“I said to shut the hell up!” The man backhanded her across the face with his free hand. Her cheek throbbed from the harsh hit and blood flooded her mouth.
“Don’t bother trying that voodoo shit on me, you rotten creature. I can see straight through your lies.”
Katherine was done playing nice. She spat out a glob of blood tinted saliva directly at his face, watching with satisfaction as it hit its mark and dribbled down the man’s jaw. “Bastian is going to kill you.”
The man sneered, coolly wiping the spit off his face. “Not if I pump him full of bullets first. The silver will burn his flesh. I think I’m going to enjoy listening to his begs for mercy as I watch his organs and muscles disintegrate from the inside out.”
Katherine jerked fruitlessly at the cuffs shackling her to the tree, paying no mind to the sharp bite of the metal as it dug into the skin of her wrists. “Screw you! I wish it was you your father had killed!”
The gun came down at her before Katherine could even think of trying to dodge it, slamming into her temple with enough force to temporarily disorient her. An odd sort of ringing echoed in her ears, and her vision blackened around the edges for just a moment. Slick blood trickled down from where the gun had connected with her head.
She’d just been pistol whipped.
Katherine hadn’t quite recovered from the hit when the man who’d struck her abruptly turned around, aiming his gun at a bit of undergrowth on the other side of the small clearing – a bit of undergrowth from which vicious growling had just erupted.
No.
Terror for Bastian enveloped Katherine as he emerged from the overgrown shrubbery in his wolf form. A fierce snarl was on his lips, his ears lying flat against his head as he fearlessly bared his sharp incisors at the man who had a gun pointed directly between his eyes.
“You must be Bastian,” the man greeted with a pleased grin, unduly arrogant as he faced down a wolf easily twice his size. Twice his size and snapping at him like he wanted nothing more than to clamp his sharp teeth around his neck and severe his head from his body. “And here I was starting to think you wouldn’t show. I’m so glad you made it. After all, killing this little beastie here wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying without crushing her spirit first. And this, I know, will destroy her.”
The hunter cocked his gun.
Katherine, whose heart was beating wildly in her chest as she took in the man’s horrid words, blindly reacted. Vehemently hoping that he was standing close enough to her for her haphazard plan to work, she used the tree at her back as leverage and desperately attempted to kick the hunter. Miraculously, her foot connected with the back of his right knee and it buckled under his weight, throwing him off balance for just a moment.
But that moment of distraction was all that Bastian needed and he sprung himself at the hunter. A shot rang out from the man’s gun at the same time Bastian’s body collided with his. Bastian snapped his jaws around the wrist connected to the hand holding the gun, and with a ruthless jerk, he forced the hunter to drop the weapon.
“Bastian!” Katherine yelled as she tugged at the handcuffs still effectively chaining her to the tree, desperate to somehow help him even as she felt the blood dripping down her mangled wrists for her efforts.
She needn’t have bothered.
The second the hunter was unarmed, he was dead. She didn’t think his gun had even hit the ground before Bastian was digging his teeth into the man’s unprotected neck. Katherine heard a sickening crack, and then Bastian was carelessly tossing his body to the ground. It was a gruesome sight, the hunter’s head only half attached to his body, and bone peeking out through the torn flesh of his neck.
The pity Katherine had felt for the man only minutes earlier had fled when he’d first threatened Bastian, and she couldn’t bring herself to dredge up that sympathy even now that he was dead. Before she could wonder too much if that made her a bad person, though, her eyes caught sight of Bastian. The breath was stolen from her lungs as she took in his slumped form. He, too, lay bleeding out on the forest floor.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The continuous rise and fall of Bastian’s chest, tightly wrapped in white gauze, was the only thing keeping Katherine anchored to her sanity. Her eyes drank in the sight of it. The tell-tale signs of breathing were the only hint of life the man had displayed since being laid in his bed to recover. Otherwise, he hadn’t so much as twitched.
It was a surreal experience for Katherine to be the one steadfastly watching over her injured mate instead of the other way around. She was usually the one lying incapacitated in bed.
She hated the role reversal.
Absolutely hated it.
Staring at Bastian’s pale, silent form, she didn’t think she’d ever felt so helpless in her life.
Except perhaps when she’d been chained to that damnable tree in the forest three night ago – how could it have only been three nights ago? – and for several terrifying seconds, she’d been convinced that Bastian was dead.
Blood roared in Katherine’s ears as she took in Bastian’s crumpled form. “B-Bastian?” she called, voice quivering slightly in shock. And then more firmly, “Bastian!”
Dazed blue eyes cracked open as she yelled his name, and she watched helplessly as the wolf attempted to get to his feet, only to crumble back to the ground the moment he put even the slightest hint of pressure on his legs.
Katherine’s bottom lip wobbled as Bastian whimpered – the most pathetic noise she’d ever heard escape his mouth – and attempted to shuffle towards her on his belly before slowly coming to a halt about five feet away.
After that, his eyes fluttered shut and he didn’t move again.
“Bastian!” Katherine yelled, unashamed of the panic that saturated her voice.
Up close, she could see that blood coated the thick fur of his chest, damp and shiny in the light of the crescent shaped moon shining down on them.
Cold, hard fear churned in her gut as she realized that he must have been shot when he’d leapt at the hunter – shot with a silver bullet.
“Bastian!” she managed to choke out as she began to tug wildly at the cuffs that still shackled her to the tree.
But no matter how hard she pulled, the metal cuffs were just too tight around her wrists to slip free.
And no matter how desperately she called his name, Bastian did not get up. As far as Katherine could tell, he wasn’t moving at all. He was entirely too still, in fact, and vomit threatened to burn up her throat when she realized that she couldn’t tell if he was breathing.
No.
No. No. No. No. No.
Katherine’s heart beat so hard against her ribs that she was half convinced it’d burst free of her chest. “Please, please…” she whispered, as she tugged harder still at the cuffs around her wrists, paying no mind to the pain that assaulted her as metal dug into her skin and more and more blood began dripping from her abused wrists.
She was so close to escaping, but her hands just weren’t quite small enough so slip through…
Until miraculously they were.
Katherine stared in shock at the blood covered hands that were suddenly in front of her, when after a vicious yank she was able to pull them free with a sick sounding sqlurch.
Blood, she realized numbly, made an excellent lubricant.
“Damn it!” she swore, dropping her hands to her sides when the muscles of her shoulders suddenly seized and the horrid sensation of pins and needles engulfed the entirety of her arms. Katherine couldn’t afford to concentrate on her own discomfort, however, when Bastian was laying prone at her feet, and she immediately fell to her knees beside him.
Relief flooded her body when she saw that he was, in fact, breathing, but dread shot through her nearly immediately after when it became clear to her that his body was trembling with the effort it took to do so.
Katherine carefully ran her fingers through the area of Bastian’s fur that was matted with blood, searching for the source of the bl
eeding. Nearly immediately, they ran over a circular gap in his flesh that was slightly raised around the edges. Bastian jerked and an unconscious whimper was forced from him when she made contact with it.
Katherine swallowed thickly at the sound, batting back tears as he ran her free hand soothingly over the soft, downy fur of massive wolf’s snout. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”
But it wasn’t. And he wasn’t. Because the silver bullet had clearly lodged itself into his chest and rendered Bastian incapable of shifting back into his human form, and worse, the silver the bullet was incased with was slowly killing him from the inside out.
Katherine’s hand hovered uncertainly over the injury, but she already knew what she had to do.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered hoarsely, pressing her face into Bastian’s fur before pulling back and taking a deep breath. Then she dug her fingers into the dripping wound. Bastian spasmed violently at the undoubtedly painful sensation, and Katherine immediately withdrew her fingers.
For a moment, her confidence that she could do what needed to be done waivered.
But if she didn’t do it, Bastian will die.
Hardening her resolve, Katherine pressed her fingers into the wound again, this time more firmly. She dug them further into flesh and muscle when Bastian subconsciously tried to shake her off.
After what was only a few seconds – but had felt like a few lifetimes to Katherine – she finally felt the something hard. Squeezing it between her thumb and forefinger she swiftly tore it free from his body.
She flung the bullet away from her. And then she turned her head to the side and wretched. Bile splattered on the forest floor.
After attempting to spit the bitter taste of vomit out of her mouth and carelessly wiping it with a blood stained hand, Katherine stared at Bastian’s prone form. For a long moment, nothing happened, and fear had her very insides quivering.
But then Bastian was changing – morphing back into his human form before her eyes.
Where an injured wolf once lay, a human now did – naked and bleeding helplessly into the grass.
“Bastian?” she whispered softly – hopefully, even. But the man didn’t respond. He was still unconscious.
But his breathing didn’t look quite as labored. At least, Katherine didn’t think it did. Praying that it wasn’t just her imagination, Katherine forced herself up on shaky legs.
Regardless of whether or not his breathing was more or less labored than before, she still needed to get him help, and with no other option obvious to her, Katherine used the meager strength she still had left in her body to maneuver Bastian into her arms. The best she could manage to do was hold him up by the armpits, so trying to avoid the rocks and branches littering the ground, she began dragging him in what she was fairly certain was the direction of the house.
She struggled, accidently dropping him twice as her exhausted limbs fought to bare his significant weight. Nonetheless, she continued to pull him along until she knew the only reason she could possibly still be standing was through sheer will power alone.
Her legs were on the cusp of giving out on her when help finally arrived. Zane and Sophie, their faces streaked in panic, burst through the thick of trees in front of her. Both of their eyes widened in shock as they took in Katherine and the man in her arms, but at that point she hardly cared how close to death the pair of them almost certainly looked.
“Help me,” she managed to bark hoarsely.
They immediately moved to comply. Sophie gently pulled Bastian from her arms, her eyes shining with worry as they took in her incapacitated brother. Zane made a move to pick Katherine up, but he hadn’t even been able to properly wrap his arms around her when her eyes closed against her will, and she promptly passed out.
Katherine had awakened before they’d even made it back to the house – her body too aware of the danger her mate was in to truly rest despite how desperately she needed it.
Bastian, however, had yet to open his eyes.
She’d been forced to watch as Gabriela Atkins, the town healer who’d been fetched by Caleb, had quietly examined him and wrapped his wound. “You did well,” the redhead had attempted to assure her. “It’ll take a while for his body to recover from the gunshot wound seeing as it’s been complicated with silver poisoning, but I’m confident that in a few days’ time, he’ll be back on his feet. He’s too stubborn not to be.”
Even if he wasn’t, Katherine was determined to be stubborn enough for the both of them.
Which was precisely why in the span of three days, she’d only left his bedside for bathroom breaks and to have her own injuries tended to by Gabriela. And the latter she’d only agreed to because Zane had blatantly guilted her into it.
“How do you think Bastian would feel right now if he knew you weren’t taking care of yourself?”
That question alone had been enough to convince her to let the healer tend to the scrapes on her feet and wrap the ugly gashes on her wrists in the same white gauze that she’d wound around Bastian’s chest.
Her pack had yet, however, to persuade her to eat. Katherine was convinced that her stomach was twisted in way too many knots to even attempt it.
But that didn’t stop them from trying.
The distinct smell of beef stew in the air and the sound of footsteps approaching the bedroom door alerted her to the fact that yet another attempt was in progress.
When her door opened, however, it wasn’t Caleb peeking into the room with a sweet plea on his lips for Katherine to eat, but Markus storming right in, a scowl set firmly on his face and a tray full of food balancing precariously on his good hand.
Katherine cringed. Her pack must have been desperate if they were sending in Markus. She’d only seen the man once since she’d return from her misadventure in the woods and it had been to make sure he was okay. After all, Bastian wasn’t the only one who’d been shot by the hunter who was after her blood.
Truthfully, she’d been a little concerned that Markus might be avoiding her – that maybe he’d even thought she was at fault the injury his right bicep had suffered.
Guilt caused her stomach to churn as she spotted the basic, white sling that kept his injured arm secure against his chest, and Katherine quickly looked away.
She wasn’t sure she’d blame him if he did think that.
“Here,” Markus barked, swiftly approaching and shoving the tray at her. Worried that he’d spill the bowl of hot stew all over himself if she didn’t take it, Katherine reluctantly accepted the tray into her hands before setting it carefully on the night stand beside Bastian’s bed.
“I’m not hungry,” she muttered lowly when he openly glared at her actions. Katherine ignored the glower he directed at her, choosing instead to refocus on Bastian’s steady breathing.
“What the hell, princess?” Markus demanded.
Katherine swallowed dryly, still not looking at him. “What?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man’s complexion darken in an obvious sign of frustration. “Don’t you think that I – that the entire pack – have enough to worry about right now without adding you starving yourself to death in the mix?” he demanded. “What do you think Bastian would think if he could see you right now, ignoring your basic needs in favor of wallowing stubbornly by his bedside?”
Shame heated her face despite the fact that she knew Markus was only spewing the words out to get a rise out of her – to get her to eat. He – none of them, really – understood that her stomach was too cramped with worry to properly digest anything. “Sorry.”
Perhaps she should have been, but Katherine wasn’t prepared for the resulting temper tantrum. “You should be sorry, damn it!” he barked, and she flinched. “What in the hell were you thinking going with that hunter? Letting him put his grubby hands on you? Did you think he was taking you out for a scenic walk through the woods or something? Christ, I told you to fucking run! I practically begged you to! Don’t you know what you mean to all of us?
To me? I care too much about you to… to…” he trailed off, as if realizing what he’d just said.
Katherine’s blinked owlishly, her brain whirling at what Markus had just revealed. She’d always known he cared – well maybe not always, but for a while now, at least – but she was shocked that he’d actually said it. He seemed surprised himself, glaring at the floor with his patent scowl.
Taking a deep breath, Katherine wrapped her hand around the man’s good wrist, beseeching that he look at her. “I didn’t run – I couldn’t run – because I care about you, Markus. You’re my brother. I... I couldn’t just let that hunter hurt you like that. He would have killed you if I hadn’t gone with him.”
Markus’s shoulders relaxed slightly at her confession and Katherine could almost see angry tension draining from his body.
“Look at me,” he demanded shortly.
Because he asked so nicely – for Markus, at least – she graced him with her gaze.
She stiffened when he grabbed either side of her face with surprisingly gentle hands, his hazel eyes serious as they drilled into her green orbs. “Listen closely because I’m only going to say this once. And if you tell anyone about the cheesy crap that’s about to come out of my mouth, I will rigorously deny it. Got it?”
Beyond curious, Katherine nodded. “Got it.”
“Okay,” he muttered, but didn’t remove his hands from her cheeks. “As much as I hate to admit it, you probably did save my life from that hunter. I know damn well that you saved Bastian’s. That cannot be denied. But the thing of it is…,” Markus looked physically pained, almost like she was pulling the words out of his mouth with a seventeenth century pliers instead of him offering them freely to her. “I would have never forgiven myself if something had happened to you.”
Despite the seriousness of his words, Katherine couldn’t help a tiny smirk from lifting the corners of her mouth. “I always knew you liked me.”
Markus rolled at eyes at her assertion, releasing her face. “Whatever. Anyway, Bastian would have slaughtered me if you’d been hurt trying to save my neck. The point is can you just let us do the protecting from now on? Please?”
Shy (Once Bitten, Twice Shy, #2) Page 28
