Page 53 of Nanny for the Wolf Daddy

Nevel then squared his shoulders and launched his wolf head back, emitting a long, high-pitched howl into the night. It startled Kelli, giving her some intense goosebumps.

He then began trotting through the dark, bounding around trees and rocks, while another howl rang through the night. Kelli held on tighter to Nevel, knowing that the howl was coming from her beloved.

“Come on, Nox, please find us,” she muttered as they moved through sprinkles of rain.

She didn’t know how intense her love for Nox was until the idea of never seeing him crossed her mind, yet again, while she was getting lost inside the cave. Going off with some stranger had been enough for her, and her body ached for him along with the rest of her that was desperate for all of the basic needs.

Nevel and Nox communicated as he dashed through the forest, searching for each other beneath the canopy of night.

THIRTY-SEVEN

NOX

Nox shot through the night like a shark blasting through the ocean. He continued to howl back to his brother, feeling him getting close, feelinghergetting close. His mind and heart were colliding as the menacing thought of her death was considered more than one time. He gritted his teeth as he launched himself over rocks, swerved past trees, and pushed through the icy pelts of rain whipping against his wolf fur.

Soon enough, he was able to make out an outline of another wolf, which he knew in his heart was Nevel. He felt it the way one knew a storm was coming from the ache in a hip or leg or the pain of a headache. He galloped on, praying in his mind for her safety.

When they finally came together, Nox nearly knocked Nevel over. The sight of his beloved lying like a rag doll over his brother’s back terrified him, her eyes looking dead.

“Is she okay?” he screamed to his brother’s mind,

They were shielded from the rain beneath a wide covering of trees, and Nevel lowered his body to the wet ground. Nox nudged at Kelli softy, and her doll eyes came back to life in a sea of blue.

“Nox?” she whimpered.

Nox shifted to human form, then took Kelli from his brother’s back. She was shaking, soaking, and barely alive. He embraced her, but not as hard as he normally would have, given her fragile state.

He held her up from under her arms. All her limbs were weak and limp. He kissed her neck, her cheeks, and her lips which had a bluish tint.

“What the fuck happened?” he inquired sharply

“The embankment,” Kelli began to say, her speech slurred. “I fell down after going through the cave, my ... my foot …”

She trailed off, and Nox glanced down to see his beloved’s foot twisted in a strange and unnatural position. It had started to swell, looking like a blue and purple collision of a bruised sky.

“We have to get you to a hospital,” he snapped.

Kelli was in no state to argue. She leaned into his chest, looking like either a drunk woman or a woman on heavy sedatives. Without thinking anymore, Nox shifted into his wolf and let Nevel place her on his back.

“She is looking rough,” Nevel said telepathically.

Nox snapped at the brother who had taken him so long to find and save.

“She will be fine,” he said in his mind. “She has to be.”

They took off again in the rain, and Nox felt the urgency of his love for Kelli, whose grip on his fur was loosening, and then finally, she let go altogether. They were aiming toward where they had parked, which was a long way from where they had ended up.

Nevel raced beside Nox, keeping an eye on Kelli and adjusting her body every time she nearly slipped off. Sorrow consumed Nox’s heart. The mere idea of losing Kelli after everything they’d been through was an absolute nightmare.

“We will get there,” Nevel assured him in his mind.

They both panted hard as they scampered through the forest, expertly dodging trees, rocks, and dipping valleys. Nox was tuned in to the beat of Kelli’s heart and was terrified to feel it slow, and her body temperature hadn’t elevated the way he had hoped.

Almost there. Hold on, babe.

When they arrived at the car, Nox was close to fainting himself. But he pushed past his blurry vision, shifting while Nevel gingerly held Kelli. Nox gently loaded her into the back of the vehicle and pulled blankets over her, then he brushed her hair out of her eyes.

Before dressing, Nox studied her, and the shudder of realization moved through him. She had been out there in an outfit that barely covered her, without food and water for nearly two days. Her mouth was that awful shade of blue that only the dead could claim.

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