30. Vivianna
VIVIANNA
Itried to shove Rik away just as a crash of broken glass sounded from another room. Rik pulled me to him, covering me with his body as he pulled me out of the living room and into the kitchen. We ducked further into the room, where we were concealed on three sides.
“You need to shift, now,” Rik demanded as he set me on the floor and shed his clothes.
Moments later, Rik’s tawny wolf was standing guard in front of me, poised and ready for a fight. A man I didn’t know got tossed into the kitchen, blood dripping from gashes along his neck.
“We’re under attack,” he gasped out, causing the blood to gush faster from his wounds.
I tried to shove past Rik to get to the wounded man—apparently, my need to save him overpowered my self-preservation skills.
Rik snapped at me, growling a warning, and as I tried to get past him again, I paused as the sound of fighting came from deeper in the house.
More windows shattered, letting me know that Vadik had brought enough help to overwhelm us.
I needed to not be a hindrance. I peeled off my clothes and kneeled down, keeping out of sight as I pulled my wolf forward.
Ready for a fight, she galloped past me, pushing me to the background as we shifted.
It’s on, motherfuckers!
I looked around, scenting the air and trying to get a read on how many were in the house.
I could smell Koit and Tavas somewhere in the front, and Darius was making his way down the stairs.
That left six unknown wolves and Vadik to deal with.
Much to my surprise, my senses were telling me Vadik hadn’t entered the house yet and was still lingering outside.
What is his plan? Why is he waiting?
Because he’s a sociopath that doesn’t care if his wolves get killed following his orders.
Three wolves charged into the kitchen and were met by a huge, pure-white wolf.
My nose told me that it was Darius. It was the first time I’d seen him in his wolf form, and he was just as impressive of a sight.
His blue eyes glowed with anger at Vadik’s invasion of his turf.
Darius caught the first wolf by the front leg, tossing him across the room away from me.
Koit leapt into the fray, landing on a wolf’s back and knocking him to the ground.
The last wolf snuck in between the two, running for the door to the basement.
That’s it, they want Faulk! If they lose him, then they could never replicate what he did to me.
Then I suggest we stop him from getting to that door. Let’s go kick some wolfy ass.
Needing no other encouragement, I took off, leaping over the other wolves fighting and sliding into the third wolf.
It wasn’t graceful, but it did the trick.
I took out his legs, and he toppled over.
Both of us slammed into the door, causing it to groan on impact.
I jumped to my feet and slashed out a paw right across his eye, catching him off guard.
Sure, it was more of a cat move, but that’s why I knew it would work.
Cats are tricky fuckers. Now blinded in one eye from the blood seeping out of the claw marks, I had the advantage.
Pinning him to the ground, I bit down, latching onto his trachea and jerking my head back, ripping away the mouthful.
Knowing that was a killing blow, I tossed the offending flesh out of my mouth, looking around the room and guarding the door.
I saw the shadow before I could figure out where it was coming from, but it was too late.
Vadik leapt off the kitchen table, taking me by surprise.
I tried to roll out of the way, but instead, I found myself trapped under him.
He snarled down at me, drool splattering on my face as he postured over me.
He clamped his jaw around my shoulder, holding me under him, and I squirmed.
I felt his teeth tearing my skin as I wriggled, trying to get my hind feet under him to push off.
Tavas—as his gray wolf—crashed into Vadik, while Rik grabbed the back of my neck with his teeth and dragged me away from him.
Once clear, I rolled to my feet and tried to stand, but the wound on my shoulder made it hard to balance.
Koit appeared at my side, and he nudged me with his nose, motioning for me to follow him.
I limped after him, heading out the back door, into the yard, and around the side of the house.
Out front, I saw the Humvee that we had taken to get here with both passenger doors open.
Darius was back in skin and behind the wheel.
“Jump in, we need to get out of here,” he yelled, waving me on faster.
Intent on my destination, I didn’t see the wolf leaping out of the bushes by the front of the house.
He latched onto my back leg, causing me to crash to the ground.
I snarled, kicking out with my free leg to try and shove him off.
The wolf’s teeth scraped down the length of my lower leg, making me yelp in pain.
Rik in skin, wearing only pants, rounded the corner at a run and landed a blow to the attached wolf with his knee.
Without stopping, Rik scooped me up awkwardly, bundling us both in the waiting vehicle.
Rik pulled the door closed to the back seat, and Darius started to take off.
No, we must wait for Tavas! I tried to scream, thrashing in Rik’s hold and barking at them. They all ignored me as we picked up speed down the driveway. I turned to look out the back window, whining in distress.
Tavas! TAVAS! Please, you need to be alive; you need to be with me. I’m your mate; you can’t leave me! I cried out, begging for him to hear me.
We won’t lose him, he’s strong.
Then I saw two wolves crashing through the front window of the house, locked in battle.
Tavas and Vadik. I lunged, trying to get over the back seat, needing to get to him.
I let out a long, aching howl, tossing my need for him to be with me behind it.
Both wolves paused at the sound, giving Tavas a chance to land a hefty blow to Vadik’s gut and free himself.
Without looking back, Tavas tore down the driveway, chasing after us.
The car slowed slightly as Tavas hurdled into the front seat, then Darius slammed on the gas pedal, causing the open door to shut with the force of it.
I launched myself in between the front seats, needing to touch Tavas.
I rubbed my head against his, ignoring the pain in my shoulder at the movement.
Tav nuzzled me back, licking my face to calm me down enough that I allowed Rik to pull me back beside him.
As my adrenaline crashed, the pain of my wounds started to creep in, overwhelming me.
I tried to find a way to sit or lay that wouldn’t make my back leg hurt while not putting pressure on my front leg and pissing my shoulder off.
Koit started to sniff my shoulder and began licking it.
The doctor in me was horrified—he was spreading his germs all up in my open flesh wound.
I growled and snapped at him when he didn’t stop.
His ears drooped at the scolding, and he retreated to lay down, resting his head on my tail.
“Darius, we’re going to need to stop and do something with Viv’s wounds. She’s bleeding all over the back seat,” Rik said, pointing out the mess that I was smearing all over the place.
“There’s a first aid kit in the back. We can’t stop; it’s not safe,” Darius said as he pulled a prepaid phone out of the glove box.
He punched in the numbers and waited. “Where is the plane now? Got it, there’s a change of plans; we’re coming to you.
” Not waiting for an answer, he hung up and tossed it out the window.
“Looks like we have a four-hour drive ahead of us,” Darius said, looking at us in the rearview mirror.
“I still think Kursar is the best option unless you think they know we’re going there,” Rik said as he pulled the first aid kit out of the back. Truthfully, it was a first aid duffle bag, not the normal kit you would think of.
Before Darius could answer that, Tavas shifted back to skin, sitting butt-ass naked in the front seat. “I don’t think they know our plan beyond us getting Dr. Faulk out of the safe house.”
“Not possible. I used an encrypted email and bounced the signal off towers all over the world,” Darius said, his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel.
“I’m not questioning your handling of the situation, but is there any other explanation? Could Faulk have had a high-tech tracker you didn’t know about?” Tavas asked.
Darius paused for a moment, a finger tapping the wheel as he thought.
“I’ve heard rumors on the dark web that there is a new implant that a person could have put in a tooth.
They say because it’s covered in enamel, it’s hard to find with normal tracking tools.
If he had one of those, he would have had to break the tooth in order for the signal to be traceable. ”
“It sounds like something Faulk would be willing to do, and Vadik is bastard enough to enjoy making Faulk hurt himself,” Rik pointed out.
“I think we should still be safe to go to Kursar as planned. We never said anything about it over email, other than vaguely asking for the ability to go there. Since we are flying out from a different airport, that will throw them off even more,” Tavas said.
Rik opened the duffle bag and started to sort through what was inside. I shoved his hands out of the way when I saw what we needed, pulling out a sealed package of large gauze squares, gauze wrapping, vet wrap, and a bottle of sterile saline solution.
“I keep forgetting you’re a doctor.” Rik chuckled. “I hope I can manage this to your satisfaction.”
Rik started with my right hind leg since it was bleeding more than my shoulder.
He pulled a towel out of the duffle bag, putting it under my leg before pouring the saline solution over it, flushing it clean.
I leaned in to examine it; the bite was rough, and I could see glimpses of my bone.
Normally, I would’ve stitched it, but the skin was so shredded I didn’t know if it was possible.
I nosed through the duffle bag, looking for antibiotics of some kind—I didn’t want it to get infected—but to my shock, I couldn’t even find Neosporin.
Rik started to put gauze over the wound, but he jerked his hand back when I snapped at it. “I have to put pressure on it to stop the bleeding.”
I shook my head, wishing with everything that I could talk to him while I was a wolf.
I knew it would be easier to shift back to skin, but I didn’t know if we had any extra clothes.
I wasn’t concerned about being naked around my mates, but the thought of sitting here in the back seat, covered in blood, was not a great image.
“Viv,” Tavas said, drawing my attention to him. “Wolves can’t get diseases; our system naturally fights bacteria and viruses after the transformation. As long as the wound is cleaned, you don’t have to worry about infection.”
I cocked my head at him, absorbing what he was telling me. I guess it made sense… I really didn’t know much at all about how animals got treated, so I decided to trust them on this matter. I would be able to monitor the wound, so I wasn’t too worried.
“I should probably remind you that werewolves heal supernaturally fast, too. By tomorrow, your wounds will be gone,” Rik said as he wrapped my leg.
“These wounds are minor, so it won’t take too much out of you, but drastic healing will make you sleep to heal better.
Although we do have four hours to hang out in the car, so taking a nap will definitely speed up the process. ”
Done with my leg, he moved to my shoulder.
“Looks like the bleeding has already stopped on your shoulder. I’ll just clean it up and let it be.
Next time, don’t be worried when one of us licks a wound.
Our saliva in wolf skin has properties that help the healing process,” Rik said, looking down at Koit, who was quietly watching all that was going on.
I leaned down and nuzzled him behind his ear in apology.
He licked my cheek, letting me know all was forgiven.
Just as Rik said, I felt a wave of tiredness hit me now that I finally felt safe.
My wounds hurt much less, so I curled up on the bench seat, resting my head on Rik’s leg.
Koit stood, circled, laid back down with his head on my hip, and released a heavy sigh before closing his eyes.
Rik absently ran his fingers over my head, lulling me to sleep.
I am so behind this petting thing.