Warrior Page 10

  “You fought them off? By yourself?”

  “J-just one,” she croaked.

  I let out a short laugh and shook my head. “Just one? Khristu!”

  Crocotta were savage fighters, and she had fought one with a knife while trapped in this small space. Pride filled me, and I tugged gently on her hands.

  “We need to get you out of this thing. Do you think you can stand?”

  She nodded, and then she let out a cry of pain. The agony on her face awoke something dark and violent within me.

  “What is it? Did it hurt you?”

  She nodded weakly and closed her eyes, but that didn’t stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks. “G-guess I’m not much of a fighter after all.”

  The urge to kill something rose up inside me, catching me off guard. I had to fight to maintain a calm expression so I didn’t frighten her more.

  Get it together. The last thing she needs is to see you lose it.

  “Stay here,” I managed to say.

  I ducked out of the cab and stormed away from the truck. My mate was hurt. Her cry of pain echoed in my head, and all I could see was blood. The smell clung to my nostrils, fueling the fury building inside me.

  I almost ripped the storage compartment off my bike in my search for the can of gunna paste I kept there. The medicine was carried by all warriors because it was a pain reliever as well as an accelerant for our natural healing abilities.

  I swore loudly when I couldn’t find the can of paste, and I almost punched Chris when he nudged me aside and dug through the compartment. His hand reappeared holding the metal cylinder, and I reached for it, but he held it away from me.

  “Give me the goddamn can, Chris.” I advanced on my best friend.

  “I will tend to her,” he said.

  “The hell you will. I’ll take care of her.”

  “Nikolas, you need to calm down,” he ordered in an even voice. “If you go over there like this, you’ll frighten her. Is that what you want?”

  His words pierced my anger. “No, I don’t want that.”

  He nodded. “She’ll be okay. Just get it under control while I do this.”

  I stood rigidly beside my bike while he went to the truck. I heard the soft murmur of voices, and a few minutes later, Chris reappeared with Sara in his arms.

  I started toward them, but stopped when he set her on her feet. She clung to him for support while he examined the injury on her arm and explained about crocotta venom. She looked weak, but her face was no longer twisted in pain, thanks to the gunna paste.

  When Chris turned her and pulled up her coat and shirt to reveal the scratches on her back, a deep primal rage erupted inside me. It pulsed red behind my eyes, and my body trembled as my Mori fought for dominance. Only Chris’s words about frightening Sara kept me rooted to the spot and fighting with every ounce of willpower to control my Mori’s rage.

  “These are a little deeper but nothing life-threatening,” Chris said loudly, and I knew he was trying to reassure me as much as her.

  Sara looked at me, wearing a confused expression, but all I could do was stare back at her. Chris smiled and said, “I have a better bedside manner than my friend.”

  “He looks angry. Is he mad at me?” she asked.

  Chris shot me a warning look. “No. He’s upset that we were too late to stop you from getting hurt. He’s worked himself into a bit of a rage, and he just needs a minute to calm down.”

  She looked away from me. “A rage?”

  “Yes, it happens when…” He glanced at me again as if he was unsure of what to tell her. “It’s a Mori thing. You’ll learn about that stuff soon.”

  “Oh.” She looked around fearfully. “Where are my friends?”

  “They are making sure there are no more crocotta hiding nearby.” Chris whistled softly. “Six of them. That is an unusually large pack. Someone is very serious about finding you.”

  I clenched my hands into fists at the thought of what would have happened if Erik hadn’t called me. If we hadn’t gotten here when we did…

  “Finding me?” Sara asked in a small voice.

  “The crocotta are trackers,” Chris told her. “Someone sent them after you, probably with orders to retrieve you.”

  “They…almost killed me.”

  He helped her into her torn, bloody coat. “The thrill of the hunt got the better of them. Good thing they’re not as good at killing as they are at tracking.”

  She started to shake, and her hand flew up to cover her mouth. “I think I’m going to be sick,” she uttered before she rushed to the other side of the road and threw up.

  The sight of her in so much misery snapped me out of my rage, and I started toward her.

  Chris held up a hand and mouthed, Wait.

  “I’m good,” I said in a low voice.

  The anger was gone, replaced by the need to comfort the girl who was quickly becoming the most important person in my life. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but right now, all that mattered was her well-being.

  She finished retching and stood facing away from us, shivering with her arms wrapped around her. She looked so small and vulnerable that my chest ached.

  I pulled off my leather jacket and walked over to drape it across her shoulders.

  “I’ll get blood all over it,” she argued weakly.

  I gently turned her to face me, wrapping the jacket around her to make sure she was covered and warm. The jacket swallowed her. The sight of her in it made my Mori happy and stirred more than my protective instincts.

  I released her and took a step back. “I think it can stand a little blood.”

  “I… Thank you,” she said softly.

  I was glad to see she was no longer shivering. “Are you still in pain?”

  She shook her head. “I’m much better, thanks.”

  She looked past me, and I watched her face as her gaze moved over the dead crocotta and landed on the destroyed truck. Her eyes widened when she saw the extent of the damage for the first time.

  “Only someone with warrior blood could have survived that,” I told her.

  “I’m not a warrior.”

  “So you keep telling me,” I challenged softly.

  The play of emotions across her face made me want to pull her to me and comfort her. I went to busy myself by checking on my bike. Sara was injured and most likely suffering from mild shock; she didn’t need to deal with my lack of control on top of that.

  “Sara!”

  Her friend Roland ran toward her, and I was glad to see he had found his clothing. When he reached her, he moved to hug her, but she held up a hand to stop him. His smile was replaced by concern. “Are you hurt?”

  “Yes, but I’ll live,” she replied.

  “I nearly lost it when I saw it attacking you,” he said in a shaky voice. “I studied crocotta, but I never thought I’d see them around here. Fuck! They were strong. You were incredible, fighting it off like that.”

  Yes, she was, I agreed.

  “I wouldn’t have lasted much longer without you guys.” She glanced around. “Where is Peter, by the way? There’s no way I’m going out there looking for him again.”

  Roland laughed. “He went to find his clothes. There was no one home when he got there, so he grabbed a lug wrench and headed back. He was coming up the road when he saw us getting attacked.”

  Sara was quiet for a moment. Then she turned to me. “How did you know?”

  “One of our men called to tell me a crocotta had been seen in the Portland area,” I said. “I knew that they could track you, even if the vampires couldn’t.”

  “But how did you know where we were?”

  Chris chuckled. “I put a tracker on your friend’s truck at the pizza place a few days ago.” Her eyes widened and he said, “You didn’t think I was going to run around town all week looking for you, did you?”

  Roland looked angry, but we would not apologize for taking a measure that had ended up saving their live
s. I’d do it again, as many times as I had to, to keep Sara safe.

  Their friend Peter ran up to us. “I think we got them all. No worries about one of them reporting back to whoever sent them.” He stared at the truck. “Damn! What the hell happened to the truck?”

  “You three are like a disaster magnet.” Tonight had proven that this town was no longer safe for Sara. The best place for her was Westhorne. Surely she would agree after what had happened here.

  I rooted in the compartment on my bike for my phone before I remembered it was in my jacket pocket. I walked over to Sara and retrieved my phone. “I’m going to call for a pickup,” I said to Chris.

  Sara gave me a puzzled look. “A pickup for what?”

  “Not what, who,” I answered. “Look around. It’s not safe here for you.”

  Her lips pressed together, and she moved closer to Roland. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  It bothered me that she moved toward another male for support, but I pushed it aside. Her safety was more important than my jealousy. “Be reasonable, Sara. You need to be with people who can protect you.”

  “We can protect her.” Roland hugged her against him with one arm.

  “I can see that,” I replied dryly. “Why is it both times she’s been attacked were when you’ve been protecting her?”

  Roland’s eyes narrowed. “Are you implying something?”

  Was he serious? “Look around you.”

  He scowled at me. “No one could have expected a large pack of crocotta to show up like that. And you couldn’t have held off that many alone either.”

  “No, but if she was with her own people, she wouldn’t have had to worry about that.”

  “Her people?” he repeated angrily, and I could tell I had touched a nerve. “We’re her friends. We care for her more than a bunch of strangers.”

  “They wouldn’t be strangers for long,” I argued. “And she can train to protect herself.”

  “Stop it!”

  I looked at Sara, whose eyes were flashing angrily.

  “Stop talking about me like I’m not even here,” she yelled at us. “I’m not leaving New Hastings, so drop it.”

  Her short outburst seemed to drain her, and the fire went out of her eyes as she sagged wearily against Roland. I immediately regretted upsetting her.

  “Sara, I think you should come home with us tonight,” Roland told her.

  She looked at the dead crocotta. “But you guys got them all.”

  “Yes, but you’re covered in blood and your clothes are all ripped up. You don’t want Nate to see you like this.”

  She looked down at her ripped and bloody clothes, and sighed heavily. “You’re right. Nate can’t see this.”

  I wasn’t happy about her refusal to leave, but I thought it was a good idea for her to stay with the werewolves tonight. Of course, I had every intention of going with her. My Mori was quiet now, but neither of us was going to let her out of our sight tonight.

  I looked at the truck and the mess of crocotta parts. “Is there anyone around here who can clean this up before the locals see it? If not, we’ll bring in someone.”

  “Yeah, I’ll call someone.” Roland pulled out his phone and made a call. When he hung up, he said, “My cousin Francis will be here in a few minutes with a crew to take care of this. We’ll take Sara to my house.”

  “Chris and I will come with you to make sure there’s no more trouble,” I said, expecting an argument.

  Roland shook his head. “There’s no need for that. She’ll be safe in the Knolls.”

  “Forgive me if I have my doubts. We will accompany you.”

  I was surprised when Sara didn’t protest us going with them. But one look at her face told me she was too tired to fight me on this.

  Her brow furrowed, and she looked at Chris. “How did you get here so fast?”

  “My bike is half a mile down the road. When I heard the crocotta’s hunting calls I decided to come in on foot to surprise them.” He arched an eyebrow at me. “I had no idea some people would come roaring in, making enough noise to wake the dead.”

  She gave him a weary smile. “Thank you.”

  Chris grinned. “And I thought small town life was boring.”

  Roland’s cleanup crew didn’t take long to get to us, and within minutes, a pickup and a car pulled to a stop in front of us. I recognized the driver of the car as the hotheaded werewolf Chris and I had seen in Portland. He ignored us, drawn instead to the six crocotta corpses on the road. He swore repeatedly as he studied one of the creatures.

  Two more men piled out of the truck. One of them let out a whistle and looked at Sara’s friends. “You guys did this?” he asked incredulously.

  Peter grinned. “Yes, with help.”

  Francis and the others finally noticed us, and their faces twisted into scowls. “What are they doing here?” one of the guys asked. I expected Francis to have something to say after our encounter in the city, but he only glared at us.

  “They helped us fight the crocotta,” Peter told them.

  Sara looked like she could barely stand, and every second these guys talked was one more she would not be resting. “If you guys don’t mind, Sara is hurt.”

  Francis turned to her. “You’re hurt? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

  “No hospital,” she said firmly.

  “Maybe you should get checked out,” Roland told her.

  Chris stepped forward. “She’ll be okay. I gave her something to help with the pain and to speed up the healing. Trust me. It’s a very powerful medicine. The Mohiri have used it in battle for centuries. With her own accelerated healing, her injuries will go away in a few days.”

  Frances stared at Chris. “Her accelerated healing?”

  “It’s a long story,” Sara and Roland said at the same time.

  Francis gave his keys to Roland. “Take my car. I’ll stay here with the boys to take care of this. We’ll need to call in a few more hands to get rid of all these.”

  Roland helped Sara to the car, and they set off for his house. I climbed on my bike to follow them. “I’ll call you and let you know where we are,” I told Chris, who had started down the road toward his own bike.

  I parked beside the car at the house and went inside without bothering to knock. It wasn’t as if they weren’t expecting me. Roland and Peter were in the kitchen, and Roland pointed to the living room where Sara was curled up on the couch, still wearing my jacket.

  “We should put her in a bed so she’s more comfortable,” I told them in a low voice.

  Roland shook his head. “Sara loves our couch. She’ll be okay there.”

  “Then get her a warm blanket,” I insisted.

  “Sometimes, I forget she isn’t like us and she gets cold easier,” Roland said sheepishly. He disappeared down a hallway and returned carrying a thick quilt, which he laid over her. She mumbled in her sleep, but did not awaken.

  “Were the crocotta really sent to find Sara?” Peter whispered as I took out my phone and texted Chris to let him know where I was.

  “I believe so. I think the vampire who attacked her is trying to find her.”

  Peter’s eyes rounded. “But that was weeks ago. Why would he be looking for her?”

  “Because she got away. I have no proof it’s him, but I’ve seen vampires obsess over someone like this before. And you don’t use crocotta unless you’re desperate to find someone.”

  Roland swore. “Dude, thanks for showing up when you did. If anything happened to her…”

  “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.” I looked at her sleeping form. “She told you about my visit to her last week?”

  “Yeah, she told us what she is,” Roland said. “If you think that matters to us, you’re wrong.”

  It was good to know Sara had such loyal friends. I hoped someday she could learn to trust me as much as she trusted them.

  “Dad nearly lost it when I told him about the crocotta,” Peter whispered. “He an
d Uncle Brendon are on their way home.”

  “Mom will be here soon, too.” Roland looked at me. “You don’t need to stay. This place is gonna be swarming with pack soon, and nothing will get near Sara.”

  “I’ll stay all the same.” I left them and walked into the living room. Sara hadn’t moved, and she looked innocent and vulnerable in sleep. My Mori wanted to stand over her and growl at anyone who came near her. But I knew she was among friends here.

  I could have stood guard outside, but I couldn’t make myself leave her. I took a spot by the window where I could see her and keep watch at the same time.

  It was just after midnight when Roland’s mother, Judith, came home, followed shortly after by the Alpha, his Beta, and several other pack members. I stepped outside to talk to them briefly, but I refused to leave Sara for long. The wolves gave me questioning looks, but I saw no reason to explain my actions to them.

  Maxwell Kelly was a big, brawny man with graying reddish brown hair and beard who exuded authority. It was easy to see why he was the Alpha of the largest pack in the country.

  “Thank you for helping my son and nephew, and Sara,” he said in a deep voice. “We are in your debt.”

  A few of the other wolves grumbled, but a look from Maxwell silenced them. He turned back to me.

  “We are not used to having your kind here. How long do you intend to stay in our territory?”

  The underlying message in his question was clear. He would tolerate us because we had helped save the lives of his pups, but he didn’t like outsiders in his territory.

  “I’ll stay as long as I need to be here. I respect your territory, but Sara is Mohiri and under my protection.”

  Whispers and growls broke out around us. A low growl from Maxwell cut them off.

  He gave me a hard stare then nodded. “Your people are in Portland as well?”

  “Yes. We brought in a team to deal with the vampire problem there. And to provide backup in protecting Sara.” I shared what we had learned so far about the vampire activity in Portland.

  “I’ll increase patrols here and send some of my wolves to Portland,” he said.