“Do not wake her,” Winifred said with a warning growl as she opened the door for us.
Gregory and I carried the mattress. It wasn’t heavy. But its floppy awkwardness was easier to handle with two sets of hands.
Henry and Mary followed with the headboard and frame. Paul stayed behind to let Winifred know which home they’d ended up entering for the bed.
“Thank you so much for the bed,” Mary said again, grinning as she watched us cross the room.
“You’re welcome.” Gregory kept looking back at her, throwing the mattress off balance.
Pay attention, I sent him. We’re coming up to some stairs, and I’m not landing on my tail because you’re staring at your Mate.
He turned forward and grinned at me a moment before he shoved the mattress into my chest. I almost lost my balance.
Where’s your respect for authority? I sent him. You’re as bad a Grey.
“Wait right there,” Mary said when we reached the hallway at the top of the stairs. She moved around us and went ahead to open the door.
“We need to move her bed. This one won’t fit with hers in the middle of the room.”
I nodded, and we set the mattress down.
Walking into the moonlit room, I was once again assailed by her sweet scent. She curled on her side under the covers. Her hands were tucked under her cheek and her knees drawn up. Her pale hair spilled over her shoulder. Even with her face shadowed in the gloom, I could see the circles still under her eyes. Why wasn’t she looking more rested? Her words about not knowing how to care for a human rang more true. I knew the basics. They needed more warmth and got sick easier. But beyond that, I didn’t know much.
“She looks cold,” I said softly.
“She doesn’t use her second blanket because she thinks I need it. I have my own now so she can’t say no to using it.”
I took the extra blanket and covered her gently before moving to the head of the bed.
“Lift it slow and steady,” I told Gregory softly.
It wasn’t Winifred’s warning that had me worried, but Charlene’s well-being. She needed her sleep, it seemed.
As soon as we had the bed settled near an interior wall, I left the room so Gregory and Mary could set up the new bed. Henry was already gone.
With no one around to see me, I stepped into the room next door and stood near the wall. I could smell her through the wood planks. The knowledge that I needed to leave her, even for the night, hurt. Setting my hand on the wall, I closed my eyes against the pull to go to her.
Maybe I was wrong about humans. About their destructiveness. About her. Or maybe the pull and her scent were clouding my thoughts.
Turning, I walked out the door and made my way outside. Grey took one look at me and fell in beside me.
Talk to me, he said.
History has shown us again and again that humans are dangerous, destructive creatures. That’s why we’ve done everything we could to keep their existence from spreading further north.
We moved deeper into the trees then stripped out of the pants and shifted to our fur. In the dry leaves of last fall, I lay down and rested my head on my paws. My brother flopped down beside me, sending leaves up in a cloud. I shook them from my head, appreciating his attempt to lighten my mood.
Winifred’s right. Charlene is different. I can’t deny it. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t still dangerous. This pull is telling me to accept her. To try to Claim her. To protect her with my dying breath. But my head is telling me not to be so stupid. And I’ve seen too much of what they can do to ignore the warning. What am I supposed to do?
Hmm… His thoughts echoed in my mind. Listen to your head or your balls? That’s a tough call. Balls usually win, though.
I huffed a laugh and closed my eyes. Grey’s breathing quieted quickly while it took me much longer to relax. The pull didn’t ease up with distance. Eventually, I drifted off.
After only a few hours of sleep, we moved back toward the buildings, already dressed in our man pants.
We found Winifred leaning against the truck, watching the males emerge from the trees when we entered the clearing.
Gregory came out of the building just then.
“See?” Grey said. “Balls.”
Winifred shot him a look and then turned to watch Gregory.
“Thank you for leaving before she woke. Humans have different rules when it comes to relationships. There’s time if you’d like to hunt and bring something back for Mary.”
“Thanks, Winifred.”
He looked at us. We all needed to eat. Since the sun wasn’t yet up, we ditched our pants and set out west. It didn’t take long for each of us to down a hare. After we ate, Gregory sniffed out a second one to take back to Mary.
“Do you think I should get another one for Charlene?” he asked. “I don’t want Mary to have to share.”
“Charlene doesn’t seem to eat as much as we do,” I said, remembering the small portion of bird she’d picked at. “If Mary does share, she won’t starve.”
But his question did make me regret not returning with something for the girl.
When we reached the yard the sun had risen and already lit the building.
“She’s awake,” Winifred said to Gregory. “If you want to take—”
A scream of denial tore through the air.
Winifred and I bolted for the door at the same time. She was faster. I raced after her through the main door and up the stairs, where Mary stood frozen on the steps.
I wanted to ask her what had happened. Why had Charlene screamed like that? But I smelled blood and couldn’t stop. I needed to see Charlene. Needed to know she was okay.
Mary quickly followed us as we sped past.
Heart racing, I sprinted through the door then froze. Panic and fear hit me hard at the sight of Charlene laying on her bed, gasping and wide-eyed. She clutched at her throat, and I watched the blood pool between her fingers.
Winifred knelt beside her, talking to her softly when something moved to my right. I turned to look.
Crumpled against the wall, the male shook his head. Blood smeared around his mouth. Her blood. Rage ripped away my fear for Charlene. I didn’t think. I stepped toward him and closed my hand around his neck. Lifting him, I called my shift forward so my claws sunk deep into his skin.
“She isn’t yours,” he gasped. “She never will be.”
“Mary, your sheets,” Winifred said behind me.
I squeezed and kept squeezing until his soft flesh bulged around my fingers. Then I jerked him up and to the side quickly. The pop and cracks weren’t loud enough to drown out Charlene’s desperate gasping breaths. I watched the light fade from his gaze and his mouth go slack.
“You’re wrong,” I said softly, dropping the man.
“Thomas, we need to get her to a hospital,” Winifred said.
I moved to Winifred’s side and looked at Charlene. The blood wasn’t slowing. She would die without help. Yet, taking her to a hospital would endanger us all.
“They will ask questions,” I said, aching with the decision Winifred would likely make. Our laws bound us as much as they did her. She physically could not do something that wasn’t in the best interest of our race.
“I know,” she said, looking at me.
If I die because of this, don’t stop what she’s started, she sent me. I truly believe she is our only chance at a future, Thomas.
Shock filled me that Winifred believed so strongly she would willingly give her life for the girl.
Charlene closed her eyes and sobbed.
“I’ll carry her,” I said.
Winifred nodded and started to stand.
“Mary, hold the cloth. Keep moderate pressure on it. I’ll get the truck.”
“Truck?” Mary said, bending to take over.
“We can’t run with her. It would hurt her more. The truck is the best option we have.”
While Mary kept the pressure on Charlene’s neck, I moved to gently slide my arms under her shoulders and legs. It was then that I noticed she wasn’t wearing a shirt. The male had attacked her while she was dressing. I wanted to kill him all over again.
The weak flutter of Charlene’s pulse worried me.
“Stay with me, Charlene,” I said softly as we hurried down the hall.
I tried to hold her as still as possible, but she whimpered in pain with each step. At the bottom of the stairs, she went limp and panic gripped me.
“She’s breathing, Thomas,” Mary said. “We have to move faster.”
Winifred had the truck started and turned so the passenger side was aligned with the door. Mary stepped into the truck backwards, never removing the pressure as I eased into the seat with Charlene in my arms.
Don’t lose her, brother, Grey sent me as he closed the door. I’ve never heard of second chances.
I knew that. Yet, as her blood continued to flow, I didn’t know what I could possibly do to prevent her death. Human doctors were her only hope.
“Go, Winifred,” I said.
She drove fast out the long drive, trusting Mary and me to keep the pressure on the wound through the bumps and ruts.
Gravel spit from the tires as she turned on the road and accelerated. No one spoke. We were all listening to the one very precious heartbeat. Minutes and miles passed. Winifred kept the pedal to the floor. Vehicles were dangerous. Especially on the gravel. Gregory and I had taken out our share of humans that way by running in front of them. But as I noted the way Charlene’s pulse slowed, I understood why Winifred was risking it. Charlene was dying.
Fear ate a hole in my chest.