Chapter 32

32

K aty!

My mind screamed her name as I scrambled across the slippery earth to get to her side. I could feel Remy’s insistent pushing in my head, wondering what was happening.

I could only focus on Katy as I stopped over her. Her chest was moving, her eyes open. A whimper escaped her mouth as she tried to move.

I nudged her with my nose to stay down. She needed to stay still. Larkin laid down at her back, supporting her body.

The three younger wolves came closer, all but crawling on their bellies to us. With a sharp bark I stopped them, swinging my head in the direction of the cabin.

We needed help. Katy couldn’t move. She needed medical attention.

With a yelp, Lea leapt up and took off in the direction of the school, Bethany and Megan right behind her.

I turned on the new wolf, not sure if he was hurt.

He stood where he had hit Katy, his head cocked to the side.

I sniffed the air, his scent familiar.

I felt my eyes go wide as I dropped into a defensive stance in front of Katy, a deep growl ripping up my throat.

Trace.

As if summoned by him, more than a dozen wolves emerged from the trees behind him. The rest of his pack had followed.

There was no way this was a stupid accident.

Skye!

Remy’s sharp voice in my head cut through the cloud of rage I was currently in. I blinked, trying to find that tether that linked us together. His confusion and worry was so potent it made me nauseous.

Trace ran into Katy. Her leg is broken. We’re on the hill near the meadow.

My attention went back to Trace as he stood, slowly approaching us. I gave him a warning snarl, which he didn’t bother to heed. He continued to advance on us, his pack following a few steps behind.

Larkin came up beside me, adding her warning growl to mine.

Trace dropped his head, baring his teeth at us.

I tried nudging Larkin to the side. If Trace came at us, I needed someone between us and Katy. Katy was still whimpering behind us, her plaintive cries drowned out by the rumbling growls coming from us.

I had heard her bone snap. I knew she couldn’t walk away from this, let alone run.

Stepping forward, I snapped my teeth at Trace with a snarl.

His chest seemed to swell as he widened his stance.

My wolf braced for him to attack.

He didn’t disappoint.

Moving faster than I anticipated, Trace launched himself at me, swiping at me with a large paw, his teeth snapping with a vicious growl.

I jumped back, his paw and claws missing my face. I spun quickly, managing to grab him with my teeth by his back flank.

He yelped and whirled, this time catching me full in the muzzle with his paw.

I blinked against the stars in the vision. I smelled and tasted my own blood as it slid hot and bitter down my throat.

Shaking my head, I missed seeing him round on me, his jaws latching onto my front shoulder.

Yelping, I snarled at him, my teeth snapping near his face until they found purchase. The taste of his blood mixed with mine, and my wolf smiled knowing we had drawn blood.

With a sharp howl, Trace twisted away from me, my teeth ripping through the soft cartilage of his ear.

Panting, I tried to collect myself, unable to put a lot of weight on my front leg.

Trace shook his head, blood splattering the snow nearby.

His pack was in a line behind him, several feet away. They wouldn’t insult their alpha by jumping into his fight. But if I beat Trace, there was no way I could hold off an entire pack.

And if Trace won, I didn’t know if Larkin could hold him off before Remy and the others arrived.

Remy.

I could feel him gain ground, closing in on us. His thoughts were a wild mess of fear and fury. But through our bond, I could also feel his strength. Alpha strength. Strength I needed.

I didn’t wait for Trace to make another move. I threw myself at him, managing to catch him by surprise and knock him to the ground. His jaws closed around the paw of my injured leg, but I managed to close mine around a hunk of skin and fur near his neck, sinking my fangs in.

With a roar of pain, he managed to work his legs between us, pushing me off of him violently.

I slid away on my bad shoulder, the powdery pillow of snow taking some of the brunt of my weight.

Larkin yelped behind me, wanting to help, urging me to get up, but she wouldn’t leave Katy unprotected.

With a fierce snarl, Trace got to his feet, looming over me.

I struggled to find my footing, my feet sliding on the ice, unable to gain traction on my injured leg. Trace jumped on me, pressing me into the frozen ground.

I had lost.

Panting hard, I looked up into his golden eyes, cold and cruel. I could practically see the smile in them.

And then the pressure was gone.

I got up, seeing Trace and another wolf tumbled across the white hill, snapping teeth and loud growls echoing through the hillside.

I nearly sagged with relief, seeing Remy nearly on top of Trace.

He was slightly larger than Trace, and he had Trace flipped onto his back, teeth around his neck in what seemed like seconds.

Trace was snarling and snapping uselessly at Remy’s legs. He was completely pinned, and my mate wasn’t letting him up.

Rhodes came over to me, his dark eyes somber. He nuzzled my side, checking to see if I was okay before going to Katy. As soon as he reached Katy’s side, Larkin ran to me, pressing her body against me.

As my adrenaline faded, I sank onto the snow, my shoulder and paw throbbing. My nose still stung from the blow Trace had gotten in when we first went at each other. I let out a soft whimper, keeping my eyes firmly trained on Remy.

The rest of the pack had lined up across from the Norwood wolves, snarling and growling at them, but everyone stayed on their own sides.

I heard a motor in the woods and a second later, several snowmobiles came into view, the girls who had ran for help leading the way to us.

One of the teachers jumped off their vehicle and ran to Katy with a medical kit.

“Leg’s broken,” he called over. “We need to load her onto one of the stretchers and get her back to the infirmary now.”

“Let him go, Remy,” another teacher ordered, not trying to get between the alphas.

With a growl and one last shake, he released Trace.

Someone dropped down next to me and I looked up to see Amanda, our English teacher. “Jesus, what the hell happened?”

She touched my paw, and I yelped in pain, pulling away and tucking it under my body.

Remy gave a low growl coming over to push Amanda away.

Eyes wide, Amanda backed off, her gaze swinging from me to Remy and back. Fascinated wonder spread across her face as she gasped. After a second, she stood up and went back to her snowmobile.

Remy licked my muzzle, a low whine in his throat

What the hell happened?

He was furious, barely containing his rage.

I tried to look around him to see Katy.

Amanda came back, holding sets of clothes in her arms. She looked at Remy. “We need to know what happened. Change back so we can talk.”

She held up a set of clothes and moved around behind a tree, dropping them there before she went to the other teacher who was with Trace, giving him similar instructions.

Remy snarled softly, looking at the tree several yards away from me.

Go. I’m okay.

He dropped his head, his breath fanning across my face and he gently nuzzled against me, then he headed for the tree. It took less than a minute for him to shift and get his clothes on, not bothering to lace his boots and put on a jacket.

Trace came from behind his own tree, his ear bleeding and a deep gouge on his neck. I smiled to myself knowing I had caused some damage to him.

“What the fuck?” Remy roared, charging at Trace, his eyes murderous. Amanda stepped in front of him, and he was barely able to keep from running her over. His hands were rock hard fists at his sides.

Trace glared at him from several feet away, the other teacher still near his side to hold him back if needed. “It was an accident. It’s fucking slippery, and I didn’t see Katy until it was too late, and then your bitch attacked me!”

“You’re a fucking liar,” Remy hissed, chest heaving. “You intentionally ran into Katy, and then you attacked Skye!”

“You weren’t even here,” Trace spat. “You didn’t see a damn thing.”

Thanks to our bond, Remy knew exactly what had happened because he got a front row mental play-by-play as I lived it.

But that wasn’t something we needed to get into right this second.

“Everyone needs to calm down,” Amanda said sternly. “We need to get Katy back to the school, and then we can get everyone’s statements to figure out what happened.”

The teacher near the Norwood pack looked at Trace. “Shift back and get your pack back to your cabin. I’ll be there as soon as Katy gets settled to talk to all of you.”

“Remy,” Amanda said softly, touching his arm gently, “can you help us get Katy on the stretcher?”

He gave a curt nod, waiting until Trace had shifted back into his wolf and took off with his pack in the opposite direction.

“Skye’s hurt, too,” he said coldly, jerking his head in my direction.

Amanda frowned. “We only have one stretcher with us, and Katy needs that leg looked at immediately. Let’s get Katy back and we can come back for Skye.” She looked at me. “Unless you think you can take it easy and make it down?”

I pushed myself to my feet slowly, testing my bad leg. It ached, but I could put weight on it. We were barely a mile out from the cabin. I could make it there.

Remy looked pissed, his jaw tight as he looked at me and then at Katy. She was quiet now, the teacher likely giving her a sedative to help move her.

“Rhodes,” he barked, looking at his beta. “Get everyone back to the cabin. Do not let Skye out of your sight. Send one of the others to get me if she needs help getting back.”

Rhodes barked in reply.

“All of you follow Rhodes. Get changed and wait for me at the cabin,” he ordered the pack. Looking at me, he came over and crouched in front of me. His hand came up, stroking my head.

“Do not play the hero, Skye,” he said firmly. “If you’re in too much pain, stop and we’ll send another stretcher. I swear I will lose my damn mind if something else happens to you, too.”

I dipped my head in acknowledgment, bumping his chin with my nose.

Letting out a frustrated breath, he pressed a kiss to the star on my forehead and stood up. He went over to Katy, his expression fierce as he gently lifted her into his arms without any help and carried her to the stretcher, helping Amanda and the other teacher strap her down.

They all got onto the snowmobiles, Remy sitting on the stretcher with Katy to watch her. His eyes stayed on me until they turned a corner out of sight.