Page 72 of Outcast
“Get back here, you whore!” echoed from the walls of the Pit below as our paws blissfully touched the dirt packed ground.
Pain bloomed through us as the multiple lacerations on our belly tore open further. I felt Lux wince in our shared mind.
Worth it.
Our steps faltered as we took in the scene awaiting us. Wolves lay scattered across our field of view, some dismembered and some lying in pools of black and red blood.
Steps pounded up the ladder, and Lux shook our head before taking off, overriding my shock at the casualties around us.
We will be one of those dead shifters if we don’t get out of here and find the other pack members. We need them to shield us from the alpha. He won’t harm us in front of them.
Scent out Seneca. We need to get to her.
I’m on it. Her trail is mixed with Milo’s. He must have carried her off the battlefield.
A loud howl rang out, and instantly I knew it belonged to the alpha, now shifted.
He wouldn’t slaughter the pack just to take us to his master, would he?I didn't think he had any qualms with crossing lines at this point.
No. Getting his hands dirty and involving himself directly would lose him his prominent position in the hierarchy. I doubt his master is willing to let him risk that foothold.
Within two minutes we approached the elders' hut, a trail of blood leading straight to the front door.
I only scent Milo, Seneca, and Nicholas. It should be safe.
Tentatively, we approached the door and pushed at it with our nose. It creaked open slowly and at the back of the room near the fireplace, Seneca and Nicholas laid on the floor holding hands in a pool of blood with Milo in a fighting stance in front of them.
Are we too late?
His shoulders sagged in relief as he recognized me, but then his fear took over as he spotted my own trail of blood. "Kira! What happened to you?"
I took him in quickly, noting that he seemed to be in okay shape, with only slight tears in his clothes and a light dusting of blood spray on them.
Good, we can focus fully on the two elders now.
I couldn't shift back in our current state, and now wasn't the time to have a conversation with Milo, so we ignored him and padded over to the injured couple to examine the extent of their wounds.
I thought I would break when I saw their bloody, entwined hands. Even at death's doorstep, they clung to one another, each giving what strength and reassurance they could to the other. The depth of their love knocked the breath out of me, as if it were my own lungs filling with blood.
No, I won't let this happen. They cannot die.
Nicholas had a gaping slash across his belly, parts of his intestines visible beneath the mangled flesh and blood, while Seneca had a deep cut from her hip all the way down to her calf. There was no visible injury, but the blood pooling around her head indicated that she likely had a wound there too.Fuck, we can't burn the poison out of both of them at the same time.
Nicholas would want us to heal her, even if it meant sacrificing his life.
Seneca would want the same for him!
Pulling from my own despair and turmoil at the thought of it being myself and one of my mates lying there, I knew I would easily give my life.
It is the way of the shifters, Kira. The men will always put their mate above themselves.
Knowing we couldn't stand here and argue while their lives hung in the balance, I relented.
Lux felt my mental shift and placed a paw lightly on Seneca’s stomach. We retreated into our shared space and allowed ourselves to fall into the Shadowscape.
Peering down at Seneca in the monochromatic void, we saw that her soul burned a pale pink beneath a shroud of darkness, with black lines leaching into the pink and pulsating outwards. This was different than Jameson's had been, and it looked more advanced with the dark lines drifting into her like a network of veins.
Fuck.
