Page 15 of Wolf Forgotten

"We crashed." Cole scooped her up off the ground and stumbled a bit.

I looked at his face closely. "You're injured, Cole." I tried to take her from him, and he growled. "You're going to drop her and hurt her even more."

His jaw ticked, and I furrowed my brows in confusion. He'd never acted this way toward me, like I was beneath him. I wanted to rip her out of his arms and claim her as mine, but this wasn't the time or place.

Sara pulled up next to us and opened the tailgate. Cole set Ivy on the blankets and climbed in. I grumbled because usually the only person tending to the wounded was in the back with them.

Although, typically, a wolf shifter who was injured as badly as she was, was still a wolf and not in their human form.

"This is... abnormal." I checked Ivy's pulse. "It's going to take longer for her to heal like this."

Cole stroked her red hair and didn't take his eyes from her pale face that was caked with dirt and blood. "I think that was her first shift."

I pulled out some alcohol wipes and began cleaning her face. "But that's impossible."

"I know." He sighed and took the wipe from me, taking over cleaning her face. "She partially shifted as soon as we stopped rolling and then kept shifting back and forth until she finally stayed in her wolf form. I moved her to cover in case humans got to the scene first."

"What happened to the truck chasing you?" I took Ivy's hand, hoping my touch brought her comfort.

"They didn't even stop." His head bobbed forward, and he shook it. "I need to heal. Fuck."

"I'll make sure she's safe, Alpha." I met his eyes and held them.

"If not, I'll kill you." He shifted and curled up next to her, putting his head on her stomach.

"You act like she's your mate," I whispered. That couldn't be. She wasmymate.

Cole didn't react and shut his eyes. He passed out within seconds, his breathing becoming more even and deep.

A few minutes later, Sara backed into the garage and opened the tailgate. "Let's get her to the basement," she directed as she propped open the door into the house before coming back to the SUV. "Can you carry her by yourself?"

"The basement? I don't think that's really necessary." I scooped my mate up gently in my arms, careful not to wake Cole.

"Protocol. Just because she's a woman doesn't mean she isn't dangerous. And I'm going to go with she's dangerous. She just happens to show up in Arbor Falls? Yeah, I don't buy it." Sara started walking inside and then stopped, turning back to me. "She's a red wolf, Eli."

"That was her blood. Wasn't it?" I was so focused on Cole nearly ripping out my throat and the fact I had a mate that I hadn't really paid attention to her wolf's hair.

I frowned at the woman in my arms and cocked my head to the side, looking at her hair. It was a color that made me wonder if it was dyed, but the undertones were a coppery golden color. "Your eyes must have been playing tricks on you. Red wolf shifters don't exist."

I followed Sara inside and down into the basement. "You're right, though. With Ivy shifting erratically and us not sure where she came from, we need to secure her so she doesn't hurt herself or someone else."

Sara went to a cupboard and pulled out some clothes, setting them just outside the cage—which was more like a prison cell—I had set Ivy in. She threw a pair of sweatpants at me, which I quickly put on.

"Should we give her a blanket or pillow?" The thought of my mate being uncomfortable or waking up on a cold floor made me want to punch something. I wasn't a violent person, despite being a wolf, and even my wolf was a lover, not a fighter. He was ready to throw all that out the window to protect her.

"She'll just tear them up if she shifts." Sara squatted down and began securing her legs with chains.

"We don't need to lock her up like that, Sara." I moved forward and her head tilted to the side. "I mean, if she really hasn't shifted before, she won't understand."

We utilized the cages for several reasons, including anything that would send a wolf into a craze. It didn't happen often, but when it did, we needed to be prepared, otherwise we risked exposing ourselves to humans.

The implications of humans knowing about us were severe. We would be hunted until every last one of us was locked in a facility or dead.

I turned away and took a calming breath. I wanted to rip my sister apart as she shackled Ivy to the floor, adjusted the space blanket, and then shut and locked the cage.

"I'll leave the key for the chains on the pile of clothes, okay?" She set the key down and gave me a stern look. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing. I just don't want to see a female in pain."

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