Pretty Baby(21)

Something close to elation flowed over the wolf at the man's pain. The  man attacked that which was most important in the world to the wolf, his  mate. The man deserved to die as far as he was concerned.

The wolf wanted to keep on tearing at the man until he stopped  breathing. Only by the thinnest of threads did he stop before the man  died. Still, he bared his teeth until the man scooted back to lean  against the brick wall, his injured arm held limply against his stomach.  He didn't look like he would be going anywhere.                       
       
           



       

Knowing that one threat had been eliminated, the wolf turned to face the  others. He spotted a familiar smelling man slinking off down the alley  and thought about going after him for about two seconds. The sight of  the other man slamming a fist into his mate's face seemed more  important. He could get nasty smelling man later.

The wolf raced over to where his mate was fighting with the unknown man  and sank his teeth into the man's leg. The man jerked his leg, trying to  dislodge the wolf, but he refused to let go, just sinking his teeth in  further.

He winced when he felt a blinding pain between his shoulder blades. The  grip he had on the man's leg loosened just enough for the man to shake  his teeth free. The wolf whimpered when another blinding flash of pain  rocked through his side as the man kicked him in the ribs. He felt  something snap as he fell to the ground.

He tried to raise his head to see where his mate was, the man's safety  more important than the agony filling every nerve in his body. His mate  was still fighting for everything he was worth. The wolf tried to regain  his feet to help his mate, but the moment he did, his head began to  swim and his vision went blurry.

The wolf snarled, not liking the feeling of being out of control. Rage  still burned through him, but it was quickly being overcome by the pain  racking his body. He could feel a cold, wet substance trickling down his  sides from the aching pain between his shoulders and breathing took  effort. Each breath was unbearable.

The wolf tried to push the pain to the back of his mind. He had more  important things to worry about, like protecting his mate. He shook his  head to get rid of the blurred vision then lunged and charged at the guy  going after his mate. He wanted blood.

"Elliot! Stop, that's enough!" He heard the words, but they sounded far  away, almost like someone shouted at him through water. The wolf sent  his mate a hostile glare when the man pulled at his fur. He didn't  understand why his mate was trying to pull him away from the one bent on  harming them.

"Elliot, stop, he's done. He's not going to hurt us anymore." The wolf  stopped and stared down at the man on the ground. Blood covered most of  his features. Deep gashes marred his arms and chest where he had been  bitten. He wasn't moving. He dropped the arm in his mouth and backed  away, hunching down to see if the man was going to move again.

"Damn, Elliot, you're bleeding all over the place." Despite the pain  that was rocking back into his body, the wolf felt an overwhelming joy  when his mate's hands brushed over his fur. He rolled onto his side and  started panting when simple breathing became too much. He wanted to feel  more of his mate's touch.

"Elliot? Baby?" He could hear the current of panic creeping into his  mate's voice, but the pain in his body was starting to override even his  need to protect his mate. It was starting to make his vision blur again  and his stomach roll.

He whimpered and licked at the hand that moved along his muzzle, pushing  into the gentle touch. He needed to tell his mate that he was okay,  that he just needed to rest for awhile and then he'd be back on his feet  again. He just needed to close his eyes for a few minutes … that was  all … just a few …

* * * * Tommy swallowed past the lump of fear that lodged in his throat  when Elliot's dark blue eyes slowly fell closed. He rubbed his hand over  Elliot's muzzle again. "Elliot? Come on, pretty baby, open your eyes.  Come on, look at me, please, Elliot."

He could feel tears gathering in the corner of his eyes when Elliot  didn't respond to his words. The wolf's chest rose and fell, so Tommy  knew he was still alive, but his breathing seemed labored. Tommy  remembered one of their attackers kicking Elliot in the side. Maybe more  damage had been done than Tommy thought.

Tommy's heart sank when he spotted the knife sticking out from between  Elliot's shoulder blades. His hand trembled as he reached over and  pulled the knife out. Tommy dropped it on the ground then quickly pulled  his shirt over his head and pressed against the bleeding wound, trying  to stop the flow of blood.

With one hand holding his shirt on the wound, Tommy pulled the cell  phone out of his pocket and dialed Joe. He needed help, and in a big  way. Not only did he need to get Elliot somewhere safe where he could  receive medical attention, there were two very injured men in the alley  with them.

"Joe?" Tommy said the moment his brother answered the phone. "I'm in the  alley two blocks from the bar, the one between Coffee Time Café and the  bookstore. I need help. I was attacked and Elliot came and saved me,  but now he's injured and there are two guys here that are also injured  and-"                       
       
           



       

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, brother, and take a deep breath. I'm on my way."

Tommy's grip on the cell phone tightened as he drew in a large breath of  air. His nose wrinkled when all he could smell was the coppery scent of  blood. Still, it did make him feel better, calmer.

"Okay, I saw Carl and two guys hanging around in the alley. I went to talk to them and they attacked me."

"Wait, I thought you said there were only two guys."

"Carl got away."

"Shit!"

"I'm telling you, Joe, he was waiting for me."

"Yeah, I suspect as much. He's positive you've done something to Elliot."

Tommy looked down at the wolf lying on the ground in front of him. "Well … "

"Yeah, yeah, so, tell me what else happened. How did Elliot get hurt?"

"Carl and these two guys were beating the crap out of me, and Eliot came  out of nowhere." Tommy chuckled nervously. "You should have seen him,  Joe. I've never seen a wolf move as fast as he did. He just tore right  into these guys, no hesitation."

"He was protecting his mate."

Tommy found himself grinning as he rubbed his free hand over Elliot's fur. "Yeah, I guess he was."

"Okay, I'm right around the corner. I've already put in a call to Doc  Jones. He's going to meet us at the house. I called Ben to take these  two guys up to the hospital. He can keep an eye on them until we can  question them."

Tommy glanced at the two injured men. He didn't care that much about  their injuries. They did attack him after all. But he did care about  what this attack would mean to the pack. "Can you call Dad, too? I think  some heavy shit is about to come down on us."

Tommy cringed when he heard Joe sigh. His father and brother had been  trying to tell him since he met Elliot that the man was a danger to the  pack. Tommy still didn't believe that. If everyone would just leave them  alone, things would be fine. It was the people meddling in their lives  that were a danger.

"Yeah, I'll give Dad a call."

"Elliot didn't do this, Joe."

"I know, Tommy, but you have to admit things are going to get dicey."

"Yeah, and I'm sorry for that, but I refuse to give Elliot up." Tommy  looked back down at the wolf and swallowed hard when he felt overcome by  the emotions swamping him. "He's my mate, Joe."

"I hear you, Tommy."

"Do you?" Tommy wanted to scream, but he knew that wouldn't help the  situation at all. He just couldn't understand why everyone was putting  up so many road blocks to him being with Elliot. The coming together of  mates was supposed to be a sacred thing, not so fucked up. "Do you  really?"

"I do, Tommy," Joe replied, his voice much quieter. "And I'll do  whatever I can to help you, but I need you to understand how much danger  we're in. I know Elliot is your mate, and I hope you have many happy  years together. But you need to help me keep the pack safe."

"I won't give Elliot up, and if we have to, we'll go somewhere else."

"You're safer here."

"Are we? You and Dad have both already tried to make me give Elliot up. How is that safe?"

"We were wrong, Tommy, okay?" Joe shouted. "We fucked up and didn't  respect the bond that you have with Elliot. I fully admit that. But you  have a part in this too, Tommy. You refuse to see how dangerous this  situation is."