“A fucking breath,” Donovan corrects with an asshole smirk.
Felix nods, seemingly relieved to be told what to do, and poofs away. I want to follow him, but the howls once again grow closer.
All of us stare in the direction of the wolves, the echoing sounds a heartbreaking cacophony of cries. No matter how they felt about him, they lost their Alpha. Their leader. And they’ll be nothing but scattered broken pieces until they join with their new Alpha.
“You need to go to them,” Kaleb insists, dropping a hand on my uninjured shoulder. “They’ll come here if you don’t.”
“Where’s Mildred?” I ask, sniffing for her scent.
“Inside gathering herbs to help with D’s broken wing,” he answers with a sigh. “I know you don’t like leaving her side, but we can take care of Callie. Only you can take care of the pack. The last place we need them to show up is at the door of two powerful, but currently vulnerable, witches.”
Donovan snorts at the description.
“Emotionally vulnerable,” Kaleb grinds out, closing his eyes and ‘praying for patience.’
In the face of all the crazy shit that’s happened tonight, there’s something soothing that comes from their bickering and jabs at each other. Even as things change, there are some things that stay the same.
“We got her,” Nolan adds with a tired smile. “Go.”
As much as I hate it, I know they’re right. I vowed to protect her always, and right now that means taking control of the pack. Give them my answers before they go searching for their own. Claim my place as Alpha.
I strip out of what’s left of my mangled jeans and give myself over to my wolf. When I hear the howls of the pack, I howl back and run toward my new destiny.
Chapter 20
Kaleb
“I have everything ready,” Mildred announces, poking her head out from the open front door. Her hair is damp, pulled back into a tight bun, and there’s a bandage on her temple with the blooming colors of fresh bruises around it. She eyeballs the three of us covered in dirt and blood. “Go through the garage door, please. Perhaps, use the spare bathroom to get cleaned up… or maybe the garden hose.”
Nolan looks down at himself, his bare chest smeared with red tinged mud and his leather pants looking more brown than black, and snorts. “I could stand under the shower for a month, and I’m pretty sure I’d still find dirt in new places.”
Groaning as he stands up, Donovan comments to Mildred, “I thought you told us you couldn’t heal people.”
She rolls her eyes and huffs, “No, I can’t magically heal your broken wing. I can however splint it, and I have some salves that will help with the healing process. Must you all be so literal?”
Nolan winces when he hops down from the porch, and while rolling his shoulder, teases, “D does… unless it’s an innuendo. He tends to figure those out okay.”
“Fuck you,” Donovan grunts, his lips pressed tight in pain.
“Alright, grumpy pants. Let’s have Witch Doctor Mildred fix you up,” Nolan cajoles with a hand on D’s lower back, nudging him toward the garage.
“I’m not a witch doctor,” Mildred huffs, indignant, and then goes back into the house, closing the door behind her.
“And I’m not grumpy. I’m in pain, you asshole,” Donovan grumbles allowing himself to be led. “And definitely not in my pants.”
“Whatever you say,” Nolan chuckles.
I’m about to follow them when Felix pops up in front of me with panic filled eyes.
“Callie needs you,” he stage whispers, fidgeting as if he doesn’t know what to do with his hands. “I think it might be bad.”
Adrenaline shoots through me as my mind plays through scenarios that would constitute bad enough to need my help specifically. “What happened? What’s wrong?”
“Um… she uh… well she’s in the shower, which by the way, is kind of awkward trying to keep her company,” he answers, talking a mile a minute, and rubbing at the back of his neck. “But she’s been in there a while, and she’s not responding when I talk to her. She just keeps muttering something under her breath. I flat out asked her if she was okay and nothing.”
Attempting to process what he said and get my heart back to a normal rhythm, I ask slowly, “You’re worried she may have gone catatonic like last time?”
He swallows heavily. “Yeah. I mean she’s awake, so I can’t do anything to help.”
