Chapter 24

Promise checked on Thyme. She was still healing and there was an hour or so left until she could shift and complete the healing process. She knew that the venom coursing through her veins hurt like a bitch because her mom had used venom to heal her when she’d gotten a deep cut at work when a glass dish got away from her. The wound had been deep and bleeding profusely, and she was too keyed up to shift because it hurt so badly. So her mom had shifted and bitten her, and then she’d had to sit for an hour while her body healed the wound and her veins felt like fire ants were trying to eat her alive. She’d never been so grateful to shift in her life.

But Thyme had needed to fight shifting for four hours because she’d been so gravely injured. If Promise and her mom hadn’t gotten there when they did, they might have been too late.

Thyme gasped and a tear leaked from her tightly closed eyes.

She nudged Thyme with a soft whine, wishing she could talk in her human form.

Reika let out a low, short bark and tipped her head toward the house.

Ah! Time to shift for them. Thank freaking goodness.

“I’ll keep her company,” Karly said.

Promise nodded.

Her mom headed into Remy and Thyme’s house, and Promise rose to her paws and shook herself out. Then she padded after her mom.

As she reached the threshold, her hackles rose. She turned slowly and looked around but didn’t see anything. She sniffed the air but couldn’t pick up anything except the woods around them.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something at the edge of the house. Backing up, she peered at it but saw nothing.

And then a big cat with white forelegs sailed into the air with an angry yowl and landed right on Thyme. Thyme screamed in pain as the cat’s claws dug into her skin and she tried to fight but she was paralyzed by the venom.

Without thought, Promise tackled the cat and they both went sprawling into the grass. The cat got up and stalked back toward Thyme, but Promise stopped it, snagging its tail between her jaws and yanking it back. The cat turned on Promise and attacked her, claws and fangs scratching and biting.

Promise had been in a few fights when she’d first shifted and learned how to defend herself, but fighting with wolves in a controlled environment wasn’t the same as this cat that seemed hellbent on hurting not only Thyme, but also Promise.

As she fought back, getting in a few good bites and scratches herself, the female latched onto her cheek and bit hard and Promise yelped in pain.

And then the female was gone and Promise saw her mom, naked and back in her human form, holding a shovel.

The wildcat was on the ground next to Promise, unmoving.

“Oh baby, can you shift?” Her mom said as she dropped to her knees. “I know it hurts but the scratches and bites aren’t too bad and they should heal fine.”

Promise rolled to her paws and closed her eyes. It took a moment as adrenaline made it hard to think about anything but the pain and her racing heart, but she was able to shift back to her human form, her wounds healing with the process.

Pressing her hand to her cheek she said, “That bitch!”

“It’s Brilla,” Mila said as she knelt next to the cat. “I recognize her fur. And she’s dead.”

“Ah, I didn’t mean to kill her,” her mom said. “I just…my daughter.”

“No, you did us a favor,” Mike, one of the males who’d stayed to stand guard, said. “Her whole family was bad news, and she was part of everything tonight, I guarantee it.”

Promise hugged her mom. “Thank you for saving me.”

“I’ll save you any day, baby girl, you know that.”

“Are you okay?” Mila asked.

“Yeah,” Promise said.

She and her mom hustled up to see Thyme, whose new wounds were healing from the venom. “I don’t think you need to stay under any longer than the original four hours,” her mom said. “It’s just another hour, honey. I’m sorry you’re in so much pain, but you’re alive and that’s what matters.”

“Brilla?” Thyme whispered between clenched teeth.

“Dead,” Promise said.

“Good,” she said, wheezing then letting out a soft sob.

Karly took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Remy’s on his way back, you should be able to shift soon after he gets here. They’re okay. Everything is going to be okay from now on.”

Thyme let out a sigh and sob combo, and then went quiet.

Reika and Promise went into the house to get dressed.

“This is the craziest healing ever,” Promise said.

“I know, right? I’m glad you’re okay. Rio is going to be bummed she missed out on all the action.”

“That’s what she gets for not wanting to go see the movie.”

“Yep.”

“We’ll have to go see the movie another night. I really want some popcorn,” Promise said.

“Me too, with extra butter.”

The first thing Thyme did when the wolves from Remy’s pack told her she could shift was scream at the pain, and then she shifted. She nearly passed out as she changed forms, because she was so tired and her body felt like she’d done a few dozen rounds with a semi-truck.

But feeling her body entirely healed? That was worth all the pain.

Well, she would have rather not been shot in the chest by damn hunters in the first place, of course.

She hopped a few paces and then turned to see Remy standing on the patio.

He smiled at her, looking relieved as hell but also exhausted.

Now that she was in her shift, she felt energized, but she suspected soon enough the exhaustion would creep back in.

She pranced up to him like a show pony and he dropped to his knees and pulled her close, burying his face in her neck. He shuddered and growled softly.

“I almost lost you there, Thyme. Let’s not fucking tempt fate again, okay?”

She let out a yowl of agreement.

He chuckled and leaned back, brushing tears from his cheeks.

“I’ve got so much to tell you,” he said. “But after you’re back to human and we can talk. Just know that you’re safe now, for good.”

She gave him a questioning merow?

“They’re dead, sweetheart, so we’re all safe.” He ran his fingers gently up her nose and then scratched behind her ears, which her wildcat adored.

He released her and stood. He turned to his mom and gave her a hug, and then hugged his dad and thanked Jenna and Logan, and Promise and Reika, for their help. Thyme had come to know those people over the last few hours, even though she’d been in pain and unable to really talk the whole time. She was thankful for their help and intervention.

“I’m going to shift and run around with her,” Remy said.

“You’ll come visit us soon?” Karly asked.

“You bet,” he said. “We’re going to get settled in town soon, but we’ll make time to come for dinner.”

“What will happen to the houses in the old town?” Linus asked.

“They belong to the town,” he said. “It’s just like Copper Creek. There’s no one to run the town anymore, no one living there except a few humans who worked at the factory. Marty said he’d put in a call to some agencies to see about shutting down the factory and cleaning up the town, but it won’t be our responsibility.”

“I think you’ve got a great home here,” Jenna said. “And the wildcat pride is so welcoming and kind.”

“We can be that way because we’ve got kind and welcoming alphas,” Mila said with a smile.

Remy walked his family and friends out to their vehicles and returned a few minutes later. He spoke to the wildcats who were gathered and had waited out the whole time she was healing. Even though she hadn’t really been able to see or hear everything around her, she’d felt their presence and their worry, and knew they’d watched over her along with Remy’s mom and friends.

She was feeling one-hundred-percent blessed to have found her truemate.

Remy stood next to her and faced the pride.

“There are less of us in the pride now,” he said, his voice strong and filled with the authority of his alpha nature. Her whiskers twitched as she gazed up at him. He was one sexy male. “Thyme nearly gave her life trying to save the pride. I’ve spoken with our only elder—Liam—and we’ve decided to move forward with the ascension ceremony. As dawn is coming in a few short hours, we’ll have it tonight when the sun sets, and then the laws of this pride will be changing. A new elder will be appointed alongside Liam and there will be rank fights to set up a new order of authority within the pride, something that’s been lacking here. While Thyme and I will have the full authority, there will be others who, along with the elders, will help to bear the burden in shaping our pride as we move forward with a new chapter. For the next week, Thyme and I will be hearing from any who have questions or concerns, so please don’t hesitate to come see us, or speak with Liam. In the meantime, I’m going to shift and take my newly-healed mate out for the run that we should have had, if it hadn’t been interrupted by the murderous intentions of a few wildcats.”

“We’ll join you,” Marty said.

“I second that,” Mike said. “I didn’t even get to bag one of them bucks that ran around us.”

“I’m in,” Dana said.

Remy smiled at Thyme as the pride agreed to go for another run, even though they’d already been in their shifts. She knew it was a testament to what they’d heard from Remy and their approval of the changes that they were planning to make.

She and her mate had a lot to talk about, not only with what had happened tonight but also the changes they were planning to make to the pride. They’d spent a lot of time over the last week talking about the pride and how to make it better. It was good to change with the times, rather than be left behind as some archaic monstrosity no one wanted to be part of.

She was thankful for Remy, for the pride and their friends, and mostly for the black-furred healing wolves that had bit the hell out of her and saved her life.