Chapter 25: Dean

25

DEAN

C allum pulls the rope, helping me climb over the edge with Jamie clutched to my chest. He’s careful to avoid touching her. Our feet slip and slide in the mud created by the heavy deluge, and the rope burns our unprotected hands. But finally, we get Jamie to safe ground before we both collapse to our knees, exhausted.

I keep Jamie cradled against me, her head lolling back. Gut-wrenching fear has me trembling all over. The sight of her clinging to the side of a cliff will stay with me for the rest of my days.

She’s unnervingly pale, and her skin is so cold to the touch. Shifters normally run hot. She’s dangerously close to being hypothermic, and her body is limp in my arms.

I clamber to my feet awkwardly, refusing to set Jamie down on the ground, even though her clothes and skin are already caked in muck. She twitches in my arms with each clap of thunder and winces with every tiny movement that jars her injured shoulder.

Something’s not right about this. How the fuck did she end up down there?

When I got to her, she tried to fight me off. She might have been confused, but maybe she has good reason to be afraid.

While Callum catches his breath, I scan the trees behind him for any signs of movement. It’s nearly impossible to see more than a few yards away, and the rain has washed away any traces of scent.

Anyone could be watching and waiting.

“Check the rope,” I snarl, needing to be certain before my protective instincts cause me to act prematurely. My wolf is barely keeping it together, frantic at the thought of her being out here hurt, afraid and alone.

It’s possible there was a lightning strike, or some other freak event, that damaged the rope. Jamie could just be scared and lashing out.

Until I know for sure this wasn’t just a freak accident, I can’t go on a rampage, much as I want someone to pay for this.

I stare down at Jamie’s face, her features pinched, even in sleep, and it’s not making me feel any better. She’s hurt, and it makes me want to kick every single person off my territory and burn the Alpha Games to the ground.

Callum returns, expression grim, and I know. Someone did this, and they’re going to live to regret attacking someone on my territory.

Not just someone. Jamie.

Looking down at her exquisite features, the full lips, the dark lashes, my hard heart cracks just a little. Even if she’s a pain in the ass, I want her. More than that, I crave her. And my wolf wants to burn down the entire world to find out who’s fault this is.

“What do we do now?” Callum asks, raising a hand to his forehead to shield his eyes from the rain. We shifted and ran here at full speed, but we can’t carry her back as wolves, and she’s in no fit condition to shift.

I force back a growl as I spot the splashes of bright red blood mixed in with the thick brown dirt stuck to her hair.

“You go back and find Joel. Ask him who and what he saw. If he lies, lock him in the dungeon.”

He was acting weird. He definitely knows something.

“Make sure he knows that if he doesn’t tell us willingly, I’ll get it from him by any means necessary.” He has no idea what I’m capable of.

Callum nods solemnly. “What about Jamie?”

Scanning the lake, I frown at the black and choppy water, lit up by bolts of lightning and glimpses of moonlight. There’s no way she’ll make it all the way back around. She’s deathly cold, and she can’t change into her wolf to heal until her dislocated shoulder is back in the right place.

“She needs to get warm. You deal with him. I’ll take care of her.” Much as I’d love to take out some of my anger on him, making sure Jamie’s okay comes before everything else.

Callum eyes me dubiously. “Are you sure it wouldn’t be better the other way around?”

I snarl, clutching her to my chest possessively and backing away from my beta. I’m sure my wolf is showing in my eyes as I growl, crouching low, ready to fight him if I have to.

“I swear, Callum, touch her and I’ll kill you.”

His intentions are honourable, but there’s no fucking way I’m letting her go. I already warned him what I’d do if he tried to get near her.

CALLUM: Fuck Dean. Is she…? This isn’t normal.

Normal?

I know it’s not.

DEAN: I need to get her warm and safe. NOW. I can’t think about anything else while she’s in this condition.

With a sigh, Callum holds his hands up in surrender and steps back, abandoning his line of questioning.

For now.

He looks concerned about the two of us in equal measure, and I don’t blame him. Holding her against my body, the strength of the emotions swirling around inside me is staggering. And yet, my wolf still gives no indication he’s claiming her as his.

With the back of his hand, Callum swipes a filthy hand across his forehead to clear the water running into his eyes. “Can you pop it back in?” he asks, eyes locked on her limp arm, steering our conversation onto safer territory.

Nodding slowly, I meet Callum’s eye. He knows I’ve had to do it before to myself, many times.

“Yes. But not here. We’re too exposed.” I can’t shake the feeling there’s someone else out there.

CALLUM: You sure you know what you’re doing? Between this and the dance… Everyone's going to be talking.

Let them fucking talk.

DEAN: I’ll bring her to the cabin until the weather breaks, and she’s had a chance to heal.

Callum nods, his gaze fixed on where I’m still clutching Jamie to me, before he shakes his head, and slowly backs toward the trees.

Time to go, for both of us. I need to get her somewhere warm and take care of that arm. Anyone who dares come near us will be met with a wrath like they have never seen before.

“You keep her safe, or her brother’s going to be a problem,” Callum warns before letting the shift take him. His massive dark wolf disappears into the shadowy undergrowth and takes off for home at a fast trot, still recovering from the frantic sprint here.

He’ll let Wyatt know what’s going on and that I have his sister, minus the threatening to kill him part.

I rearrange my hold on Jamie, careful not to jostle her too roughly, and jog down a different path. My wolf knows exactly where to bring her. I’ve never let anyone else come here, but Jamie’s not just anyone.

The need to get her alone and tend to her is overwhelming. Fear claws at my insides that I’m not moving fast enough. That she might have other injuries I can’t see.

Picking up my speed as much as I dare, my insides melt when Jamie mumbles against my chest, her lips brushing against my bare skin as she snuggles in tightly to my body. Pressing her nose into me, she breathes me in deep, and sighs happily. Her good hand moves to my back and holds on tight as we move.

“Cold,” she whispers, her blue lips brushing my torso as she speaks, curling up tighter to me, absorbing my body heat. I wrap myself around her as much as I can to shield her from the driving rain and brush my cheeks against hers.

Dipping my head, I press my nose into her tangled hair. Her delicious scent is almost hidden by the smell of mud and blood. “I know, baby. Not for long, though. We’re almost there.”

This isn’t the usual feisty Jamie. She’s weak and exhausted, and I don’t like it.

In the distance, the eaves of a roof peak through the canopy of trees. Single storey, with a wide covered deck at the front, it’s a beautiful building. It was built with love at the start of my parent’s relationship, when my father was still torn between wanting to accept Mum as his fated mate and his lingering obsession with the now Marie Jones.

The wrong obsession won out in the end, but Mum always maintained they did have moments of happiness here at the start, when he’d allow himself to enjoy their bond and stop fighting it.

Me and my sister are testaments to that.

Running as fast as I can now, shelter is in sight, relief propels me forward. Casting one last glance around to make sure nobody is following us; I climb the stairs and push the door wide open. It’s never locked. Nobody from my pack would dare come here except my siblings or Maggie.

Kicking the front door shut with my heel, I cross straight to the overstuffed sofa and pull a blanket off the back to wrap around Jamie. When I set her down carefully, she whimpers, her slim fingers clutching at my arm as I step away, and the loss of my heat leaves her shivering.

Immediately, I get to work on a fire. While the flames take hold, I turn back to Jamie and examine her. The cut on her head is nasty but nothing to worry about. It’s the effects of the cold that concerns me most. She’s shaking from head to toe. I pull the blanket away and look at her shoulder, dropped lower than the other, and her arm hanging limp by her side.

“I’m sorry,” I mutter through gritted teeth, sick at the idea of causing her any more pain but knowing it’s what needs to be done before she can rest.

She can’t shift until that shoulder is fixed or risk permanent damage, and the longer I leave it, the more painful it’s going to be.

I gently grab her injured arm by the wrist, hand facing down, keeping it straight. Slowly, I move it toward her head, bouncing it up and down in small, controlled movements. Jamie moans, and her face scrunches up tightly in pain, but thankfully, she doesn’t fight me.

“Dean?” Jamie’s voice is small, frightened, and my wolf whines, wanting to take all of her pain and fear away.

“That’s it, Jamie. Good girl.”

When her arm is level to her shoulder, I rotate it slightly until I feel it pop back into place, and a pitiful whimper passes her lips. It needs to be secured, but I need to get her dry first.

“Stay,” I order softly, even though she’s already passed out again. I run to the kitchen and pull out the first aid kit, sending medical supplies tumbling across the floor. Gathering what I need, I hurry back to Jamie's side and dump it all on the coffee table. Scissors in hand, I cut her vest off, growling in anger when I see the nasty bruise blooming on her side and a graze on her hip. I remove the shredded fabric and strap her arm up properly, before sliding her soaked shorts down over slim hips.

Feeling like a creep, I close my eyes as I remove her sodden underwear and clamber awkwardly onto the sofa beside her. The fire is starting to take hold, but my body will still be warmer. Covering our naked bodies with the blanket once more, I wrap her up in my arms and sling one leg across her thigh, cradling her from behind.

With skin-to-skin contact from head to toe, and the logs in the large stone fireplace starting to blaze, it won’t take long for her body temperature to return to normal, and her wolf to start repairing her injuries.

She’s going to be alright, I repeat to myself, over and over until the knot in my chest starts to loosen and I can finally breathe again.

“I’ve got you, little rogue.”

I hold her tightly to my chest and whisper comforting words against her hair as her breathing evens out, and the shivering finally stops. Long after she’s warm, and I could have gotten up and I left, I continue to hold her, running my fingers through her hair and watching her sleep.

Slowly, I relax and let myself drift off, knowing that tomorrow, I’m going to find out who did this to her, and I’m going to kill them.