Chapter 29 #3
“We’ll see,” she mutters.
“We need to get moving,” the wolf says and gathers Samantha into his arms. Santiago jumps up and paces.
“You are seriously suggesting that we starve her,” he says and the cold that always rides him is gone. He’s fiery and ready to fight for her.
“San, it’s Patricia. What other options do we have?”
“We could… we…”
“We can’t kill her outright. The wolf is not in shape to take her on either. If he even could. And she won’t tolerate Samantha. You know that.”
“I thought we already settled on the plan,” the wolf says and gets on his feet. His leg seems to hold him a bit better. At least he can stand.
“We did,” I say.
San clearly wants to argue but moves over to me and begins licking Samantha’s bite marks closed. It’s a combination of heaven and hell. I wish I could keep the marks until they naturally fade and that he were licking my skin for some other reason than healing.
My mind races all over the place and goes over disaster scenarios. In all of them, Samantha ends up permanently dead.
Once San is done, he lifts his head and backs away. He’s still swaying on his feet, worse than the wolf, and my gut clenches.
“There are some blood bags in the cellar. Take them with you,” I say.
“You’ll need those yourself,” he argues.
“We need at least somebody in top shape.” I force my tone even and calm when Samantha fidgets. She seems to be in control now, but every now and then, she shudders or bites her lip, like she’s holding back a whine.
“For fuck’s sake,” the wolf huffs. “Jere, Olivia,” he howls and the wolves hurry back inside. I forgot that they were even out there.
“Alpha Zack,” Olivia says.
“Notify the pack that Mr. Moretti’s lands are a no-go area until we get word from him. Jere, I’ll be needing a car for myself. Get one here ASAP.”
“You can have my car, Alpha Courtkenay. I can ride with Olivia,” Jere replies.
“Good,” the alpha says. “We’ll brief the pack and gather a team and start tracking from the place where the thing attacked Samantha. It’s outside Mr. Moretti’s lands and our best bet to get a good scent.”
“Right away, Alpha Zack,” Olivia says and she already has a phone in hand. “I’ll call ahead.”
“Good, you two can go. I’ll follow shortly,” the alpha says and this time there is no arguing his orders. The woman throws a glare at Samantha, but then hurries out the door.
“And now we need to get a move on too,” I say. The house has Samantha’s scent all over it; there’s no hiding it, but there’s enough Santiago mixed in that I can claim to Patricia that they were just passing by and left before I heard from her.
“Rafe—”
“I’ll tell her she’s your whatever and you were just passing by.”
“She won’t buy it.”
“Doesn’t matter, it’s the story I’m sticking with.”
“And when it blows up in your face?”
“I’ll deal with it then. We need to kill the thing first.”
Santiago sighs. “Fine. Zack can take us to the bunker.”
I move to take Samantha from the wolf and look down at her drawn face. She didn’t ask for any of this. It’s my responsibility to make sure it turns out well for her.
I will make sure of it.
“When your wolves find the trace, let me know,” I say to the alpha and he nods. “Santiago, go get those blood bags.”
“How much would you need?” The alpha surprises me with his question.
“Bagged human blood? At least five liters and it probably will take a few days for me to be at my full strength. That thing is poisonous as hell.” Santiago looks worriedly at Samantha.
“And my blood?”
“From the vein? One good feeding might do it. Can’t say for sure,” Santiago says carefully. “But it would slow your healing.”
“Unless you gave me a shot once you bounce back.”
What the fuck! That would bond the two of them and yet Santiago looks like he’s seriously considering it. Some of my internal horror and surprise must show on my face, since the alpha shrugs.
“She’s a package deal. I’m willing to deal with it. What I’m not willing to deal with is that thing torturing her and driving her mad.”
“Rafe?” Santiago looks at me and I clutch Samantha closer to my chest. Her fingers wrap around my neck and I realize she’s awake at least to some degree.
“You don’t have to,” she whispers so faintly I’m not sure if she actually said it. I look down, but her eyes are closed, mouth slack.
“Rafe,” Santiago repeats and reluctantly, I nod.
“But you need to do it at the bunker. Patricia will be here at any minute.”
“All right.”
I almost hurry outside before I realize she’s only wearing a torn shirt. Cursing, I blur upstairs and grab another shirt and pull it over the torn one, then head back downstairs. There are clothes at the bunker, we just need to get her there.
Santiago is waiting by the door with the wolf and I smell blood in the air.
Apparently, he didn’t wait until they got out of the house.
I try to ignore the stab in my heart and head outside with Samantha cradled close in my arms. I make it to the bottom stair when a cold voice stops me in my tracks.
“And what do we have here?” Patricia asks as she steps out of the trees.