Page 65 of Bonded Through Bite

Zack jerks back. “I can taste poison on the wound.”

“Poison?” What fresh hell is this?

“I need to clean it. Scrapes like this can very easily get infected.”

“I forgot my first aid kit in my other purse,” I mumble, lying down. I’m tired and hungry and in pain. Everything is getting fuzzy again and my energy is draining fast.

“Smart ass,” Zack rumbles and then shifts back into his wolf. Long, sure licks of his tongue wipe over the wound. It hurts, but I endure his care silently. Compared to the hunger gnawing in my stomach and the headache splintering behind my eyes, this pain is a welcome distraction.

At some point, I feel my skin knitting back together. Some of the pain in my head eases and I focus on the wolf, now lying by my side. His wounds are looking better, crusted over, if not completely healed. Neither of us is bleeding anymore, but I’m still dismally weak and his leg still has a bone sticking through the skin.

“Your leg,” I whisper past my dry throat and the wolf gives a full-body shrug. I fully intend to push him, when a furious roar makes me whip my head around.

Rafael and Santiago rush over to me, eyes black and fangs low, full of menace. Zack tries to move, but I wrap my arm around him and hug him close, protecting his back and neck.

“My wolf,” I growl. Uh, I called him mine. Not that he minds, based on the way he presses closer.

“What?” Rafael hisses and reaches for me. I flinch away and narrow my eyes. Now that he’s close, I can smell the witch all too well and still his blood calls to me.

“Go back to your witch,” I manage to choke out before dry coughs rack my body. I burrow my face in Zack’s fur to drown out the sickly smell of lavender.

“Samantha, darling.” Santiago runs his hands over me, checking for injuries. “What happened? Why are you cuddling a fucking werewolf?”

“I’ll kill⁠—”

“Fuck off, Rafael,” I whisper.

He hears me, of course he does.

“Samantha, look at me,” he says with that ringing voice I can’t refuse. I fight every inch but turn my head to face him. “Who hurt you?”

“Not him.” I can barely speak, black dots hover over my vision.

“Rafe, she needs to feed. Now.” Santiago sounds urgent, but I shake my head.

“Fuck”—I pant in between—“potpourri.”

“Goddammit,” Rafael growls.

“Drink from me. Hopefully, that’ll change your taste enough that she can choke it down,” Santiago says. He’s holding my gaze, daring me to object, but I only nod weakly. Everything hurts so bad now and my throat burns. Rafael turns to Santiago and I bury my face in Zack’s fur again.

The smell of Santiago’s blood is fresher; the lemon is tempering the lavender and I breathe more easily. Soon, I can detect hints of buttery pastry and sweet meringue. Relaxing against Zack, I stroke his back and wait.

“Samantha,” Rafael calls to me and I reach for him. He moves to pick me up and settles me into his lap. I shiver when I lose the warmth of Zack’s body.

I sink my fangs into his throat and it’s like surfacing from the ocean after diving too far. My body craves his blood like oxygen and when I drink him down, it’s like an iced drink on a hot summer day. Every swallow eases the burning in my throat and the gnawing pain in my stomach.

Rafael is groaning, but I don’t think it’s from pain. It takes longer than I would like to be able to hold myself up. I lost some blood. I didn’t think it was too much, but clearly more than I could afford. When Rafael’s groans turn to faint panting, Santiago glides his hand over my jaw and coaxes me to loosen my grip.

Reluctantly, I pull back, still hungry, if not ravenous. Blinking, I look over at where Zack is lying on the ground and my eyes hone in on his leg. Wiggling out of Rafael’s grasp, I crawl back to him. He seems to be in pain but changes back to human when I reach him.

“How… what can I do?” I ask him. The wounds have fully closed by now, even his leg isn’t bleeding anymore.

“The bone needs to be set before it can heal,” he says and tries to smile.

“I don’t know how to do that,” I whisper.

“Samantha, I’d really appreciate it if you could move away from the fucking werewolf.” Santiago sounds pained. “He’s not just a wolf shifter. He’s a⁠—”