Nadine Book 7

60. The Bears

Thora gets me sudsy and I hear something.

This little tiny wolf runs out of the trees crying.

"Rinse off. I'm going to go figure this out."

I dunk myself quickly. Thora is carrying around a tiny wolf when I get out.

It wiggles away from her and takes off after the boys. She chases it, yelling something.

I step behind a tree and find my dress. I shift and change quickly.

Then I run back out and the little wolf is whimpering close to me. Thora is on the other side of the beach. He must have followed me.

I pick him up and give him a snuggle. "You're ok little 1. I won't let anything happen to you." I know it's just a wolf, but I think he feels better.

I go over to Dipak carrying him.

Alpha Mason's mouth falls open. "Is that Jackal?"

One of the guards looks at me. "Why are you holding my son?"

I shrug my shoulders. "He ran out of the trees crying. I was trying to make him feel better. This is a real child? Ronion said wolves don't shift until they come of werewolf age."

He shakes his head. "If they are purebred, they can shift early. It depends on when they get their wolf."

"Where is Charna?" The guard looks around.

"Who is that?"

"My mate. His mom. She wouldn't have let him roam around alone. Where did he come out at exactly?"

I turn toward the other side of the beach. "THORA."

"Oh good you found him. I thought I lost him. Poor baby is so scared. We're keeping him, Dipak." She takes him from me.

Dipak nods. "Well, his parents might have a problem with that."

"What do you mean?"

"He's my son. His name is Jackal."

"King Ronion said..."

Marcus rubs his eyes. "We are aware, Thora. Can you show us exactly where he came out of the trees please?"

"Sure." We follow her. Thora snuggles him. "Can wolves drink milk?"

I smile. "I have no idea. I can. I like milk."

"I'll get him some milk." I nod. "He came out right here. He was running and whimpering. I heard him from the beach."

Dipak turns around. "GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE."

Everyone comes running. He didn't even command it. He yelled.

Tye and Johen try to land in the same spot and knock each other over.

"This baby came running out of the trees right here and his momma is missing."

Tye scratches his head. "We're looking for a wolf?"

Dipak nods. "We're looking for a werewolf. She could be in wolf or human form. Keep your eyes open and run standard search. Do not approach though, she may get scared. She doesn't know us. Mind link Nadine if you see her. Tye and Johen, search from the air. Any questions?"

"What color is she?"

"She's a reddish tan. She wouldn't have left him to run off."

Thora nods. "She could have fallen asleep. You never know. Don't panic. Do the search and find her. Then we'll deal with whatever comes." The boys take off on foot or in the air.

I look at Thora once they're gone. "I really need underwear."

"There are bags of extra clothes on the beach. Dipak said it was to be safe. Guess it was a good idea."

I find some underwear and run back. "I feel better."

"Yea, that would be different. Especially in a short dress."

"The wind on my ass all the time."

Tye lands beside me. "We need you."

"That was fast."

"She's hurt badly."

"You need Omar."

"He's already there."

I follow Tye into the air. Not sure what I'll be able to do if Omar can't fix her. She's not that far in, but she's lying on a big rock by a little waterfall, kind of bent backwards. She's naked and in human form. It's different.

"What the hell happened?"

Omar points to a ledge. "I'm guessing she slipped up there somehow and landed on the rock. It's not that far of a drop, but onto a rock could do this kind of damage."

The guard is crying beside his mate.

"Can you heal her, Omar?"

"I tried, but the damage is severe."

"Let's move her to flat land and try again."

Dipak rubs his eyes. "Moving her could kill her."

"Well, not moving her is killing her too."

"Please help her. She's my world."

"Let's move her and give Omar another chance. I got her neck and head."

I put my hands on the back of her head and neck. The boys move around her and grab parts. Omar takes her mate and pulls him away. The boys and I get her moved to flat ground. I stabilize her neck as best as I can. Her neck is broken.

I try to heal her with my hands and Omar comes over and grabs her arm. I can feel the magic flooding into her. It's not doing anything.

"I can't help her with magic, Nadine."

"I don't know enough about werewolf medicine to open her up and fix her. Their bodies don't work the same as ours. If I rearrange her neck, I'm sure that would kill her." I look at Alpha Mason. "What are your options here?"

"We don't have any."

The guard hits his knees. "Please no."

Dipak smiles. "You wanted to try. It's the only chance she has at this point."

"Try what?"

"Turning a werewolf into a vampire or vice versa. We don't know if I can do it. It may kill her if I try. I've never tried."

Her mate begs me. "Try, please try."

Dipak looks at him. "She will be a vampire if it works. She will be immortal. We may never come through here again."

"Try. Please try. I'm losing her."

-Dragon.-

My eyes go red.

I stand up. "Alpha, kings, guards. Ahoy."

Dipak rubs his eyes. "Thoughts?"

"It would be cruel to make 1 person in the pack immortal. She would watch her children and mate die of old age. Everyone she loves will always die. I wish that fate on no one."

"We will figure something out. Please try." The guard starts sobbing. "Try on me first, please."

"Even turning into a vampire can kill you."

"JUST TRY PLEASE."

I am on him so fast. I sink my teeth into his neck. He screams, and then he hits the ground and keeps screaming.

Marcus smiles. "Try on her now too. You can't do 1 and not the other."

I lean down over her and slide my fangs into her. I inject the venom and step back. "Now we wait."

The werewolf on the ground passes out and Omar is all over him.

-I release the power.-

The red goes away. I see the bite holes in both of them and know what happened. I step towards the woman and feel the back of her neck. It still feels broken.

I check the unconscious man.

Omar shrugs his shoulders. "He still has a pulse. The shift should be coming."

"If it comes at all." I feel the back of her neck again. I feel something move in it. It may be trying to heal or something may have shifted.

"Pulse is getting weaker."

I sigh and cross my arms.

The alpha feels the guard's wrist. Then he moves his hand to the guard's throat. "Pulse stopped."

I put my hand like his. "I don't feel anything with Charna."

The other guard looks at me. "What do we do now?"

"We have to see if they wake up."

"How long should it take?"

"An hour to 12 hours or something. It's good they are unconscious. They would be screaming if not."

"What about their pup?"

Marcus shakes his head. "Anyone turned vampire, stops aging. We can't turn him. He would be that age forever. But Thora will no doubt keep him forever if your pack doesn't claim him."

"We would claim him. I was wondering about the immortal part."

"There's a lot of confusion about this. Let's go 1 step at a time."

I shiver. "Let's get these 2 on the boat, so we can watch them. It's getting too dark now."

Dipak rubs my arm. "We can't get them out there. We're not at a dock. We can get them to the beach though. What do you need from the boat?"

"Antistesi, blood drip and holders, blood, more blood. Might want to bring a s**t ton of blood, or we'll be having werewolf and I don't think they'll like that." It's getting cold out here. Even on a tropical island.

Tye puts his arm around me. "Come on. Let's get you to the fire. They can get these 2. I'll get you some other clothes for tonight."

I put my arm around his waist and lay my head on his shoulder. "Thank you, Tye."

The boys get them to the fire, then they get the stuff I asked for. I put some blood in the man's mouth. It starts absorbing. "He's a vampire."

I move to the woman. I put blood in her mouth and the same thing. "She's a vampire."

The alpha nods. "What's that mean?"

"They're my patients now."

"Can you do all this in the village instead?"

"Do you have a medical area?"

"Yes."

"I guess I could stay there. Would you be ok with that?"

Dipak looks at the alpha. "You would have to take us too. At least take us in shifts. We're not going to leave her there alone."

"It's fine. We have an empty house. It's a few blocks from the hospital, but not too bad. We can put some beds in it for you. I wouldn't leave the boat out there empty either though."

Nik nods. "We can take turns. Keep the majority on the boat and keep like 3 of us with her at a time. During the day, we can fly back and forth. It won't be too bad."

"I want free roam of your land for all of my people. No one gets attacked or questioned or anything."

"Of course."

"CAN I RUN AROUND AND CHASE BUTTERFLYS?"

Alpha Mason shakes his head. "You will have to take a guard. You don't know the island, and it is bigger than it seems. You already got lost once."

I give him a dirty look and cross my arms.

Marcus smirks. "Here comes the teenager. I hope you're ready."

"I DON'T NEED A BABYSITTER. AND IT'S AN ISLAND. I CAN KEEP WALKING AND FIND THE EDGE. THEN I'LL KNOW WHERE I AM."

"I said no."

I jump up and down and stomp my feet. "DIPAK."

"It's his island. Yell at him. I don't know what to tell you. He said you can stay in the medical area though. I'll be on the boat." He starts walking.

"DIPAK TELL HIM I DON'T NEED A BABYSITTER."

"IT'S HIS ISLAND WOMAN. YOU TELL HIM."

"I AM ALMOST GROWN UP. I CAN WALK BY MYSELF."

"Still no." He crosses his arms back at me. "You had no idea where you were or what direction you came from. You are not free roaming the island. You can take a guard. It's not that big of a deal."

"I AM A DRAGON. A WEREWOLF. A VAMPIRE. A PIRATE. A MAGICIAN..."

"You are all that and still got lost in the woods?"

I shake.

Tre turns around and walks away. I can tell he's laughing.

"I AM NOT A LITTLE GIRL." I stomp my feet at every word.

"I didn't say you were a little girl. I said you don't know the island. You'll get lost in the woods, and you can take a guard with you."

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" I plop my ass down on the ground.

"QUIT SCREAMING YOU WOKE UP THE BABY DAMN IT."

"WELL, THIS IS NOT FAIR."

Thora glares at me. "Nothing is fair. Get off your ass and go with him and stop yelling by the baby."

I cross my arms again and give the ground a dirty look.

Mason nods. "Ok, sleep here. By yourself with the bears. We'll be safe in the village."

"WHAT?" I jump up and chase him. "There are bears here?"

"There are a lot of things here. I wouldn't want to be out here by myself. Never know when pirates are going to show up either."

"I'm a pirate."

"You're the nice kind though."

Elek and Nik are each carrying the vampires. Marcus is following us too.

"Yea, I am good." I see a butterfly. I run after it so fast.

"HEY. It's nearly pitch black out here. You can chase them tomorrow. It is too late to be doing that now."

"FINE."

Marcus looks at Nik. "This is like a vacation. We may keep him."

"He is good with her."

I pretend I don't hear them. Assholes. I kick a big rock and it hurts so badly. I hold my foot and cry.

"Now, why did you do that?"

"You're all mean." I start sobbing.

"We're mean, so you broke your foot?"

"I thought it would move."

"Yea, big rocks don't move here." Mason picks me up and carries me like a baby. Then he glances at Marcus. "You want to send for your healer."

"Connect me and Dipak's feathers woman."

I connect the 2 of them and snuggle into the alpha. He is warm. Really warm. Warmer than anyone.

"Hi sweetheart. What do you need?"

Marcus answers, "She needs Omar. She broke her foot on a rock."

"Alright. KANE. PICK UP OMAR ON YOUR WAY. Kane's on his way with blood. Who is staying over there tonight?"

"I don't know yet. We'll figure it out when we get there."

"Let me know. I don't want people roaming around with bears." Marcus, Dipak, and Mason chuckle.

I close my eyes and relax. My foot is throbbing but he's so warm.

I hear people murmuring. We're in a village. There's a big house. I remember what Ronion said. That's the pack house where the Alpha and his family live. There are people standing around staring at me. Or maybe him. I don't know. Maybe it's normal for him. He doesn't seem phased.

"Take those 2 in that building. They are ready for them. They have rooms set up. You come with me. I need to write some stuff down. Your healer can come to the pack house."

"You get that Dipak?"

"Yea I got it. I'm coming over there too. We'll get the paperwork done."

"Alright."

I hear another man. "Well this is stirring up rumors already, Mason."

"You know I don't care."

"Is she sleeping?"

"Yes." I feel him shift. "This is Beta Kodan. He's 2nd in command here. I have no idea how their ranks are set up, Kodan. They all appear to be kings."

I breathe in and he smells good.