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My brows pinched together. “We’ve got a fire going in the house. Come inside and warm up.”
Her attention flicked to the men on the porch and back to my face. “I’ll be all right.”
Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out of her pocket, shielding it from the drizzle. “Shit,” she mumbled as she stared at the screen. She lifted her gaze. “You should’ve warned Lillian about how badly he was wounded.”
I frowned. “Did she just text you?”
“No.” Ruby almost smiled. “Lillian calls. She’s not much of a texter.” She sobered, looking up at me. The light caught the flecks of gold in her brown eyes making them almost glow. She was beautiful. “We have…seers in our coven. One of them just let me know he could lose his foot.”
I clenched my jaw. “We’re trying to avoid that since we can’t go to the hospital.”
She shook her head, breaking eye contact. “Do you have a doctor in your pack?”
“No.” Another failure of our leadership.
I loved Mathias as if he were my own father, but he should’ve encouraged one of my pack brothers to go into medicine when we were younger. It was shortsighted not to have a doctor or even a veterinarian in our pack. When injuries came up, Mathias always called on Lillian and her coven for healing. Maybe he thought that was enough.
She looked up at Wes and Wyatt again and then back to me. “You can vouch for them?”
“Definitely.” I chuffed and gave a nod. “Wyatt is big but so is his heart, and Wes would beat you at poker, but that’s your only threat from him.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “Kills me to ask this, but…” She met my eyes. “Will you stay close? Just in case?”
I couldn’t figure her out. Our pack had always been allies with the Coven of Light. I felt like I was missing a key piece to this puzzle.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Sure.”
“All right.” She walked past me up the stairs and right into the house without acknowledging Wes or Wyatt. They looked at me, but all I could do was shrug. Hell, if I knew what was going on.
Inside, I stopped beside her. “He’s upstairs.”
“Okay.” She climbed the steps at a steady pace, and I followed, unable keep from glancing at her ass once or twice. Ruby had curves in all the right places. She would’ve been my type if she were even remotely interested in me.
I forced the thought from my head. If this pack had any hope of a future, I needed to stop fucking around and find my one true mate. She must be out there someplace, but I was pushing forty now. She could already be married with a family. Humans didn’t have the same instinct we did when it came to one mate for life.
Ruby turned around surprising me. “Which way?”
I forgot she couldn’t follow the scent of infected flesh. The reek stung my nostrils before we were even halfway up the stairs. “To the right. Second door on the left.”
She hustled down the hall, reached for the doorknob, and hesitated. Her pulse was racing again, and it didn’t seem to have anything to do with climbing the stairs.
I frowned. “Do you have a problem with werewolves?”
Her gaze popped up meet mine. “Does it show?”
I was pretty sure I shouldn’t smile. “A little.”
She rolled her eyes. “I had a bad experience once. I’m fine.”
Now I had more questions than answers, but she opened the door before I could ask. Lillian had the dressings off Mathias’s ankle and was chanting something over the mangled flesh. She didn’t react when we came into the room. Some kind of pungent incense burned in the corner, choking me with its overpowering, musky scent.
Mathias looked as if he’d aged another ten years since yesterday.
I went to his side and took his hand. He opened his eyes. “Zeke… Thank you for finding Lillian.”
The elderly witch finally looked over at us. “You should have called me sooner. You need antibiotics. My magic can help mend the wounds, but it’s already infected. If we don’t get the infection under control soon, we might need to amputate the foot.”
My Alpha shook his head. “Everyone in this room knows I can’t go to a hospital.”
