“Yeah,” I muttered. I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. “Just… I’ll tell you later. There’s blood. A lot of it.”
“Do you need to shift?”
I couldn’t tell him that I was afraid to. That I didn’t want to scare Tanner and Chris. That I thought I could stay more in control as a human. I said, “No. Not yet. Gordo was right. Someone has been hurt. Badly.”
He nodded as Gordo stepped between Ox and Joe, the Alphas pressing against him. Mark came up behind him, bowing his head and pressing it against Gordo’s back. Gordo took in a deep breath, exhaling slowly before he raised his hand and began muttering under his breath.
My skin prickled as his magic rose and the wards before us lit up. They were familiar, and my gums itched as my fangs threatened to drop. The timber wolf growled at Gordo, but Carter bumped against him to distract him. Gordo paid them no attention as he pressed his hand flat against the ward. There was a pulse of light and the distant chime of what sounded like bells, and then the ward collapsed in on itself—but only the one. It created an opening, and Gordo dropped his hand. He looked back at us. He was sweating, the sheen on his forehead flashing in the sun. “Okay,” he said as he panted. “We should be good. Christ, that takes a lot out of me. Patrice and Aileen put too much into it. Fuck.”
The stench of blood grew stronger, and Ox shifted back. The muscles in his back rippled as he stood. He said, “It’s Alpha Wells.” He took a step beyond the wards.
We followed him single file before spreading out on the other side of the barrier.
Kelly saw it first, a splash of blood against a green bush, the deep red dripping onto the forest floor. He touched the leaf before rubbing his fingers together. “It’s not tacky. She’s got to be close.”
She was.
Fifty yards beyond the wards, the trail of blood came to an end. There was a large boulder, and on the other side of it was a woman I’d last seen on a forgotten bridge in Virginia.
Shannon Wells didn’t open her eyes as we came before her. I didn’t even know if she was conscious. Her chest rose and fell quickly, her breaths shallow and sounding painful. She was naked, as if she’d shifted with the last of her strength.
Her numerous wounds weren’t healing. I saw the wet white of bone through a gash on her forearm, which hung uselessly at her side. Her chest was a mess of deep slashes. Her face was bloodied and swollen, and her mouth hung open. She looked as if she were missing teeth.
“Oh no,” Jessie whispered, pushing by me and crouching before her. She reached out but hesitated, like she was unsure of where to touch the wounded Alpha and not hurt her any further. She whipped her own shirt over her head and settled it carefully over the Alpha’s lap as if to preserve her dignity. “Ox, you have to help her.”
Elizabeth shifted next to Jessie. She was still half-wolf when she reached out and cupped Shannon’s face in her hands. “Shannon. Can you hear me?”
Shannon groaned but didn’t open her eyes.
“What happened to
her?” Rico asked quietly. “She looks like she’s been ravaged. Why isn’t she healing?”
“It’s too much for her,” Ox said, crouching down on Shannon’s other side. “Her body is weakened.”
Shannon Wells opened her eyes.
They flickered red. Then to her normal green. Then red again.
And then violet.
She began to scream.
It burst out of her, a sound of pure horror, eyes wide but unseeing. She tilted her head back against the boulder and screamed like she was never going to stop. Birds took flight from the trees around us as her voice echoed through the woods. I felt the terrible song of despair down to my bones.
Jessie fell back as Shannon jerked forward, still screaming. Joe stepped in front of Jessie, allowing her to pick herself up while he stood guard. But Shannon didn’t go for her. She didn’t go for any of us. All she did was scream as her life’s blood dripped from her body onto the forest floor.
Ox’s eyes filled again, and he half-shifted before roaring in her face.
Her screams cut off like her throat had closed.
Clarity leaked back into her eyes.
And it was horrible.
She was aware, and I felt the sharp pieces of her breaking off.
When she spoke, her voice was choked. She said, “I… I… I came. I came. Because. I have nothing. I have no one. It’s all gone. It’s all gone. They….” And, her voice a growl, “Alpha. Alpha, Alpha.”