Cold Mercy (Northern Wolves) (13 page)

This was his house. His territory. And yet, the others had come here and marked it as their own. His wolf hated the encroachment every bit as much as Bay did. The other wolves had no business here and they sure as hell had no right to piss on his porch as if it were theirs. Bay took a tense step towards the woods.

He wouldn’t tolerate their trespassing on his home, let alone marking it like belligerent dogs.
Mine.
The thought screamed through him and he swayed under the force of it, his body locked and ready for a fight.

“Bay?” Eden’s voice lifted in a soft question and with one word she drew him back to her. His wolf calmed a little under his skin and pulled back, leaving Bay room to breathe. He drew in a rough breath and tried for control.

It came in slow, broken fragments. The tightness in his chest eased, the territorial urge to roar and howl slowly ebbed away, his muscles—one by one—began to loosen again. He heard her take a step towards him and the last of the raging twist of emotions slipped away. She was his lodestone, his map back to humanity, and Bay let her pull him back.

Reason finally touched him then. Only an idiot would go tromping through the snow after a pack of werewolves. One against six? It was laughable. Moronic. Then he turned and saw her. Her eyebrows were raised in silent question as she leaned against the truck, waiting. Patient, but he didn’t miss the sardonic humor in her eyes. She probably thought he was trying to work up the control to send her home. He almost grinned, even through the lingering shards of anger.

He opened his mouth to explain when a tree snapped behind him, bark and wood splintering. Bare branches slammed into the snow, crackling under the impact, and Bay spun. Morrigan’s troll lumbered out of the forest, its hulking shoulders heaving as it stared down at him, black eyes gaping. Long, spindly limbs that looked like they’d have no strength at all suddenly spread wide as the troll leaned forward and roared.

The wolf leapt under Bay’s skin at the invitation for a fight. In a heartbeat, all that fury came roaring back, heating through his blood like fire on gasoline. It blazed through him, higher this time, hotter.
Mine
.

Bay launched himself over the snow, the blanket around his shoulders falling to the barren ground behind him, but the cold air barely touched his pale skin. One second he was running forward, bare feet burning against the cold snow, and the next he’d landed in front of the troll, the massive size of his wolf now standing between the threat and Eden.

“Your master wants a word with you, little wolf.” The troll reached for him, stick-like fingers stretching out to snag at his ruff, but Bay twisted out of reach. His head snapped back and his teeth clicked over air, mere inches from the troll’s hand. It was the only warning this bastard was going to get.

Get out
. The desire radiated through him, poured through every vein in his body, and it rattled out of him on a threatening snarl. The troll grunted, obviously not impressed with Bay’s show of teeth.

“Forgot how much fight you have in you. Stupid, stupid creature.” Then the troll yanked back his hand and swung. The long, icy fingers slashed through the air, whistling with the speed of the attack.

Bay reacted without thinking. His body spun, diving towards the troll instead of away. Pearl-white teeth closed over the sensitive skin of the monster’s inner elbow, slicing cleanly through flesh until it found the coppery tang of blood. Then he was gone, dancing away over the snow, watching as drops of red splattered against the ground at the troll’s feet. Bay pinned his ears back and waited.

But this time when the troll attacked, it wasn’t at him. The huge beast lunged towards Eden and her truck. She let out a startled yelp, scrambling to get the truck between her and the troll, but Bay rammed himself into the monster’s mid-section, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Snow billowed up in a flurry of white. In seconds they were both back on their feet, watching each other.

The first glint of respect flickered in the troll’s eyes. Bay flashed his teeth in a very impolite doggie-grin. His lips pressed forward until just his canines and incisors showed as he growled.
Dominant
, his body language declared with every tense, choppy step.
Alpha
. His tail curled over his back.
This place, her, they are all mine.

And though the troll didn’t know it yet, Bay was about to show him. No one came to his place and tried to take what was his.

He heard a distinct click behind him and the troll’s head jerked in the direction of the truck. A surprised laugh boomed from him. “Little girl that won’t—”

The words were swallowed by the sudden crack of a gun going off. The troll staggered backwards and Bay leapt, hurtling his white body into the air. He crashed into the troll’s chest and sent them both toppling to the ground once more. This time, he didn’t leap away. His teeth snagged in the thick flesh of the monster’s chest, ripping until he found blood and bone, white shot through the red. He clawed upward, seeking the throat, when a hand wrapped around the back of his neck and flung him aside, slamming into the ground as if he were nothing more than an over-sized ragdoll.

His jaws snapped shut with an audible click at the impact, his breath racing out of his lungs. A whimper slid out of him, just as claws raked through his side, and Bay screamed out, yelping. He twisted, his teeth latching onto the troll’s arm. The gun popped again, a dull sound that was nearly lost in the sounds of the thrashing fight. Bay’s heart pounded in his ears, but the troll only grunted under the bullet’s impact.

Bay ripped into skin, not caring where he hit in his struggle to get free. Finally, the troll roared and let him go. He leapt aside, ignoring the spear of pain that lanced through his midsection, burning through his skin like a hot iron thrust straight through to the bone. Gasping, Bay whirled back for the troll.

Eden was there, too. Way too close. A long metal stick was clutched between her hands and she stabbed down at the troll’s thigh, ramming it straight through the meaty flesh. A ragged scream ripped through the air, sending twigs from nearby trees skittering into the wind, ripping them right from the dead branches they’d once grown on.

Rage and pain had the troll whirling on her. His hand snapped back and he backhanded her. Only Bay lunging, his jaws clamping down over the troll’s wrist slowed the impact of the monster’s hand slamming into Eden’s chest. Out of the corner of his eye, Bay watched as she tumbled out over the snow, a soft sob the only sound that slipped from her. Desperate, Bay clamped down so hard his jaw ached with the effort, but he heard the satisfying crunch of bone underneath.

Then he too was flying through the air, only to land in a crumpled heap besides his porch. He struggling, his legs instantly scrabbling beneath him as he strained to stand, but when his head lifted the troll was gone. Only the deep imprints and blood in the snow told him anything had happened at all.

Then Bay turned and hobbled to Eden’s side, agony ripping down his left side in waves of pain that made it hard for him to breathe. He sank down next to her and licked her cheek, his cold nose brushing against her ear. The wolf let out a soft whine.
Get up
. His mind begged, pleading frantically, even as pain ate through the last of his resolves and the world around him started to darken. He nudged her again, his only answer a soft moan.

Trembling, he started to step away when his body wavered and his legs gave way beneath him. He collapsed onto the ground beside her, his shoulder and head tossed over her. Protecting her. Breathing in her scent, the world faded to black and Bay felt pain’s dark oblivion drag him into unconsciousness.

***

Friggin’ hell that hurt
. Eden gave a rattling cough as she tried to move her arms, pain streaking down her back in pricks of needle-sharp spasms. It was like getting rammed in the chest by an angry moose. One second she’d been standing there, the next she’d been hurtled through the air with all the force of a tornado.

She even felt like a damned house had landed on her.

The weight over her shoulders made it impossible to get her arms under her and heave herself up. Eden angled her head to the side and saw the pile of white fur stretched out over the snow beside her. And God. The blood. Fur the color of goose-down, normally unmarred and beautiful, was suddenly splattered with red. Crimson droplets covered the line of Bay’s shoulder, and then—

Eden fought the bile surging up in her throat. He’d been ripped open.
Shit
. Could someone survive a wound like that? She squeezed her eyes shut against the sudden wave of panic. Maybe.
Especially
, if that someone was a werewolf. After all, if Bay could already do the impossible and go from skin to furry in five seconds, he might be able to survive getting gutted by a monster the size of a tree.

She just needed to get him off her, get him into the car, and,
yeah right.
Eden blew out a breath. Ignoring the stabbing pain that danced up her arm, the twisting jolt that sent sparks through her bicep. She wedged her arm around and down her side, only to dig out the slim black phone in her jeans pocket. She dialed Kennedy’s work without thinking, her friend was never late and had to be there by now, then pressed the phone against her pounding head.

He’d survive this. She was calling in the cavalry, all Bay needed to do was hold on.

The phone rang and Eden breathed into the snow.
Pick up, pick up, pick up. Please
. Silence stretched around them, a haunting ghost that seemed to taunt her, only broken by the sharp blasts of the phone ringing on the other end of the line. “Dee, please,” Eden whispered, knowing her friend couldn’t hear her, but still she hoped.

“Mercy Pass Animal Hospital.”

Relief left her throat raw, her eyes itching with unshed tears. “Jas. Please get me Kennedy. It’s an emergency.”

Her voice broke. Jasmine, Dee’s assistant, made a sympathetic sound. “Had a lot of those today. I’ll go see if I can get her.”

“Please,” Eden whispered again.

She could hear people talking and then finally, “Eden? What happened?”

“I need you to get to Bay’s. It’s up on White Rabbit Road.”

“I can’t. We’re packed. Six dogs and a cat with hypothermia, another cat with something I don’t even know yet. We’ve never had so many cases like this.”

“Dee. Bay was attacked. He’s a wolf right now. He’s bleeding. His whole side is ripped open.” Her voice hitched in her throat, but she forced the words to keep coming. Sobbing wouldn’t do a damn thing. “He landed on top of me and he’s the size of a bear. I can’t move, I’m pretty sure I’m hurt, too. You’re the only one I can call.”

Eden tried to wiggle out from underneath him, her chest squeezed with a blast of raw pain. A muffled cry clawed its way out of her and Kennedy cursed. “I’m on my way. I’m calling Rowan too. Be careful, Eden. Hurt animals bite. They get testy.”

Testy? That had to be a bit of an understatement. Eden blew out a breath, ignoring the burning in her chest. “I know.”

She let the phone fall into the snow beside her and turned her head back so she could get a glimpse at Bay. Blood leaked out into the snow, ribbons of red slashing through the white. His side looked like it had been shredded.
Shit
. At this rate he might bleed out before Dee and Ro even got there. “Bay,” she called softly. “Bay, please.”

The wolf shuddered, the muscles in his haunches twitching. She gulped. She’d seen the size of his wolf’s teeth. Hell, she’d felt its wrath before. Just because the troll had been the latest brand of puppy chow and Bay
might
have been able to control it, didn’t mean she wasn’t snack material now. Especially when he was hurting.

“Bay,” Eden said again, her arms straining as she tried to drag her way out from under the massive werewolf. Bay’s wolf whimpered, a sound that made her heart seize and her breath stall in her throat.

The wolf gave another tremor and then the weight over Eden’s shoulders vanished. Her muscles twitched, and she was ready to bolt to her feet and get out of there while she still could, but she didn’t dare move that fast. Running triggered predatory instinct in dogs and wolves had a lot more drive to hunt than the average husky.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Eden eased slowly away and drew herself up to her feet. Black dots danced over her eyes and her head throbbed, a pulsing hammer against her temples that made her want to squeeze her eyes shut and put her head between her legs. Instead, she reached out a steadying hand and leaned against Bay’s front porch, her eyes on the wolf still standing in front of her.

His large sides heaved, blood oozing out onto the ground beneath him. A line of red trickled down over one paw. Nausea swam through her and she swayed. Shit, but if it were even possible, he looked worse to her standing up than he had when she’d been face down next to him.

Black eyes blinked as the wolf looked up at her. Years of working with dogs had taught her how to register the slight signs of pain. He had wrinkles under his eyes and at the corners of his lips. He gave her another long, slow blink and whined. The pitiful sound tore at her heart and Eden stepped closer, sinking into the snow next to him. She reached a hand out and touched the silken fur, her fingers sliding up the wolf’s muzzle. He didn’t lash out, didn’t try and rip her arm off, and she relaxed, letting the tension ease out from between her shoulders.