Chapter Twelve Xavier #2
Against the brick side of the bank I’d seen in my mind, beneath a mounted spotlight, a thin form slumped, head tipped to the side.
A human form, but I sensed Ren’s wolf close to the surface.
In front of him, a man I recognized. Gregory Malkin, his hand raised to deliver another blow.
Don’t shift, Ren, I said, hoping the urgency in my tone would keep Ren’s wolf where he belonged. Humans will see.
I know, a faint voice replied, and I wasn’t sure if it was Ren’s human voice or his wolf’s. Hurry.
Laurits slammed on the brakes alongside the curb. Before we came to a stop, I shoved my door open and leapt out of the car to run to my mate. Gregory, growling, lunged in front of me.
Growling. He was closer to shifting than Ren, but the danger of being seen was just as great.
“Gregory, move.” I tried to keep my voice even, but it was all too close to a growl. My mate was injured, and I would kill anyone who caused him more damage.
“Police are on their way,” one of the bystanders called. “Ambulance too.”
“We’re security.” Laurits was out of the SUV. I didn’t bother turning to look at him. He could handle the humans. My role was to rescue my mate.
So would locking a feral werewolf on the verge of shifting forms in a jail cell.
We need the Anax, I said, hoping Laurits would hear me. As the current head of the guards in Seth’s absence, he should have had a bond to me and the other guards, but I wasn’t sure of its extent.
If Laurits answered, I missed it as Gregory suddenly launched himself at me. He was smaller and couldn’t move me far, but he caught me off guard. I lost my footing and stumbled back as sirens wailed.
This was about to become one hell of a shit show. If human first responders got involved, there might be no way to hide what we truly were. Fur showed on Gregory’s arms as he reached to grab me by the throat. If police took him, he might shift in their cell. Or worse, in their car.
If Ren was hospitalized, tests would reveal the changes that occurred in a body shared by the souls of a human and a wolf.
“He killed me!” Gregory’s voice was so close to that of an animal that I barely made out the words. “I’ll kill him!”
I didn’t bother asking what he was talking about.
He was too close to wolf for a conversation, and I was too invested in getting Ren the hell out of there before first responders arrived.
I faked a dodge around Gregory, and when he spun to block me, I rushed the other way.
Past him to drop to my knees beside my mate, whose blood stained the wall above his head as well as behind him.
More blood spattered the concrete sidewalk.
Malkin must have slammed Ren’s head into the wall. Multiple times, judging from the blood.
“Ren.” I cradled his cheek with my palm. “I’m here, Ren. You’ll be okay.” I didn’t know if I was reassuring him or trying to convince myself.
Behind me, another car squealed to a stop, and vehicle doors slammed.
The voices of Laurits and the other guards reached my ears, but I didn’t process what they said.
All of my attention was focused on Ren. On stroking his mind with mine, speaking softly both out loud and through the bond.
His eyes were closed. His breaths were shallow.
He was alive, but even a werewolf could only heal from so much.
Gregory snarled loudly. The sound gave way to a shriek of pain, a noise far more human than I would have expected. “Throw him in the back of the larger SUV,” Laurits ordered.
“The police are almost here,” an unfamiliar voice insisted. “Let them handle it!”
“We are law enforcement.” A deep, accented voice. Mandeep. “Move along now. We have this under control.”
The sirens grew so loud I wanted to scream and then abruptly cut off. Blue lights flashed against the bricks. More doors slammed. More voices added to the chaos.
All of you, hear me. The Anax’s voice filled my mind as I gently caressed Ren’s undamaged cheek. Do not engage with the humans beyond what you can help. Get Ren and Gregory out of there. I’m on the way. City Pack’s Peacekeeper and trackers will help. Go.
I didn’t know if any of the others responded. Ren whimpered, and nothing else mattered. He was alive, still in human form, and I had to keep him that way. “I’m here,” I murmured. “I’m here.” Open your eyes if you can. Please.
Hurts.
Holy fuck, a word. Pain, but at least it was a word! I started to gather him into my arms but stopped. The civilian humans had now been joined by human authorities, and I couldn’t do anything that would attract too much attention.
The growling had stopped, at least, and an engine roared into life and grew quieter. Now I looked around.
A crowd of people stood on the corner nearby, eyes wide, whispering and mumbling to each other.
Three uniformed police officers stood face to face with Laurits and Mandeep.
Davion and Yovanny were nowhere to be seen; they must have taken Gregory.
Presumably they would bring him back to the house to be dealt with.
“We need to know what happened,” one of the officers said. “We received reports of an assault.” He glanced toward Ren and me. I narrowed my eyes, and he quickly looked away. “The guy over there?”
“The victim,” Laurits said. “We have the perpetrator contained. He’s being transported.”
“To where?” another officer, a woman, asked.
“Someplace he won’t escape from again,” Laurits said grimly. “The injured man is one of ours. We need to get him back to our base. Our doctor will take care of him.”
Two of the three officers opened their mouths. Laurits turned his back on them and hurried to me. “Bring him to the car, Xavier. Mandeep called Doctor Gumendo. He’s on the way.”
I stood and gently lifted Ren. My stomach churned at the sight of all of the blood in his hair, down his back, on the bricks and concrete, and I swallowed hard and forced myself not to look at the back of his head.
He was still breathing, but that was his only sound as I carried him, escorted by Laurits, to the SUV.
The officers should have stopped us, but they didn’t. Whether it was because Laurits ignored them or I intimidated them, I didn’t know and didn’t care. They weren’t interfering. That was what mattered.
With help from Laurits and Mandeep, I settled myself in the back seat, still cradling Ren. Mandeep got a towel out of the back of the vehicle and handed it to me. “Hold it against his head. For the bleeding.”
“Yeah.” Cautiously, wincing at Ren’s soft whimper, I arranged the towel in a pile on my lap and positioned Ren on his back, his head on the towel. I didn’t know if it would help, but I refused to let go of him.
On the drive home, Laurits and Mandeep discussed plans for covering up the situation. I ignored them, only tuning in when the Anax’s voice filled the car from the speakers. “Gregory Malkin shifted in the car.”
Laurits hissed in a breath. “Davion and Yovanny?”
“He attacked Yovanny.” Anger strained the Anax’s voice.
“Thankfully, Yovanny subdued him before Gregory could reach Davion. If he’d attacked the driver…”
He paused. “Still, a wolf in wolf form attacked someone who was in human form, and that’s aside from what he did to Ren. From what I’m told, Gregory very nearly shifted in front of humans. Gregory Malkin is under a death sentence. I’ll be there soon.”
Ren, too, had nearly shifted in front of humans. I held him more tightly. He hadn’t come as close as Gregory. Hadn’t endangered anyone other than himself. Surely the Anax wouldn’t consequence him, never mind sentencing him to death.
Ren whined softly, and I stroked his hair back from his face. It’s all right. I’ll make sure you’re all right.
“Apologies for interrupting your trip, Anax,” Laurits said quietly.
“Someone who should never have been in the area injured one of my wolves,” the Anax replied flatly. “You did right to call me. This needs to be handled.” His tone softened a bit. “I need to see that Ren will recover. Xavier, are you there?”
Startled, I nodded before registering that he of course couldn’t see me. “Yes, Anax.”
“Take care of your mate. You’re off duty until further notice.” He spoke even more kindly. “He’ll be all right. Wilbur is good at his job. And Ren faces no consequence. He did nothing wrong.”
“Thank you, Anax.” I sagged in relief, but my relief was short-lived. The Anax wouldn’t end Ren’s life, but that didn’t mean Ren would survive. It didn’t matter how good the doctor was at his job. If the injuries were too severe, even a werewolf’s rapid healing ability couldn’t keep up.
Reaching the house took hours, or so it seemed.
In reality, it probably took less time than getting to Ren had, because Laurits played even looser with the speed limit than before.
He pulled up as close to the front door of the house as possible.
Mandeep helped me maneuver Ren out of the vehicle, then hurried ahead of me to open the door.
“Bring him into the parlor,” Mandeep said.
“He’ll be comfortable there until the doctor arrives.”
I followed the directions and settled Ren on one of the sofas, still with the towel under his head.
Streaks of red stained it. As with his injuries the day he showed up at the hunt house, he was healing slowly.
Too slowly, in my opinion. Without actually seeing the wounds, I didn’t know whether they were closing at all.
I sat and moved his head onto my lap again. With my hand on his chest, I monitored him to ensure he kept breathing. If he stopped…Well, I wouldn’t think about that. He would keep breathing. He would heal.
Dr. Gumendo arrived with a bag of medical supplies and immediately went to work examining Ren. To his credit, he didn’t ask me to leave the room, probably realizing I wouldn’t have gone. Laurits and Mandeep joined us, standing just inside the doorway, arms folded.
Below us, growls and whines emanated from the basement.
There was a cage down there for prisoners and wolves who were out of control.
Gregory Malkin, at the moment, was both.
He was lucky he was locked away from me.
If I’d been willing to leave Ren even for a moment, Malkin would have been dead already.