Page 45 of Remy & the Wildcat

“We’ll get there faster than that,” Promise said as she and her mom ran out of the theater, popcorn forgotten.

“Remy, is there a healer around? Someone who can help?” Reika asked.

“They’re telling me they can’t help, that she’s too far gone for what they can do, but they’re not apexes, and I know you can save her.”

“Mom and I are on the way, we’ll be there as soon as we can. Don’t give up hope.”

“Thanks.”

She slid behind the wheel and started the engine, not waiting for her mom to put on her seatbelt.

As her mom gripped the oh-shit handle and fixed the seatbelt with the other hand, she said, “Okay, let’s get there alive, we can’t help if we’re dead.”

“Right, sorry, I’m just freaked out.”

“It’ll be okay.”

“How do you know?”

She saw her mom lift her phone to her ear. “Because it has to be, honey. I have to believe it will be okay, because the alternative is too hard to bear. Hey, Karly? It’s Reika. Sorry for the late call, but Remy’s mate’s in trouble, and I thought you and Linus would want to meet me and Promise at his location, maybe grab Logan and Jenna too, if you can. I’ll send you the map from Promise’s phone. You bet. See you soon.”

She took Promise’s phone from the holder and sent the map to Karly, and then she plugged it into the car so the map showed up on the screen. Promise had a general idea of where she was going, but once the directions were on the screen, she felt better about getting there without any detours.

“If she’s really bad, we can both shift and double up on the venom,” Reika said.

“Is that safe?”

“It may be necessary, but yeah it would be safe. Just painful as hell.”

“Yeah, I bet.” The venom in their claws and fangs healed quickly, but it hurt like a bitch. Some of the strongest people she knew had wanted to tap out once the venom was working, but it was important to let it do what it needed to do or the healing wouldn’t be complete.

Promise drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as the dark scenery raced by. “Mom, I’m a little freaked out.”

“Me too. There’s nothing quite so real as having to heal someone on the brink of death. We just have to trust that we can help and get there in time.”

Promise put her foot down a little more, the engine revving as she accelerated toward a town she’d never heard of, to help her friend and his mate, who she’d never met.

But none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was that they got there in time, because she didn’t want to consider the alternative.

The healers had shown up while Remy was on the phone with Promise, his friend and a wolf with healing power in the venom emitted from her claws and fangs. They told him that Thyme was beyond their abilities to heal, and he’d nearly roared at the unfairness of it all. But Promise and her mom Reika were on the way, he just hoped they got there in time. He couldn’t handle it if he lost Thyme.

Resting his head against hers, he pressed his hand lightly on the bath towel Mila had grabbed from the house to help staunch the blood flow.

“Please don’t go, Thyme, please.”

He heard people shift and come talk to him, offering their support and hope, but it was a buzz in the background of the rage he was feeling. Someone had shot his mate while they were out hunting with the pride. They were new to the area, but the territory was theirs and there shouldn’t have been a shotgun or any kind of weapon anywhere near them.

Someone put their hand on his shoulder and his claws erupted as he let out an angry roar.

“Whoa, man, it’s me, Promise. And my mom.”

The gentle, familiar voice cut through everything in his mind and he blinked to clear the haze from his blurry vision and looked at his friend.

“Let us look, Remy.”

He sat back on his heels and rubbed his palms against his eyes. He was exhausted and grief-stricken, and so fucking furious he couldn’t think straight.

“She’s alive, but just barely,” Reika said. “We’ll both shift and bite her, and together our venom may reverse what was done.”

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