Quickly, I grab my walkie-talkie out of my backpack and relay the information. Everybody agrees to reconvene back in the clearing.
“So what do we do now? How do we change him back to a human?” Desperation thrums headily through my veins.
Christian—my Christian—is right fucking here. So close. And if he’s stuck like this for the rest of his life…
My breathing turns embarrassingly shallow, escaping me in erratic spurts.
This wolf isn’t Christian. Not really. My Christian would never, ever hurt his brother—no matter how much he may want to.
Speaking of…
I turn towards Ashton and study him intently, noting the red stains on his shirt from the blood. “How’s your back?”
He scowls at me. “Do you really care?”
“Yes,” I answer simply, and I can tell my answer takes him by surprise.
He considers and then replies, “It hurts, but I’ll live.”
“We need to get Christian back to the others before he wakes up,” Travan says. “There, we can contain him?—”
“Like in a cage?” My heart twists painfully at the prospect of locking him away like some sort of wild animal.
Then again, isn’t that what he is now?
“We’re doing this for his own good,” Travan tells me, his tone unexpectedly serious. “Do you really think he would be happy to hear he almost killed his brother? I mean, I wouldn’t give a shit, but someone with the capacity to feel more emotions might.”
“He didn’t almost kill me,” Ashton grumbles petulantly.
I debate my options, but at the end of the day, Travan’s right. This is the best course of action for everyone involved, including Christian.
“Okay. Let’s get him to the clearing.” I nod once, my heart pounding faster.
I remind myself that Christian won’t be in a cage forever—just long enough for me to find a way to fix him.
And Iwillfix him. There’s no other option.
Travan bends to pick him up, but Ashton staggers forward.
“I’ll do it,” he snaps briskly, kneeling to grab his brother’s wolf form.
I open my mouth to protest—noting the strain on Ashton’s face and his barely disguised grimace of pain—but decide against it. It’s not like Ashton would listen to me in the first place.
Ashton carries Christian with surprising ease, and it takes me a second to remember that all shifters have advanced strength and speed.
Without a backwards glance at me, Ashton hurries the way we came, his grip tight on his older brother. I remain a few steps behind them with Travan at my side. It isn’t long until Ashton is completely out of sight.
Leaving me alone.
With Travan.
Fuck.
Forty-Four
IZZY
To say the silence is uncomfortable would be an understatement. It’s practically suffocating. I’m pretty sure I would be able to cut the tension with a knife.
