“The healer is on her way,” Sheriff Smith said from outside. He was standing guard at the door, because when he had approached Kendall and leaned to touch Juliette’s wolf, Kendall almost tore his hand off.

A tall, willowy woman burst into the room with a no-nonsense attitude, but when her eyes found Kendall in the corner and she saw Juliette’s broken wolf in his arms, she gasped.

“I’m here to help, but you have to let go of her,” the healer said, pointing down at the she-wolf.

“I can’t,” Kendall answered. “I have to touch her.”

After a moment of hesitation, the woman took pity on Kendall. “We’ll work together then. Move her body so that I can reach for her wounds.”

“Her throat—” Kendall’s voice was hoarse. He didn’t care that a sob prevented him from finishing his sentence.

“Let me see.” The healer crouched low, her hand reaching for the she-wolf’s body. Her fingers skimmed the gash. “It’s deep.” Her hand moved to press against her ribcage. She tilted her head.

Kendall stilled as they both waited for a pulsing beat. He thought he had caught one right before the woman arrived, but he couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t just his heart’s wish and that he had imagined it.

The moment extended longer than bearable, mere seconds in real life, but an eternity in Kendall’s mind. The healer was about to shake her head, the somber expression that heralds bad news already forming on her face, when a feeble beat resonated in the wolf’s chest.

Kendall heard it as if he were sharing a ribcage with Juliette’s wolf.

“It’s weak, but it’s there. I can work with that.” The healer smiled, restarting Kendall’s heart as well. “A helicopter is coming to take her back to camp. Let’s prep her for the flight.”

By the time the local werewolf division of paramedics landed in the clearing outside the shack, Kendall was on the verge of going apeshit crazy, even though mere minutes had passed. Before leaving, the medics had to check if there were other survivors, only to confirm that Shark, Renault, and one of the guards were beyond resuscitation. To Kendall’s relief, they were flying over the ridge soon after. He had been close to hijacking the chopper himself.

A representative from the Wolf Council approached them as soon as they stepped out of the helicopter.

“I have a few questions for Alpha McKenzie,” the middle-aged werewolf said after a perfunctory glance at Juliette cradled in Kendall’s arms.

“I’m sure it can wait.” Sheriff Smith gave an exasperated look at the man.

Kendall didn’t acknowledge the representative. “Where to?” he asked the healer instead, and she pointed at the cottages bordering the edge of the clearing. As he trailed the woman, he looked over his shoulder and addressed the Council man, “Follow me.”

As they briskly walked, the werewolf asked Kendall to recount what happened at the shack. He answered truthfully and when they reached the healer’s house dismissed the man.

“I’ll come back as soon as Alpha Kewada shifts,” the representative promised, and it sounded like a menace.

Sheriff Smith walked the man back to the pack hall, saying, “There is a survivor you might want to question. It’s one of Shark’s minions.”

The healer opened the door and let Kendall in. “I’m Johanna, by the way,” she said before explaining what she needed from him if he wanted to remain at Juliette’s side.

Kendall nodded and listened to the series of requests the woman itemized, counting down on her fingers.

* * *

Two days later, Juliette still lay in wolf form, and an exhausted Kendall was starting to despair.

“Why hasn’t she awakened yet?” he asked Johanna when the healer popped in the bedroom Kendall was sharing with Juliette.

Johanna had lent them her bedroom because it was the largest in her small cottage and the only one containing a queen-sized bed. Kendall had appreciated the gesture. Otherwise, he would have slept on the floor.

“It’s perfectly normal.” Johanna caressed Juliette’s wolf head.

After the healer had dressed the large wound at the animal’s throat with a homemade poultice, Kendall washed the wolf, wiping the crusted blood away. He felt useless and needed to do something for her, but after waiting for Juliette to give signs of coming back, he was going crazy with worry.

“How can you say that’s normal?” Kendall pointed his chin at the sleeping form of the she-wolf.

“Her body sustained a severe trauma, and she needs time to heal. That’s all.” The healer smiled. “She’ll wake up and shift when she’s good and ready, not a moment earlier.” With that last remark, she walked back outside, but at the door turned and said, “Before I forget, your brother called, he’s looking for you.”

A mix of emotions gripped Kendall.

He fished inside the backpack that Sheriff Smith had brought back for him when he went to retrieve Kendall’s rental in the middle of the forest. Sure enough, his cell phone’s battery was dead and he plugged it in to charge it. Several minutes later, there was enough juice to check messages and phone calls. There were several from both Little Wolf and Ax.

Kendall had asked Sheriff Smith to call Little Wolf and explain the situation but hadn’t talked directly with his beta. He called Little Wolf first, and the call ended with congratulations for finding his mate and well wishes for Juliette’s fast healing.

Afterward, Kendall spent several minutes staring at his brother’s last message.

Talked to Little Wolf. Call me. I’m worried about you.

Almost a year had passed since Kendall spoke to his brother last, but when Ax answered on the first ring, it was as if time hadn’t passed. To Kendall’s utmost surprise, at hearing his brother’s voice, he didn’t feel any anger, but only love.

“Kendall, how are you?” Ax asked, skipping the greetings.

A long conversation followed.