Page 56 of Wolf Crowned

I’d seen some gnarly infections before when we’d interrogated survivors of packs we’d attacked. My chest was a whole new level.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I tried again. “How long has it been?” Days for sure.

Sloane gently splashed some water over my chest. “Twelve hours. Maybe a little more”

That was it? My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach as my body dipped lower in the spring. Water sloshed in my mouth and I choked, spitting it out.

Sloane and Lincoln jerked me up higher in the water. I sputtered and bit my lip, willing myself not to cough again. Because that hurt like hell.

Lincoln held me up as he carefully moved around me and then took the brunt of my weight. “I’ll hold him up. You see what you can do to get him cleaned up. Having the wolfsbane laying on the wounds can’t be helping.”

Sloane appeared in front of me. Her eyes narrowed, gaze focused on my chest. She cupped the water in her hands and lifted them, cleansing me softly.

Her brow furrowed as her brows knitted together. “I don’t suppose you guys kept any antibiotics in here.”

Lincoln rested his forehead against the back of my head. “No. We never had any reason to.”

Wolves didn’t get infections. Not like this. We shifted to heal our injuries. Except I couldn’t. The wolfsbane was wreaking havoc on my system. My wolf was dormant until the poison finished running its course.

My wolf. I reached for him, but couldn’t feel him. Where was he? I pulled on the tether that connected us again. Still nothing.

My pulse pounded. Why couldn’t I feel him?

Sloane grasped my cheeks. “Hey, you okay?”

I snapped my focus on her, taking solace in her beautiful eyes. It dulled the paralyzing fear, but didn’t take it away fully. “I can’t feel my wolf.”

Sloane looked over my shoulder. “I’m sure he’s still there. You’re pretty sick right now. The infection shouldn’t have gotten so bad this fast.”

“It’s unnatural not to feel my wolf, though. Right?” I already knew the answer, but I had to ask.

Lincoln splashed water as he adjusted me. “It is unnatural not to feel your wolf, but when I had the wolfsbane running through me, I couldn’t feel mine, either.”

My head fell forward, so my chin was near my chest. I grunted, trying to lift it but couldn’t. “But the infection? Is that normal?” It didn’t feel normal.

Sloane licked her lips and lifted more water, letting it run down my chest. “It’s pretty bad. Even Willa’s didn’t get this bad that fast.”

I blew out a breath and closed my eyes. “I bet Dad’s done something to the wolfsbane. Tainted it somehow. Made it more potent.”

My eyes flicked open, and I stared at Sloane. “He’ll use it against you and your pack the first chance he gets. If it gets in the bloodstream...” I got cut off by a cough.

My chest throbbed. My vision darkened. I fought against it, willing myself to stay awake. I had to warn them.

I opened my mouth, swallowed, and then closed my mouth, exhaling through my nose. “If it gets in the bloodstream...the effects are almost instant.”

I considered my words after saying them. That was true. I’d felt the inferno ripping through me almost immediately. They might have had wolfsbane on their claws but it was the water Fiona had tossed on me that really did me in.

Sloane pressed her lips together and rubbed gently at my cuts. “We’ll take that into consideration. It’s not going to stop us from coming. Especially now.”

I wheezed in a breath. “You have to be careful. Both of you. Dad will kill you if he catches you.”

Sloane gritted her teeth, fire lighting her eyes. “He’s not going to catch us. We are going to do this, Sawyer.”

The sheer determination in her voice had the weight lifting from my chest. “Okay.”

She moved her attention to my shoulder, cleaning that scratch. “We are going to take him down and get you and everyone else out.”

I closed my eyes unable to keep them open any longer. The dark haze was sucking me back in again.

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