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EMILY
Please be alive… It’s all I could think while I shoved a few of Morgan’s healing vials in a backpack along with clothes and water. I had no idea what to expect or if there would be anything in the first place, but the dream felt so real that I couldn’t ignore it. I should wait for Cassian, but it was already after midnight and it would take hours for Cassian and Griffin to change back. Griffin’s location was turned off, but I memorized the place it last beeped, and it was two hours away.
I waved a cab down and in minutes we were on the road. I told the driver that it was an emergency so his foot was flat on the pedal.
I hesitated for a moment, and then sent Morgan a message to meet me there. I had no idea if she would get it, but I figured I would need as much help as I could get. We would be walking into a werewolf camp during the change trying to save a werewolf. It sounded insane when I thought about it like that.
The cab driver dropped me off two hours later, and I stood on the edge of a huge forest. The leaves swayed in the breeze and I could barely see through the dark trees. The forest swallowed me instantly, and I wandered aimlessly for a while. I lifted my hand and a flame engulfed my palm, lighting a small distance in front of me.
I could just make out the wooden cabin that Griffin had saved me from, his cabin. It was eerily quiet—no night birds or normal forest sounds. I could make out growls and chains clanging nearby. I never thought I’d be relieved at the thought of people being chained up, but I was as I walked toward the camp. If Kellan’s pack hadn’t all been bound to their walls with chains right now, I’d be dead.
As I got closer the smell hit me in the face—blood and soil, it smelled like something was rotting, and I fought the urge to gag. I wasn’t expecting this; this was a nightmare. I stopped on the perimeter and looked around; the camp was bigger than I expected. There were cabins dotted around the forest, they were all similar to Griffin’s old one, and then there were three larger cabins; kitchen and two others that I couldn’t make out. But my heart stopped when I saw the last cabin; it was huge and it sat in the center of the camp, beside it was a firepit and a seating area. And there, in front of the seats were three massive wooden poles on a makeshift stand. The world around me slowed to a halt, like time stood still. My mouth fell open, and I forgot how to breathe when I noticed a huge white figure braced against the center pole, its body forced straight by the rope slashed around it.
“Griffin…” I whispered. I covered my mouth at the sight of him and tears immediately spilled over my cheeks.
He was in wolf form but his legs were bent in a direction that they shouldn’t be in. His spine, which should be somewhat curved as a werewolf, was straight and his ribs pushed against the soft skin and fur. Griffin's mouth hung open, saliva and blood dripped from his sharp teeth. His eyes were closed, and for a moment I panicked that maybe he was dead, but his chest moved up and down very slowly. There was blood all over his coat, but I couldn’t see where it was coming from. Some of it dripped onto the floor, the wounds weren’t healing like they should.
I started running to him but stopped short; he wasn’t Griffin at that moment, he was a wild animal. Instead of running, I edged my way closer carefully. The wooden platform creaked when I got to the top of the stairs and Griffin’s eyes flew open; the familiar but wild gray fixed onto me. He didn’t move, he didn’t growl or try to attack, he just watched as I approached.
“Griffin, I know you don’t understand me right now, but I’m going to give you some of the healing stuff,” I whispered and a flash of recognition, or maybe it was relief, crossed his eyes. Impossible, he said humanity disappeared during the change. “Please don’t bite me…”
I grabbed three of the green vials and popped the lids off. Getting it into his mouth was a whole other struggle. I hesitated for a moment and focused on keeping my hands steady. Griffin growled deeply as I got close to him, but his head was still bound so I stared into his eyes and put the vial on his tongue. He sneered slightly but gulped the liquid, one after another. His gaze never wavered from me and when I grabbed a fourth bottle he lifted his lip slightly, as if to tell me that he didn’t want anymore.
“I’m going to put this on some of the cuts, the bleeding hasn’t stopped. It’s going to hurt like a bitch, but just suck it up okay.” Even though the whole camp was a ghost town, I didn’t dare speak louder than a whisper.
I parted the soft white fur, he had deep cuts everywhere so I patted the green liquid on the worst of them. The angriest wound was on his shoulder; the blood was thick and black, and it smelled of acid. My vision clouded with red, my hands shook, and I could see myself setting this entire place on fire. I wanted to burn Kellan and Victor and everyone else in here that treated Griffin so badly, that treated innocent victims like chew toys.
Griffin growled again and the sound pulled me back to the moment. I poured the rest of the vial onto his shoulder and he snapped at me while another growl filled the open space. He strained against the rope while the healing liquid sizzled through his shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured and leaned my head against his soft shoulder, the fur tickled my nose. Despite how terrifying he was, he was also beautiful. “How am I going to get you out of here without you biting my head off?”
I closed my eyes and tried to think of what to do. I had my magic, but I wasn’t sure I knew how to make a ward that was strong enough on my own. It had to keep him contained for two hours, or at least until I could find somewhere safe until he changed back. Where are you Morgan?
I didn’t have any other choice, I shoved the empty vials into my backpack and looked up at Griffin. He was huge, and the thought of leading him to safety was intimidating. I wasn’t athletic or strong, and I didn’t know enough about magic to know if there was a spell that could make me stronger. I’d read through Morgan’s grimoire five times and there was a spell for almost everything, except this.
I left the platform to look for a chain or something that could hold him while I looked for a hiding place. Griffin groaned behind me. Being in that position had to hurt constantly, and even as a werewolf I could see something was very wrong with his hind legs. His tail swished, a gruesome paintbrush that spread lines of red on the wooden platform. Nausea settled in my stomach, right next to the well of anger that was growing with each passing minute. I couldn’t find anything, and there was no way that I was going to risk poking my nose into any of the cabins. I could just picture a werewolf snapping my nose off.
“What do I do? What should I do? Come on, Em. You’ll just have to use your magic.” I muttered to myself as I walked back to the seating area. My powers were ready, I’d felt them the moment I dove into the forest. Fire, always in the front seat, seemed to be pacing up and down in my mind, waiting for me to call on it. Water was a lot more relaxed, but it also wanted a chance. I snorted at the way that they felt like actual tangible beings in my mind, they were a part of me. A loud growl pulled me from my thoughts and I glanced over at Griffin. “What! Can’t you see I’m trying to figure something out? You’re just as bossy as a wolf.”
His eyes drifted to the horizon and my whole body stilled; pink, orange and purple colored the sky. Dawn was already here. Doom more like it. How have I been here for so long? Shit!
No more time for looking around. I ran up to the platform, and with a final moment of hesitation, I put up a shield between me and Griffin and burned through the rope around his head. He snapped his jaws, but he didn’t try to bite me. I could see small shifts in his body as he started changing back; it was a lot less gruesome than turning into a werewolf. Sounds started escalating in the surrounding cabins as the pack started turning into themselves again. Shit. Shit. Shit.
Moving quicker, I burned through the rope around his ankles. His claws scratched the surface as he tried to find his balance on his hind legs but one looked twisted. Griffin whimpered while leaning his weight on the other. Did they break his leg? My fingers curled into fists, nails digging into my palm. They all deserved to die…
Griffin's feet changed back first and the injured leg had an angry purple mark around the entire knee running up to his thigh. From there the change happened quickly. By the time I had burned through the last of the ropes, his claws pushed back into his skin. The moment his arms were free, Griffin dropped to the platform. Fur lay all over the platform.
“Griffin, can you walk? We need to go! I think we have about two minutes before we’ll have an audience.” I whispered harshly. He groaned and my heart sank. I dropped the shield, grabbed the backpack, and pulled his arm over my shoulder. The other hand resembled his mangled knee and I cringed, but we didn’t have time for an inspection. I managed to lift Griffin, with his help and we descended the platform at an excruciatingly slow pace. I could hear the cabin doors open and shut, and panic enveloped me.
“You need to go, I’m holding you back,” Griffin groaned. His face was purple and dried blood marred almost every part of his body. At least he’d stopped bleeding.
I snorted but kept moving. “Shut up, and keep walking.”
He did and we made it to the far perimeter. Relief started to blossom.
“How sweet. You two really are sickeningly cute.” Kellan’s voice crushed any relief I felt. “Hello, Emily. You’re looking much better than the last time I saw you.”
I steadied Griffin before spinning toward Kellan who’d taken a few steps closer. “Hi Kellan. I’d stop moving if I were you.”
