Warrior

Chapter 6-3

“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. f**k! 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 lives. 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.”