The growl was constant in Link’s throat, and his eyes were still the same demon-bright color they had been when he’d taken the McCall pack. He didn’t answer her, which was answer enough.
“I have to get you to Vera,” he gritted out in an inhuman, gravelly voice.
“Link—”
“I can feel them. Feel it. Dark. Darkness so thick I can’t breathe. I’m not with you, Nicole.” He lifted his terrifying gaze to hers. “But I will be.”
There was promise in his tone, so she nodded and scooted back to give him room to sit on the snow machine in front of her. Their supplies had been hastily wadded up and thrown on top of the bags of caribou meat, then tied down in a hurry, but at least they wouldn’t have to come back out here for it. These woods were haunted now.
She dragged her sad gaze over the wolves she’d killed that lay scattered around the camp and beyond. “I killed men.” Her voice came out ragged and shaky.
“Those assholes weren’t men. They were monsters. You did the world a favor.”
Link jammed the throttle and didn’t say another word as he drove them back through the mountain passes, down Buck’s trap line, and toward the Silvers’ land.
Her arm hurt like hell to use, so she kept it tucked between her stomach and Link’s tense back and held on with all her might with her other hand as the snow-covered evergreen woods blurred by.
He didn’t say a word as he cut the engine in front of Vera’s cabin. He just picked her up and ran with her up the porch stairs, shoved the door open, and yelled, “Vera!”
“What is it?” Vera asked, rushing in from the other room, her chestnut curls blowing behind her. “Fuck, Link!” she yelled, skidding to a stop. She looked from him to Nicole and back. “Why do you smell like that?”
“Nicole’s hurt.” His voice couldn’t pass for human at all anymore.
“Link set her down. I can’t come any closer. Send her to me. You feel… My fox won’t let me near you.”
Nicole scrambled from his arms and shrugged numbly out of her jacket, then shoved her warm layers up her arm to expose the bandages. Vera was growling now, too, as she unwrapped the bloody gauze, and when she got the first glimpse of the torn skin, Vera whispered, “Shit. Is this what I think it is?”
Nicole swallowed audibly and nodded. “The McCalls came for me when Link was looking for firewood.”
Vera jerked her attention to Link. She scented the air, and a wave of disbelief washed over her face. Even Nicole could feel it now. Link was different. He was filling the air with something heavy that made her nauseous.
“You didn’t.” Vera dropped Nicole’s arm and strode for the radio on the wall. She jammed the button and said, “Elyse, are you there? Please tell me you are there. Elyse!”
“Yes, I’m here. Damn, woman, you barely gave me any time to respond to—”
“Nicole’s hurt. The McCalls came after her, and now Link feels like a fucking alpha. Family meeting now, and please bring your sutures. Your stitches are better than mine.”#p#分页标题#e#
There was a single beat of silence, then, “We’re on our way.”
Vera slammed the handset back into its sling and rounded on Link. “You stay there. I can’t work on her with you at my back growling like that. I’ll take care of your mate, but you have to give me room.”
Link lifted his lip in a snarl and, for an instant, his face looked unrecognizable. He looked completely feral—half human, half monster. He jerked his white gaze away from Vera and nodded once.
Nicole padded over to him and lifted up on her tiptoes. Hesitating only a moment when a soft snarl emanated from his throat, she kissed him softly on the cheek. “Vera will take good care of me.”
He huffed a breath, as if he’d been holding it in, then lifted her palm to his lips and kissed her there. He looked at her seeping arm. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to you sooner. I heard the gunshots, I heard you scream my name and beg for help, and I thought I was going to be too late. Now you’ll be scarred because of me.”
“So I’ll be scarred. Because of you, it’s not worse. You saved my life.” She lifted her chin proudly. “My mate. You blew through two wolves like they were nothing defending me.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “You did good.”
Link rolled his eyes closed and rested his forehead against hers. “So did you.”
****
“Let me get this straight,” Tobias said, leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms over his chest, looking grumpy. “Vera told you to stay away from the McCalls, and you became their alpha instead.”