Chapter 21
Monte
“Zoey!” I screamed when I heard her howl.
Without hesitation I shifted on the spot, letting my clothes rip to shreds around me.
“What is it?” Remy asked.
“Zoey took off for a run to clear her head. I was just trying to distract him so she could get away, but that was clearly a distressed howl.”
“Oh shit. Go get the others. Zoey may be in trouble and if that’s the case, there’s no telling what he’ll do,” Remy said before shifting and following my lead.
It helped knowing he would be there by my side, because I really had no idea how I’d handle another threat to her either.
Hang in there, baby. I’m coming. Please be okay, I thought to myself.
She had to be okay, because I wasn’t sure I could live in a world without her.
A thousand thoughts flew through my mind.
Why hadn’t I bonded with her sooner?
Why did I have to go and scare her?
How the hell could she just run off all alone like this?
What if something bad was happening to her?
I tried to push away the most negative thoughts, but it wasn’t easy. She had to be okay, because if she wasn’t, I knew I never would be again.
She howled once more, and I stopped momentarily to throw up.
Where the hell are you, Zoey?
My wolf howled back as he took control and ran as fast as our paws could go, weaving around trees, and jumping over fallen limbs as they got in our path.
I’m coming, doll. Just hang there a little longer.
Fear surged within me and my legs moved impossibly faster. Remy started to fall behind, but I knew he would continue to follow, and even more help wouldn’t be that far behind him. Braxton would ensure that.
I was close enough to feel my mate now. She was terrified. It snapped something savage inside of me as the edges of my vision turned red. I tried to hold onto my humanity as best I could.
With the lake just up ahead, I knew I was close. But I skidded to a halt just in time to see a wolf attempt to mount my mate. She kicked out her hindlegs, nailing him in the nuts as he flew back in surprise and landed hard on the ground. He laid there whimpering.
That’s my girl.
But he wasn’t alone.
Taking advantage of the distraction, the other one made his own attempt as I froze in horror. Then a roar of anger released from me, causing him to halt his efforts.
Thunderous paws vibrated the ground as my brothers arrived, forming a half circle around them. With the lake to his back, there was nowhere for this asshole to go.
I could see the look of panic in his eyes and smell the fear wafting off of him.
When he tried to cover my mate and hide her from my view, I nearly lost it. Another loud roar of warning rang out from me as my wolf sank low and growled menacingly.
Do the right thing and leave her alone, I thought.
I knew I was in enough shit already. Dean Shannahan sent word to meet him tomorrow, and I knew what I’d done earlier would have consequences. I was ready to accept that, but killing another student could get me kicked out of the ARC entirely. So I restrained myself from acting impulsively.
But then I watched in horror as the wolf growled back, frightened, and cornered. He didn’t take his eyes off me as he lunged for my mate.
No!
I looked towards Denny with Oscar standing beside him, his orange and black stripes unmistakable. They both nodded solemnly.
He’d gone too far, but as I lept forward, he moved in to take Zoey out, going for her neck.
At the last second, she realized and rolled just as he bit down, missing her neck but sinking his teeth into her shoulder.
I unleashed my wolf as my vision clouded with red as I attacked, knocking him off her and sending him flying backwards to the water’s edge.
He wasn’t down long though. Adrenaline had him recovering quickly and leaping in the air to attack back.
We met midair, claws out, teeth snapping, as we slowly fell back to the ground and rolled over several times.
Pain seared through me as he landed a scratch to my back.
I responded with a swipe to his face.
He kept me at just enough distance that I wasn’t able to land a kill.
I protected my neck just as Josh Maxwell, my Alpha, had taught me. Remembering his rules of engagement, I watched for my opponent’s weaknesses and waited.
Zoey cried out in pain, distracting me as he attacked, moving in for the kill shot. I saw it coming though and forced myself to reset as I moved out of his reach, kicked off the ground and leaped onto his back, claws out.
He howled in pain, but I didn’t hesitate. He’d taken things too far.
My teeth sank into his neck as he turned to throw me off of him and he went down hard, throwing me off of him before I could make the final kill, but enough damage had already been done. He was incapacitated and unable to fight back.
Zoey whimpered softly and the fight fled me.
He was no longer a threat, so my attention shifted to my injured mate.
My wolf walked around, sniffing and nudging her. She was in pain and losing blood, but she would live.
I lowered my head and nudged my nose under her until I found enough leverage to hoist her up on my back.
Pain shot through me from my own injuries, but it didn’t stop me. Caleb and Oscar flanked me on either side as the others dealt with the two wolves. A few of my brothers shifted and carried them out of the woods a good distance behind me.
Caleb kept trying to assist and take Zoey from me, but I just snapped at him each time.
I understood he only wanted to help, but it felt like this was my burden alone to bear as I silently carried her all the way back to campus and straight to the clinic.
Somewhere along the way, she passed out, but I could hear her steady breathing and feel her heartbeat.
She was going to be okay. She had to be okay.
As I strode into the clinic, there was a flurry of activity around me.
I growled when they tried to take her away from me, but Oscar’s powers washed over me, calming me and pissing me off at the same time. Still, I refused to leave her side, persistently following the doctor back to an examination room despite his protests.
Caleb shifted to his human form and explained what happened and that I was her mate and still very much on edge. The doctor conceded and allowed me to stay with her—not that I was giving him any other choice.
As the others arrived, he had to call in additional help for my victim. But every time he attempted to leave to check on him, I growled, and guarded the door.
I didn’t care about that asshole. He was lucky to still be breathing after what he’d done. I demanded the doctor keep his focus on Zoey as he sedated her and stitched her up.
“There’s nothing else I can do right now. She’s alive and safe. She’ll be sore for a few days and needs to remain in her wolf form to maximize the healing process. You too from the looks of things. Can I take a look at those cuts on your back now?”
I had forgotten all about that, but hearing that Zoey was going to be okay, I nodded.
“Good thing you didn’t try to shift. This too will heal faster in your wolf form. It’s not as deep as the bite on your mate, but significant enough to need stitches. I’m going to numb the area and give you a little sedation so I can stitch you up.”
He sedated me first, then opened the door and yelled down the hall for a bed and an assist. Someone else arrived quickly and the doctor instructed her to push the bed against Zoey’s.
I didn’t know how to thank him for that, but once they had me up there and I could reach over and touch my mate, my body relaxed. I closed my eyes as the sedation kicked in and allowed them to get to work on me.
*****
Sometime later voices nearby grew from whispers to overbearingly loud.
“Be quiet,” I tried to mumble, not realizing I was still in my wolf form.
I don’t know what it came out sounding like, but it worked as the room quieted.
When I opened my eyes it all came crashing back to me. I must have dozed off. I was still on the gurney in the clinic. Stretching, I realized Zoey was still with me.
Zoey.
My eyes sprang open as I scooted closer to her and licked around the gauze covering her wound. I could still hear her breathing and the steady beat of her heart. She really was okay.
Then I looked around. There was standing room only as people crammed in, some even through the open door and down the hall. It was a mix of my brothers and her sisters, all with worried faces.
My heart dropped as I tried to get someone to tell me what the hell was wrong and frustrated to be stuck in my fur unable to ask.
“Everything’s okay,” Caleb said, but I had a bad feeling that it wasn’t. “See, Zoey’s going to be fine.”
I turned back towards her and my heart filled with relief. Her eyes were open and staring right at me. She was awake, alive, and everything was going to be okay now. She was safe.
The doctor pushed his way through to check on us.
“I thought I told you all to wait in the waiting room. This is too many people in here and you’re blocking the hallway.”
“Then let us take them home,” Chloe begged.
“All of you out while I check on them.” He shook his head. “You certainly have some loyal friends. Now let’s see how well you both are healing.”
He checked Zoey first and then me.
“Everything’s looking good. I’ll release you if you promise to stay in your wolf forms for another twelve hours minimum. The longer the better. If you shift now you will scar but shouldn’t cause any permanent damage otherwise. Longer healing reduces scarring. That goes for both of you.”
I nodded my head. So did Zoey.
We understood. The wounds were mostly just superficial at this point.
He called Denny in and gave him the information as well and then released us.
When I jumped down off the bed, everything hurt. Not intolerable, just very sore and uncomfortable.
Pretty much all of Theta and Delta Omega Gamma had shown up and they insisted on escorting us back to Greek Row. We were quite the spectacle, marching across campus. No doubt people would be talking about this.
What else was new?
Since I met Zoey, it seemed like I was inadvertently always the center of gossip these days. I could only imagine what they were saying about the fight by the lake.
“Did you tell him?” Remy whispered to Denny.
“No. Not yet.”
I stopped and whipped around to face them. They both knew damn well what I was asking.
“Shit. We’ll discuss it later,” Denny said.
I growled.
“Not here,” Remy said. “Get back to the house.”
Something in his voice scared me enough to obey, but the second we got there I turned back to both of them.
Zoey must have felt my frustration of not being able to question them because she tried to calm me down by rubbing up against me. It helped a little, but I knew they were hiding something from me. I could feel it in my bones.
Denny gave a deep sigh. “The wolf you battled didn’t make it. He’s dead.”
The room started to spin.
“Whoa boy. Just lay down. It’s going to be okay. It has to be,” Remy said.
I laid on the floor as Zoey snuggled up to me.
What would this mean for our future?
Was I going to get kicked out of college over this?
I was just protecting my mate.
I hadn’t meant to hurt anyone.
My wolf let out a low mournful sound that turned into a haunting howl. Maybe it was for the boy, or maybe it was for our life that had just been changed forever.