It was as if he couldn’t even hear me. His eyes jerked from side to side as he watched the woods around us. His face and beard were covered in blood.
In the distance, the whir of a helicopter’s blades broke the silence.
“Ambrose?” Lucy called from somewhere.
“Stay where you are,” Ambrose called back. “Don’t move.”
Then there was silence again.
My eyes were growing a little hazy. I didn’t understand what was happening, and I was losing patience and blood. I pinched Daniel’s side. He didn’t even flinch.
“She’s hurt, Arne,” Erik said soothingly from somewhere behind me. “She needs help.”
Daniel took a step back, dragging me with him.
“I know,” Erik said, his voice choked. “But you need to push through it. Look at your mate. She’shurt. Look at her.”
“Daniel,” I whispered, clutching at his shirt as my head grew heavy. “What’s wrong?”
I slumped against him, letting him take the full weight of my body. I was sotired,and the heat symptoms that had been riding me since the moment he’d left were finally easing.
Thunder’s heavy breathing came from somewhere at our feet.
Daniel started to tremble as he moved slowly backward. His heart was pounding.
“Stay here,” Beau called out calmly. “You have to stay where we can help her.”
“I’m fine,” I replied, blinking. I laid my head on Daniel’s shoulder. I let the blood in my mouth drain out of my lips, too tired to spit.
“She’s losing consciousness,” Chance spat. “We’ve been standing here for fifteen minutes already.”
Had it been fifteen minutes? That didn’t seem right.
“What do we do?”
“Stand ready,” Erik replied quietly. He raised his voice. “Arne, you need to put her down.”
“If he doesn’t snap out of it, we’ll have to take her,” Beau said.
Daniel took another step back, a low growl rumbling in his chest.
“Fight it, son,” Erik ordered, his voice deepening.
My mate began to shake.
I slid my hand under his shirt, pressing my palm against the warm skin of his back. Yes, that’s what I needed. The feeling of his skin against mine. Everything inside me seemed to settle.
It was the opposite for Daniel. As soon as our skin met, he jolted like he’d been shocked and began lowering me to the forest floor.
“Rosie,” he called as he gently pushed my hair out of my face.
“You made it,” I whispered, watching as his eyes slowly lost the blank look.
“Where are you hit?” he asked, his voice vibrating with terror.
“Hip,” I replied, his face going in and out of focus. “Shoulder.”
“Daniel?” Erik called.
