicious that I was asking, right? I was a member of his pack and I had his daughter sleeping in my arms, surely those were good enough reasons?

"No," the Gamma grunted, probably mid-fight, "but my mate found him unconscious and is working to wake him up. He doesn't seem injured in any other way."

The latter didn't matter because all I heard was unconscious. My mate was hurt somewhere to the point where he passed out. I could've lost him before I ever had the chance to know what it was like to be anything to him, even a friend.

I shook my head, my body shaking so hard it was making me dizzy.

"But he'll be alright?" To hell with secrecy, I let every ounce of my worry shine through.

"Yes." Was all the Gamma said before he shut me out, a breath I didn't realize I was holding leaving my lungs.

Alright, he would be alright. Gamma Enzo was with him and he'd be awake soon.

I wasn't feeling any pain on his side, so he must not be in any which was a good enough sign.

***

"Sofia!" A voice rang urgently through my head. I jumped up, the pup in my arms stirring but luckily staying asleep. "Sofia!"

Zane! It was Zane's voice that spoke to me currently, meaning he was okay.

I let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm here! Sorry, I must've dozed off!"

"How's my little bean?" He asked.

"She's perfect, currently sleeping in my arms."

"Thank you!"

"Yeah," I mumbled awkwardly, remembering Samara's warning from earlier.

"I need you to listen to me and I need you to listen carefully!" He warned, my body freezing in place.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"The odds of winning this aren't in our favor. The pack is," he let out a frustrated breath, "f**k, it's destroyed, Sofia!" My heart sank. Not only for my home but for the raw anger and sadness in my mate's voice.

"You'll get it back to where it was, even better!" I tried to help.

"That's where you come in."

A/N

Hi, Treasures! Make sure you join my F-a-c-e-b-o-o-k group Teddy's Treasures for extra content and discussions! Sofia and Beyla are safe and Zane is, well, not unconscious anymore, so there's that. What do you think he needs from Sof?