Page 53 of Midnight Whispers
“I just need to shift a few times. That should heal some of my wounds. At least enough to get me to the hospital.” Cass met Riley’s gaze. “Stay next to me. No matter what. Got it?”
Riley bit his lip to keep from smiling. “Yeah.”
“Even when I’m in my third form.”
“The werewolf beast thing?”
Cass sighed as if something Riley said annoyed him. Riley chalked it up to being injured. Since Cass could argue and stay grumpy, Riley figured his injuries looked worse than they were.
Come to think of it, the massive hamburger one on his neck appeared to have stopped bleeding. “Can you heal faster than a human?”
Cass cupped Riley’s cheek. “Faster than a warlock, too.”
That’s why Cass was so worried about him.
“Are you trying to say I’m fragile? Because I’ll have you know, I saved your life.” Riley pointed to the wolf, still stuck in a mid-air attack.
“I didn’t call you fragile.” Cass kissed Riley.
It felt weird in front of his dad, not that Dad paid attention. He’d moved on to securing the crime scene. He felt for pulses on some wolves and left the others alone.
“You did, but I’ll forgive you.” He was just glad Cass would live. Nothing else mattered as much as that.
Cass held Riley close and spoke to Dad. “There are three bodies a hundred yards west from here. They’ve been there a while. I think Krieger led me to them. He wanted me to find them.”
“Is that Krieger?” Dad pointed to a dead guy a few feet away.
“Yeah. I found him a few minutes after the other three.” Cass shook his head.
Dad pulled zip ties out of his pocket. “Do what you got to do. I need you well enough to help me secure the scene.”
Cass kissed Riley one more time. “I’m going to shift now, baby.”
Riley gave Cass room to shift. Each time he did, the wound on his neck appeared to scab over.
“I’ll grab your clothes.” Riley turned toward where he knew Cass’s clothes lay on the side of the road, ready to trek through the forest to go get them.
Cass grabbed him around the waist. “No, you don’t. Next to me at all times, remember?”
“It’s ten minutes, and none of them are a threat right now.” Riley waved a hand at all the frozen people. Some were literally freezing by that point if the purple tint to their skin was any indication. “I’ll grab blankets for them too.”
“Glued to my side, Riley.”
Riley sighed. “Fine. But I have a class on Monday. You can’t come with me.”
Cass smirked. “Can I have the day off on Monday, Sheriff?”
Iven chuckled. “I’m not getting into the middle of it.”
“That’s a change,” Cass mumbled.
Riley held Cass around the waist as they made their way toward the road.
Was Iven Palmer coming around? It sure sounded like it, but Riley wouldn’t know for sure until his dad said so. Riley knewhim well enough to know they’d have the conversation on his own time.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cass still had some healing to do. Physically, he’d be all right. He showered and changed in the station. It went a long way toward making him feel like a person again. But he still limped, and the wound on his neck hadn’t healed completely. By tomorrow, his body would appear as though nothing had happened. He’d have no scars to show what he’d gone through. But what the alpha and his crew did to Cass would leave scars on his soul for a long time.
