Bones cracked and lengthened, fur melted away, limbs rearranged. He arched off the ground with a final cry and then collapsed, naked and bloodied, onto the stones.
A man.
I ran.
I didn’t think. I didn’t breathe. I just ran to him, skidding to my knees in the pool of blood that spread beneath his side.
“Sophie, help!” I cried, pressing my hands to his wound. Bloody hell, but this was serious. His thigh had been ripped open, the flesh torn to the bone. He was barely conscious, his skin cold and clammy, blood smeared across his face like war paint.
He looked up at me.
Tawny-green eyes. Midnight-black hair.His expression was of agony and terror.
Luch.
He’s …
“Oh, Luch,” I whispered.How did I not know?
The wolf. The one who had saved me the other time.Of course.Luch’s lashes fluttered against his cheeks, but hiseyes remained closed.
“Luch … no,” I gasped out, fear and confusion making me freeze.
He tried to speak, but only blood came.
“Don’t you dare,” I said, choking on a sob. “You saved me. Again. Don’t youdaredie on me now.”
Sophie dropped beside us, eyes wide with terror. “What do we do?”
“I don’t know,” I said, pressing harder, tears blurring my vision. “But I’m not losing him.”
And under the full moon, I whispered the only thing I could think of—the only truth I knew, “Oban needs you.Ineed you. Don’t you dare leave us.”
The other wolves drew near, whimpering, and when they saw Luch, they turned to me with a growl, trying to push me back. Fear made me bold, and I stood up, pulling my scalpel from the sheath in my coat pocket.
The wolves bared their teeth, their growls growing louder.
“Stop them. Please, Sophie.Help me. Make them stay back. We’ll lose him.” I knew, instinctively, that this was Luch’s family, and they would do everything in their power to stop me from healing Luch, simply because they didn’t trust healers.
“You heard the ladies. Let’s go to work, lads.” A group of men stepped forward, the husbands and boyfriends ofmyfriends, Lachlan at their head, and formed a wall between me and the pack of wolves.
Dropping back to my knees, I bent my face, pressing my lips to Luch’s forehead.
“You don’t get to leave me. I won’t allow it.”
And then I reached for my magick.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Faelan
“Tell us what you need, Faelan. We’re here.” Lia’s voice at my side had me blinking back tears. I’d never had someone with me as I’d healed before, aside from my mother, and it brought to a head long-buried feelings of longing for familiarity—for family.
“Aye, Faelan. We’re with you. We’ve got healing tonics, poultices, anything you need.” Shona squeezed in on the other side of me.
A tonic wouldn’t help this.
I wasn’t sure thatIcould help this.
