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“Would you like me to take a look at your paw? I know you want to head back to the fights, but you won’t be of any help if you can’t walk.”
He reluctantly stretched it out. Something was stuck inside his pad. She pulled it out and realized it was a large sharp wolf tooth.
“Oh wow, didn’t expect that!”
She showed it to Seth who grinned when he recognized what it was. She quickly cleaned out the wound and stitched it up like she’d done with the others.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay a little longer to rest?”
Seth shook his head and ran toward the trees.
That same night Niev was sleeping, haunted by another nightmare when a rough tugging on her shoulder made her sit up straight in bed. It was Christa and she looked terrified.
“I need you, it’s Tristan.”
With no further explanation, Christa ran back out of the room. Niev didn’t bother changing out of her pajamas and quickly followed Christa into the examination room. Christa was digging through the cabinets, grabbing every towel and suture kit she could find along with pain meds and syringes which Niev knew had a sedative inside of them. Niev panicked slightly as she remembered what Tristan had made her promise. She walked over to one of the cabinets that hid the scalpels and grabbed one before following Christa outside.
Christa laid all her things on the big tree trunk in front of the house. “They let me know that he’s refusing to shift back to his human form.”
Christa’s tone was worrisome. Wolves that were so severely injured that they would no longer shift back were very close to death. Their life energy was slipping out of them which made shifting forms their last act before dying. Wolves who tried to survive as long as possible didn’t shift in order to preserve that last bit of energy.
Niev heard strong paws running toward them before she saw Blake storming out of the woods and into the circle of light in front of the porch. Blake was carrying his best friend on his shoulders. They were both covered in blood, Tristan’s unconscious wolf body hanging from either side of Blake’s back. Blake gently dropped Tristan on the ground closest to the porch light and shifted, his face as pale as the moon.
Niev knew Tristan wouldn’t survive without her healing blood, so she quickly walked over to him and didn’t have to look long to see the gash on his abdomen. The wound went from his sternum down to his sheath, and it was so deep Niev could see his organs. He must have lost a lot of blood on the way here. Quickly pulling out the blade about to cut her wrist, she kneeled next to him.
“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY SON!”
Niev looked up to see Tristan’s mother step into the light, followed by Seth.
“I think you lost the right to make this decision for him the moment you disowned him.”
Niev’s voice was calm. She knew provoking a fight would cost Tristan his life and she wasn’t about to break her promise to him. Tristan’s mother started to say something else, but Niev cut her off by speaking to Seth.
“Seth, Tristan made me promise to save his life like I saved Blake. I explained how I would do it. I explained that I would have to share my blood with him to be able to heal him. He understood and agreed to it.”
“He would never do that! He would never act against my will. You must have bewitched him!” his mother shouted hysterically.
“He was scared for his life. He wasn’t ready to die. He knew I could save him, and he begged me to do so. He made me promise him that I would do everything I can to save his life.” Even though Niev tried to keep her voice calm, she was furious at this woman who would rather lose her son than to simply trust her.
Seth looked from Niev to Tristan’s mother and back again. “Niev, when did he ask you to save his life?”
She knew where he was trying to go. He wanted to make sure Tristan knew before agreeing to this that his mother revoked him as her son.
“Before the celebration dinner. He asked me to save him after his mother disowned him. He knew of her disapproval, and he wanted me to save him regardless.”
“Then you may try and save him.”
Niev wasted no time and cut her wrist. It was a deep, painful cut, but she knew this pain would be nothing compared to seeing Blake lose his best friend. If she wanted him to survive, he would need lots of blood–and fast. Time was of essence for Tristan’s survival. She dug the blade deep inside her wrist, leaving the knife in, making it impossible for her own wound to close.
She watched as her blood dripped down the knife and into Tristan’s stomach. As she watched his body slowly heal, she tried to ignore his mother’s yelling and the fight she was putting up while Seth tried to restrict her from running toward her son.
She felt a warm hand touch her shoulder and heard Blake’s voice as he talked to Christa. “Maybe we could try to help him shift with jasmine and moonflower tincture?”
“No, he’s barely holding on. If I force him to shift it will kill him. He is even further away than you were when they brought you to me.” Christa’s voice was nearby but Niev couldn’t quite make out where it was coming from.
“This will take too much of her blood to heal.”
“I know. I’ll close the wound on both ends to help. Maybe if I can close it even a little, it won’t drain her as much, but we should stop her as soon as we see her struggle. I know she won’t stop on her own.”
