Kevin grunted. "I'm no healer, but I think the bleeding is slowing. I believe he'll be okay if we can get some pressure on it to slow the bleeding and then get him home.”
Rusty winced. "It's just a scratch."
Dillon took his shredded clothes and wadded them up, placing them into the gash in Rusty's side.
"What the hell was that about?" Gabe stared around with wide eyes. "We haven't had any trouble with vamps in a while."
Kevin shrugged. "Who knows with those bastards? Could be a new coven in the area, or it could just be a group that was out hunting human hikers."
"Regardless, we better get these two back." Dillon motioned to Rusty and Gabe. “They’re bleeding like stuck hogs which is going to attract predators.” Dillon reached down and made to scoop Rusty up, but Kevin put a hand on his arm.
"I’ve got it. One of us that isn’t injured needs to be on the lookout.” He glanced at Gabe. “Gabe can manage with a limp. And we will make fun of him relentlessly for being so slow that a vampire managed to get the upper hand."
“If I’m slow it’s because I’ve been training with you,” Gabe muttered. “My great- great grandmother moves faster than you.”
Dillon chuckled at Gabe. “Don’t worry. It will only stick until another wolf does something to be teased about.” Dillon guessed they were about ten miles from the pack mansion, and the sun was sinking low behind the trees. Ten miles wasn't insurmountable for their kind. Uninjured, and not weary from a long day of scouting the woods, they could probably make it back in an hour. But the gash in Gabe's legs said that he wasn't going to be sprinting. Rusty was out of commission and would be carried by Kevin, who may or may not have a concussion, though he didn’t seem disoriented, so that was a good sign. All that said, there was no way they would make it back before dark. And where there was one vampire, there were usually more. Five vampires in the area could only mean trouble, no matter what the reason. Dillon looked at Kevin and recognized the determination in the man's face. Finally, Dillon nodded.
"I'll go ahead and make sure our way back is clear. If you need me for anything, if so much as a leaf looks out of place, or if you get too tired to carry on, give three howls, and I'll be back in a heartbeat."
Kevin nodded and extended a hand. "Thank you." Dillon shook it and then stepped away. He removed the pants Kevin had given him and passed them back. "See you back at the mansion." He phased and took off down the trail.
“Are you still alive?” Tanya pushed through the bond that he’d closed while he’d been trying to keep his promise of not dying or letting any of her pack members die.
Dillon kept his wolf senses on high alert as he answered, “I realize you have no reason to trust me.” He paused as his gut twisted at the truth of his own words. “But I keep my promises. Each of your pack members with me are alive. Not all entirely well, but alive.”
“Injuries?” Her voice was curt, and Dillon could feel the tension coming through their mate bond.
“Kevin took a blow to the head, Rusty has a pretty decent scratch on his side, and Gabe’s leg is torn up. I am unhurt. All in all, we are in good shape.” Dillon sniffed every rock, leaf, and branch on the trail, and he listened as keenly as he could, straining to hear anything that might warn of another attack. “How are you holding up?” Dillon didn’t allow himself to wander into her thoughts, no matter how badly he wanted to know how she was doing. He wanted her to tell him herself. He wanted her to trust him enough to share with him.
“Are those the only pack members that were with you?” She ignored his question. She seemed worried that there was someone specific that might have been with him. Was there a male she was close to?
He forced his jealous and possessive nature down his throat because he had no right to feel that way. “Yes. That is all.” And, because he just had to prove what an ass he had already shown himself to be, he added, “Was there someone in particular you were concerned about?”
“I worry about everyone in my pack,” she bit out. “I’m just wondering what you four were doing out there on the edges of the pack land on your own. Did my father send you out to hunt? And if so, what were you hunting?”
The skepticism in her voice only confirmed what the three males had told him about Jeremiah not letting pack members hunt prey. He continued to run his nose all around the ground, raising his head and lowering it, sniffing out any scents that shouldn’t be present. So far, everything was as it should be. “He told me there’d been signs of rogue wolves near the compound,” Dillon explained.
Dillon felt confusion slither down the bond. “Rogue wolves?” Skepticism filled her voice. “There’s no way there would be rogue wolves anywhere near my father’s pack. As you pointed out earlier when we spoke, his reputation of being a ruthless ass is quite well known among wolves and other supernaturals, as well.”
“I figured there weren't any rogues, but I wasn’t about to tell my,” he emphasized the word, reminding her that he was there on a trial period, “alpha that I didn’t believe him. I’m to do what I’m told, and that’s what I did. I don’t think he was expecting vampires to be out and about. These were older vampires since they were able to be out in the day.”
“You’re right,” she said, her voice resigned. “I told you to be careful, and part of being careful is toeing the line with him. But be prepared for anything, Dillon. I promise you he’s going to be looking into you.”
“He already has.” Though he hated to make her worry, Dillon would keep nothing from her. “He contacted my former alpha.”
“Would he have said anything that would cause my father to think there was more to you than just a wolf who left his pack?”
Like perhaps the fact that you lived a whole life with someone else without considering how it would make me feel. She didn’t say those words, but Dillon could practically hear them being shouted at him through the torment that she continued to feel over his past choices.
“I’m sorry.” He knew the words were inadequate. There was nothing he could do to take away the sting of what his actions caused. “I don’t deserve a chance with you. But I won’t give up trying to get one. You will have to kill me to get rid of me. Don’t worry about what your father does or doesn’t know or what he will find out. That’s for me to worry about.”
“Sure, I’ll get right on that.” She was silent for a moment, though she didn’t close the bond. “Are you back at the mansion?”
“No.” He let her ignore his comment, for now. “We’ve got about seven more miles to go.” He could hear the other males behind him moving at a decent speed, considering they were injured.
“Focus on getting home. You might run into more vampires. Please keep my pack mates alive,” she ordered. “Maybe once you get back and are safe, we can…” She paused, and he felt the tension in her. “Maybe we can talk.”
Dillon wanted to howl with happiness that she was willing to entertain the idea of using their bond to communicate. That was more than he had hoped for, and he’d take any breadcrumbs she was willing to give him.
