Page 97 of Wolf Bitten

“I don’t know what happened. I came here because I was informed that Skylar’s life would be threatened in the woods tonight.” The woman ran her hands through her hair. “Nothing happened, and when I headed toward the campus to see if I had the location wrong, I came acrosshim.” She pointed at Dave. “He was bad off, and I was trying to remove the dagger from his heart before dragging him to the campus.”

Raffe’s ice-blue eyes glowed as his wolf surged forward, and he cracked his knuckles. “How do you know mymate’sname?”

“Mate?” The woman arched a brow, glancing at me. “You’re the one she’s fated to?”

How does a human know about all this?Adam was tense and ready to strike.Even someone in the secret society would be stupid to expose us like that.

My blood jolted, and an eerie sensation had my skin crawling. Combined with Raffe’s suspicion, I wanted to climb out of my skin. “Who are you working for?” I asked, my voice sounding higher than I wanted. It wasn’t that I fearedherbut more about everything we didn’t know. How could we defeat a secret organization when we had no clue who was part of it and while Raffe was at odds with his dad?

“I’m not working for anyone.” The woman sighed and glanced skyward. “I came here out of concern.”

“Concern?” I crossed my arms, examining her from head to toe. She was middle-aged, probably midforties. Something about her looked familiar, though I was certain I’d never seen her before in my life. “I don’t even know you.”

“Look, can we go somewhere to talk?” The woman spread out her arms. “If someone wanted that vampire to die, they might come back to finish the job. None of us should be here for that.”

Raffe laughed loudly, startling me.

“You think I’m taking you back to our place so you can see where we live?” Raffe shook his head, his mouth twisting. “I’m not taking you anywhere that could expose my mate to a greater risk than she’s already in.”

“I wouldneverhurt her.” The woman placed a hand on her chest and faced me. “I realize you don’t know me, but I’m one of the few who has your best interests at heart. That’s why I had to come here to help you.”

She had to be mentally unstable, or maybe she was a witch cloaking her powers. Something about this situation didn’t feel right. “We know nothing about you, including your name. Do you expect us to just trust you? You haven’t given usanyreason to, so forgive me if I completely agree with my mate.”

“My name is Octavia.” She licked her lips, her brown irises warming to a cognac shade similar to mine. “And I know what you are.”

“It’s becoming more widely known, so that doesn’t give you much credibility.” Raffe wrinkled his nose. “The secret society knows all about Skylar, so if you’re working with them, you would know too.”

Octavia stomped her foot like a child. “How many times do I have to tell you I’m not a witch? You’d know if I were lying. You’re all wolf shifters here.”

“Not if you’re cloaking the scent.” I’d learned that witches had all sorts of tricks up their sleeves to deal with us.

Suddenly, Josie moaned and dropped to the ground. Even with her collapse, she kept her wrist at Dave’s mouth. The vampire was now eagerly slurping and holding her wrist.

Something was wrong, and it wasn’t Dave who was struggling. Was this a trap?

“What the hell have you done?” Raffe bellowed, stepping closer to Octavia. “Did you get him to inject her with something?”

He could handle that threat while I helped Josie. My wolf inched forward as I rushed to her side. I noted that, though Dave was still pale, even by his standards, some color had returned to his face.

Josie’s blood was helping him, and there was no telling how much he’d drunk. His heartbeat had strengthened, something I’d missed while talking to Octavia, and his breathing was steady though a little shallow.

“I’ve already answered this question. No matter how many times you ask, the answer will be the same.” Octavia grimaced. “I didn’t do a damn thing to him or her. He was like this when I found him.”

Once I reached Dave and Josie, I removed her wrist from his mouth, and Josie linked,No. It’s helping him.

At your expense.I squatted next to her, noting that her skin was glistening with sweat despite the cold, and her breathing was shallow.How much has he drunk?I ripped off the bottom of Raffe’s polo shirt, wrapped it around Josie’s wrist multiple times, then tied it tightly.

Not enough. He needs more. He can’t die. I can’t survive it,she whimpered and tried to jerk her hand out of mine, but it was barely more than a flinch.

She couldn’t survive it? If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve thought they were in love, but I’dneverseen them so much as talk to each other. They’d mentioned each other in passing, and Josie had seemed sad and off since Dave’s disappearance, but a relationship between them was impossible. They were different species.

My stomach roiled, and I pushed the thought aside. It couldn’t bethat. Things were complicated enough. I must be paranoid and thinking of the worst possible scenario.

What’s wrong with her?Raffe linked.

Blood loss.I glanced around, realizing that Octavia was right. We couldn’t stay out here with Dave like this and Josie damn near passed out. If we were attacked, we’d be screwed because they’d go after our weakest. If Dave had any chance of surviving this, he needed to remain with us. I trusted Raffe to get answers for us.We’ve got to move. Josie needs to warm up, eat, and rest.

Then that’s what we do,Raffe replied solemnly and added Lucy to our connection.Lucy, are you on your way back?

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