Revolting

Michael was about a half mile away from the place he had left his mate when he heard screaming and gun shots. Immediately a sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach, and he dropped his bag of loot and began to run for the old oak tree where he had left Hannah. The screaming was making his ears ring, and running on two feet was way too slow. He was sure the screaming was not his mate, but something was dreadfully wrong. He shifted quickly, not bothering to stop and remove his clothes before he hit the ground running, the scraps of his shirt still clinging to his back. His big wolf ate up the distance with long strides.

His nose was immediately assaulted by the scent of humans, the stink of alcohol, and the metallic odor of blood. His eyes raked the scene and he noted the fact that Hannah was gone, Lonnie was unconscious but still alive at the base of the tree, and a quick inspection of the disturbed area turned up the silver cords that had been secured around Hannah's neck. Keeping his snout low to the ground, he followed her scent out of the clearing, back toward the deep woods and the mountains.

He'd only gone about twenty yards when he found her blood. His wolf cried out involuntarily, and he frantically scanned his surroundings. His mate was injured! He had failed her again! He followed the trail for another quarter mile, around the face of a rocky cliff, until he found her cowered under a slight cave under the overhanging ledge. She was still in her wolf form, panting with pain, trying to lick at the bullet wound in her hind leg.

She saw his big, brawny wolf approaching, but she didn't try to run. She didn't even growl at him this time. She only flattened her ears and whined slightly. Michael quickly shifted back into his human form, not caring at all that he was naked as he examined her wound. She trembled, but allowed him to touch her bloody limb.

Michael left out a breath he didn't even know he had been holding. "Oh baby, I'm so sorry. Its not as bad as it looks though. The bullet passed clean through, and it didn't hit the bone. It's still bleeding though. We need to get it cleaned and stitched up. Hannah... you need to shift back."

The almost-white wolf whined and lowered her head to her forepaws, looking so sad and pathetic that Michael wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. Her muzzle was stained with blood, and he was pretty sure it wasn't from her leg-wound. He picked up the tattered remains of his shirt and used it to make a pressure bandage around the bloody hole. She whimpered as he tightened it enough to tie the knot, but she didn't make any attempt to snap at him. "You know I'm trying to help, right?" He said to her as he sat beside her in the detritus. He reached down with his large hand and smoothed the fur along the scruff of her neck. She made a grumbling noise, but didn't flinch away. He grew a little bolder and stroked the shorter, softer fur around her ears. "Look my love, we have to move. We need to find the others and high-tail it to a safer place. Whatever happened back there, I'm sure its going to draw a lot of unwanted attention." The little wolf looked at him with soft, intelligent eyes, but it was impossible to tell if Hannah was understanding him with her human consciousness. He stood and carefully gathered the small wolf into his arms. She whimpered again as her injured leg was moved, but she still didn't fight or try to scratch or bite. It worried him that she was being so docile and compliant. He would have felt better if she was still fighting him. He ran back to the tree with her cradled in his arms. Everyone had gathered there already, only Frankie was unaccounted for. Lonnie was awake, and sat hunched over with his head in his hands while his mate was fussing over the huge goose-egg on the side of his head. "What the hell happened here, Lonnie?" Michael growled.

Lonnie shrank back in fear, inadvertently exposing his neck in submission. "Humans... a bunch of drunk hunters..." he swallowed and his shifty eyes looked anywhere but directly at the huge man. "They got the drop on me, surrounded us. They... wanted the woman." His eyes skittered to the wolf in Michael's arms and then away again. "I-I didn't know what to do... they were armed and I was out-numbered, so I took the silver cords off... I thought, if she had a chance to defend herself, or to run away... and then I don't know what happened." He reached up to the tender spot on his head. "I guess they knocked me out." His face screwed up miserably. "Is she? Did they...?"

"Hell Lonnie, you had one job," Sarah spat. "Now we are in a hell of a mess. We need to clear out of here. Judging by the blood in this clearing, she made a mess of your hunters. They'll be back, looking for some answers." "Where is Frankie?" Michael growled.

Boyd made some hand gestures, apparently trying to show that Frankie had taken the police on a wild goose chase. He ended the pantomime with a thumbs-up to indicate that where-ever Frankie was, it was okay.

Michael growled impatiently. "Alright, lets pack up and move out. Sarah's right, we've got to put some distance between us and this town before they start connecting the dots. Boyd, I dropped my bag about a half mile back, can you pick it up for me?" The mute man nodded, and immediately raced out of the little clearing.

"What are you going to do with her?" Sarah looked at the small wolf in his arms. "She's still bleeding."

Michael looked down at the precious burden in his arms. "It will have to wait until we make camp. We can't risk hanging around here."

"Yeah, boss... you might want to put her down long enough to put some clothes on," Caroline suggested dryly. "Nothing screams "suspicious" like a naked man running through the woods."

Michael reluctantly put Hannah down long enough to yank on a pair of shorts. All of the other's picked up their belongings and followed Michael. He struck out moving westwards, but after a few miles, Sarah caught up to him and tugged at his arm. "We need to veer south," she said quietly. "Unless you are going to cross the lake on the ferry."

Michael swore and tried to adjust his old on Hannah's small wolf. She wasn't heavy, but the awkward strain of carrying that load in front of his body had his arms screaming and his back aching. He wasn't going to complain though. He blamed himself for everything from beginning to end. If he hadn't been such an idiot, she never would have run off alone all those months ago in the first place.... and if he hadn't left her behind today, she never would have gotten hurt. It seemed like no matter what he did, he always messed up when it came to his little mate.

He'd practically forgotten that there was a long, deep lake separating them from their destination. Cutting around to a place where they could safely cross would cost them days of extra travel. He shook his head. "We continue straight. When we reach the shore, we'll borrow a boat."

"But..." Sarah searched his face, her expression filled with doubt and uncertainty. "There's a lot of people around that lake, Michael. You are taking a huge risk."

Michael pressed Hannah's warm, soft body against his torso. "I'll take the risk. I'm running out of time."