Page 8 of Run Free

“I’ll find him,” I said. “I promise.”

I left them and went to talk to Dave. I explained the situation. Despite the late hour and the near-black sky, a small team of volunteers quickly formed to help search. Flashlights were handed out and we headed back to the spot we’d found the other shifters. There wasn’t much to go on, but it was a start.

Gage

Chapter 5

I heard them. Help had come at last. The others were safe. I had tried once again to signal for help but was too weak to even lift my head up off the ground this time. At least I could die with the knowledge that the others had been rescued.

I was a proud lone wolf, but when it came down to it, I hadn’t been able to sit by and do nothing while innocent shifters were being hurt. It had made my wolf aggressive, and that was the last thing the humans wanted. I told the others to submit if they wanted to stay alive, then I fought back even harder. True, some of it was selfish; I really had tried to escape, and I would have left them there. Okay, maybe I would have placed an anonymous call if I’d managed to get away, but I wouldn’t have stuck around to rescue anyone myself.

It didn’t matter now. They were safe, but no one was coming for me. I could live with that. I could die without regrets now.

My body was getting heavier by the second. I was struggling to keep my eyes open.

Suddenly, a brilliant white light appeared. I forced my eyes open. There she was, dressed in white with light radiating around her, the most beautiful angel I could have ever imagined. As she came closer, I smelled coconut and understood she’d been near for days, and finally she was coming for me.

I didn’t fight it. I stared into her dark eyes. My body shuttered and relaxed. I smiled up at her, the Angel of Death. I’m sure it looked creepy on my wolf, but it was all I had left. Chills ran down my spine, and I closed my eyes and let the darkness take me at last.

Clara

Chapter 6

“No!” I screamed as the wolf slumped over. I had been mesmerized by the endless depths of his green eyes and shocked as goosebumps pricked my arms and a weight lifted from my chest.

Mine, my wolf screamed in my head just before she gave that haunting howl again.

I ran to the cage and reached in to touch him. He was still breathing, but barely. Tears streamed down my face as I shouted orders. “Someone get something to open this damn cage now! He’s dying.”

I cursed under my breath for the time we wasted looking for him. It had taken several hours for us to spread out and canvas the area. He’d been hidden well behind an abandoned building. If only we’d gotten to him sooner, was the single thought going through my head. I couldn’t live with that.

I was the emotionless one in situations like this, so no one could understand why I was so upset. I couldn’t stop the tears if I’d wanted to. I’d waited almost thirty years to find my one true mate, and here he was seconds away from death.

Even if we get him out in time, I didn’t know if I could save him.

“We can’t find the key,” Eddie said, as someone else started beating the lock with a metal object.

“Hold on just a little longer. I’m here,” I told the wolf shifter. I ran my fingers through his matted fur, sending tingles up my arm.

The lock finally cracked. I pulled my arm back so we could get him out. I could barely see through my tears.

We loaded him onto a stretcher and ran back to the clinic. As we arrived and lay him on the table, Eddie said, “Look. He stopped breathing, Clara. There’s nothing we can do.”

A calm feeling washed over me. I dried my eyes and locked my emotions up tightly. “I can’t live with that. He cannot die. Not on my watch.” My voice sounded icy and I could tell by their reactions that my sudden change terrified a few.

I quickly set to work. It was difficult to do CPR on a wolf, but at least at the clinic I had the tools necessary for me. I fitted him with an oxygen mask and gently pressed on his chest. I felt the crack immediately. At least three broken ribs too close to the sternum to be truly effective.

I felt for his pulse. It was very faint, but still there.

“Hang in there. Please, live,” I begged of the wolf.

I did a quick evaluation, and an ultrasound showed internal bleeding. We had to get that stopped.

“Call Dave in, I need him to perform this. We have to stop the bleeding. If we can do that quickly, his heart rate should start to stabilize. He’s not dead yet,” I told them.

“Dave’s already back in surgery, Clara. You want us to pull him from that?”

“Yes!” I said, and I meant it. I couldn’t explain it to them, but I was too close, still too in shock, to do it myself.

---