Black Wolf (Black Wolf Series Book 1), page 35
She dipped her head, sniffing the air. His fear was the only thing that curled into her nostrils, and it made her wolf more ferocious with every breath.
“You can’t do this!” he cried again.
But Grace wasn’t misled. If she granted him mercy—any leniency at all—he would flee, and who knew where he would go or who he would hurt in the process? The images of her parents, Ren and Fourt, Lathan and his pack flashed in her wolf’s mind.
No.
Nicholas Snelgrove would not be walking away.
In a swell of flames, she launched herself on him, latching on to his throat and slicing into his flesh with her fangs.
Warm, thick blood pooled against her tongue, but she couldn’t let go.
From the corner of her eye, she saw someone enter the room and she turned to snarl.
But when she released Snelgrove, the world spun and the flames licked higher. She was going to pass out.
She collapsed to her side, panting and exhausted, watching the scene play out.
“You did it just right, honey,” Avery said, her still-naked form moving forward.
The woman crouched in front of Snelgrove and opened her palms. It looked like she was holding a huge ball, but Grace couldn’t see anything between Avery’s hands.
A flash of red light doused the room, and Grace’s wolf shut her eyes against the brightness.
When she opened them again, Avery and Snelgrove were gone. Without intending to, she had shifted back to human form.
She looked around. The scene was brutal—a puddle of blood spread out at the base of the stairs, surrounded by a circle of bloody paw prints and two different patterns of scorch marks. She didn’t know whether or not she had the ability to stand, let alone run. Snelgrove’s presence had drained her energy, and she felt more wiped out than she’d ever imagined was possible.
She stood up, sighing heavily at her nakedness and bracing herself on the metal railing of the stairs behind her.
Then her head shot up—she could hear snarling, growling, and barking coming from behind the door to the left. Her ears picked up on another noise, too, though—was that…scratching? Like the sound of a dog, pawing at a door.
“Lathan! Lathan!” She screamed again and again, not caring if she ruptured her vocal cords or shredded her throat raw. Fate, how she hoped it was him.
“Lathan!”
All four of the wolves froze where they were. Diesel dropped the throat of the wolf he’d dispatched, and every single ear was perked to listen.
Then, Lathan began to bark uncontrollably. He scratched and dug at the heavy metal door in front of them, not stopping even when he realized he could be tearing his own toenails out. He could smell Grace, now. She had to be on the other side of that door.
It was Diesel who was mindful enough to make the simplest move—he shifted to human form and tested the door handle. It clicked open, and he had to use all of his weight to hold it closed as Lathan tried to barge past him.
“That was too easy,” he shouted over Lathan’s desperate howling. “Something’s wrong.”
“Open the door!” Grace’s scream came from the other side. “It’s just me—fuck—please. Diesel, please!”
Lathan shifted too, going nose to nose with Diesel. “If it’s a trap, I’ll devour every motherfucker on the other side of that door and decorate our house with their bones. Now let me through to my mate.”
Diesel stepped to the side immediately, submitting to his pack leader. Lathan threw the door open and rushed blindly in, half ready to cling to Grace, half ready to decimate anyone who stood in his way.
“Lathan!” Grace cried out, tears streaking her dirty face.
She was standing in a pool of blood. His heart stopped. The blood was everywhere.
“What the hell happened in here?” Diesel asked, rushing in behind him
Words were impossible. Lathan would have gone to his knees if she hadn’t thrown herself into his arms. She clung to him, wrapping herself around him like a vine, and she wept openly, the tears running from her skin and dripping down onto him. She kissed him over and over again. His face, his neck, his shoulders, his hair.
He wanted to hold her forever, but all that blood—he immediately started to look her over.
“It isn’t me,” she cried, clinging to his hand. “It isn’t me. I’m fine!”
“You’re not hurt?” he asked in disbelief.
Who could have survived a scene like the one they were standing in?
“Let’s get the hell out of here!” Riley called, heading for the stairs.
“Which way?” Grace cried, spinning to look.
Fate, in that moment Lathan saw nothing but bravery in his mate. Who the hell knew what she’d been through—but she was still ready to take on more.
“Left!” Diesel yelled, turning to lead the way.
But they didn’t get that far—the top of the stairs was blocked by a huge, hulking asshole. It was one of the guys who had put his hands on Grace—Lathan would have recognized that ugly wolf anywhere.
“Bastard!” he spat, rearing back and ready to shift.
It all happened so fast. Something massive and heavy landed across Grace’s back from above, taking her down flat. She screamed in agony as chunks of her human flesh were stripped away from the bone, bite after powerful bite tearing her apart.
“GRACE!” Lathan’s scream ripped across the concrete and ricocheted around them.
Grace’s eyes were too hazy to track the movements that happened. One moment she was pinned and couldn’t catch her breath. The next, a fearsome growl sliced through the air as the weight was knocked off of her.
She tried to move, to catch her breath or check the damage, but she was paralyzed and her eyes had slammed themselves down against the pain. The noises around her gave her the motivation to pry her lids apart, and when she did, her heart stuttered.
Lathan’s stunning black wolf was standing over her.
“Lathan,” she whispered, taking in the sight as she grew woozy. She could feel thick, warm blood pooling around her. She was so happy to see him one last time.
The hackles on Lathan’s back were up and his whole body was rigid. He was growling so fiercely that even in her agony, she felt the urge to back down.
Across the corridor, Diesel, Thorne and Riley were circling a brown wolf. There was a gray one prowling closer to where Grace was sprawled.
The gray wolf tried to dart left around Lathan but he barked ferociously, snapping his jaws so loud the noise spread up and around the ceiling.
Grace wanted to shift. She wished she could help, but she was growing weaker by the second.
Lathan’s wolf lunged and Grace wanted to cry out for him.
Oh, Fate. She needed to get in there—she needed to protect him! She tried to shift, but she couldn’t focus.
A stream of blood arced across the ceiling and she struggled to focus on Lathan. If that was his blood…
Lathan whipped his head around, depositing the other wolf’s motionless form against the far wall with a single fling. Then he wheeled around and bounded across the room. Once, twice, three times. Each time, he gained extra speed and height. He soared through the air, past his brothers and latched on to the brown wolf—the wolf was nearly twice Lathan’s size!
The larger wolf went up on his hind legs, front paws locking against Lathan’s wolf, trying to gain an advantage. But Lathan was smarter and faster. With every attempt the brown wolf made to get purchase with his fangs, Lathan was a step ahead, ducking and skirting him, until he had the other wolf literally backed into a corner. He dove in for the kill, snapping at the brown wolf’s neck until blood ran freely from the wounds he’d inflicted.
“Lathan!” Grace called as strongly as she could. Her breath rattled when she drew it in.
The black wolf stopped instantly and turned, his ears twitching and tail tucking when he looked at her. His coat was slick with blood.
“That’s…enough…sweetheart,” Grace said, her breath ragged. She was supposed to be immortal—why did she feel like her life was slipping away? “Come on, now…come here…take me…home.”
She managed to lift her fingers to his soft fur and she wished her own wolf would come forward. She would have liked for them to meet. But there was no response—there was no fire anywhere inside her.
And then the world outside started to go black, too.
“Come on, everyone,” Diesel’s voice called out. “We need to get her the hell out of here.”
The floor tilted and Grace needed to—no…someone was picking her up.
Her head bobbed up and down as whoever was carrying her climbed the stairs at a breakneck pace.
“What about Snelgrove?” Riley asked as they ran.
“Probably long gone by now,” Diesel said in a low voice.
“I’m not so sure.” Lathan’s voice startled Grace because it was so close. Her eyes fluttered open to look around. Ah, so Lathan was the one doing the heavy lifting.
“Hang in there, sweetheart.” Lathan spoke into her ear. “We’re going to get you fixed up. I promise.” He sounded worried, and his voice was thick with tears.
Oh, Fate. She wasn’t going to make it, was she?
“The car’s up ahead,” Diesel said. “Thank fuck for that magnetic key box.”
“What, forgot to pack the spare in your wolf’s left ass pocket?” Riley called.
Grace cut in and out of consciousness as they loaded into the car. The jostling made her want to throw up or pass out—she couldn’t decide which.
When the doors slammed shut and Diesel floored the engine, Lathan clutched Grace to his chest as he took one last look out the window at the wreckage they were leaving behind.
Lights were on all over the building, and he could make out indistinct shapes fighting in nearly every window. More bodies were at it down around the grounds below. And cars were filtering out of the woods, some enemy, some ally, racing away from the scene and into the dark of the night.
He had no idea what the aftermath of all this would be, but one thing was certain: it was going to be his mission in life to destroy the man behind it all. The only thing was—he wasn’t completely sure that his mate hadn’t already done that.
“I need to check her out,” Riley said, leaning over the seat. “Maybe you should shift back to see if that encourages her.”
Lathan didn’t love the concern in Riley’s voice, but he didn’t hesitate.
He shifted and his wolf curled in tight against Grace, trying to keep his warmth spread over her body.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Riley pleaded with him. “I’m going to do everything I can—shit, we have to get back to the house. Oh—Fate. Please, I swear to you, I’m trying.”
Lathan let his eyes fall away, taking in Grace’s face again. She was too pale, and far too still. He nudged her hand with his nose, sniffing her skin and trying to reacquaint himself with her smells.
She was different now, because she had a wolf. He’d felt it earlier, but smelling her confirmed it. It was more than just Grace in there. Why wasn’t she shifting? Her wolf should have been clawing to get out.
“Come on!” Riley shouted.
“I’m going as fast as I fucking can, here!” Diesel shouted back. “The pedal is all the way down!”
The big car handled the curves exceptionally well, and Lathan didn’t have to expend much energy holding himself and Grace on the bench seat.
“What do you need?” Thorne called over his shoulder.
“Everything we’ve got in the medicine chest,” Riley responded, sounding helpless. “Dammit. I haven’t done this shit in so long—what we need is Reegan. Someone call her and tell her to be ready.”
“You have the same damned training,” Thorne responded.
“Yeah, training I’ve been blocking completely out of my Fate-forsaken mind for two decades,” Riley snapped. He hung his head and addressed Lathan. “I’m sorry, man. I know you don’t want me to take it out on anyone. I’m so fucking stressed out right now.”
Lathan’s wolf watched as Riley closed his eyes and put his hands back on Grace. When his fingers came into contact with Grace’s skin, her color seemed to come back a little. Every time he took his hands away, the color faded immediately.
“It’s not sticking. I—I think I’ve lost it,” Riley lamented desperately.
Lathan shuffled up his mate’s body and groaned as he tucked his chin on top of Riley’s hands, forcing them back down onto Grace’s skin. If she recovered, he and Riley would have a talk about Riley never touching Grace’s chest again.
Lathan could feel the heat coming off of Riley’s fingers. It was like the same warmth he felt when he shifted, that welcoming warm light.
He wanted to shift back, but if Riley thought his wolf form would help, he wasn’t letting it happen.
“We’ve got to get her wolf to come out,” Riley said softly to him, keeping his hands trapped between Lathan’s head and Grace’s body. “The longer she waits, the less of a chance we have at fixing this. If she doesn’t come out, she won’t go into the Forest. Her human spirit has to go there to mend itself, the way a wolf spirit does when it wants to retire. The best I can do is try to keep her body alive long enough for us to coax her wolf out.”
The explanation he was giving wasn’t for Lathan’s benefit. It was calming Riley down—the heat in his hands was growing warmer and more focused.
“We’re going to have to move quick when we get to the house. Reegan will need to stitch her up to stop the bleeding, and then all we can do is try to sustain her until her wolf comes out.”
The car swerved to a stop in front of the house and all hands were on deck.
“We need all the help we can get,” Diesel shouted, jumping out and grabbing Chris and Allie when they rushed forward to check on their daughter.
Madness ensued when Fourt and Ren caught sight of the situation.
Lathan paused for only a moment on the front stoop, breathing deeply and collecting himself. Then he put all his energy into visualizing his human form and how much Grace needed him.
He landed on naked human knees with a hard thud, but he barely noticed the floor-meet-patella action as he lunged forward, racing to the thick stone coffee table where Riley was laying Grace’s bloodied body out.
Thorne hauled ass down the stairs from somewhere, dropping a robe over Lathan’s back. “Thought you might not want to be naked around the in-laws,” he murmured as he placed a huge metal chest on the floor next to Reegan.
Reegan popped the latches on the thing, revealing all manner of medical equipment, much of which Lathan had only ever seen on TV or in movies.
Lathan slid his arms into the big robe Thorne had brought him as he scooted to the end of the table.
“Watch out, this might get a jolt out of her—if we’re lucky,” Reegan warned as she held up a bottle of some sort fierce-looking red liquid. She let the liquid wash across Grace’s skin, but there was no reaction from the woman on the table.
“Shit,” Allie cursed, passing Reegan a huge wad of gauze pads. “I was sure the drawing serum would work.”
Lathan took his attention off the action that was going on behind Grace’s mangled back. God, there were chunks the size of his fists taken out from all over her body. It terrified him, so he leaned his face down and settled his cheek against hers. The world around them drifted away when he felt that blessed contact.
It was just the two of them, like it had been before.
“I missed you,” he murmured, the things he was saying meant for her ears alone. “I lost you before. This is like losing you all over again. I can’t do that. It’s my fault. I should have been there to protect you. I’ve never been able to protect you.” He kissed her cheek to dry away the tears he was leaving there, then put his skin back against hers. He chattered at her to keep himself calm. “I’m so sorry, Grace. I was the one who sent you away. I thought I had to. My wolf was too dangerous. I was too dangerous. I thought I would be the one to hurt you like this. I should never have done it. I should never have sent you away. I cost us all that time. Maybe if I’d tried harder, trained more, I could have controlled it. I always wanted you. From the moment I met you, I knew you would change my life.”
He sobbed and sniffled, but didn’t have the ability to pull away from Grace again, and he didn’t care who saw him so broken down. “Don’t leave me, Grace. Please. You’ve fixed me—I just started to live. Don’t leave me now. I can’t live without you. I don’t want you to go. Oh, Fate”—he sniffled again—“Oh, Grace, sweetheart. P—please, please. Stay with me. Please. I love you.”
And then he repeated it. Again and again and again, all the while desperately wishing they had more time. But she had a wolf—she should heal. Why was she leaving him behind?
He laced his fingers into Grace’s soft hair and stayed that way while Reegan and Riley worked. He wasn’t sure how long it took. He could feel soft breath on his neck, and that was what he focused on. When it skipped, his heart did a nose dive. When it seemed stronger, he cursed the hope he felt.
Finally, Riley and Reegan were done. Grace’s back was covered up, so Lathan couldn’t see what the repairs looked like, but from the enormous amount of blood-soaked gauze that was heaped on the opposite end of the table, it had been extensive.
“I don’t know what else to do,” he heard Reegan say softly to Riley. “Do you have any ideas?”
Riley hung his head and shook it. “We’ve already done everything I know of.”
The world came back to Lathan as he looked around.
Thorne was standing at the foot of the stairs, purposely blocking them off. Emmeline was sobbing into her hands on the third step up. Diesel was sitting on the sofa, elbows planted on his knees, head hanging low.
Grace’s mom and dad were seated on the opposite sofa, both leaning forward toward Grace’s body, their eyes closed and their heads together. Ren was ashen, leaning against the back of the sofa behind them.
Fourt was sitting on the hearth, his arms clutched around his knees, rocking as he watched Grace’s motionless body.
