Wolf Untamed by Alexis Calder

20

Shelia navigated for us while Malcom and Kyle took turns carrying Alec. I kept constant, obsessive lookout for Tyler. We couldn’t risk anyone knowing where the witch lived or what she was doing. But we couldn’t afford to wait to go to her for help, either.

Every hour, when the males switched who was carrying Alec, I checked his breathing and heartbeat. I wasn’t sure if it was in my head or not, but it felt like it was getting harder to find his pulse.

Furious at myself for causing so much harm, I focused on the anger I felt toward Tyler. It drove me. As long as I felt mad, I wasn’t feeling the pull toward the bond.

“I should have let the bookcase slam into him,” I muttered under my breath.

Sheila slowed down and matched her pace with mine. “How you doing?”

“This is all my fault,” I said. “The whole mess. How did I end up as a damsel in distress always waiting for someone else to save my ass? It’s not right. I swore that I’d be stronger when I got free of Wolf Creek.”

“You’re no damsel,” she said. “You’re our friend, and you needed help. That’s what friends do. They help each other. Even when it’s not easy.”

“I could get you all killed. That’s beyond just a little help,” I pointed out.

“That’s part of being a friend. Especially when you’re in a feral group. All of us have people who want us dead. You gotta stop thinking you’re special,” she teased.

I smirked and glanced over at her.

“You’d do it for me,” she said. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

“I’d do it for you,” I agreed. If her old pack was after her, I wouldn’t think twice about running toward danger to protect her. So this was what it was like to have friends. Friendship was fucking dangerous. But it was so much better than being alone. It was worth it.

“How far are we?” I asked. “Didn’t Alec say three days?”

“Yeah,” she said. “We’ll have to break for the night. Especially since those two are going to need a rest from carrying Alec.”

I looked back and saw Kyle carrying Alec on his back. It wasn’t easy to carry someone who was unresponsive, but the two large males were doing a great job of sharing the burden and continuing forward. Good thing they had that extra shifter strength. They almost made it look easy but I knew they had to be feeling worn down.

“Tell me about this witch,” I said. “What should I know?”

“Well, she’s different, but she’s a witch, so maybe that’s normal.” Sheila didn’t sound convinced.

“What do you mean different?” I asked.

“She’s quirky, I guess,” she clarified.

“Is she dangerous?”

Sheila chuckled. “No way. Her coven is a different story.”

“We’ve got a long walk ahead of us, I could go for a story,” I said.

“Well, she’s kind of like us, from what I’ve gathered. She was kicked out of her coven. She’s different, so they treated her differently despite the fact she’s crazy powerful. Assholes.”

“She’s an outcast like us?” It made sense why she lived alone and stayed away from her coven. It also helped explain why Sheila and Alec trusted her.

“If she were a wolf, she’d live in camp,” Sheila said. “She’s got a lot in common with us. Her coven thinks she’s dead and that’s the way she wants to keep things. Our arrangement with her helps keep her off the grid. She gets to stay in her house all the time, and we get help when we need it.”

“For a price,” I said.

“Yeah, we pay her. Money or sometimes other things, but it’s worked out to our advantage to have a witch on our payroll,” Sheila said with a shrug.

“Alec said you bring her supplies,” I said.

“We do. Every few weeks, Alec drops off groceries and whatever random shit is on her list,” Sheila confirmed. “Sometimes I go with him.”

“So she’s friendly?” I was hopeful that I didn’t need to fear this witch the way I’d been taught to fear them.

“Sure, for a witch,” Sheila said. “She seems like she means well, but sometimes she freaks me out, if I’m being honest. But please don’t tell her that.”

“I definitely won’t,” I promised.

We walked in silence for a while, then I started asking questions about the people at camp to pass the time. It seemed like a good distraction for Sheila.

She’d been at camp for years and knew everyone. She told me about Mario and how he’d won his first classic car in a poker game with a goblin. He’d been a chef in a major city and while she didn’t know exactly why he’d gone feral, she was pretty sure the goblin mafia was involved.

“I didn’t even know there was a goblin mafia,” I admitted.

“There’s a seedy underworld for every species,” she said. “But out of all of them, the vampires are by far the worst. Nobody crosses them.”

“I always thought the witches were the worst,” I said.

“They’re awful, but they are a bit more straightforward. Vampires will spend decades waiting for the perfect revenge. That whole immortal thing works in their favor, I suppose,” she said.

I’d never met a vampire. Or a goblin. Or even a human, to be honest. I’d been so sheltered where I grew up that all I knew about the outside world was from books and lectures in school. I’d ignored more than I should have because I didn’t think I’d need to use it since I was hoping to blend in with humans and ignore the supernatural world. Now, I wished I’d listened better.

“Where do witches fall into all this?” I asked.

“Well, they hate us,” she said. “There’s been escalating violence between witches and wolf shifters for years but neither of the governing bodies seem to care. It’s like it doesn’t exist. It feels like we’re nearing war, but nobody wants to officially acknowledge that. I think the packs are going to be fucked if the witches decide to strike. The king doesn’t seem to have any kind of plan.”

I frowned. I’d been taught that you didn’t cross witches, but I never learned that it was still a problem between them and us until I met the feral shifters. I hoped things didn’t escalate to the point of war. Especially since the king didn’t seem to do much to actually help anyone. “What about Wolf Creek? What do you know about my pack?”

“Well, your pack is notorious for sure. Definitely the one pack you don’t fuck with because they’ll hit you with the toxin and destroy you.”

“How did I not know about that?” I asked, feeling stupid for being so blind.

“I doubt they were teaching you about it in school. I mean, your family invented the damn toxin and you didn’t even know. They went to pretty great lengths to keep it secret,” Sheila said. “To the rest of us, Wolf Creek looks like a cult. But it seems like you weren’t part of the inner circle.”

“That’s true,” I agreed. “What else don’t I know?”

“Well, most packs have to worry about witches. Expect for Wolf Creek. I’m not sure of the full extent, but I heard your pack does things to appease them.”

“Like what?” I couldn’t imagine what the pack gave in exchange for being on the witches’ good side.

“I’ve heard all kinds of stories. Crazy things like sacrificing babies, or creating wolf-witch hybrids, to simpler things like growing herbs for them.” Shelia shrugged. “Who knows what the truth is.”

I caught the sounds of Kyle and Malcom mumbling and figured they were moving Alec again. I turned to them and offered my help to get him onto Malcom’s back, then felt for Alec’s breathing and pulse.

“How is it?” Shelia asked.

“He’s still breathing, but it does feel weaker,” I said. “Maybe we should stop and see if rest would help him?”

Sheila turned and looked toward the sky. The sun was low in the horizon and it would be dark in about an hour. “We might as well find a good place to camp.”

We walked a little longer until we found a grove of trees that might help shield us from view. Not that it protected us if my mate was tracking my scent. I had to hope his cocky threats about me coming to him were enough to send him back to Wolf Creek with his tail between his legs.

The group had managed to salvage two of our packs, so we set out a sleeping bag for Alec. My heart felt like it was shattering when I looked down at his face. Alec’s eyes were closed, he had deep scratches on his right cheek, and cuts and bruises all over his body.

I untied one of the bandages we’d made from a blanket before we started walking. The bleeding has stopped, but the cut was still deep. Around the edges of the wound, it was red and angry. I reapplied the bandage and quickly checked the rest of his wounds. Thankfully, all the bleeding had stopped but none of them looked clean. “He’s still not healing.”

“What I wouldn’t give for a fucking first aid kit,” Sheila said.

“We had one, just in case. But the fuckers destroyed that pack when they attacked us,” Malcom said.

“Should I rinse it at least?” I asked.

“We only have one bottle of water left.” Sheila handed it to me. “Might be better to see if you can get him to drink. Hopefully, the witch can help speed the healing.”

I hated feeling so helpless. I pulled down Alec’s jaw and poured a tiny bit of water in his mouth, then I lifted his head, cradling it in my arms. He swallowed on reflex, which had to be a good sign, right?

I took a quick drink of the water, then passed it to Malcom. Everyone had a sip before Sheila put it back away.

“Well, the good news is we do have some beef jerky,” Malcom said. “The bad news is that it’s Greta’s jerky.”

Sheila groaned. “It’s food, barely.”

Malcom passed it around and as soon as I bit into the chunk of meat, I knew why they’d been critical of it. I might as well have been eating rocks.

“It helps if you suck on it a while,” Malcom said.

“Taste isn’t bad,” Kyle said.

“Only because we’re starving,” Sheila said.

I managed to eat my share, then we each had another sip of water.

“I’ll take first watch,” Malcom offered.

“No, you and Kyle should sleep,” I said. “You two carried Alec all day and we’ll need you to do it again if we have to bug out. Sheila and I will take first watch.”

“Alright,” he said without hesitation.

“You sure, Lola? I could stay up with Sheila,” Kyle offered. “We don’t both need to sleep at the same time.”

“I’m sure,” I said.

“You doing okay? I know seeing Tyler had to be hard for you,” Kyle said.

“I’ll be better when this whole mess is over and Tyler is out of the picture forever,” I said.