46

Leanna glances over her shoulder, and when she sees me, her eyes widen. However, she doesn’t have time to react much more than that because another wolf darts at her. As she avoid his attack, the one intending to ambush her bares his teeth at me, saliva dripping from the sharp, pointed edges of his teeth. I wait for him to come at me. He clearly thinks he has a better chance than his companion did because he attacks me with full force.

I grab his jaw and rip it apart.

He goes down instantly, his body twitching, gurgling sounds emitting from his throat. Just then, I hear a pained howl, and I look over to see that one of the wolves has gotten Leanna in her underbelly.

His teeth have sunk in, and Leanna is trying to get rid of him, but he’s hanging on. The smell of her blood is ripe in the air, and fury fills my every cell. Howling in rage, I shift forms in a heartbeat and jump on the wolf. After tearing out his throat, I go for the one that’s sneaking toward Leanna from the other side.

These wolves are nothing compared to the monsters I fight on a daily basis. Within minutes, I’ve dispatched them all, but Leanna is still on the ground, her body quivering. Her eyes are unfocused, and as I rush to her side, I curse myself. What the hell was I thinking, letting her deal with them? These individuals were skilled fighters. Even though she got a few of them, she was still vulnerable.

Her blood is pooling around her. That one wolf got her deep in her belly.

“Shift back, Leanna,” I tell her, back in my human form now. She gives me a dazed look, and I see the hint of fear in her eyes. I stroke her fur, forcing my voice to remain calm. “Shift back so I can take you to a healer.”

Panic is filling me. If I don’t get her to a healer, she’s not going to make it. When she resists, I can’t help but snarl. “You have a child to think of! This is not the time to be stubborn! Shift back, you damned woman!”

The mention of her child has her closing her eyes, and with a shimmer of light, she shifts out of her wolf form. She promptly passes out, her tolerance for pain much lower in her human form. There’s a strange vibration coming from her pocket, and I reach for the source of it. I recognize the device for what it is: a cell phone. The name on the screen is Maya, and there are plenty of missed calls from her. Maya? Is she a healer?

I accept the call and press the phone to my ear. “Are you a healer?” I demand.

It’s a woman on the other end, and she splutters, “What? Who is this?”

“You’re wasting my time,” I bark. I decide I’ll have to take Leanna to my hotel, but it’s on the other side of the city.

The woman on the phone interrupts my thoughts, saying quickly, “Wait. Is something wrong with Leanna?!”

“Yes.”

“I am a”—she hesitates on the word—“a healer. Bring her to the house. What happened to her?”

“She has a fatal injury to her stomach! And I don’t know where the house is,” I growl.

“Just track my phone. Use the GPS.”

“The what?” This whole conversation is confusing me. “What’s the GPS?”

She hisses. “Okay, just stay there. Stay where you are. I’m coming to you.”

She’s coming to us? She must be a wolf.

“And keep the phone on you, doofus!” she snaps.

The line goes dead, and I stare at the device in my hand. Doofus? Is that supposed to be an insult? Did this healer just insult the King of the Northern Wolf Kingdom?

Choosing to ignore the slight, I consider the situation before me. I’m not going to leave Leanna here in the middle of the forest. Picking her up carefully so as not to aggravate her injury, I head out of the trees and move closer to the side of the street. It’ll be easier for the healer to find us here.

Leanna is bleeding heavily. I take off my shirt and press it against the wound. If I were in the North, I would howl and one of my healers would be able to locate me. But I have a feeling if I howl here, the city noise will drown it out. Maybe I should get one of these cell phones. They are confusing contraptions but useful for communication.

A bright red car pulls up on the other side of the road ten minutes later, and a woman hops out. She stares at her phone and begins running in my direction. Then, she suddenly comes to a halt and looks around.

“You are Maya?” I growl from the shadows. She nearly jumps out of her skin and squints into the darkness until she finally sees me.

“What are you doing skulking there? Bring her to the car!”

She opens the back door, and when I lay Leanna across the seat, she examines her. This woman doesn’t smell like a shifter. She’s a human. But her name was in Leanna’s phone, so she must be someone my mate trusts.

“We need to go to a healer,” I say harshly.

“I am a veterinarian,” she says. “That’s as good as a healer.”

“Is that what the wolves call healers in the human realm?” I’ll have to learn more about this world that Leanna lives in.

Maya hops into the seat in the front and then stares at me through the opening. “Well, are you getting in or not?”

When I move to follow her into the car, she looks angry. “Unless you’re going to sit on my lap, get in the passenger seat.”

“The what?”

“Over there, you idiot!”

She leans away from me and opens the door on the other side of the car. I don’t like her insults, but Leanna doesn’t have the time for us to argue. I quickly run around the car and get in. It’s an uncomfortable fit for my long legs.

As Maya starts the car, she demands, “What happened? She was just out on a routine surveillance. How did things go this wrong?”

“She was attacked,” I say shortly. “We don’t have time to waste. Why are you taking her to another location when you can just heal her here?”

Maya gives me a sharp look. “All my equipment is in my bag, which is at her house. I’m going to have to stitch her up.”

“Stitch her?” I frown. “Just heal her.”

“It’s not that simple. I’ve left a message for her healer. Since he’s not available, she’s going to have to make do with me.”