Shepherd shot him a baleful look. “A man can live with scars. At least she’s alive.”
Shepherd would know. He was covered in them.
He cleared his throat. “Look, if she doesn’t shift, I’ve got some ointment that’ll speed up healing. It won’t fix it all the way. There’s too much damage.”
Matteo removed his long, sleeveless coat, which was a patchwork of different furs. He draped it across Blue as a blanket. “You should move her closer to the fire.”
I turned and looked up. “Kids, go to sleep.”
They all looked horrified. Adam might have just gotten his first glimpse of a naked woman. He was probably traumatized for life and, at the very least, would never choose to become a Shifter, if he chose to become anything at all.
Claude spread out his clothes near the fire, and we all worked together to move her.
Viktor stayed by her side. “Someone get her water. She’s lost blood, and she’ll need fluids.”
Shepherd reached in his bag. “I’ve got a bottle of electrolytes. A few capfuls in her mouth every hour will help, but she really needs to wake up and drink. Claude, why don’t you—”
“Give to me,” Viktor said in broken English as he reached for the bottle.
Claude paced. “Who did this? I want them dead.”
I sat on a large rock. “General’s dead, but his brothers are still out there. I don’t know if they’ll give up or come at us hard.”
“How many?”
I shrugged. “Three?”
“Two,” Christian said from beyond the fire. When he appeared, Joshua was in his arms, naked and unconscious.
“This is a clusterfuck.” Shepherd rose to his feet. “What the hell happened to him?”
Christian gave him a sharp look. “He fell naked into my arms after declaring his undying love. What the feck do you think? He’s hurt. Get your arse over here.”
Christian set the boy down alongside the wall.
“I don’t see any wounds,” Shepherd muttered, looking him over. “Head injury?”
“I found him that way. Next to a dead lion.” Christian folded his arms and sauntered up to me.
“That must have been some fight,” I said.
He sat next to me on the rock. “Had I arrived a moment earlier, I would have had front-row seats.”
Shepherd smacked the boy on the cheek. “Kid, wake up. You hear me? Wake your ass up.”
“Maybe you should give him an injection,” I suggested.
Shepherd scratched his bristly jaw. “That’s for life-and-death emergencies. His pulse and breathing are normal. I think he just passed out.”
“How is she?” Christian asked quietly.
I followed his gaze to Blue. “Shepherd got her to shift again, but she’s still cut up bad. Do you think she’ll scar?”
“Aye, if they’re deep enough. Shifters heal, but it depends on the wound.”
“I met a guy in a bar once who was showing his off like it was a medal of honor. Why do they use liquid fire to keep the scars if all they have to do is not shift?”
“If they accidentally shift too soon, they’ll lose the scars. They’re just dumb eejits who want to look like a scratching post.”
