Page 16 of Wulf's Pack
Both Gorgeous and Nora bolt for the door. My wolf surges to the front of my mind. If my mate is in danger, he is going protect her. Ren and I move to the front door to take up guard. Skylar shuffles up behind me and peeks around me to see what’s going on. “Stay back,” I murmur. “We don’t know what’s happening yet.”
The crowd in the courtyard has erupted into chaos. Some people are running for their lives while others are trying to film whatever’s happening, and some are even brawling.
Gorgeous reaches them first and dives into the center of the bedlam. Seconds later, there’s a ferocious roar that shocks the crowd silent. People back up, and I’m not surprised to see Gorgeous in his partially-shifted form. Only the most powerful shifters can accomplish a partial form. It’s usually a stronger human form that has taken on the traits of the shifter inside. Nora can do it, and Gorgeous, but they’re the only ones I know personally with the power.
Gorgeous’s partially-shifted dragon form turns his skin to impenetrable scales. His strength, hearing, and vision are also amplified, and I suspect he can breathe fire, though I’ve never seen him do it when he wasn’t a dragon. But on top of all of that, his dominance reaches full power and it’s so strong that he literally radiates fear to those around him. He roars again, and the crowd backs up even further.
I gasp when I see the problem. Lying on the ground just outside the front doors is Carl, writhing in pain in a half-shifted form. That’s different than having a partial form. A partial form is still a form. Being stuck between man and beast means having no form at all. Your body is broken and contorted, mutated in a mangled mess as the shifter magic wars with the physical body. It’s agonizing for the shifter, and if it lasts more than a few minutes, it will kill them.
Anger explodes in me, and my wolf howls, every bit as enraged. Getting stuck mid shift doesn’t just happen naturally. It takes severe trauma, magic, or poison.
Nora bursts back inside. “Wolfsbane!”
Behind me, Skylar gasps.
Ren curses and immediately takes out his phone. While he’s explaining the situation and requesting someone bring down anantidote, Skylar moves toward the doors. I grab her hand and pull her back. “Wait. We don’t know how he was dosed. There could be more. It was probably someone in the crowd. You could be exposed. They’re bringing an antidote.”
She shakes her head frantically. “The antidote will null the poison, but he won’t complete the shift if he can’t calm down. I can help.”
She moves again, but I don’t let go of her. She turns big, pleading eyes on me. “Please,” she whispers. “I can help him. Trust me.”
Every instinct in me wants to scoop her into my arms and hide her away until the danger is gone, but she’s looking at me with so much desperation. Begging me to trust her. And there’s something about her, a confidence I haven’t seen from her before. She’s sure of herself. My wolf grumbles, but he backs down. He trusts her. Then I realize I trust her too. I let go of her arm and take her hand. “If you’re going out there, I’m coming with you.”
She nods and hurries out the door, Ren following right behind us. Outside, Nora is trying to use her siren’s song to calm Carl down, but it’s not working. Gorgeous is trying to hold him down to get him to focus, but that’s not working either.
Skylar pushes past Nora.
“Skylar,” I warn. My wolf is so close to the surface I’m shaking. I’m ready to shift and kill the beast at the slightest hint of him hurting my mate.
Skylar stops about four feet from Carl’s flailing body. She holds her hand up to me in a reassuring gesture. She never takes her eyes from Carl. “What’s his name?”
“Carl.”
“Carl,” she says gently.
Suddenly, a sense of calm wraps around me. I feel it in the air, thick and heavy, seeping into my body. I breathe it in, andmy wolf and I both relax. Our minds are still sharp, but the soothing feeling washes over us until we’re almost purring.
“Carl,” Skylar whispers again. “It’s okay. You’re going to be all right.”
Carl’s thrashing slows, and the crowd goes silent when they realize something’s happening. Skylar steps even closer to Carl. I don’t react. I trust my mate, and I’m so calm I can think rationally and see that she’s not in danger. She’s doing this, I realize. Skylar is calming not only my beast, but Carl’s as well.
Carl is now lying still, whimpering from the pain, but watching Skylar. She steps right up to him and gently presses her hand to his forehead. “It’s okay, Carl. I know it hurts, but we’re going to fix that, and you’ll be yourself again in a minute.”
Half a dozen people come bursting through the front door, including Oliver, who tosses a syringe to Gorgeous. The dragon doesn’t waste any time. He moves to Carl’s other side and injects the shifter with the antidote.
Skylar keeps her hand on Carl and continues whispering soothing words to him. After a few minutes, Carl lets out a huge sigh and his body deflates. The antidote has done its job. He’s no longer feral from the wolfsbane, but he’s still stuck between forms.
“Carl,” Skylar coos. “You need to concentrate. The medicine has stopped the poison, but you need to shift now. You can do it; you just need to focus. Listen to my voice. You’re okay. Think of your human form. Feel your arms. Your legs. Think of your fingers and your toes. Try to move them. Release your bear. He needs to rest. The danger has passed. You can come back now.”
It takes another minute, but then Carl starts to transform. It’s fascinating to watch. Usually, a shift takes only a second. You change in a flash. This is much slower. Carl is struggling, but slowly his bones are rearranging. He’s morphing back to human.Skylar never takes her hand from Carl, and she doesn’t stop her gentle, encouraging words.
The crowd is riveted by the sight. A stillness has fallen over us all. People have their cell phones out, recording the scene, but no one is interrupting.
After another minute, Carl is human again. His body collapses against the ground, and he sighs. Skylar runs her fingers through his hair. I know I should be jealous at the sight of her touching another male, but my instincts know she’s only trying to help him. Carl is my friend, and Skylar has just saved his life.
Carl lifts a shaky hand, and Skylar takes it, still running her other hand through his sweaty, bloody hair. Carl brings her hand to his chest. “Thank you,” he rasps.
She smiles down at him. “You did the hard part.”
