Page 60 of Feral
I put my hand on his arm. “It doesn’t matter right now,” I said slowly. “What happened to Rosa?”
Eris swallowed hard. “I told her we should run and get help, but she said we couldn’t leave the goats out here to burn. She’d named them. I told her she shouldn’t name the stupid animals. You get attached,” he choked out, his voice growing tight. “She was trying to herd them back toward town, but they were panicked and one knocked her and she tripped and hit her head on a rock and now she won’t wake up.”
Shit. I checked her head, and there was a pretty big lump and a gash right on the side of her skull. Fuck. “She needs to see Tanner right now.”
Merrick took control again. “Do you have an ATV out here?”
Eris shook his head. “We herd the goats out here on foot, then herd them back to their pen in the evening.”
“Fuck.” Merrick fished his keys from his pocket. “Give her to me and shift. Now, Eris!”
The boy gently passed her over and shed his clothes, shifting into his Manix form immediately. I grabbed his shirt, twisting it slightly and wrapping it around Rosa’s neck to support it. It was an old field medicine trick Lorso taught me, like setting a nose. I’d never had to use it before though. I didn’t think she had spinal damage, but couldn’t be sure.
Merrick passed her back to Eris. “Go quickly, but don’t jolt her around. My car is on the road south-east of here. Take her straight there and then drive to the new doctor, Tanner.Do not stop—do you understand me?” It was an Alpha command, and though Eris was an Alpha too, he was still just a kid.
Eris nodded, cradling Rosa’s head to his chest, his arms holding her like she was a doll. He moved smoothly and quickly through the trees, and I ran in the other direction, further into the woods. The fire wasn’t far away now. I could taste it on the air, like a demon coming from Hell to destroy everything in its path. We needed to see though. Needed to judge.
“I’m going up to look,” I called, scaling the closest tree. I ignored their shouts and climbed faster. I’d climbed hundreds of trees in my life; I wasn’t going to fall. When I got to the top, I hissed out a breath. The fire was bigger than I thought, acres of flames spread out on the horizon.
There was nothing I could do. Absolutely nothing. Trees were already alight, and I could feel the wind picking up. We had no chance, as the embers would float on the breeze.
I looked down and spotted the remaining goats running around frantically, but not in the right direction. To the left, I could almost spot my home. Tears flooded my eyes, but I blinked them back. No time. I climbed back down quickly, landing in a crouch.
“I see where you get the nickname now,” Murphy said jokingly, but it was weak. I gave him a tight smile.
“There’s nothing we can do. Call Courtland and tell him to get onto the human authorities. There aren’t even any fire trails out that side. They're going to need to do aerial drops.” I took off running again.
“Stop, Omega!” Merrick shouted, with his Alpha voice again, making my feet slow and my teeth grind. “You’re going toward the flames.”
“I’m aware of that,Alpha.But the goat herd is just there, and if we can push them south, they’ll have a better chance of surviving.” I didn’t keep the venom from my voice. I wasn’t a fucking inept child. I knew these woods better than these men ever would.
Murphy whistled at my fierce expression. “Go, Omega.” I ran, grabbing a big stick, but not before I heard him tell his Packmate, “I’d sleep with one eye open until she forgives you, Rick.”
The goats bleated in a circle about three hundred feet away, and I got behind them easily. “Hyuh! Come on, you hairy dumbasses.” Waving my stick, I sent the panicked beasts off at a run in the right direction. I’d do what I could, but then they were on their own.
By the time I got back to Merrick and Murphy, the goats were running at a good speed. “Keep driving them back toward town,” I shouted at Merrick over the increasing crackle of the fire, before turning and running further north.
“Where the fuck are yougoing?!”
“Home!” I shouted, and I heard them swear.
Soon enough, Murphy was right behind me. “I’m going to assume you don’t mean Maxton?”
I shook my head. I needed to get my memories. My things. Everything that made me Kitten was in that cabin; what little history I did have was locked up tight in an ammo box. Everything that was left of Lorso. I had to try and save some of it.
Murphy shifted between one step and the next, and suddenly there was a fully grown Manix beside me. “Let me run, I’ll carry you. It will be faster,” he growled in a voice an entire octave lower than his human voice. He didn’t need to put Alpha power into it—it was already there, like a blanket that flowed over your skin.
I wasn’t going to argue. I quickly climbed onto his back, and he took off toward the last remnant of the person I used to be.
38
COOPER
Everyone was panicking. I was panicking. Corvin’s phone call had made ice-cold fear seep through my veins. I still couldn’t get hold of Kitten, and the panic in our bond was driving me crazy.
As soon as word got to us that there was a wildfire, we’d dropped everything at the job site and dispersed. Some of the guys would head to the Legion offices to defend against the fire, but guys like me and Finlo, who had Packs and families? We would be useless. The need to be with our Omegas would overrule every other rational thought. There was only one thing the Beast wanted in an emergency, and that was the safety of the Pack. As far as my Beast was concerned, the rest of Maxton could rot, as long as my Pack was safe.
People were swarming everywhere, making the roads busy. We lived in the mountains, so the town itself had a fairly decent wildfire plan, but sometimes even the best plans meant nothing. I swung into the driveway of the Sanctum and was off the ATV before it had even rolled to a full stop. I burst through the front door and the relief I felt at just seeing Darius threatened to make my knees give out.
