"Two hours. Don't move."
The line went dead.
I lowered the phone and looked at James. He was watching me with an expression I couldn't read.
"She's coming," I said.
"I heard."
"She's going to have questions. A lot of them."
"I figured." He moved to stand beside me, his shoulder brushing mine. "We'll answer them together."
Together. The word settled into my chest, warm despite the cold.
I looked at the wolf—still unconscious, still breathing, still unreachable through the bond. We'd dragged him off a mountain. Survived drops and traverses and terrain that should have stopped us. Carried him mile after mile on nothing but stubbornness and rope.
Now we just had to wait.
And hope that when he finally woke up, there was still someone in there worth saving.
Chapter twenty-two
The helicopter appeared over the treeline forty minutes later.
I heard it before I saw it—the rhythmic thump of rotors cutting through the mountain silence. James's head snapped up, his wolf senses tracking the sound before I'd fully registered what it was.
"That was fast," he said.
"Mason's helicopter. He’s one of Darian’s mates." I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the way my vision swam. "He collects expensive toys the way some people collect stamps."
The helicopter banked into view—sleek, black, military-grade. It circled once, finding a clearing, and touched down with practiced precision. The rotors kept spinning as a figure jumped out and started running toward us.
Rae.
Her sharp eyes missed nothing. She was wearing a medical jacket over tactical gear, and she carried a bag that probably contained half a pharmacy.
“Lumi.”
She pulled me into a hug before I could react—fierce and brief—then held me at arm’s length, her sharp gaze cataloging damage.
“Your hand,” she said. “Let me see.”
Knowing Rae was the Medicine Woman was one thing. Being healed by her was another entirely.
She cradled my hand between both of hers and closed her eyes.
Heat surged instantly—burning, searing, overwhelming. I gasped as it raced through bone and tissue, pain spiking so sharply it stole my breath.
And then it was gone.
The ache vanished. The throb disappeared. The agony that had defined every heartbeat simply… wasn’t there anymore.
I stared at her, stunned, tears burning from the sheer shock of relief.
“Rae,” I whispered. “Thank you. Thank you for coming.”
I hugged her tight, grounding myself in the reality that she was here—that we’d made it. That maybe, somehow, she could help my feral wolf.
