Page 43 of Fury

He tried to respond to her and couldn’t get any words to form. Everything came out on a growl instead.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I’m okay.”

She had her hands pressed to her stomach, but it wasn’t enough. Blood still seeped through her fingers. She was definitely not okay. But, until he stopped these assholes, they were both in dire straits.

He turned back to the men all currently staring at him with a mixture of fear and hatred. His partial shift seemed to have stunned them, giving him a momentary advantage.

He took the opening, lunging for the man with the gun.

The hunter tried to react, raising his weapon, but he’d lost his momentum and Sawyer easily got to him before he could do any more damage. He grabbed the asshole by the throat and slammed him against the side of the jeep with enough force to shatter a mere human.

The agonized cries of his prey filled his ears like a sweet, satisfying song. With the hunter pinned, his beast easily dove in for the kill. Rational thought beyond the need to destroy this bastard left his mind as his teeth sliced into flesh. The primal needs of the animal that had been long denied roared to the front and took precedence. It was too late for anyone to react or fight back.

Another time and in another place, he might have savored this death. But the noises around him reminded him there were others that would fight back. He dropped one man from his mouth and rounded on the others. Whatever they saw—they knew. Instead of kill or be killed they chose the cowards way and ran, disappearing into the trees as some of his other pack crashed through the brush from the opposite direction.

Two naked men and an oversized grizzly. Fuck. The sight of the bear gave Sawyer’s wolf pause. He snarled. If the bear took a step closer to his woman, he’d kill him too. The familiar red haze of rage filled his vision as he imagined more blood and carnage.

“Easy, buddy. He’s not going near her. But somebody better cause she’s looking a little rough.”

Diego’s words had Sawyer spinning around. The sight of Penelope pale, with blood still seeping through her fingers made him drop to the ground and the wolf recede. Bones popped, hair smoothed to flesh in a matter of seconds that felt like hours as he stared down at her helpless.

“Oh dammit. Fuck. She’s going to bleed out.” Diego pushed her hand aside and replaced it with his much larger one, making sure to apply pressure as he did.

“No—I-I’m not. Just need a doctor sooner rather than later.” Her voice while audible, had weakened considerably since she’d insisted she was okay.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

“We cannot take her to a hospital,” Damien insisted. “She’s seen too much.”

“Agreed,” came a gruff voice from behind him that he didn’t recognize. Apparently, the bear had shifted back as well. “Way too fucking dangerous.”

The utter fear that crossed Penny’s beautiful face took him like a surprise punch to the gut. She had nothing to fear from him no matter what the alphaholes behind him made it sound like. No one would ever hurt her again.

“It’s okay, babe. Don’t listen to them. You’re going to get whatever you need to get better.”

“Sawyer,” Damien warned in a low tone.

“I don’t want to hear it. She’s my mate and she is going to get the best of everything. I gave everything to this pack when my parents died and then again when Creed’s woman needed help. Now, it’s my turn.”

He scooped his arms under Penelope. “I’m sure this isn’t going to feel great, hon. But you can’t stay here. I’m going to lift you into the Jeep and then one of these fine upstanding men is going to drive us to the hospital, okay.”

She nodded her head, her teeth biting down on her lip as he eased her up as gently as possible. Tears sprang to her eyes, but his woman was strong. She didn’t make a single sound and he knew that had to have cost her.

“But—” The bear started to object.

“He’s right,” Diego interrupted. “We owe him this. Don’t worry. We’ll figure something out.”

Sawyer stopped listening after that as he climbed into the back seat of the Jeep and settled Penny on his lap. The amount of blood soaked through her clothes and now his frightened him. He couldn’t stop thinking about how fragile humans were. If he could just turn her…

“That would be the answer to the problem.” Damien climbed into the seat next to him as Diego and the bear took the front.

He stopped staring at Penelope’s neck and focused on her drooping eyes. Her eyes were now glazed and he could see her losing the fight with consciousness. He wasn’t even sure if she could hear them anymore.

“It could kill her.” The thought of losing her made something in him twist violently. He couldn’t go through that kind of loss again. Never again.

“And you might lose her to that gunshot anyway. She’s lost a lot of blood and we’re at least twenty to thirty minutes back to civilization. You will have to gamble with her life either way.”

“She won’t be able to shift. So she won’t heal any faster.”

Damien touched his shoulder. “I have seen miracles before. Whatever magic that enables us to be who we are could prolong her slowing heartbeat long enough for us to get her to her human doctors. It might be all you can do.”

Sawyer jerked his head toward the alpha at his words. Slowing what? He held his breath and listened. At first, all he heard was his own racing pulse in his sensitive ears. But after a prolonged moment he filtered past it and focused on the woman lying now unconscious in his arms.

Her heart did beat, but Damien was right. It had slowed considerably and continued to do so. Fuck. No. This CANNOT. Happen.

He brushed his fingers across the soft pale skin of her face and whispered in her ear. “Please don’t die. I may have just found you, but I need you now. Your life might be the only thing left to keep me sane. I promise, if you live, I will love you. Worship you. And I think you could grow to love me too.”

He paused, leaning even closer until his mouth hovered over the side of her neck. They were running out of time.

“Or at least forgive me…”

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