“Oh, fuck,” Uncle Dalton said as he dropped to his knees. “How bad?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but the words were stuck in my throat.
I’d failed. I’d had one job, and I failed.
“It’s bad,” Seamus rasped.
“Ian,” Uncle Dalton called over his shoulder. He looked back at Seamus as he pressed on the wound with one hand and pulledsomething out of his utility pocket with the other. “It’s not so bad, bud.”
He was a convincing liar.
Seamus nodded, letting out a small breath of relief.
“It’s going to hurt like hell when I lift you, though.”
“Hurts like hell already,” Seamus replied, his lips pulling up a little on one side.
Ian looked me over briefly to make sure I was okay, his eyes widening, then watched as Uncle Dalton lifted his little brother into his arms like a baby. Seamus lost consciousness.
“Take him to Alice,” Erik ordered. “She’s at our place.”
I staggered to my feet as the Cavendish family took off through the woods, Ian leading the way and Grant following at the rear, their rifles at the ready.
The world seemed to be swaying around me.
“Rosemary,” Chance called from somewhere behind me. “I need you to stay right where you are.”
I spun toward the voice, but before I’d made an entire turn, I saw my mate. He was less than three feet from me, his feet planted, completely motionless.
“Danny,” I gasped, stumbling toward him.
Everything would be okay now. He would make everything okay.
“Don’t—”
“Stop!”
“Rosemary!”
The voices came from everywhere, all around us, but I ignored them.
It wasn’t until I’d wrapped my good arm around his waist and looked up into his face that I realized why they’d tried to stop me.
Daniel’s eyes were different. Wrong somehow. The pupils were huge, and the ring around them was light, not the usualdark brown that I’d fallen in love with. His expression was completely blank.
Breath left me in a whoosh as his arms wrapped around me, holding me so tight that I could barely move.
A growl left his throat.
“Danny?” I called softly.
“You’re okay,” Erik called quietly.
Daniel’s lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl.
“What’s going on?” I asked, pushing on his chest.
His arms tightened.
