Page 14 of Wolf Forgotten

"Cute pajama bottoms. I bet all the ladies love the Baby Yodas." Sara put on her seatbelt and pulled her cellphone out of her bag, opening the tracking app that tracked all of our vehicles. "What did he take?"

"The Audi." I pulled out on the highway. It was just past midnight on a weeknight, so there weren't many cars.

"It's about five minutes away. They aren't moving so they either stopped or..."

"Crashed." I sped up, knowing time was of the essence. We had to be faster than the humans if they had crashed.

"They're off to the left." Sara gripped theoh shithandle as I cut across the oncoming lane and hit the dirt on the other side.

I grinned when she squealed and slowed down as we approached the mangled car, my grin quickly being replaced by a frown. It was worse than expected. A few of our pack were already on the scene, either with their own vehicles or they were hurriedly throwing on clothes we store as a precaution in trunks.

"I don't see them." Sara opened her door and the scent of blood and wolf instantly hit me.

Mine.

I gripped the steering wheel as my wolf pushed forward. "Shut the door," I growled.

She gasped and slammed the door shut. I wasn't an aggressive wolf, so a growl escaping was uncharacteristic. Even growing up, when we'd get pissed off at each other, we never growled.

I shut my eyes as another whiff of the female's scent hit my nose from Sara closing the door. A mate? There wasn't such a thing.

"Eli, what's wrong?" Sara tentatively put her hand on my arm and some tension left me. "We need to go help. I'm sure they're fine. Probably pretty banged up though, judging from the looks of the car."

I spotted the mangled car and gasped. A human wouldn't have survived a crash like that. Cole would have, but with injuries that would require a night of rest in wolf form to heal.

I nodded and jumped out before I lost my nerve. I could handle it, whateveritwas. I grabbed my EMS bag out of the back and jogged to where Dante was giving orders as a flatbed truck pulled up to tow the car. The pack was a well-oiled, efficient machine.

"Where are they?" My question came out much more clipped than I'd ever spoken to another pack member.

Dante snarled at the interruption and then pointed to the tree line not far away. "He won't let anyone near her. He shut down my communication with him too. Maybe you can talk some sense into his stubborn ass."

Sara was already going in that direction. She'd probably used her nose, but I was trying my best to only breathe through my mouth.

I quickly caught up to her. "This might be a dangerous situation-" Cole's growl stopped us in our tracks, and I pushed Sara behind me. He was different in his wolf form than when he was human and might lash out at one or both of us. "Alpha, I'm going to need you to let us do our job. We're here to help."

He stood over Ivy's lifeless body with his body lowered, ears back, and his lips pulled back in a snarl. I dropped the bag on the dirt, not liking the way he was acting aggressively close to my mate.

"Eli, what are you-" Sara's voice faded as my wolf took over, and I dropped to all fours. "Son of a bitch! Dante, get over here!"

Seeing my mate lying in the dirt made me have more balls than usual, and I stalked forward, ready to fight Cole if I had to. His growling intensified, and he snapped his teeth in warning. He wouldn't hesitate to rip out my throat.

I lunged, and we met in a tangle as we rolled in the dirt. I fought my instinct to roll on my back and give him my belly. I got in one good nip to his hindquarter before he got me on my back and took my neck in his jaws. He applied just enough pressure to show he was serious.

In all our years, Cole had never forced me on my back before.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sara rush to Ivy's side. She had blood in her hair, and her paws twitched. She was alive, but she was hurt badly.

I whimpered against Cole's hold on my neck, and he let go but kept his muzzle near my neck, snarling in warning before turning back to Ivy. I rolled over and then shifted back, rubbing at my neck.

I clamped down on my emotions that threatened to spill over. Cole must have needed to take out his aggression. He had just seen a female injured right in front of him while he was driving.

He shifted as he knelt next to Ivy. He stroked along her muzzle and then looked back at me. "Are you going to help or not?"

Just as I grabbed my bag, she shifted, let out a pained cry, then passed out. I dropped to my knees next to her and began assessing the injuries.

"I'll pull the car closer." Sara jogged to the SUV as fast as she could.

"She's already healing broken bones and internal organ damage. I don't understand why she shifted back. Her body shouldn't have been able to shift in this state." I pulled a space blanket out of my bag and covered her. We were used to nudity, but having my mate be out in the open for anyone to see was not making my wolf happy. "What happened?"

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