Page 142 of Awakened
I laughed and bumped her shoulder. “Noted.”
Back at the house, Sarah and Taylor stood flush against the siding, their eyes never leaving us. Marie and Grandma Rose were bent behind the railing. From that squat position, Marie motioned for our return.
Bonnie took off in the same zigzag pattern as before, and I followed closely behind until my shoe got caught in a hole. I tripped and fell flat on my face. Peeling my upper body out of the mud, I watched Bonnie move quickly toward the house.
Pushing off the ground, I heard a whizzing noise. Looking toward the tree line, I watched a giant black wolf lunge toward me. Before I could even react, the heavy wolf landed on top of me. It jerked several times as the whizzing continued.
With my face pressed firmly into the earth, I struggled to take a breath. I’d never considered how I would die, but this might be the worst way—drowning in mud.
Warm liquid dripped on my back and legs as the wolf rolled off my smaller frame.
“Celeste! Gunshots! Take cover!” Marie yelled from where she lay flat as a pancake on the porch.
The wolf crawled on its belly toward the barn, providing cover the whole way. Inside, I slammed the door shut and bolted it.
The barn was pitch black, so I searched for one of the battery-operated candles in the mason jars Whitney and Emily had put out. The mud caked to my fingers made it difficult to flip the tiny switches, but I eventually got three on.
I let out a shaky breath. It wasn’t just mud on my hands. No, I was covered in thick, slick blood. In a panic, I checked for any wounds. Finding none, I relaxed.
Heavy panting and whining pulled my attention back to the door. I moved cautiously toward my wolf savior. Without the storm and gunfire as a distraction, I recognized him.
“No, no, no, no, no.”
Falling to my knees, I pressed my hands to his wounds.
“You foolish son of a bitch.”
The wolf whined in response, his body shaking as he started to shift.
“No, don’t waste your energy shifting.”
Through a half-snout, he grumbled, “I need to talk to you.”
“You stubborn bastard. Why are you here? You’re supposed to be halfway around the world.”
Seth’s body cracked and snapped back into place. In the dim fake candlelight, I counted seven bullet holes. The smell of silver and wolfsbane lingered in the wounds. Those fuckers were aiming to kill.
“Do you—” He tried to sit up, only to fall back with a sick thud. “Fuck. Do you really think I’d leave you to face the Old Church Packs alone?”
I pressed against the wound on his stomach. There was somuch blood that I couldn’t tell if the bullet was still in him. “You weren’t meant to be here. Now look at you.”
His icy hands covered mine. “I would get shot a million times if it meant you weren’t hurt.”
“You’re so cold. I-I need to stop this bleeding. You’re bleeding out.” I tried to hold them back, but it was no use. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I scrambled to help.
Seth looked like he was at death’s door. I couldn’t let him die. I couldn’t lose him for good.
I yanked my shirt off to shred it.
His eyes lit up as he took in my scantily clad body. “Les, now’s not the time. I don’t have enough blood to send down south.”
Giving him a flat look, it took everything I had not to hit him. “Ha-ha.”
He gave me a bloody, toothy smile as his eyes shut. Tearing my shirt, I went to work wrapping the wounds on his appendages. I extended my claws to dig out the two bullets still in his leg.
“Fuck! Give a guy a warning next time.”
I smiled. As long as he kept talking, I knew he would be okay. “Sorry. Good news, I don’t see any major organs damaged. Well, except maybe your stomach. Keep pressing on it.”
