Page 18 of Wolf Tamer

I almost hadn’t gotten there in time.

I’d almost been too late. Now, I’m not sure I can ever forgive myself. Not when I glance down to see rough, reddened patches of skin where the fire touched her too closely, angry and raw areas that look like an intense sunburn. Not to mention her face is too pale for my liking.

I got her down. It wasn’t enough to stop Mae from getting the last attack in, and I have a terrible gut feeling our fight with the coven leader has just begun.

She somehow knew about Crane and Emily’s double cross.

Which means she’s either a mind reader—doubtful—or she had something to do with it.

And I’m about to take Tasha back to the one place she wants to avoid like the plague.

There’s really no choice in the matter. I hope she can understand and forgive me for what I need to do. This isn’t an easy decision even after weighing the options, but there are more hands at the mansion to help if things get bad enough. There are supplies available for just her type of injuries.

Well, maybe not just her type, but there are items that will help, whereas if I take her back to her motel room, not only am I leaving us open to those witches but risking her life in the process.

My legs tremble with each step, and I grit my teeth against the pain, refusing to slow down. The clearing fades from sight. The woods disappear, and so does the rest of the town.

I never planned to make the entire journey on foot, but after I raced to get to Tasha, what choice do I have now?

“Crap,” I mutter out loud.

A break will only make it harder to continue. This is the last leg of the race, so to speak. The last little bit before I have a chance to rest.

If I stop now, I’m not making it.

My steps come slowly, but one foot in front of the other takes us off the main roads, away from the place where the Buson Coven had planned their little late-autumn bonfire. Up, up into the mountains, where the wind and weather have knocked off too many leaves already.

“Don’t worry, Tash,” I tell her as we walk. “Everything is going to be okay soon. Everything is going to be fine. You hear? Just stay with me.”

She says nothing back to me, no biting comment about using the nickname she hates, and a pinching stab of regret has my heart clenching. It’s almost like I need to hear her sharp tongue, her quick wit, just to let me know she’s made it through.

Maybe I was too late after all.

If I’d somehow managed to get to her before they brought her out of the basement, fuck, before they had put her in the cell in the first place, then she wouldn’t be in this position.

Then again, in order for that to happen,I’dhave to be the mind reader. And that isn’t happening.

Traversing the steep slope burdened down by both of us has my knees trembling and sharp pains shooting through the rest of my muscles. Even my ankles howl in protest.

“We’re almost there,” I say out loud.

And it’s more like I’m tellingmyselfthat, an assurance on how I can keep going. I’m the alpha for a reason. This is what I do. I was strong enough to best my father. I can manage a hike.

We’re halfway up the side of the mountain on a winding trail I’ve run a thousand times on four legs, when Tasha finally starts to stir.

“We’re almost home,” I whisper next to her ear. “Almost back to the mansion.”

Her dry chuckle greets me, so she hasn’t passed out a second time, although she’s certainly entitled. “I wouldn’t call that hellhole a home, Reid.”

“There she is, my girl. There’s the Tasha I know.”

I hide my smile from her because I know she’d hate to see it.

“We haven’t established… that… I’m your girl. Keep your compliments to yourself.” Her voice is thin and reedy.

She’s too close to the end, and it kills me to see her this way, this magnificent woman reduced to a quivering lump in my arms, too weak to even insist she walk on her own. Which I know she’d do if she were able.

And yet she fought through her experience with a burning resilience those bitches hadn’t been able to diminish. Perhaps burning isn’t the most appropriate word given the circumstances, but it’s fitting.

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