Chapter Fourteen

 

Axel walked through the aftermath of the fight, hardly able to believe how much destruction and loss of life there had been. He had known the price for freedom would be high, but he hadn’t realized just how high until he saw all the bodies lying around. And the war was far from over. The shifters had won this battle, finally pushing the intruders from Gilt Hollow back across the river. But Axel wasn’t foolish enough to think that they wouldn’t be back.

Still, the reprieve was welcome.

Axel had already taken several wounded shifters back to his bar, which had been turned into a makeshift hospital of sorts. Now, the only bodies left out here seemed to be from dead Gilt Hollow citizens. But still, Axel searched.

He still hadn’t found Whisper, and he wasn’t going to give up this search until he found her. He’d been searching for her since the moment he’d discovered her missing from the bar, but he hadn’t had any luck. All during the fight, he’d tried to find her, but she’d eluded him. He’d asked around, and a few people had reported seeing her during the battle. But now she was nowhere to be found, and with every minute that passed Axel grew more desperate. Had she escaped to the woods in the end after all? No, Whisper would not have abandoned the fight. She’d been determined to stay and help.

Axel had reached the end of the battle zone and still hadn’t seen Whisper. He was about to turn around, when he suddenly heard a low moan and saw some of the Gilt Hollow bodies moving. Instantly, he was alert. The bodies had looked dead, but perhaps they were only severely wounded. He wasn’t going to take any chances on getting shot out here, and he stood tensely waiting to see what the bodies were going to do.

What happened next shocked him. The pile of bodies was pushed aside, and a familiar face appeared from the bottom of the pile.

“Whisper!”

Apparently, she’d somehow been buried under all the bodies. Her face had a huge gash across it and she was covered in dirt and blood—some of it must have been hers, but some of it was probably from other people too. She blinked and looked around, disoriented, then tried to stand but stumbled forward.

Axel ran to her, scooping her up before she could make another attempt at standing.

“Shhh. It’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re okay now.”

“Axel?” she looked at him as though she was having trouble focusing on his face. “I finally found you!”

He laughed, wanting to tell her that he had actually found her, but he was too overcome with emotion to say much of anything. So he only laughed harder, feeling delirious with joy.

Whisper, meanwhile, seemed to be completely disoriented. “Is the fighting over?” she asked, confusion etched into her face.

“For now,” Axel said. “Come on. I’ll take you to my house and get you cleaned up. You’ve been through a lot. You need to rest and to eat something.”

“I’m so tired,” Whisper agreed, closing her eyes again. By the time Axel got back to his house, she was passed out again, this time from sleep. He roused her long enough to get her wounds cleaned up and get some clean clothes on her. She was scratched all over, and the gash on her face would need to be watched to make sure it didn’t become infected. But other than that, she seemed fine. She was muttering something about being hit on the head, and he figured that’s why she had been unconscious.

After forcing a bit of broth down her throat, he let her sleep. He should have gone back to the bar to check on the others, but he couldn’t bear to leave Whisper again. He was arguing with himself about whether he should go when a sharp knock sounded at the door. He opened it and was surprised to find Violet standing there.

“Violet,” he said, his voice wary. “What are you doing here?”

Violet wasn’t very scratched up, which figured. Axel doubted she’d fought at all.

“I…I just wanted to make sure you were alright.” She looked down at her feet as she spoke, looking embarrassed. Her former brazenness seemed completely gone, but Axel still wasn’t taking any chances.

“I’m fine. And I’m glad to see that you look like you’re okay as well. But if you came here to try to make another move on me, then—”

“No. I didn’t. I came here to see if you were okay. That’s it, honest. And to see if Whisper is okay.”

“Whisper?” Axel was surprised that Violet cared.

“Yeah. I haven’t seen her and I’m really worried. She…she saved my life.”

Axel’s eyes widened. “She did?”

“Yeah. Or so I’m told. I freaked out and went completely hysterical and ran straight into the battle. She pulled me out and got me to safety at a house where some other shifters were hiding out. They told me she made sure I was okay before running out to fight some more.”

Axel shook his head in wonder. Whisper had made no secret of the fact that she wasn’t fond of Violet, and he wouldn’t have blamed her if she had let Violet run off into the battle without stopping her. But he should have known Whisper wouldn’t do that. Whisper was loyal to the shifters. All of the shifters. Even the ones like Violet who seemed determined to steal lifemates.

“Well, Whisper is fine. She’s here actually, but she’s sleeping. She has a few wounds, but nothing serious. I’ll tell her you came by to thank her.”

Violet nodded. “Thanks. And I’m sorry. I acted horribly toward both of you. You two are obviously meant to be together, and I’m really happy for you. Truly.”

Axel smiled. “Thank you. And don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll find a fantastic lifemate of your own soon.”

Violet nodded wearily. “I’m going back to the makeshift hospital. I told them I’d help take care of everyone who’s there and injured.”

“That’s great! They need lots of help, I’m sure. Tell them I’ll be by later to check on everything.”

“I will.” Violet turned to leave. “See you around, then.”

“See you,” Axel replied, but Violet was already disappearing down the street into the growing darkness.

Axel closed the door and went to peek in on Whisper, who was sleeping soundly.

“You’re amazing,” he said softly. She kept sleeping, and Axel smiled. His lifemate was even braver and more honorable than he’d thought. She’d risked her life for a woman who’d hated her, but Axel shouldn’t have been surprised. Whisper always did the right thing.

After watching her sleep for a while, he decided to go down to the bar and help with the wounded shifters for a bit. Whisper didn’t look like she was waking up any time soon, and he’d leave her a note in case she did.

Her actions had inspired him that he also needed to go do his part to help in any way he could. The shifters might all have their differences, but together they would come out of this. Today had not been easy, but it had been necessary.

The revolution had officially begun.