Just a Wolf

Evan

“Get out!” Ross roars, and I frantically press one hand against the ceiling, which is below me, to get my weight off the seatbelt strap enough so that I can unfasten it. I drop down, rolling enough so that I land on my shoulder, not straight on my head.

I glance sideways and see that Beta Nolan has done the same, but his side of the car is already partially submerged in the quickly rising water. He can’t get out through his door. I try to open mine, but it is jammed. I lean back against Nolan and try kicking against it with my legs, but that is no good either.

In the front seat, I realize that Alpha Ross has somehow gotten his door open, and is outside the vehicle, reaching in to drag Dom out. Then he steps back to my door, tries to yank it open, but it refuses.

His big arms reach in through the shattered glass of the window, and he drags me out through it. I am barely able to fit, and I take some of the glass with me, but it works, and he quickly tosses me to the side to reach back in for Nolan.

Once all four of us are clear of the vehicle, we clamber back up the slope towards the road, trying to get out of the rushing flow of water before the flood takes us too. After we get out of the water, we stare around, looking for the River Moon car. We hear a scraping sound, and turn to see our SUV spinning again on its roof, just before it is swept away by the flood.

“Come on,” Ross growls, and leads us up the embankment back towards the road. We see a glow of lights through the rain, and rush back several yards to find the River Moon SUV has crashed head-on into a large tree at the side of the road. The front of the vehicle is crumpled. Nobody has gotten out of the car yet.

Ross yanks open the driver’s door, and we can see Theo motionless and limp behind the wheel, the airbag deployed. Nolan moves forward to check him - he has some medical training. “He’s alive,” he tells us. “Go check the others.”

Dom and I go around to the other side of the car. Malcolm is in the passenger seat, and is also unconscious, but in a moment he starts to rouse and lifts his hand to his bleeding head. Michael in the backseat appears all right, and is able to get himself out.

The six of us gather next to the driver’s side door, where Theo is still unconscious.

“Report,” Ross orders Nolan.

“He seems to have a head injury, but I can’t tell how severe. His legs are definitely injured, the front of the car pushed in against them as it hit the tree. I suggest we wait a few minutes, leave him right where he is. His wolf healing should kick in and hopefully he’ll at least regain consciousness, then it will be easier to evaluate his other injuries.”

Ross nods. “Everyone else?”

We all have injuries, but nothing that our wolves won’t take care of eventually. It would be nice to be able to heal inside a nice warm, dry area, but here we are on the side of the road long after midnight, in the middle of nowhere, the route to the closest town blocked by a raging stream, rain pounding down.

The Alpha looks around. The muddy flow is still violently rushing over the bridge. “I want to cross that before the river destroys the bridge,” he says.

Good point. If the bridge washes out, we’d have no easy route to head into town. We’d have to go cross country in the rain trying to find another bridge or a place to ford the cascading stream, which is only going to get bigger the further downstream it gets.

Nolan nods. “All right, we’ll need to carry Theo.” Malcolm goes around the car to get back into the front seat, to reach down and loosen the parts of the wreckage that are pressing against Theo’s legs. Who needs the jaws of life when you’re a huge strong werewolf? Ross is the biggest guy, so he is the one who actually lifts Theo out of the car, holding him cradled in his arms like a baby, and we can see that one of his legs is really mangled. Shit.

We approach the flood rushing across the road. Malcolm says, “Let me go first,” and he starts wading into the water still churning across the bridge. It gets to be thigh deep, and he has to press against it to keep moving forward, but he makes it. When he gets to the other side he turns, and shouts, “It’s possible, but the current is strong. Be careful.”

One by one, we ford the stream, Ross carrying Theo up out of the water. Michael slips at one point, but Nolan is able to reach down and grab him before the current carries him off.

When we make it to the other side, there’s a huge crashing sound, and we watch in astonishment as the entire bridge collapses and starts tumbling into the flood, chunks of it flowing off down the ravine.

Oh.

We all turn to Alpha Ross. “How far to Willow Creek?” he asks.

“About five or six miles, probably,” Nolan replies.

“Start walking,” Ross orders grimly, and continuing to cradle Theo in his arms, heads off down the road.

I look at Dom as we follow. I see that the rain is washing out a cut on his forehead, blood streaming down across his face. At least our wounds will be clean as we heal. I’m limping, something is wrong with my knee and it doesn’t want to hold my weight, so Dom reaches around me and supports me on that side. We stagger forward together.

We could shift if Theo was uninjured, but we can’t carry him as wolves. Besides, we lost all our gear, including the packs to carry clothing. So if we shifted we’d show up in town as either big wolves or naked men, neither of which would be particularly conducive to easily renting motel rooms.

So we walk through the rain in the dark.

Amelia

In other circumstances, I would never dream of banging on my Alpha’s door in the middle of the night. But here I am, in my nightgown, doing just that, because there is no other choice. It isn’t only that my mate is in jeopardy. So are the other leaders of both of the packs.

Alpha Kanen jerks open the door immediately, which means he must not have been asleep. The front door of the Alpha’s apartment leads into a series of rooms, including a private living room and kitchen, with the bedrooms in the back. He had to have already been up before we knocked.

He ignores me entirely, and addresses the Luna standing next to me. “I already know,” he says tersely, “my Beta mind-linked me.”

Oh, yes, of course. He is only wearing jeans, his blond hair flowing down across his bare shoulders. I realize that Malcolm’s mind-link must have roused the Alpha from bed, and he grabbed his pants and came out here. I try not to compare his gigantic white chest to Dom’s smooth brown one.

I feel Dom at the back of my mind, and I know that whatever is going on, he is miserable, and I want to do whatever it takes to help him.

“Come in,” I hear, and see our new Luna coming up behind Kanen. Janine has wrapped a robe around herself.

Darlene says in a shaky voice, “All Ross told me is that they had an accident but everyone survived.”

Kanen nods. “Malcolm explained what happened. There was a mudslide and they lost both vehicles a few miles north of Willow Creek. The only one seriously injured is Theo, he has a head injury and leg injuries. They are going to start walking down towards Willow Creek.”

“How far away is that?” Darlene whispers.

“About an hour by car.” Alpha Kanen looks at me for the first time. “Go wake up Steve, Josh, Bob and Daniel. Tell them to bring four SUVs around to the front of the packhouse. We need to call Dr. Hughes, I want her to come with us.”

“I’ll call her,” Darlene offers. “I have her number.”

Janine adds, “I’ll start gathering up some supplies. Blankets, towels, just in case they’re needed.”

Kanen nods. “Meet downstairs in fifteen minutes.”

We disperse, and I rush downstairs to where the men’s rooms are. Two of them are groundskeepers and two are mechanics. They are strong and reliable, a good choice. Alpha knows what he’s doing.

After I bang on their doors and briefly tell them what’s going on, I rush into my room to get dressed, grab my jacket, and run back upstairs. I quickly meet the Alpha and Lunas next to the main entrance, while the men are bringing the cars around from the garage in the back.

Alpha looks around. “Luna Darlene,” he says, “Ross prefers you to stay here.”

She nods unhappily. “I know,” she says. I’m sure I know why. Ross wouldn’t want his pregnant mate to do anything even slightly risky. “Dr. Hughes said she’s gathering some medical supplies and that you should pick her up at her office on the way out.”

Kanen takes Janine’s hand. “We’ll ride in the first car.” I start walking out the front door behind them, and Kanen looks back at me with a bit of a frown.

“I’m Gamma Michael’s assistant,” I say immediately, before he can tell me to stay behind. “I need to go too.”

He shrugs, then nods his permission, and goes to get into the first car with Janine. I climb into the passenger seat of the second SUV, the one that Bob is driving.

Twenty minutes after I awoke in a panic, we are on the road, off to the rescue.