Chapter Twenty-Two

Jackson was the first to go down, losing his pelt purely out of exhaustion as Bree and I took our places around him. There, in the middle of the clearing with two wolves circling around us, I was as much a part of Bree’s pack as she was of mine.

I only wished my sister had gotten the chance to join us. Not with the wolves, but before we left the house.

I’m so sorry, Greta. I’d promised to see her soon, and now… now it seemed as though I wouldn’t get to see her at all.

“Focus,” Bree’s voice rung out in the back of my mind. “I need you here now.”

Swallowing back my tears, I gripped the branch I held in my hands and turned for the darker wolf that had placed itself in front of me.

“This is too easy,” he said as he took on his other form. “It almost feels a little unfair.” He took a step toward me, which grabbed Bree’s attention long enough for her wolf to lash out at him.

A second later, the other wolf was on top of her, delivering a hard blow to the back of her neck and between her shoulder blades.

“Stop,” I cried out, swinging my branch in the empty air in front of me. “Both of you. Can’t you see you’ve already won? Leave them alone. Leave us in peace.” This is supposed to be a sacred place!

“It’s a real shame,” the one wolf said, stopping my arm mid-swing before taking the branch away from me completely. “Such passion wasted on such a small thing.”

“What should we do with her?” the other wolf asked as he took on his human form. “She’ll talk.”

“And others will think she’s a lunatic because of it. As much as I’d love to sink my teeth into that pale skin, we have our orders. The territory is ours.” That time, he looked right at me. “Wolves will war against one another until the end of time, but we aren’t stupid. Starting a war with humans, much less leaving the body of one, is something we will not do. Consider yourself lucky,” he said as he let me go. “Tonight could’ve been a lot worse. Tend to your spirits if you must, but if we see you here again—”

“You won’t do a damned thing,” I growled, turning my back to him as I collapsed beside Bree.

“Such a smart girl,” he said in a low whisper as he leaned over to talk in my ear. “And such a shame.” Then, to his comrade, he said, “Come on. We’d better get down there before someone else tries to claim it before we do.”

My heart skipped as the two of them took on their pelts and headed back down the hill. Once they did, the adrenaline kicked in, causing my hands to sake as I looked over Bree’s injuries. She still had her pelt, which meant she still had a chance.

“Jackson…”

I pulled myself away from Bree long enough to check on her brother. His injuries were more severe than I’d originally thought, throwing him out of his pelt and onto the hard ground in front of me.

“The Silverbacks,” I said, cursing when my hands shook too much for me to fish my phone out of my back pocket. “They’ll know what to do.” We still had some time. They could still help.

“Come on. Come on,” I growled, getting the phone in front of me and counting down the seconds as the screen slowly came on.

Blinded by my tears, the first call I made went straight to voicemail. The second one didn’t go any better. But by the third call, I’d calmed down my breathing just enough to pick the right contact from the list, holding the phone against my ear as I looked over Bree’s injuries again.

She and her brother were still alive.

“ID?”

“I…” I searched around but there was no way for me to know for sure. “I don’t know, but we have two wolves down after a territorial war and I need help.”

“Where are you, hun?”

“The cemetery. The… what did Bree call it? It’s a sacred space.”

“Someone is on their way.”

“Send two,” I said before she could hang up.

“Miss, we don’t normally—”

“I said send two.” I spoke through gritted teeth. “My mate and her brother defended me. They both deserve to live. Please. Send two.”

She hesitated a moment, then said, “Two healers are on their way to your location, just hang on. And don’t try to move the bodies.”

The gentle voice on the other side of the line hung up, likely to take another call. In that moment, with darkness swirling all around me, I was alone.

Please hurry.

 

 

By the time the Silverbacks arrived, Bree had reverted to her human form. Even in the darkness, I could make out her pale body with a fan of dark hair spread out beneath it. She had an ethereal halo about her that I’d never seen before. However, given our current circumstances, it wasn’t something I ever wanted to see.

Much to my surprise, the Silverbacks didn’t come in their pelts. They drove.

I’m not sure how they navigated that winding path or why they decided to do such a thing, but I had a feeling it had a lot more to do with the fact there were two injured wolves instead of one.

“How long have they been out?” the Silverback from before asked as he approached Bree.

“Jackson’s been unconscious and out of his pelt the longest,” I said, wincing when the words shook at the end. “Bree fell after.”

“See to him.” He was talking to the other Silverback who was much younger than he was. “I’ll tend to this one here.” With that, he settled down beside me and looked over Bree’s wounds, shaking his head as he did. “Her injuries are severe,” he said as he rolled her onto her side so he could see her back. “And the fact neither one of them kept their pelts is of great concern.”

“But you helped Jackson once before.” Surely he could do it again.

“I did,” he agreed, meeting my worried gaze with one of his own. “And he’s still healing. On top of his last injury, he’ll have to recover from this one as well. It may have scarred over, but it takes time for a wolf to fully get back on his feet.” Then, to his comrade, he said, “How is he?”

“Not good,” the other replied. “His injuries are critical. It’ll take two of us just to—”

“No,” I said as tears streamed down my face. “Don’t you say that. You both came here to do your job, so make it work. They were protecting me.”

“And she’s your mate,” the healer beside me said.

“How did you—”

“It’s easy to see where the passion lies.”

“It doesn’t matter. I won’t pick one over the other. I could never sentence him to death. She’d never forgive me.”

The younger one cut in yet again. “But their injuries—”

“Will heal,” I said through my tears as I refused to leave Bree’s side. “Just please, don’t make me do this alone.”

The Silverbacks looked at one another, then gave me a slight nod.

“It will take the three of us,” the one from before said as he knelt in front of me. “You’ll feel tired and unsteady on your feet.”

“I don’t care.”

“Very well. Give me your hand.”

When I did, the other shaman joined him. Together, we formed a line beside Bree with me sitting in the middle. While the one Silverback held my hand, the other placed a hand on my shoulder for support.

“You’ll work as a conductor of sorts,” the older one explained. “We’ll siphon our power through you, which will then become charged before finally entering her body.”

“Why didn’t you have her do this before?” I asked as I placed my free hand on Bree’s arm.

“At the time, Jackson’s injuries weren’t as severe. Usually, this position is given to a wolf, possibly a family member within the pack. I’ve seen how she looks at you and how you look at her. It might not make sense, and it might take some time for others to accept it, but to her, you’re family. This puts you in an awkward position of being allowed to help but without us knowing the consequences of doing so.”

“I don’t care. If my involvement is the only reason you’re willing to help, I’ll do it.” Even if it wasn’t, I probably still would.

“The magic will not harm you,” he assured me as he likely sensed my hesitation. “It might ache a bit when you receive a bit of backlash from her, but it will pass. Are you ready?”

Looking at Bree, I inclined my head and closed my eyes. “I am.”

At first, all I felt were the threads of warmth coming from both Silverbacks, heating my body until it filtered past my hand and into Bree’s body. Under my touch, I sensed her move, her body thrashing before finally accepting the magic she was given. As promised, when she moved again, it was in fits and starts, pushing a colder wave of energy through me which caused my chest to ache until I couldn’t breathe.

“We must stop. This is unwise,” the young shaman said as he started to pull away.

“No,” I begged, gasping for breath. “Keep going.”

I can do this.

“But it’ll kill you.”

“I don’t care how long it takes,” I said. “I won’t leave them.”

The young shaman paused, and for a moment, I thought he might say something else. He never did, leaning against me as we gave Bree our full attention.

With both Silverbacks still in contact with me, I managed to take a deep breath, then pushed forward. No images flashed in my mind. No warmth came from Bree’s body. All I felt and all I saw was the cold darkness surrounding us and the magic the Silverbacks slowly filtered through my body.

Vaguely aware of the fact that I was squeezing the one shaman’s hand, I eased off, but only until another wave of pain washed over me.

“Enough child,” he said, pulling me away from Bree before I could get hit again.

“But she isn’t—”

“She’s better off than she was,” the older shaman assured me, “and we still have one other to heal.” He looked in Jackson’s direction, then helped me to my feet while the other shaman made his way toward Bree’s brother.

Jackson’s reaction wasn’t as violent, taking the magic as it was given to him without flinching an inch. Perhaps it was because he’d been healed recently, or maybe it was because I had a stronger connection to Bree. Regardless of the reason, I still came away from the exercise with a throbbing headache and legs that weren’t nearly as steady as I would’ve liked.

“What do we do now?” I asked as I took my place beside Bree once more.

“We’ll stay here for the night,” the head shaman said as he stepped away from Bree. “We have blankets and warmers in the car.”

“Out here?” I asked with surprise. In the open?

“If their attackers are wise and don’t want to stand trial, they won’t be coming back.”

“Maybe not them, but what about someone else?” Would they finish the job? Could they injure the Silverbacks in their current state?

“Unless you want one of us driving down that path drunk,” the younger one cut in, “it’s best if we stay here. We’re currently incapable of driving let alone taking on pelts of our own. This is the price you had us pay, and now it’ll be up to you to—”

“Stop it,” the head Silverback scolded. “Can’t you see the girl’s already been through enough?” To me, he said, “We’ll be safe. We just need some time to rest.”

I wasn’t convinced. “I’ll drive.” I didn’t like the idea any more than he apparently did, but when given a choice between going home and staying out here, I’d pick the ride down the mountain every single time.

Out here, we were vulnerable and easy to pick off if someone decided to do so. With the Silverbacks’ energy depleted, I was our only way home.

“Have you ever driven this way before?” the older one asked as he placed a hand on my shoulder. “Have you ever done anything like this at all?”

I swallowed around the lump in my throat and shook my head. “No, but taking that risk is better than staying out here, isn’t it?”

He looked from me to the car, then back again. “Help me move her, then we’ll tend to Jackson.”

“You can’t be serious.” The younger shaman stood beside us, blocking our path in the process. “She can’t—”

“There are a lot of things I didn’t think she could do,” the head shaman cut in, “and she proved me wrong every single time. She might not have the heart or the strength of a wolf, but she’s just as determined. If she says she can do it, then you’d better believe she can. Besides, she’s right. We can’t stay out here. We’d be doing a disservice to our current patients and our future ones as well. You and I both know how this ends if we don’t move.”

The other healer looked like he was about to argue but thought better of it, stepping aside while keeping a very close eye on me. “For all our sakes, I hope you know what you’re doing.”

So do I.