Violet (The Silver Series Book 4) (8 page)

He breathed into my hair. “I'll sing to you
every night for the rest of our lives.”

“
Promise?”

He nodded, then began a soft song about
wolves disappearing into shadows and the moon searching for her
lost children.

***

I opened my eyes to find Rafe sitting
cross-legged on the bearskin across from me and watching me with a
very pleased expression on his face. Sunlight filtered through the
cave entrance around him, casting him in an other-worldly glow.

“
Sleep well?” he asked with
a smile.

I sat up and felt more rested than I could
recall being since I was turned into a werewolf. “Very well.”

“
Think it was the
singing?”

I thought about it for a minute. “I think it
was because for the first time, I finally feel safe.”

He gave a thoughtful frown, then nodded.
“I'll take that as a good thing.”

I crossed the bear skin and kissed him; he
jerked back, then stared at me in surprise. “That's a very good
thing,” I said.

He smiled and kissed me again.

A soft snort at the front of the cave made
us turn. The alpha wolf was watching us, his pale golden eyes
calm.

“
I guess we're up,” Rafe
said with a laugh. He rose and helped me to my feet, then we
followed the alpha into the sunlight.

***

It was easy to lose track of time in the
forest. Days flowed together until at least two weeks had passed
since we left the rehab center. I found I could control my phasing
in the open forest as long as I spent enough time in both my wolf
and human forms. The wolves accepted me in both, so it didn't
matter unless we were hunting or eating.

Rafe gave me the cave and slept outside near
the entrance no matter how much I protested that I wouldn't mind if
he slept inside away from the changing weather. Leaves fell in
great piles and the pups spent most of their time in the clearing
outside the den chasing each other and invisible enemies through
the trees.

Rafe and I wandered high through the hills.
One such occasion found us in craggy outcroppings of rock that
stuck out of the earth like the spine of a dragon. We were both in
our wolf forms and I loped through one small valley of rocks intent
on surprising him on the other side when a strange scent touched my
nose. I stopped and looked around. I had smelled it before in the
forest, but it had been days old and faint; I didn't know what
caused it.

The scent was definitely a predator, musky
and strong with the iron-tanged smell of a fresh kill. I turned and
followed it between two large gray boulders.

A hiss made me spin so fast that the
cougar’s claws missed my back by inches. I backed up, my heart
racing, and felt another rock behind me, trapping me effectively
between the cougar and my exit. The animal's ears flattened and his
lips bared in another low hiss that made my fur stand on end. The
cougar swatted at me with outstretched claws. I backed against the
rock as far as I could. The animal advanced, a low rumble rising in
its throat.

A dark shape flew over the cougar and landed
in front of me. Rafe let out a threatening growl that sounded more
like thunder. The cougar jumped at his sudden appearance and backed
up a few feet. Rafe took advantage of the opening and leaped for
its throat.

The cougar was pushed onto its back legs.
Both animals rose, Rafe biting at its neck and the cougar clawing
his back. Rafe pushed forward with his back legs and the cougar
fell over, dragging Rafe with him. The cougar's back feet clawed
deep into Rafe's stomach. Rafe refused to let go of its throat.

I didn't know what to do. Every instinct
screamed for me to dart through the opening they had made and run
as far and as fast as I could. But Rafe was being torn to pieces by
the cougar’s sharp claws.

A moan of pain escaped him and unfroze my
feet. I ran around the cougar and grabbed its throat just above
Rafe's hold. I bit down as hard as I could and felt my teeth tear
through flesh. Beside me, Rafe struggled as the cougar's claws dug
deeper into his stomach. Its front paws had wrapped around his
shoulders and the claws drove into his back.

I bit down as hard as I could and pulled
away from Rafe. Flesh tore, then blood gushed over both of us. The
cougar gave two futile jerks, then his paws went limp and he fell
back to the earth.

Rafe collapsed on top of the animal, his
chest heaving. I phased and fell to my knees next to him. Blood ran
from Rafe's stomach down the cougar's tawny body to the ground. I
tried to move the massive paws from Rafe's back, but the claws were
still sunk into his skin.

“
Hold on,” I said as calmly
as I could. “I'll get you free.”

Rafe held still while I pulled each claw
from his torn back. Blood ran from each tear and colored my hands
dark red. Tears rolled down my face, blinding me while I worked.
“It's alright. We'll get you back to the cave. You're going to be
alright.” My voice shook, but I kept speaking to distract us both.
“We're almost done, then we'll work on your stomach.”

I pulled the left front paw free, then
focused on the right. Two of the claws were stuck deep and I had to
pull hard to get them out. I winced along with Rafe and had to
blink away more tears. “You're going to be alright. I'll take care
of you. Don't worry.” The second paw fell to the ground, leaving
Rafe's shredded back clear. His dark gray fur was almost black with
dark blood that slicked both sides down to his stomach.

I knelt down to look underneath him and my
heart turned over.

Rafe's stomach had been sliced open by the
cougar's hind feet and his stomach contents showed through the
tattered flesh. I gritted my teeth and forced out, “You're going to
be fine. This'll heal quick and we'll laugh about it later, you'll
see.”

I took a calming breath, then began to work
the right hind paw from his stomach. It was easier this time
because the stomach tissues were so torn. The hind paw fell to the
ground and the second one soon fell with it.

Rafe rolled before I could catch him and
landed on his side on the ground. He let out a pained moan and
tried to turn over, but I hurried to him and held him down. “You
have to listen to me, Rafe.” His eyes rolled back and he let out a
whimper. I shook my head. “You're stronger than this, and you can
make it through, but I need you to trust me.”

He looked at me, his golden eyes
glazing.

“
You can't phase; it'll
kill you. You need to stay in wolf form while I call Kaynan.” He
made a weak, protesting growl, but I shook my head. “You have to
trust me on this. You can't heal by yourself; you're too messed up.
We need to get help.” My voice cracked and it took me a moment to
calm myself. I took a deep breath. “I'm going back to the cave to
get the phone. Stay just like this and don't move a
muscle.”

I rose before he could protest and cupped my
hands to my mouth. I howled with the notes of warning and calling
that Rafe had taught me, then waited, feeling more alone than I
ever had in my life. The alpha wolf returned my cry and I breathed
a prayer of thanks. He appeared around the boulder with his mate a
few minutes later.

“
Watch over him,” I begged
the wolf, unsure if he would understand.

The wolves looked from me to Rafe, then
trotted to his side. I took that as an answer and started
running.

Chapter 7

It felt like it took hours to run down to
the cave, reach the backpack, and to return to Rafe, but in reality
only minutes had passed. I pulled on my clothes from the gas
station and hurried back as fast as I could. He hadn't moved a
muscle and when I reached him my first terrified thought was that
he was dead. I knelt at his side and touched his shoulder. He
opened pain-wracked golden eyes and breathed out a slight huff,
then closed them again. I quickly wrapped the shirt and shorts we
had brought from the rehab center around his back and stomach and
tied them in place with Rafe’s rope.

The alpha wolf stood over Rafe during all of
this, his gaze attentive and concerned. I pulled out the phone and
dialed the numbers, surprised at how close I had come to forgetting
them in such a short period of time. It felt strange to hold
man-made metal and plastic in my hands again.

“
Hello?”

“
Kaynan?”

“
Colleen?” Kaynan's voice
was thick with relief. “Colleen, is that you?”
“It's me. Kaynan, listen. Rafe's been hurt, I mean really hurt. He
needs help or he's going to die.” My voice cracked and I had to
blink tears free to see the trees again.

“
Okay. Tell me where you
are.”

“
I don’t know where I am,”
I said, trying to keep calm.

He turned away from the phone and his voice
was muffled as he spoke to someone else, then he came back on,
“Jaze is having Mouse trace your call. Don’t hang up.” Several
strange clicks sounded and I waited with a pounding heart. “Got
it?” Kaynan asked whoever was with him. Someone replied and he let
out a breath. “Okay, Jaze said we can reach you by helicopter.
You’re a long ways off, so we might be a while, but we'll hurry, I
promise.”

Relief flooded my body and threatened to
buckle my knees. “Thank you, Kaynan, thank you so much.”

“
I love you, Colleen. We'll
be there, don't worry.”

I hung up the phone, then knelt by Rafe.
“They’re coming. Don’t give up on me.” His body burned with fever
and he didn't respond when I tried to get him to drink water from
one of the bottles in the backpack. Blood had soaked through the
shirt and shorts I used as bandages. I wrapped the backpack around
his stomach to protect it, then eased his head into my lap and
gently smoothed the soft hair between his ears. The alpha's mate
settled down next to me while the alpha kept watch over us all.

***

A patterned hum filled the air. I squinted
to see the trees brush wildly from the beat of air. The wolf pack
crowded around Kaynan and me, blocking us from view as a black and
red helicopter landed in a clearing about a hundred feet away. Rafe
was so hot I wondered how he kept breathing. His lungs moved almost
imperceptibly beneath his fur. He refused to drink and barely
opened his eyes when I spoke to him. The wounds from the cougar
were too great for his body to heal and blood matted his thick fur.
He was slipping away.

“
Kaynan, we're here!” I
shouted.

“
Colleen?”

Kaynan pushed through the trees and his face
lightened in relief when he saw me. The wolves around me started to
growl and the alpha lowered his head, his ears held tight against
his skull as he bared his teeth. Kaynan slowed, his eyes wide.

“
They’re here to help,” I
called to the wolves. “They’re trying to save Rafe.”

The alpha glanced at me. I didn’t know if he
would listen or attack my friends to protect the injured werewolf.
“You can trust them,” I said softly. “They’re friends.”

The alpha looked from me to Rafe, then back
at Kaynan and the others who now followed him from the clearing.
“Please,” I begged quietly. “Trust me.”

He trotted slowly back to my side and the
others followed to sit in a half-circle around us. Kaynan
approached slowly, his gaze wary, but the wolves made no move to
stop him. Jaze followed with Nikki, his girlfriend. Jet, their
dark-haired, silent friend, came close behind with his girlfriend
Taye who carried bandages and wraps. They greeted me warmly,
something I felt I didn't deserve after leaving so abruptly.

“
He's real bad. A cougar
attacked me and he saved my life,” I explained quickly.

Taye and Jaze knelt by Rafe. Taye lifted the
backpack slowly and Rafe groaned but didn't open his eyes. Taye
looked up at Kaynan and Jet. “He's in bad shape.” She met my eyes
and said honestly, “I've never seen a werewolf recover from wounds
like these. He'll be lucky if he makes it to Meg's.”

“
Roger, Charles, and Dr.
Benjamin will be waiting for us,” Kaynan said, helping me stand up
while the others slid Rafe onto a blanket and lifted him. “If
anyone can save him, they can.” His gaze slid to the form of the
cougar lying a few feet away. “That’s what did it?”

I nodded. “The cougar attacked me and Rafe
saved my life. I had to kill it to get it to let him go.”

My brother opened his mouth to say
something, then shut it again and shook his head. He kept an arm
around my waist and guided me to the helicopter. “I can walk,” I
protested.

He gave me a serious glance. “Have you
looked in a mirror lately? You look ready to drop dead from
exhaustion, there's dried blood in your hair, and your clothes
smell like they're growing their own forest. You can use a little
help.”

Nikki climbed into the helicopter first,
then took the corners of Rafe's blanket along with a scrawny,
brown-haired werewolf I hadn't met before. After they had Rafe
settled as comfortably as possible on the floor, the pilot
maneuvered the chopper away from the trees. I had one last glimpse
of the wolf pack before they were lost beneath the branches and
pines I had come to think of as home. I sat down next to Rafe and
ran a hand gently along the soft fur at the top of his head while
the others sat around him and on the other seats.

“
Take us straight to
Roger's,” Jaze said into his headset. The pilot nodded and the
scrawny werewolf named Mouse gave Jaze a thumb’s up from the
copilot seat.

No one spoke above the pounding of the
blades. Nikki and Taye wrapped new bandages over the makeshift
clothing I had used, but other than that, there was nothing they
could do until we reached the others.