Chapter 30 #3
Virgil shrugged, but it was clear he was talking to Quinn.
“Don’t ask me. I can’t see whatever comes to collect the dead.
Are you sure you don’t see a light or another person who doesn’t belong down here?
Look all around.” His gaze wandered to the hallway and then back.
“No. It usually happens quickly.” Then he shrugged.
“Beats me. Maybe you’re not quite dead… or supposed to be.
People who go into comas sometimes pop out of their body.
” He put his hands up defensively. “I know that!”
Salem rushed to her body and checked for a pulse. While he couldn’t hear it, there were instances when the pulse slowed to a few beats per minute. He placed the oxygen mask on her face and held the stethoscope steady until he heard something.
Virgil sat on the stool, not realizing it had wheels, and went flying before landing on his butt.
The process hadn’t completed. Salem snapped his fingers at the Mage. “Finish it.”
“What?”
“Hurry! You didn’t give her the last one.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? It might—”
“What? Save her?”
With Tak’s help, Adam rose to his feet and hurried to the bed. “Where?”
At this point, it didn’t matter. He held Quinn’s hand and squeezed it. “Her chest. Just once.” Salem let go of her hand and stared at Quinn. “Come on. You can do it. I’m not letting go, you hear me?”
Adam placed his hands over Quinn’s chest, her gown partially open. After a controlled breath, his brows gathered, and he closed his eyes.
This time the electric snap occurred simultaneously with the flash. Then he staggered back.
Salem stared at her lifeless body in the silent room.
Quinn bolted up and gasped for air. She ripped the oxygen mask away, eyes wide.
Green eyes.
He cupped her face in his hands. “Breathe! I’m here. Just breathe.”
Her eyes didn’t have a speck of orange in them.
After several breaths, she began trembling.
Not another seizure.
Her body violently spasmed before she shifted into a large wolf. The orange creature lost its footing and tumbled onto its side. Then it made a roar that raised the hair on his arms.
Virgil’s eyes widened at the ferocious bark that sounded like a werewolf in a horror movie. “Holy shit!”
Quinn’s wolf sprang to her feet and stood tall.
Salem had looked up pictures of a maned wolf not long ago, but nothing could’ve prepared him for her unusual features.
Disproportionately long black legs, an orange-and-black coat, large round ears, and a face like a cross between a fox and a German shepherd.
Disoriented from the anesthesia, she staggered around before barking again.
“Everyone out!” Tak shouted.
Virgil made a break for the door.
Quinn’s wolf lunged and snapped her teeth. It ripped the back of Virgil’s shirt as he tried to flee.
Adam remained glued to the wall as if weighing his options.
But that sound was loud in a confined room—a cross between a roar and a bark. She pulled the electric blanket off the bed before lunging at the chair and ripping the seat apart.
Tak stood frozen in the center of the room. “Calm down,” he said, using enough alpha power in his words that it made Salem lower his head.
But Quinn’s confused animal snapped at everything in sight. She shot around the bed, found the last bag of blood, and violently shook her head, blood spraying everywhere.
“She hasn’t shifted in five years,” Salem reminded his Packmaster. “Don’t hurt her.”
Tak scoffed. “If you think she’s the one in danger, think again.”
Quinn demolished the room while the three men stood idly. As long as they didn’t pose a threat, she left them alone. He wasn’t knowledgeable enough about her species to know if she was naturally aggressive in the wild.
When the saline bag came apart, she lapped at the liquid before sniffing beneath the door to the adjacent room. Then the bark really tore free from her throat.
Salem didn’t want Pyro getting nosy and opening the door. Quinn might attack, and Pyro or her guard could hurt her.
He reached for the animal. “Quinn…”
Tak stepped closer. “Salem, don’t.”
The wolf whirled around and bit Salem’s hand.
Ignoring the pain, he slowly knelt. “Quinn, I don’t know if you’re awake in there, but you’re safe. It’s me—Salem.”
Her fierce expression melted, and when she tasted his blood, a pitiful whine escaped.
“Hey, there,” he said soothingly. “We’ve never met, but I love your human.” He turned his head to the side while she smelled his neck. Salem’s wolf pushed beneath his skin, begging to come out.
It might result in bloodshed, so he forced him down. When his muscles fluttered, he staggered to his feet. “Tak, I can’t stop it.”
“Stop what?”
Salem attempted to flee, but his wolf burst out. It felt like sliding down a tunnel whenever his animal took over. Then all he could do was watch and try to communicate that there wasn’t a threat—that the other animal in the room was Quinn.
Ignoring him, his wolf marched forward—tail high—and approached the strange animal. Because she was taller, he had easy access to her throat. Salem was uncertain of his animal’s intentions. His wolf remained guarded when he leaned in to sniff her.
She sniffed him back. Something about her scent was familiar, as if his wolf instantly knew she was the one. The next thing he knew, they were playfully nipping at each other.
“Get out!” Tak shouted, startling both animals.
Salem spun around and shot into the middle of the room to assess the threat.
When Adam flashed through the open door, both wolves took off after him.
Tak tried slamming the door to lock everyone inside, but Salem slipped through.
Unfortunately, his tail didn’t make it all the way out, and the door struck it.
He yelped at the pain radiating up his back. Lucky for him, Tak hadn’t shut the door all the way.
Still processing the pain, his wolf stood in the hallway and turned around to look for Quinn.
Snarling erupted from behind the closed door.
He desperately barked to get to his mate before realizing the door was open a crack.
He pushed his way in and spotted Tak corralling Quinn’s animal in the corner.
The wolf attempted to jump onto the bed, but it was too high. Instead, she knocked Tak on his ass. Then she shot past Salem into the hallway.
His packmates ducked into a room and slammed the door.
At the end of the hall, Virgil tripped while running into the elevator. He dragged himself inside and faced them. “Tell your wife to heel!”
Quinn took off after him, and though she must have been graceful to watch under normal circumstances, the drugs in her system knocked her off-kilter, and she fell against the wall. Her erratic behavior made it difficult to tell if Quinn was still awake in there since the drugs would affect her too.
Virgil used his bare foot to hit the button, but before the doors closed, Quinn lost interest and dove into an open room. When she emerged, she had a pillow in her mouth and thrashed it around until feathers exploded everywhere.
Salem’s wolf dashed through the falling feathers and joined his mate in destroying the rest of the pillow. They each took hold of an end and tugged until it ripped open.
The doors slowly opened, and when the others emerged, they stared at the orange animal rolling on her back, long legs in the air, feathers covering them, a stoned look on her face.
After assessing the damage in the hall and examining room, Milly put her hands on her head. “My bed! What happened to the chair? You broke the vitals monitor! Is that blood on my walls?”
Tak ducked beneath the door and stepped into the hallway. After hitching up his pants, he gave her a cheesy grin. “Just send me the bill.”