Page 63 of Pack Nightmare

“Here, let me,” he reaches toward my neck, and the guys step between us.

“Not on your life,” Jared snorts.

“Guys,” I croak, pushing at their shoulders. “Magic… help.”

Derrek holds up his hands. “She’s right. I just want to help heal her throat. I can speed up the process.”

Slowly my fated step aside, and Derrek moves in closer. He’s disheveled, rough looking, with several days of stubble and obvious signs of running through the forest like leaves in his wild curls. His eyes are bright, almost glowing green.

He lays both hands on my neck, one on either side, and studies my face seriously for a moment, then closes his eyes.

A warm tingle starts under his fingertips, spreading through my neck and deep into my throat, making me want to cough. I try to hold it in and allow him to work, and after a moment, he steps back. “There, that should be better. All I can do is speed up your natural healing a bit, but I was able to bring down some of the swelling.”

I swallow again, and find it’s much less painful than before.

“Thank you,” my voice has become a papery whisper, but that’s definitely an improvement. “How did you get… your magic?” I have to break up the question into two phrases as I draw a breath. That part is still hard.

Derrek sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “It’s sort of a long story, Lex. But to really make a long story short, my powers were always here—my mom bound me when I was a child. I guess she was trying to protect me, keep me from ending up at the beck and call of the pack. When I turned up asking for help, she admitted it to me and unbound me. I’ve spent the last couple of days in what you might consider warlock bootcamp.”

“Help for what?” I ask curiously, my breathy voice improving by the minute.

“Protecting you, of course. I knew Azalea would come after you. It was only a matter of time. And I didn’t have the powers to protect you.”

Something warm and glowing radiates in my chest. “Thank you,” I whisper.

“You don’t owe me thanks, Lex. And I don’t expect your forgiveness. I know I have a lot to make up for. But I’m hoping you might find it in your heart to let me stay and give me my job back? I really miss the lectures.”

A laugh pushes up from my chest, immediately making me cough as my lungs constrict. Milo rubs circles on my back until I can breathe normally. “I think that could be arranged,” I whisper.

“Thanks, Lex.”

“No prob, Leaf.”

He groans. “I am never forgiving Grannie for telling you that name.”

I resist the urge to laugh again—it was too painful.

A murmur of voices and footsteps on the pavement reaches me. I turn and see a crowd walking our way.

It’s a strange sight; girls in fluffy dresses with fabulous makeup and carefully styled hair; guys with tuxedoes or three-piece suits, complete with high-polished shoes.

And all of them appearing as if they just rolled down a forested mountainside.

Upon catching sight of us watching them, a girl at the front lifts her poofy pink dress and starts running, her filthy, bedraggled blonde hair streaming out behind her. “Layla!”

Amber doesn’t stop running until she throws herself into my arms, and I wince at the impact but wrap her tightly, anyway. “I’m so glad you’re okay! We were so worried—I’m sorry I couldn’t stop her-”

“It’s okay,” I whisper, “I’ll be alright.”

“Thank the goddess,” she murmurs. “Layla, he’s gone!”

“Gone? Who?”

“My dad! We were chasing him, chasing them all, trying to catch them to turn over to the security officers, and then took off into the forest. So we followed, but my dad—I guess he took a wrong turn and fell into a ravine. He snapped his neck—one of the others went down to verify, and he’s gone.” Tears stream down her cheeks, and my heart lurches for her.

Even though he was terrible, he was still her father. I know she was caught in the middle.

“Amber, I’m sorry, are you okay?”

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