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Another slow look from me to Clay, then he wheeled, snapping off the nearest branch and lunging at Clay. I leapt forward. Clay leapt back. Neither of us was fast enough. Tesler plunged the jagged stick into Clay's chest. Then he ran.
I raced over to Clay as he staggered back.
"Go after him," he said, as I dropped in front of him.
"No."
"Elena."
"No!" I snarled the word. That shut him up. The branch still protruded from his chest. It wasn't as big as I thought, less than an inch diameter. If anything, though, that made it worse--thinner and sharper, like an arrow. As I fumbled with his jacket, he reached up to pull the branch out.
"Don't," I said.
"Darling, it's not--"
"Don't!"
"I'm fine. Go after him. This is what he wanted."
"Then I guess it's what he's going to get."
My voice quavered as badly as my hands now. I'd been so afraid of being raped by Tesler. Did I think that was the worst he could do to me? No. There was something far worse, and I'd been such a fool, working myself up over that, letting him scare me, letting fear slow me down, when I could have killed him, and I wouldn't be here now, shaking so bad I couldn't get Clay's jacket undone.
"Elena, I'm okay."
He tried grabbing my hands. I knocked his away with a mumbled apology, telling him to stay still, don't move, don't do anything.
The branch had gone through the jacket, meaning I couldn't easily get it off without dislodging the stick. Rule one of dealing with impalements--don't pull out the object because it might be the only thing keeping you from bleeding to death.
I worked his jacket and bloodied shirt off enough to see the wound. Then I let out a long, shuddering sigh. My eyes filled and I swiped at them. The second time in one night I'd come close to crying. A record for me. But even as I blinked angrily, a tear rolled down my cheek. Clay tugged off his glove and wiped it away.
"Did I say I was okay?" he murmured.
I nodded.
"Still don't trust me, huh?"
I choked a laugh. He was right--at least the part about being okay. The down-filled jacket stopped most of Tesler's thrust, knocking Clay over, but otherwise doing little damage. The stick had only penetrated about a half inch, and in the fleshy part of his shoulder.
"Can I pull it out now?" he asked.
I did it for him, carefully, so I wouldn't leave any splinters. Blood gushed. I pressed his glove to it and the flow slowed to a trickle. Clay peeled my fingers from the glove, taking over.
"Now will you go after that bastard? Before he gets away? I'm right behind you."
I nodded, pushed to my feet, gave him one last look, then took off.
I CAUGHT UP with Tesler. It wasn't hard. He figured I was busy saving Clay's life, so he ran straight for the nearest snowmobile shed. I found him trying to hot-wire his getaway vehicle. We fought. Again, it wasn't hard. If I was in rough shape, he was just as bad, and I had fear on my side--his fear. His gang was dead, his brother was dead and he was on his own. Travis Tesler wasn't accustomed to being alone.
As for my own fear, the last traces of it had evaporated when Clay had been stabbed. Rape I could survive. I'd do almost anything in my power to avoid it. Almost anything. The one thing I wouldn't do was put my family at risk.
Nick had said I was allowed to have a soft spot. I'd been certain I had only one, and Tesler had found it. But there were more ways to hurt me. Come after Clay. Come after my children. Come after my Pack.
Those were weaknesses I couldn't overcome. I shouldn't. I'd thought an Alpha should be invulnerable, but that was ridiculous. What kind of Alpha would Jeremy be if he didn't care what happened to his Pack?
I had soft spots. Mutts would always target them. All I could do was shore up my defenses. Protect my Pack. Protect my children. Protect my mate. And, yes, protect myself.
Now I had in my sights a man who'd threatened all of that. This time, though, he was afraid and I wasn't, and that made all the difference. Having a broken finger didn't help--he wasn't the only one who felt pain when my punches connected--but finally I hauled him out of the snowmobile shed. He broke free just as Clay caught up.
