Chapter Eleven #6
Quinn fought with raw power and precision, keeping himself between the coyotes and Sasha. Blood sprayed across rocks as Quinn’s massive jaws clamped down on one attacker’s leg, the crunch of bone audible, even over the waterfall’s roar.
Releasing the first coyote with a snarl, Quinn twisted with impossible speed to face the new threat. Blood matted his fur where the coyote’s teeth had caused damage. The sight sent a jolt of fear through Sasha’s paralyzed body.
He watched in horrified fascination as Quinn fought with brutal efficiency. There was intelligence behind those steel-gray eyes, strategy in each movement. This wasn’t just an animal fighting on instinct. This was Quinn, somehow still Quinn, despite the fur and canines.
The injured coyote staggered, dragging its mangled limb, then turned to flee into the forest. Its companion hesitated only a moment before following, tail tucked between its legs.
Quinn stood watching the tree line for several long moments, sides heaving with exertion. Only when he seemed satisfied the threat was gone did he turn, limping toward the water’s edge. Blood trailed behind him, bright crimson against gray stone.
Sasha’s mind raced through options. Run. Scream. Faint. None seemed particularly helpful. The wolf, Quinn, took a step toward him, then staggered slightly, favoring his injured side.
The sight of him in pain somehow cut through Sasha’s paralysis. Whatever the hell was happening, Quinn had just saved his life. Stood between him and danger. Was now bleeding because of it.
Quinn limped toward the water’s edge, lowering himself carefully. Blood seeped into the shallows, turning the clear water pink.
This was real. Somehow, impossibly, this was real.
“I’m not going to run,” Sasha said, his voice so hoarse he barely recognized it.
“But I’m terrified out of my mind right now.
Like, absolutely losing-my-shit terrified.
” He forced himself to take one step forward, then another.
“You just…you were a person and then…” His hands shook violently as he gestured at Quinn’s current form.
“I don’t even have words for this. My brain is basically blue-screening. ”
The wolf’s ears flattened against his head, a whine escaping his throat. The sound was so vulnerable it made something twist in Sasha’s chest.
He inched closer, each step deliberate as he approached the wounded animal. Wolf. Person. Whatever Quinn was. “Are you…still you in there? Can you understand me?”
A slow blink and slight nod answered him.
“Okay. Okay, that’s…good.” He sank down beside Quinn, careful to leave space between them.
The wolf’s fur looked softer than he expected, black and sleek despite being damp from blood.
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know who to call.
But I’ll stay with you until…until you’re not a wolf anymore? Is that a thing that happens?”
Quinn made a soft sound, almost like a whine, and Sasha found himself scooting closer despite his fear.
He ran a hand through his wet hair, the reality of the situation crashing over him. “You’re a wolf. An actual wolf. And those guys were…coyotes? I don’t even know if I’m saying this out loud or just thinking it, because this is insane.”
Fresh blood welled up, staining the rocks beneath the wolf when he shifted slightly.
“You need help.” Sasha glanced around desperately. “Your phone! It’s with your stuff by the motorcycle.”
He scrambled to his feet, nearly slipping on the wet rocks in his haste. The distance to the motorcycle felt longer than it had before, each step taking him farther from Quinn. What if the coyotes came back while he was gone? What if Quinn bled out?
The motorcycle stood where they’d left it, their belongings untouched. Sasha fumbled through Quinn’s jacket pockets with trembling fingers until he found the phone, clutching it like a lifeline. He hurried back to find the wolf still lying by the water, gray eyes tracking his return.
“It needs your face,” Sasha called, holding up the phone. “Unless you’ve got a paw print scanner I don’t know about.”
The absurdity of the situation hit him then—standing soaking wet in the middle of nowhere, talking to a wolf about phone security while holding a device designed for human fingerprints and faces. A slightly hysterical laugh bubbled up his throat.
Well, it couldn’t hurt to try. Sasha knelt beside Quinn, holding the phone up to the wolf’s face. “This is ridiculous, but nothing about today makes sense anyway, so…”
The phone unlocked with a cheerful chime.
“What the actual fuck,” Sasha whispered, staring at the home screen. “Technology recognizes you as…of course it does. Why not? Nothing makes sense anymore.”
He scrolled through Quinn’s recent calls, finding a name that appeared multiple times. Vaughn. Taking a deep breath, Sasha hit Dial and pressed the phone to his ear.
“Quinn.” A deep voice answered. “Heard congrats are in order for finding your mate.”
“Um, this isn’t Quinn,” Sasha interrupted, ignoring the mate thing since his mind was already fried. “My name’s Sasha. I’m with Quinn, and he’s hurt. We’re at some waterfall in the mountains, and there were these guys, and now he’s bleeding.”
A beat of silence. “How bad is it?”
“Pretty bad, I think. One of them got his side, and there’s a lot of blood.” Sasha carefully avoided mentioning the whole turning-into-a-wolf part, unsure if this Vaughn person knew Quinn’s secret.
“Turn on location sharing,” Vaughn instructed, voice calm but urgent. “I’ll find you.”
“Okay, hang on.” Sasha fumbled with the settings, eventually finding the right option. “It’s on.”
“Don’t move him. We’ll be there soon.” The call ended abruptly.
Like Sasha could move a massive-ass wolf.
He set the phone down then settled himself next to Quinn, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his massive body. “Help is coming. Your friend Vaughn is on his way. I hope he knows what you are, because if he doesn’t, that’ll be two shocked people today.”
Quinn’s eyes drifted closed, his breathing labored but steady. Blood continued to seep from his wound, though slower now.
“So,” Sasha said, aiming for casual and missing by a mile, “I guess we should talk about the whole turning-into-a-wolf thing once you’re…
you know, able to talk again.” He pushed his glasses up his nose, a nervous habit.
“Unless I’m hallucinating all of this, which honestly would be preferable to the alternative, which is that shapeshifters are real and I just made out with one. ”
Quinn huffed what sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
“Not that I regret the making-out part,” Sasha added quickly but quietly. “That was…nice. Very nice. But the context has changed somewhat dramatically.”
Hesitantly, he reached out to touch Quinn’s fur. It was thick and warm beneath his fingers. Quinn didn’t pull away, so Sasha continued the gentle stroking, finding it calmed his own racing heart as much as it seemed to soothe the wounded animal.
They sat in silence, broken only by the waterfall’s constant rhythm and Quinn’s occasional pained whine.
Minutes stretched into what felt like hours. Sasha gradually relaxed enough to lean back against a sun-warmed rock, though his eyes kept darting to the forest edge, half expecting the coyotes to return. Quinn remained alert beside him, occasionally shifting his weight to ease pressure on his wound.
“They’re not coming back, are they?” Sasha asked softly but saw that the wolf had fallen asleep.
Hopefully Vaughn arrived before those mutts decided on a second-round butt-kicking. Only, now, Quinn was too wounded to fight.
“Please hurry,” Sasha whispered, fingers curled into the wolf’s soft fur.
* * * *
Sasha jerked into a sitting position, stunned he’d fallen asleep. Those two could’ve snuck back, and Sasha had failed to keep vigilance over the wolf
Quinn!
He spun around to check the wolf’s wound but froze at the sound of a snapping twig.
Sasha scanned the tree line, heart racing, mouth bone-dry.
If it was those coyotes, he wasn’t sure what he would do.
Sasha didn’t have the fighting skills to beat up a middle schooler, let alone a grown man. And there had been two of them.
The roar of the waterfall muted a lot of noises around them, but at least now Sasha knew how Quinn had known those men were near before he’d seen them.
Too bad Sasha couldn’t sniff the air the way Quinn had. Even if he could, how would that be helpful? It wasn’t as if he had a spare set of ninja skills tucked away in his soaking-wet jeans.
Sasha pushed closer to the wolf, spreading his arms like a flimsy, shaking shield as two strangers appeared around the same path as the coyote men. His breathing became shallow, mind scrambled, ready to protect the wolf…somehow.
“We’re not going to hurt you or the wolf,” the taller of the two said as they slowed. “I’m Vaughn. This is Bayne. We’re here to help.”
“Vaughn.” Sasha swallowed, body trembling. “Quinn’s friend. From the phone.”
“Yes.” Vaughn gestured toward the wolf. “Can we move closer? Kinda hard to lift his big-ass up if I can’t reach him.”
“We might not look like it,” Bayne said, “but we’re the good guys. I promise.”
Promises meant nothing to Sasha, but he pulled away slowly. After the afternoon he’d had, he was cautious of everyone. And since these two weren’t freaking out that Quinn was a wolf, did that mean they were wolves too?
Vaughn moved forward with deliberate steps then crouched next to Quinn. “Tell me what really happened,” he said. Although he was staring at the wolf, Sasha knew the guy was talking to him.
Of course he was, unless Sasha expected an unconscious wolf to reply.
“Coyotes.” He kept one hand curled in Vaughn’s fur. “Two men appeared on the path. Dangerous-looking guys. Bullies. One went for Quinn, and one came after…”