When Donal started to follow her, Tynan gripped his arm. “Let her go. She needs some time.”
And face it, a snarky cat wasn’t a good choice at soothing a female.
When Tynan finally led the way out of the library, he didn’t see her and had a moment of worry.
Please tell me she didn’t leave the house on a dark of the moon night.
Hearing female voices in the kitchen, he relaxed. She was with Breanne. Good. Bree was a soothing person.
Unsure what to do next, he took a chair in the sitting area. “We could have handled that better.”
Looking as unhappy as Tynan felt, Donal sat on the couch and held his hands out to the fire. “Punching the mangy-tailed maggot was the right thing to do. Reprimanding her brother though…”
“Aye, her brother.” That was the problem. Tynan rubbed the ache in his neck. “She hurts for him.”
“Aye. She might not forgive us for making him feel bad. Not any time soon.”
There was no answer for that truth.
The low sound of conversation came from the kitchen. Maybe Meggie would confide in the alpha female. Breanne might condemn Tynan and Donal, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t approve of Oliver’s inaction, either.
In the fireplace, a salamander pirouetted in the flames. Only one fire lizard tonight. Did salamanders get lonely?
Absently, Tynan rubbed his chest. The altercation with Meggie had lodged there with a dull ache. “We should have talked with her before tackling her brother.”
Donal snorted. “I figured that out right about the time her fist hit my gut.”
Angry female shifters could stay angry for quite a while. “I’ve seen human males try to placate their women with flowers or chocolate.”
Donal brightened. “Is it effective?”
“Maybe in decreasing the time to resolution. Not the ultimate results.”
“As in, if the relationship was doomed, it would still be doomed?”
“Alas, yes.”
“Still…” Donal turned to look at the kitchen. “What kind of chocolate would—”
A loud yell interrupted him.
That’d been Silas’s voice. Just outside the lodge. He screamed—a rising shriek that broke off with the gut-wrenching finality of death.
Fuck.
Tynan ran to the door, Donal behind him. He slapped Donal’s hand away from the handle. “Wait.”
Tynan edged the curtains apart. Metal bars covered the lodge’s front windows. A light over the door illumined an empty parking area. Vehicles were parked near the porch, off to one side.
There. On the far side of the gravel lot. Something the size of a grizzly moved. No fur. The light glinted off bony spiked plates and a shark-like head.
Tynan’s breathing stalled.
That was a hellhound, something he’d never seen before.
It stood over a body and a pool of black liquid. Blood. The amount indicated the victim was very dead. Tynan recognized the lime-green shirt that Oliver’s friend had worn.
“Yes, that’s Silas,” Donal murmured.
By the Gods. Every instinct Tynan had shouted for him to attack and kill the demon hound. It was his job to protect. But even the God-called cahirs didn’t take on a hellhound alone.
“Call Alec,” Tynan said quietly.
“Already on it,” Donal snapped, phone in hand.
To the left of the parking area, Shay in wolf form slid through the underbrush.
Thank fuck, it appeared the cahirs were already here.
Zeb in human form followed the wolf.
As the hellhound devoured its kill, Zeb and Shay separated for the attack, the wolf to the rear, Zeb from the side.
Suddenly, a shout came from a cabin down the lane. “What was that yelling?”
The hellhound turned…and spotted Zeb in the open. It charged, an unstoppable force. Even as Zeb shot his pistol, the demon hound ploughed into him, knocking the cahir onto his side, ripping at his shoulder and neck.
Snarling viciously, Shay attacked from the rear in a frantic effort to save his brother.
The hellhound spun, latched onto Shay’s front leg, and threw the wolf halfway across the lot. The wolf didn’t rise.
Gods help them. Tynan’s gut tightened. No choice.
“Lock the door behind me, mo deartháir.” Ignoring Donal’s protest, Tynan stepped silently out onto the porch.
Shadows moved in the forest on the right side of the lot, and a glimmer of hope awoke. The other three cahirs were coming, two on one side, one on the other.
But the hellhound was already stalking toward Shay to finish him off. Shay wasn’t moving.
The other cahirs would arrive too late.
Yelling, Tynan leaped off the porch to land right in front of the hellhound. Then he ran…ran faster than he ever had before.
No predator could resist fleeing prey.
As he tore across the lot toward the three cahirs, the scrabble of heavy claws grated in the gravel behind him. Closing on him.
* * *
What is going on? Who had screamed? Even as Margery ran into the living room, Donal shouted, “Lock the door,” and disappeared outside.
Outside. She reached the door, looked out, and horror met her eyes.
Tynan tore across the parking lot with a ghastly monster after him. Huge and gray and…it was a hellhound. Oh Gods.
Closer to the lodge, Donal sprinted toward someone on the ground. Blood spurted upward in rhythmic fountains—an artery had been torn open.
Zeb—it was Zeb. At that rate, he’d bleed out quickly.
Donal would save him.
But no, Zeb was growling, fighting Donal, pushing his hands away. The cahir was disoriented.
Margery’s hands closed into fists. Donal needed help. She took a step forward, and terror seized her. Hellhound.
But Zeb would die.
Her heart slammed so hard against her ribcage she couldn’t draw a breath. Hideous growling came from the other end of the lot.
She couldn’t help Tynan. Must help Donal.
Pulling in a breath against the constriction in her lungs, she abandoned safety and scrambled to Donal. She skidded the last inches on her knees and bumped against Zeb’s hip.
“Zeb. Easy, Zeb. Peace, cahir.” She took his hands—please, Mother of All, help—and pushed the calm of the Goddess into the cahir. “It’s all right, Zeb. You’re safe. We’re all safe.”
Such a lie.
But Zeb stilled, letting her hold his hands. His dark eyes were dazed.
“Bless you, banfasa.” Donal put his hands lightly on Zeb’s neck, stopping the arcing blasts of blood, and with a blast of power she could feel, healed the artery.
A ghastly shriek split the air.
Donal turned to look across the lot.
Terrified of what she’d see, she followed his gaze—although she had to lean forward to see past a pair of legs standing between her and the sight.
The hellhound was down.
Thank the Gods.
A grizzly and panther circled the hellhound’s still figure. As Alec stood over it, the hellhound shimmered and trawsfurred into human form. Dead.
Tynan was bent over, hands on his thighs, gasping for air. When Alec slapped his shoulder and said something, Tynan’s response made the sheriff laugh.
Males.
But Tynan was alive. Was safe. As the pressure around Margery’s ribs eased, she could breathe again.
Hearing a whine, she squinted at the shadows. “Donal, there’s a wolf over there. Shay. It’s Shay, and he’s hurt. I’ll take care of Zeb.”
Donal eyed Zeb. “That’ll work.” He rose, squeezed her shoulder, and headed for Shay.
Zeb tried to rise, too.
“If you move, you idiot, I’ll shoot you,” Breanne said in a very calm voice.
Margery blinked, realizing that the pair of legs between her and the hellhound belonged to Bree. The alpha female held a big pistol in one hand and a dagger in the other.
“Where’d you come from?”
Breanne smiled tightly. “I followed you out.”
Tynan walked up, his eyes narrowing. “By the Gods, what are you two doing out here? Don’t you—”
“Perfect timing, Deputy,” Margery interrupted the forthcoming lecture. “Can you help Zeb inside? I think he’s concussed, and I know he’s lost a lot of blood.”
The look Tynan gave her said the lecture was only postponed.
“Let’s go, cahir.” He pulled Zeb to his feet, supporting him when the cahir’s knees buckled. Breanne stuffed the pistol under the waistband of her jeans and took his other side.
Closer to the trees, Donal was trying to hold Shay’s leg to heal it and failing.
The wolf was riled up. And, Gods, Shay sure had a scary growl.
Margery eased herself down to kneel beside the wolf, then tangled her fingers in his fur, past the undercoat, against his skin.
Don’t bite me, please, Alpha. She kept her voice to a low murmur. “Hey, Shay, you know Donal, let him heal your leg so we can go inside. Breanne’s waiting for you, and she won’t let you come inside if you’re bleeding. I bet you can have some cookies if you’re a good wolf.”
Donal flashed her a grin. “There’s a lure.”
She smiled and kept talking, knowing it didn’t matter what she said. The words helped her connect more deeply to the calm at her center. There was the slow lap of the peaceful waters and the moonlight sparkling on the dark surface. How could she not share such tranquility?
Under her hand, muscles relaxed, and with a heavy sigh, Shay laid his head in her lap.
“Margery, you’re a treasure,” Donal said quietly. “I’ll be done in a minute, Shay.”
Donal’s face went still, his eyes distant as he concentrated.
Oh, how she’d love to have his talent. But—she looked down at the quiet alpha—she had a Mother-given talent and her own hard-won skills.
So, as she stroked the soft fur, she offered her gratitude for the blessing of being able to help when needed.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” From his seat on the couch, Donal took the glass of apple cider from Breanne and glanced around the lodge’s sitting area. Everyone had shifted back to human and dressed.
On the other side of the room, Margery’s littermate was serving coffee. Although a bit unsteady on his feet from the alcohol, Oliver had run out to help everyone into the lodge. Donal had been pleased to see him search out Margery to make sure she was all right. Now he was quietly helping where he could, despite his grief for his comrade in arms.
When Oliver was told it was Silas who’d died, he flinched. Apparently, Silas never stayed inside during the dark of the moon. Since he’d never seen a hellhound, he didn’t believe they existed. And so, Oliver had taken another wound to a heart that had already received far too many.
Despite Donal’s anger earlier, he could only feel pity for the young male now.
Turning his gaze away, he drank the apple juice, the icy cold sweetness a surprise after the bitter taste of futility in his mouth. But life had its own balances. He was alive. Tynan and Margery were alive. Against the odds, they’d all survived, even if a bit battered.
Shaking his head, he concentrated on healing the mangled flesh on Ben’s shoulder. “How’d you make such a mess?” Then he knew. A hellhound’s plated armor had razor-sharp points that abraded everything. “You shredded your shoulder on the armor?”
Ben grimaced. “Yep.”
“What happened over there?” Donal’s throat tightened until he had to force the question out. “I saw Tynan playing prey but missed the rest.”
“Tynan baited it? Is that why I’m not dead?” Zeb put an arm around Breanne. He was sitting on the blanket pile next to the fire with Shay on Bree’s other side. “When our attack went to shit, I kinda figured we were hellhound fodder.”
“You should’ve been. We were too far away to reach you in time. But Tynan jumped off the porch so close to the damned thing, he could’ve slapped it on the snout. He drew it right to us.” Cross-legged beside the couch, Owen bent forward to let Margery put pressure on his back wound. “You’re incredibly fast, cop.”
Shoulder against the wall, Tynan laughed. “I had incredible motivation. Those teeth were only a foot away when Ben crashed into it from the side.”
Too fucking close. Donal closed his eyes for a moment. A glance at Margery showed she was equally shaken.
Ben rumbled a laugh. “Yeah, I knocked it off its feet, but if Owen hadn’t chomped onto its hind leg, it would’ve gotten me.”
“I think I bit the same leg as Shay did. The armor plating there was already damaged,” Owen said. “It didn’t appreciate the second bite, I’d say.”
“Was that the horrible shriek I heard?” Margery asked with a shudder.
“Not horrible. Really, really satisfying.” Owen grinned.
Bloodthirsty cahirs.
After one more surge of power, Donal straightened and checked Ben’s shoulder. Only pink lines marred the skin along with a lot of blood. Nothing was open. “Done here.”
He moved to the other end of the couch to work on Owen’s wound. A bite. “You bit the hellhound. Looks to me like it bit you back.”
“Fucking monsters,” Owen grumbled. “Yeah. While I sacrificed my skin for the cause, Alec rolled under it and sliced open its belly.”
“Rolled under it. Why am I not surprised?” Were cahirs born crazy, or did the God make them that way?
Hand on Owen’s back, Donal ran his gaze over the sheriff. Jeans and shirt ripped, no massive bloodstains. “Did it get you, too?”
Alec was as relaxed as Tynan. The two were much alike. “Nope. Just a few scrapes from sliding on gravel, and those will earn me a warm welcome from my mate.”
“You’re gonna play the wounded-while-saving-the-world card.” Owen looked thoughtful. “I’ll have to see if that works.”
Ah, new love. Previously distrustful of females, the cahir had turned completely around after he and his brother lifemated Darcy.
That didn’t mean his tail shouldn’t be pulled now and then. “Owen, my friend, if your female won’t drag you to bed unless you’ve almost died, you’re doing something wrong.”
As the other cahirs started to tease Owen, Donal winked at Margery. Because last night, she’d dragged him and Tynan upstairs, saying it was her turn to have her way with them.
Catching his look, she blushed the prettiest of pinks.
“While we’re all here, let me make sure I have this straight—since I’ll have to explain to Calum.” Alec folded his arms over his chest and frowned at Tynan. “You were unarmed and decided to bait a hellhound? To get it away from Zeb?”
When Tynan simply shrugged his agreement, Donal grinned. If his littermate saw something needed to be done, that’s what he did. He didn’t second guess his actions—or defend them.
“Then, even before the hellhound was killed, Donal ran into the open, followed by our banfasa and Breanne.” Alec gave Donal an irritated stare. “Healer, you know better.”
“I do, and normally, I’d wait. Zeb had an arterial bleed, and there was no time.”
After a second, Alec nodded and turned his displeasure toward Margery. “There was no need for you to—”
“There was.” Her chin lifted. “Zeb was dazed and fighting Donal. He needed to be calmed down so Donal could work.” She repeated Donal’s words. “There was no time.”
Donal had almost had a coronary when she appeared, but…she’d been right to do so.
“Sorry, Donal.” With a rueful look, Zeb admitted, “I thought you were the hellhound.”
“I’m confused.” Alec rubbed his forehead. “Margery, why would you think you could calm him when Donal couldn’t?”
“She has a gift,” Donal murmured. “A miraculous gift. Many banfasas can ease a shifter to some degree, but I’ve never met anyone with Margery’s skill.”
Margery stared at him, the surprise in her gaze heart-bre
aking. Which was just wrong. She should know how much her clan appreciated her.
He and Tynan would work on that.
Sitting back, Donal slapped Owen’s arm. “Done here. Go clean up.”
“Thanks, healer.” Owen rose.
Alec turned to look at Zeb and lifted his eyebrows. “Is that how you see it?”
“You know how when we shift, the Mother blesses us?” Zeb asked. “When Margery joined us, it felt like that. Like a hug. I still couldn’t think, but I knew everything would be all right.”
Alec scowled up at the ceiling, maybe to see if that’s where they’d all left their common sense. Finally, he sighed. “In that case, thank you, healer. Banfasa. Although when I tell Calum about you two being in harm’s way, he’ll leave claw marks on my hide.”
Alec’s gaze turned to Breanne. “You, however, have no excuse for setting foot outside the lodge.”
Her lips quirked. “On the contrary. Someone needed to guard our healer and banfasa. I was there, and as it happens, I’ve killed a hellhound before.”
“I knew she’d use that on him,” Zeb said in a low tone to his littermate.
“Give it up, Alec.” Shay kissed Breanne’s fingers. “Breanne won’t hide when her mates are down. If you can win a battle like that with Vicki, let us know how.”
“You win.” Alec huffed a laugh, then straightened. “Owen, Ben, let’s finish patrolling. Shay, Zeb, take it easy for a couple of days, or we’ll all suffer through one of Donal’s diatribes.”
Donal stiffened. “My what?”
“You mean his rabid ranting?” Ben grinned.
“No, I think it’s called the healer’s harangue.” Shay tilted his head, baring his neck like a submissive wolf. “No worries, Donal. We’ll behave.”
“You’ll regret the insults, you maggot-ridden, mangy-tailed, minnow-dicked mongrels.” Donal turned a narrow-eyed stare on the entire batch of idiotic warriors…then heard the little female beside him trying to smother giggles.
And he smiled.
She’d gotten past being mad at him. Maybe now she’d accept his and Tynan’s apologies?
Maybe. She was stubborn. A banfasa. Female.
Groveling might be needed.
Chapter Twenty
Healing of the Wolf Page 29
