Page 9 of Corbin
Hurrying as much as possible with pain stabbing him, he swung around and headed back the way Ares had come in. He’d like to have his gun, but he’d left it and his comm unit where he’d shifted. With every second counting, he had no time to search the area.
Even if he did, the damn tranqs had barely affected that bear.
The slumbering shifter let out a loud snarl and shook his head, clearly waking up.
Judith screeched a terrified squeal. His muscles clenched against the shrill sound.
An understandable reaction, but not helpful right now. Corbin took a quick glance to see how fast the shifter was coming around. Dark eyes in the shifter’s distorted head filled with the promise of a bloody death. He ground out a sluggish roar but with energy building.
She passed out. Finally, a gift from the universe.
Corbin could feel warm liquid seeping down the side of his chest from his worst gash. Should he spend time hunting for the gun? Would the tranq slow down a disoriented shifter? Not worth the gamble.
Where were Ladrón and Adrian? Had Ladrón been in more trouble than a snagged rope? Corbin would call them if he had his comm unit, but that was with the backpack.
Corbin asked Ares,Can you do anything to heal our wound quicker?
I can heal any wound when I have the body.
You do realize that bear shifter will catch up with me soon, right?Corbin bit out at the annoying wolf.
Because you are not as fast as me.
Corbin fought his way through thick brush and low branches. He tried to reason with Ares again.I’m asking for help healing so we can survive.
Maybe I am ready to die.
Of all the things Ares could have said, that was the most ridiculous. His wolf faced any threat with only one plan. To kill and survive.
Heaving hard breaths, Corbin climbed over a fallen tree he’d usually jump, but not with Judith hanging across his battered body. Ares had stomped on his last good nerve.If you want to die, let me know the next time I see a river, and we’ll make it happen.
A nasty snarl ripped from Ares.You are dick.
Tell me something new. If you aren’t going to help me, why should I keep protecting you from water? Or did you forget about me being lashed eight times in human form with a leather whip because I refused to get on a boat for the Romanian one time?Corbin’s head throbbed, and his vision swam. He had to find a place to hide Judith and backtrack to the bear shifter to pull him off course.
Fighting pain, he shook off the dizziness clouding his mind. He believed he headed back in the direction he’d initially traveled to reach the kidnappers. With Adrian and Ladrón tracking his scent, he had to run into them at some point, right?
With their shifter hearing, they should have heard her scream. That meant they weren’t on the ground yet.
A much stronger roar bellowed behind them. Not far enough back.
Energy began to flow through Corbin’s body. He wanted to scream at Ares for making him wait, but instead said,Thank you. I’ll let you know the minute I think we can safely shift.
They both knew it would not happen before the bear caught up to Corbin. He had to use the push of energy to run insteadof healing his wounds. He gripped her legs and took off running hard, which forced him to use the path of least resistance.
Unfortunately, that shoved him off course.
Wolves were fast, but natural bears could run thirty-five miles an hour over an open field. Even a bear shifter in animal form would be much faster than Corbin carrying a woman.
Running hard to stay as far ahead as he could, Corbin jarred his ribs and cursed in pain.
He jumped up on the two-foot-thick trunk of a downed tree, grunted at the effort, then raced across it to avoid slugging through dense underbrush. When he dismounted, he wove back to his right, angling toward the trail he believed Adrian and Ladrón would be taking. Energy drained away with every step.
Another loud roar blasted behind him.
Hairs on Corbin’s arms stood up. That brute was closing in on him.
He caught sight of a twisted tree he recalled from earlier. His hopes lifted. If his calculation was correct, he had to move another twenty yards to his right to get back on his original path.
