“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
A vehicle roared outside.
Jaime stiffened. “Chris?—”
“It’s okay,” I said, forcing calm into my voice even as my wolf bristled. “That’s the pack.”
Almost on cue, boots thundered on the porch.
“Clear!” Levi’s voice barked.
He burst through the door a second later, followed closely by Ethan. Yes, Ethan! Trust Levi to bring a healer with him. Relief hit me so hard my knees nearly buckled. Ethan took one look at us and swore.
“I’m fine,” I said automatically. “Help him first.”
Jaime opened his mouth to argue, but Ethan was already kneeling beside him, hands glowing faintly as he assessed the wound.
“Bullet lodged in the thigh,” Ethan muttered. “You’re lucky it missed the artery.”
“I told you I was fine,” Jaime grumbled through clenched teeth.
Ethan shot him a look. “Hold still.”
He worked quickly, precise and practiced. Jaime sucked in a sharp breath as Ethan extracted the bullet, his fingers steady despite the blood.
I hovered uselessly, every instinct screaming to protect, to help, to do something.
Ethan pressed his palm over the wound, light blooming beneath his skin as magic flowed. The smell of blood faded, replaced by the clean ozone scent of healing.
“Will he be alright?” I asked, voice rough.
“Yes,” Ethan said. “He’ll limp for a bit. But he’ll live.”
Jaime exhaled shakily, then looked up at me in sudden alarm.
“The dog show,” Jaime said.
My heart lurched. “What?”
“We have to go back,” he said urgently. “The dogs are still in danger.”
“Slow down,” I said, even as Ethan shifted toward me. “Ethan?—”
“You’re next,” Ethan said firmly.
He guided me to sit, his fingers already probing the wound in my shoulder. Pain flared as he extracted the bullet, but it dulled quickly under his magic.
As he worked, Jaime kept talking, words spilling out like he’d been holding them back too long.
“Marion isn’t about to give up now,” Jaime said. “He wants to frame us.”
My blood ran cold.
“He wants it to look like we shifters sabotaged the show. Turn humans against us,” Jaime said.
“Son of a bitch,” Levi muttered.
“He said he’d finish it,” Jaime added, voice shaking with anger now. “No matter what.”
