Breathing heavily already, worn out from everything, I meet Caleb’s eye, begging everything that is holy that they weren’t lying. “She’s one, too.”
His eyes widen in shock and he whips around to face Xander. Cursing, he pulls to a stop, running a hand through his hair as he looks at my blood that’s keeping them from being able to shift.
Looking back at Devin, he starts rattling off commands as he strips off his shirt. “I’ll hold my breath while you muzzle me. Just keep it loose so I can break out of it when I get there, depending on what I find. And for fuck’s sake, somebody throw her in the creek or something.”
With that, he shifts, Devin tying the black shirt around his muzzle in a single knot. In a grey blur, he sprints ahead, leaving all of us in his wake. Clearly anxious to get away from me after last time, Aiden volunteers next, bolting after him.
“Stay with her, just in case,” Devin orders, receiving the same treatment from Caleb, the black shirt wrapping around his mouth and nose blending in seamlessly with his fur.
“I can’t just leave them,” I pant, clutching my knees and trying to catch my breath.
Stryker brushes his knuckles over my cheek, looking pained. “It’ll just make it more dangerous for everyone if you rush in there, beautiful. They can’t help anyone if you drive them mad; it’d put that little girl at risk of them turning onher.”
“I’ll go,” Mason says, leaning in to kiss me quickly. “Make sure that the mutts aren’t lying to us. I’ll make sure the kids are alright, you just worry about getting cleaned up, okay, angel?”
Choking on my uselessness, I watch Mason sprint away through the trees, the wolves already small blips in the distance.
“We have supplies in the trunk,” Caleb announces. “You can change your clothes when they’re done feeding you.”
I give him a strange look. “What do you mean, feeding me?”
Caleb scrunches up his face in confusion, turning between me and the guys. “So you can heal faster?”
Stryker keeps hovering a hand nearby, about two seconds away from picking me up to carry me, like my hobbling is driving him crazy. “We tried that when we turned her; didn’t help.”
Caleb snorts. “Well yeah, because she didn’t need to heal, she had to transition. Can’t rush something like that.” He tilts his head to the side. “But it’s probably why her blood’s poisonous. Instead of just activating the latent gene, having your blood in her system while she was going through the change likely affected the process. Since an incorruptible enhances everything, it probably took the genetic coding or traces of venom in your system that keeps you immune to your own venom and exacerbated it.”
Bane asks, sounding like it’s all going over his head, “But wouldn’t that turn her into an antidote?”
Stryker tentatively interjects, “But he said she enhances qualities that are already there, which is why people become corrupted by desire if they aren’t inherently good people. And we sort of,” he trails off.
“Want to kill everyone?” Caleb suggests, and both of them snort, not denying it. It’s hard to pay attention, though I really try to buy into the distraction they’re going for so I don’t go crazy, my mind on Hunter and Adelaide.
“But it would help her now?” Bane confirms.
“There aren’t any poisonous ones back home, but I’d assume the same principle applies,” Caleb responds with a shrug. “Doesn’t hurt to try, at least.”
Stryker bites into his wrist without hesitation, thrusting it in my face and forcing me to pull to a halt. “Drink.”
Rolling my eyes, I grab his arm. “You want me to suck you off, you just have to ask.”
The teasing falls flat even to my ears, my stomach twisted with worry, but I know that Mason will take care of them. I hate that I’m walking farther away instead of running towards them, but it’s the only thing I can really do to help, why I ran in the first place to draw the wolves away. My blood is a curse, and the only way I can help those kids is by keeping my distance.
Wrapping my lips around the self-inflicted bite mark, I gently pull, letting his blood flow over my tongue. As soon as I start, I understand exactly what they were talking about, finding it hard to stop. Stepping into him, the rest of the world seems to fall away as I focus on the next drop rushing down my throat, on the heat of Stryker’s hand on the back of my neck.
“There we go,” he praises, gently rubbing my neck, keeping his wrist pressed against my lips. Softer, he murmurs, “Do you have any idea how terrified I was? We’ve been out of our mind for weeks, but look at you, being all badass.”
There are some muffled words that I can’t make out, losing myself in the moment, in the rush that flows through my veins like a live wire. All of the pain, fading a bit more with each pull that I take.
Bane steps behind me, kissing the crown of my head. “Didn’t need us to save you at all. You fought so hard, beautiful, did so good.”
Carefully, he skims his fingertips over my side, inspecting the damage to discreetly see if I’m healing. Stryker’s wrist is taken away from me and I nearly whimper, but Bane’s replaces it a moment later. Nails digging into his arm as I latch on to him, I lean back against his chest.
Softly sighing in contentment, his free hand splays over my stomach, holding me close. “You kept yourself alive long enough for us to find you, so let us take over from here, alright?
After a few more moments, he breaks contact despite my protests, long enough to spin me around. Snapping out his pocket knife, he slices across the skin at the juncture of his neck, lifting me up so I can wrap my legs around his waist. Not needing any prompting, I flick my tongue across his neck, vaguely aware of him carrying us the rest of the distance to the car.
By the time we arrive, I’m feeling worlds better, even the pain of abusing my muscles running disappearing. Sliding to my feet, feeling every delicious ridge on the way down his body, he opens up the back hatch of the black SUV, rooting around in a duffle bag and withdrawing fresh clothes with a grimace.
