Chapter Twenty-Three

June

Dom was in serious trouble. I was worried he was going to bleed out despite what he told me, and I sacrificed one of Jerod's new shirts to keep pressure on the worst wound.

As Dom lay back in the seat next to me, all I could think about was if he was going to pass out. I went as fast as I felt comfortable going down the road to the village, Dom having to give the occasional direction. All I had to do was get him to Doc, and everything would be fine, right?

My eyes darted to Dom and back to the road. He had to be fine. I mean, he was a badass back there, right? Those wolves looked more like monsters than the ones I'd come to know in Moonpeak, and he tore into them four to one.

It was so bloody and violent. I shuddered and gripped the wheel harder just remembering it.

"You okay, June?" Dom asked from the passenger seat.

"No!" I shouted, his question breaking me from the racing thoughts in my head, and all my stress spilled out. "What the actual fuck were those? What was that? How are you so calm? I'm about to go into shock and you're bleeding out and you want to know if I'm okay?"

"Believe it or not, New Bite, I'll be just fine. It would be great if you can get me to Doc to have him set my bones properly before they fuse back together, but otherwise, I'll be fine in a couple of days."

In through the nose, out through the mouth. A few breaths later, I was under control. "Sorry for panicking."

"Don't worry about it, you're new to all this."

The window rolled down, and Dom sniffed the air. "Slow down."

I didn't ask why, I just obeyed. As I kept a much slower speed than I really wanted to, my eyes darted around for whatever he was smelling for. My heart thudded in my chest. Oh god, please no more of those giant wolves. Tell me that wasn't what he was smelling.

A howl in the distance startled me, and I pressed a little harder on the gas pedal.

"Stop," Dom said, reaching a hand toward me. "It's Smokey."

Against the thrill in my heart that told me we should be running for Doc, I nodded and slowed the car to a stop. Six big wolves crested the next peak. Four grays, one brown, and one with the familiar white face of Smokey's wolf. They raced for the car, circling it with what I expected was alert and concern.

Dom started opening the car door as Smokey's big head pushed in.

"I know, old man," Dom said to the wolf. "There were four of them. Follow our trail back to the mess."

"How are you . . ." I started to ask. "Oh, mind link."

Dom and Smokey both looked over at me. Smokey huffed a puff of air out of his nose and snapped his teeth a little.

"I'm not telling her that," Dom said.

Smokey licked at one of Dom's bad scratches. "I'll turn when we get to Doc's. Get going while the smell is still fresh."

Smokey withdrew his head from the car and Dom shut his door again.

"What did he say?" I asked.

Dom sighed, holding an arm over his ribs. "Nothing for polite company. Let's go see the doc."

I glanced in the rearview mirror to see slick paws pounding into the damp earth, muscles bunching and jumping and running. For a fleeting moment, my heart wanted to run with them. But I shook off the sensation and put all my focus back on the road.

Dom stayed quiet while I drove to the village. The path took us right up to the cabin where Dom and the others had been staying. A few heads poked out as we passed. Jack and Carson were carrying a couple of bags out and stared as we passed. Hopefully, Dom was communicating with them, letting them know what happened since I couldn't link yet.

I passed right by the cabin, wound through the short expanse of trees, and then the road opened to the village. I turned right just before the end of the houses and stopped in front of Doc's clinic.

Throwing my seat belt off, I opened the car door and ran out onto the grass without bothering to shut the door behind me.

"Doc!" I called. "Doc, patient!"

A man strode out of the house. His dark hair was cropped short in a terrible mess, as if he'd cut it himself. I ran to open Dom's door. "We have lacerations everywhere, and I suspect at least two broken ribs, and I'm worried about an ilium fracture on his right side."

"June?" Doc rushed forward to help me with Dom. "Welcome to your first day of wolf medicine. Let's get him inside."

We got Dom moved inside; a bed was thankfully close and ready to go. It looked like any doctor's office, minus the waiting room between the front door and the exam room. A bed replaced the usual exam table and the row of cabinets and countertops on the right wall were a lovely shade of '70s avocado green. Otherwise, it was blessedly clean, and smelled like my office in Seattle. A short hallway of rooms beyond the front area looked to be longer-stay patient rooms, and there was a staircase that probably went up to where Doc lived.

"June, can you grab me the bandages and splints from the left cabinet?"

Doc got Dom on the bed, and I ran to the cabinet. I carried the whole box of splints and three rolls of bandage. If we needed more, I would get it then. As it was now, my arms were already full.

"Hm, some ribs. Just fractures, I believe. Try not to breathe too hard," Doc said to Dom.

Dom laughed but it quickly ended in a grunt. "Okay, Doc."

"This leg is by far the worst. Let's not have you bleed out, shall we? June, the bandages, please."

"Right here." I handed Doc a roll and watched him reach over to a small drawer nearby for an already threaded needle and wire for stitches.

Pulling up a stool from the corner so I could watch, I grimaced as Doc did a quick and dirty line of stitches about a foot long from Dom's thigh and up his hip. Once he was done, he bandaged the wound and moved on to the next badly torn chunk of skin. It was highly unsettling to watch him do it with no prep. No painkillers, no needle holders, he barely stopped to disinfect as he went. Doc talked me through it as he went, and assured me wolves were highly resistant to infection, but it still gave me goose bumps.

Dom took the treatment like a champ. He laid his head back, his brow furrowed, not saying a word.

I let my hand crawl across the edge of the bed to reach for his, not really registering what I was doing until it happened. Just before our fingers touched, Dom's eyes opened and his stare pinned me in place. My breath caught in my throat as I swallowed, his gaze tracing the movement of my neck. Closing his eyes again, he entwined his hand with mine.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Fine. I've been here before, I'll be here again."

As my heart tightened, so did my hand, squeezing his fingers lightly in mine. I didn't want to see him hurt again. He'd already been through enough, from what Smokey had told me. And now he was hurt by those things. I couldn't describe them; they weren't like normal wolves. They were big, and the look in their eyes was so dull. Affected by something else. They weren't right.

"Another roll of bandages, June," Doc said, drawing me from my thoughts. "And hand me that short splint. Dominic, your ankle is trying to turn at a bad angle here. I'm going to have to splint it for a couple of hours while it gets back on track."

The front door opened and Aaron strode in. "Dom, where was the attack? How many?"

"Smokey's on it," Dom said. "Four of 'em. Rogues, but they were like the ones Alpha Liam was dealing with way back when."

Doc faltered a moment trying to splint Dom's ankle. "The ones from before?"

"That's right." Dom nodded. "If those fuckers are poking around again, you're going to need more bandages."

Doc shook his head, finishing what he was doing and quickly taking another bandage from me.

"We have to tell Alpha Evander," Doc said. "If they're back, we're in for another terrible time."

"Alpha Evander already knows."

The door was open, and silently following Aaron inside was Evander himself, looking as neat as a pin. He closed the distance between the door and Doc with a few long steps.

"How is he, Stephen?" Evander asked, confusing me at first until I realized that must be Doc's real name.

"He'll be okay in a couple of days," Doc said. "I'm going to need to prepare if those rogues are back."

"Hold on," Evander said. "I don't want any distress over a one-time incident. I'd like everyone present to not speak of the event until we can investigate further. If they're gone now and there aren't more of them, there is no reason to cause a panic. Understood?"

"Yes, Alpha," Doc said.

Aaron echoed him, and I took the cue and said the same.

"Good," Evander said. He glanced around the room, meeting Doc, Aaron, and me in the eyes. He barely glanced over Dom. "June, I'll see you later."

"Later? Alpha, are you sure—" Aaron nudged me in the ribs, and I yelped.

"Don't argue with the alpha. Ever," Aaron murmured.

"Yes, Alpha. I'll see you later," I said.

Evander didn't pause as he strode out of the house the way he came, the door shutting tight behind him.

Dom grumbled. "Prick."

"Doc," Aaron said, "what do you need if we have more rogue attacks?"

Doc finished up with what he was currently doing to Dom's ankle and looked up at Aaron. "More of everything. More stitching wire, more bandages, more splints. More of this." He gestured to Dom on the bed.

"You done with me, Doc? Can I get a blanket or something?" Dom asked.

"Ah, right. Yes, here you go." Doc reached behind him to a shelf and grabbed a blanket. He laid it over Dom's groin and spread it over his legs.

"Dom!" The door opened with a smack.

"You have an awful lot of visitors for someone who just got back," Doc commented.

Amelia stalked through the room, concern on her face. "What happened? How many? Who do I need to kill?"

Dom chuckled. "I'm fine, they're dead, it wasn't even that bad. Can a guy get some rest now?"

"To be fair, your tensor fasciae latae is separated from . . ." Doc mumbled, catching Dom looking at him with annoyance. "Right, sorry."

"If you really want to help, get down there with Smokey and follow the scent," Dom suggested.

Amelia growled. "I'll have to bring the warlock with me that far out, but we can't let this start up in Moonpeak again."

"Who told you . . ." Dom began to ask when his eyes slid over to Aaron. "Of course. Yes, it's just like the rogues that attacked ten years ago, the start of everything that went down."

Doc threw his hands up. "I'm not a part of this, I'll be upstairs making a supplies list. Call if you need me, Dom."

When it was just me, Dom, Amelia, and Aaron, I spoke up. "Anything I can do to help?"

All the wolves in the room stared at me. Amelia huffed and looked at Dom. Then they seemed to stare at each other for a long moment. Once I realized they were speaking privately through their voodoo werewolf mind thing, I crossed my arms, annoyed.

"Go on," Dom growled out loud. "We talked about this."

"June," Amelia said. "I've not been myself since we met. I want to apologize for biting you. Thank you for attempting to save me back then, and I'm sorry I attacked you."

"You're welcome," I said.

"You're going to meet Evander for dinner in the pack house?" Amelia said.

"That's right."

Her jaw ticked. "You want to help? Find out what he's doing with Naomi. My sister, we can't get to her, and I can't help her if I don't know what's going on."

"I'll try. Something is off, and I want to know what it is."

"That makes several of us," Dom said.

"I'm going to find Smokey and see if I can help," Aaron said.

"Me too," Amelia said, turning to follow Aaron out the door. "We don't leave the village unless in pairs from here on, got it?"

"Got it." Dom and Aaron echoed each other.

Aaron left first. Amelia gave one last soft look to Dom before turning and closing the door behind her. I sighed and took a step away from the bed.

"I'll go, too, and let you rest."

"Wait," Dom said. He reached out and grabbed my hand. "Be careful. I don't want you to get hurt because we dragged you here. If Evander is onto you watching Naomi, stop."

"I will." My voice cracked as I tried to keep my heart under control.

"Good. And don't let him do anything weird to you. He's your alpha, but his authority has its limits."

"Okay." I didn't understand what Dom meant by that, or even what he was worried about happening. But I'd be careful. I wanted to know what was going on, not get myself killed.

"I'll come visit you later," I said.

"Don't worry about me," Dom said. "I'll be fine, and then I'll be training. Worry about yourself, New Bite."

Shit, why did that sound so good to my ears?

"Later, Dom," I said breathlessly.

His eyes settled on mine. "Later."

I steeled myself and turned away before it got any harder to leave. I resisted one last glance as I left, closing the door behind me. I didn't know if it was the wolf taking over in me, or the wind, or just my own imagination. But in the softest breath behind me, I could have sworn I heard one last desperate plea from inside.

Please, be safe. For me .