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She is. Her blood has strong healing qualities, especially for wolves and no, I don’t know why. She hungers for you, Braden, the way I used to. You should give her what she needs.
I can’t. She’s a witch. I hate them all because they killed you.
Laura turned toward him and held his gaze. She petted his forehead again. You need to make an exception. Maeve is a powerful woman and I value her immensely. She did me a service once. A very great service.
I didn’t know you knew any of the witches in Elegance.
Not many. But Maeve, oh, yes.
What did she do for you?
Laura leaned over him once more and kissed him on the forehead this time. Again, it felt like air against his skin. No more talk. Work at your self-healing. Mind the witch.
Laura faded away. He wanted to call her back, but he couldn’t. His brain remained in a foggy state, his gaze now fixed on Maeve. Why did he have to mind the witch? ‘Mind’ as in obey? He didn’t understand.
He’d always been attracted to Maeve. He wouldn’t deny it. He’d spoken with her often during his hunt for Laura’s murderers. He suspected she knew something about the night his wife died, but she’d denied it. Repeatedly.
Last week, she’d finally admitted that her memory had gaps and it was possible she knew something she simply couldn’t remember. Maybe that was why Laura wanted him to pay attention to Maeve. The witch knew the truth about how she’d died and who was responsible.
Laura’s voice returned on a whisper. Maeve can help you find my killers.
Then nothing.
~ ~ ~
Maeve sat on the stool beside the operating table, a line running from the inside of her elbow to Braden’s neck.
This wasn’t a human procedure. Very little was sterile. But an immaculate workspace wasn’t necessary for alter beings. They were long-lived because germs didn’t infect their bodies the way they could easily engulf a human wound.
Alfonso worked quickly. Braden had been slashed in a dozen places and kicked hard. Alfonso had ripped into the side of Braden’s chest to pull the ribs out of the lungs and set a few broad sutures.
She kept shaking her head. There was no way Braden could survive what he was going through.
Maeve said good-bye repeatedly. She petted the top of Braden’s head and spoke softly to him. She thanked him for being a good friend to her. In many ways, he’d helped make her life in Five Bridges tolerable. He’d lived in Savage ten years. He knew a lot and he was fully acclimated to the alter way of life.
His eyelids weren’t taped down so he stared straight out at nothing. Once he actually looked at her, yet she knew he wasn’t there. Not really.
She finally understood the saying, ‘hanging on by a thread’.
When she’d donated all she could, a shifter female came forward to take her place. Wolf blood would be almost as healing as Maeve’s. For whatever reason, her witchy life force held power for the wolf.
She watched the new line get hooked up.
Then something unexpected happened. Her nose wrinkled and her lips pu
lled back. She felt a growl form in her throat. She didn’t like that another woman was helping him.
What the hell?
These were wolf behaviors.
At almost the exact same moment, the monitor showed a slowing heartrate.
One of the techs called out, “We’re losing him.”
Alfonso spoke in a tense voice. “I’m almost done. Just a few more stitches. Hang on, Braden.”
Without giving it a thought, Maeve hurried to the opposite side of the table. She dipped down beneath Alfonso’s quick-working elbows and grabbed Braden’s free hand. Her heart raced. She felt panicky. He needed the connection to her, not to the female wolf. To her.
