56. Silas

Iran like the wind, tracking Cole's scent as he followed the perimeter around our property. The sharp, metallic scent of blood reached me, and my wolf howled. Dozens of small creatures around us scattered in alarm at the sound, but there was no answering howl from my brother.

He lay still in a patch of red snow when I burst on to the trail. Eva's sweet vanilla scent was everywhere, along with the acrid stench of a man.

Cole needed me more. From the amount of blood seeping out over the snow, someone had shot him. At some point he'd shifted back, so now he was naked and bleeding. While his body had a better chance of healing as a wolf, carrying him was easier when he was in human form.

I checked his vitals. His pulse was strong, but he remained unconscious. The bullet had hit his lower abdomen, just above his hip. As gunshot wounds went, it was survivable. But I still needed to make sure the bullet had gone straight through. If the bullet stayed inside him, it would hinder his shifter healing abilities.

"You need to stop eating so many fucking cookies," I huffed as I lifted his considerable weight and threw him over my shoulder. Fuck me, the guy was heavy. Still, at least it wasn't Tanner, who had a couple of inches on Cole and more muscle.

Silver linings.

Ignoring the ache in my chest that urged me to find my mate, I jogged back down the trail toward the cabin. We needed Cole to find Eva, and she would never forgive me if the stupid fucker died.

Tanner crashed through the cabin door a few minutes after I returned with Cole, who was still unconscious. Tanner's eyes were wild, his hair sticking up everywhere. I could feel the anger radiating from him, but we didn't have time for drama.

"Grab the med kit from the laundry room," I yelled.

He took one look at Cole bleeding all over the stone floor, and nodded. Within seconds, he was back with the med kit and some pants for both of us. I ignored the pants and examined the wound on Cole's abdomen. The bleeding had slowed down, but it wasn't healing like it should, which told me the bullet - or a fragment of it - was stuck in there.

I cleaned the entrance wound with pure alcohol and grabbed the tweezers. Thankfully, Cole wasn't awake, or the next part would have had him climbing the walls. Sure enough, there was a small fragment lodged just inside the hole. I gently retrieved it and dropped it on the floor.

So far as I could tell, there was no serious damage. I was more concerned about the head wound, but without access to a hospital, all I could do was stitch up the bullet hole and hope for the best.

Thirty minutes later, Cole came to. "Eva," he grunted, his eyes glassy with pain. The gunshot wound had begun to knit together, and the bleeding had stopped.

"Some bastard has taken her," Tanner said, his jaw clenching.

He'd shown me the camera footage. Neither of us recognized the guy, but he was now a dead man walking.

I'd seen Tanner when he lost his shit. He was more in control of his temper these days - lessons had been learned after Jessie-Lynn's death - but when he lost it, people usually died. Bad people, mostly, but still. He was dangerous and difficult to stop once the red mist descended.

My wolf whined and howled in my chest. He couldn't understand why we weren't chasing after our female. From the way Tanner's eyes glowed gold, his wolf felt the same.

Cole tried to sit up and then groaned. "The fucker shot me," he grunted, stating the obvious. "I'd have been alright if I hadn't hit my head." He looked down at my stitching job and scowled. "That'll scar nicely." I ignored him. We had bigger problems than my piss-poor sewing skills.

"I'll go out and track the guy. See if I can find out which direction they've gone," I told them.

Tanner nodded. "I'll call Rufus, see if anyone has any more info."