Ash
Urgency surged through Ash’s body when he pulled up to Tara’s house. After texting Clover a few times and getting no response, his wolf started running around in a frenzy. He didn’t like her lack of replies and he had a feeling something happened to stop her from texting back.
When his eyes landed on the open door, he jumped out of the truck and bolted inside.
Blood and silver filled his nose.
His wolf lurched forward, ready to fight but Ash kept him in place, he needed to figure out what happened first. One of the hearts beat slower than normal.
Fear raced down his spine as he inched closer to the house. Three males lay on the floor and only one of them still had a heartbeat.
Ash scanned around the room for Clover. Patrick whimpered and when he found the pup, he sunk his teeth into Clover’s arm. A gasp left his mate’s lips and he jumped to her side. She didn’t fucking want this! Why would he bite her? His mind raced with questions as he pulled Patrick into his lap. Blood caked his paws and fur.
“Good job, Patrick,” Tara whispered from the kitchen. Blood rolled into his mate’s hair and his stomach turned to ice. Part of him didn’t want to look down to see just how bad her wounds were.
“You know she didn’t want this,” Ash hissed at Tara. Clover whimpered in pain and his heart tightened. He didn’t know if she would make the transition, but he knew who the blame landed on. Tara.
“I’m sorry,” Clover whispered and grabbed Ash’s hand.
“You have nothing to be sorry about.” Ash scanned her bloody body. Two knife wounds in her back and a large hole in her arm with a cut on her shoulder. Too much for a human to survive. When he met her, he’d never guessed she’d be to handle so much but she’d proven her strength. The resolve in his mate sent pride through his soul and made his wolf dance with joy. He focused on her arm, the tissue slowly stitched its self together. Oh, thank you, goddess! “You’re changing, Clover.” He leaned down and kissed her head then pulled Patrick away to give her room to shift.
Black fur sprouted from her caramel skin and her clothes tore away as her bones grew. The tension in his shoulders eased as she transitioned. She rolled from her side to her stomach while her face lengthened and changed. With every beat of her heart, her skin healed then the fur replaced the flesh. The first shift for a new wolf was always the slowest but he thanked the goddess above she wasn’t whimpering in pain. The shift finished and she huffed out a breath of air. Her eyes fluttered open and met his gaze.
Patrick shifted. “She’s pretty.” Patrick stood near Ash’s feet.
“Yes, she’s beautiful.” Ash liked the bashful way she looked down then back up at him.
“Ash, since she survived the change, can you clean out this silver?” Tara’s voice came out just above a whisper. He turned to the she-wolf bleeding on the floor. He hated those fucking silver blades, they left bits of silver behind and only one thing could get it out.
“Do you have peroxide?” Ash stood and Tara gave a quick nod. When Maple had been attacked, they’d learned peroxide worked to get out the silver flakes from flesh. He bolted to the bathroom and grabbed two bottles then returned to Tara. Clover had fumbled over to her. His mate’s nose scrunched up and she took a small step back.
Tara’s body held dozens of silver cuts on her torso, arms, and two on her legs. Her body couldn’t heal with the silver still clinging to her flesh. He grabbed her arm and Clover growled low.
“Honey, he has to clean out the wounds. Don’t worry, I’m not coming on to your mate.” Tara turned and spoke to Clover. She’s a bit protective. He liked the thought as he poured the peroxide on her arms. The bubbles lifted the silver from her flesh and the skin began to mend seconds later.
“Let me do it,” Clover’s voice came out over his shoulder and he turned to find her completely naked. “My wolf is about to tear you a new one if you go any closer to her chest.” She ground her teeth and snatched the bottle from Ash’s hand.
“How are you feeling?” He inched away from her friend to give her room to work. The urge to kiss her rose in his chest but he would have to wait.
“Different.” She poured the liquid on Tara’s shoulder and a hiss left her friend’s lips. “Sorry for snapping at both of you.” She met his gaze and adjusted her hair.
Tara chuckled and grabbed Clover’s hand. “Honey, I understand. It’s a wolf thing and I’m glad you’re my sister in a whole new way.”
“If I wasn’t dying and you did it, I’d be kicking your ass.” Clover dumped more peroxide and Tara winced.
“Well, I didn’t want to watch you die, you bitch,” Tara snapped back in a playful manner. Ash tried to figure out how they could be calling each other such names and still be best friends.
“You’re lucky the bite didn’t kill me, or you’d have the most depressed boy on your hands. Plus, Patrick would be upset.” Clover shook her head then turned her gaze to Ash.
Ash processed her words and Tara started giggling. “Fuck off.” Ash pulled Clover in for a kiss no longer wanting to resist. He took her banter this time only because she almost died but next time he’d be fighting back.
“I wanna go home,” Patrick chimed in as Clover finished cleaning Tara off.
“Home…” Ash turned to the door and thought about the software he had been running. Home base, they have a home base!
“Wouldn’t it be logical they all started in the same place. Somewhere they all start together?” He glanced up at Clover who nodded. “I mean this could be how I track them.” Ash had been trying to track them the wrong way. Instead of following the trail after they attacked, he needed to find their trail before they entered the house. He blinked a few times and tapped his fingers on his legs.
“What’s going on with your mate?” Tara slowly sat up and Clover shrugged.
“I have an idea on how to track the hunters.” Ash smiled. He wanted to run back to his house and start working but he had to wait for Clover and Patrick to get dressed. The thought of a male catching Clover naked sent his wolf into a heated rage.
Clover helped Tara up and they shuffled up the stairs.
“Am I in trouble?” Patrick’s head hung low.
“No. Why would you be in trouble?”
“I changed Clover. Tara told me to do it.” He stared at his hands, blood covered his chubby palms.
Ash picked him up and held him close as he carried him to the bathroom. “You saved Clover and I’m glad you were brave enough to listen to Tara.”
One child was a complete handful, he couldn’t even imagine what a younger pup would be like. He pushed back the shudder threatening to roll down his spine as he cleaned Patrick up. He grabbed the hand towel and cleaned all the blood from his skin.
“You’re joking, right? I can’t be in heat so fast, it would make me almost a week early.” Clover’s question brought him back to reality as she rounded the corner. She had a sweatshirt and stretchy pants hugging her curves.
“I don’t think so. With your new wolf, I caught it quicker. You’ll go into heat soon,” Tara called back through the hallway.
“Well, we already have a pup to take care of. We can wait a few years to have more kids.” Ash reached for a blanket and covered Patrick before walking to the car. He didn’t know what Clover wanted but he couldn’t deal with a baby when the hunters continued taking children.