His little vet nodded like that made sense, and Nico let out a relieved breath. It reallywastrue that humans would believe in just about anything except the supernatural, even when it was right in front of them.
A pack elder had once said that it had something to do with the Enlightenment and philosophy—humans didn't want to seem like superstitious peasants. Whatever it was, Nico said silent thanks to those ignorant philosophers.
They'd taken off Cole's clothes and had left him covered with a blanket, though he would sometimes toss and turn and throw it off himself. Right now, he was covered up to his neck, though one of his arms was lying on top of it.
Elise carefully peeled it down until she found the bandage Hugh had so carefully applied. She looked over her shoulder at him, and all that fear that she'd been exuding until now had dissolved into determination. "Take all that stuff you stole out of the bag and put it in some kind of order. I need to know what I'm working with."
She turned back to Cole and started to undo the bandage. The smell of sick blood coated over Elise's natural scent. She sucked in a breath. "How long since this happened?"
"Three days."
"And has it improved at all since then?" Now she was all business.
"Cole's bleeding isn't as bad as it was when we got him here. But that's it. Can you help him?" He couldn't keep the desperation out of his voice. Cole hadn't roused at all when Elise—a stranger!—had touched him, another sign of just how far gone he was.
Even in sleep, the alpha was on guard—all wolves were.
Elise held her hand over his wound, but she didn't touch it. Her fingers twitched, and then she closed them into a fist. "What happened?"
"I don't know, I couldn’t stop it.” If he had, Cole wouldn't be in this position. Nico would have gladly taken the hit for him. It was his job to protect his alpha, to die for him if necessary.
And Nico was failing.
She studied the wound with a professional gaze. "This almost looks like buckshot. He really needs anactualdoctor. I am not qualified for this. I know some first aid, and I can rebandage this, but whoever did it in the first place did an okay job.You need someone who knows your, uh, human biology and anatomy. I could make things worse." She was looking at him with those big pleading eyes that made him want to give her everything.
Nico had to tear his gaze away from hers. "You're all he's got. Make it work."
Elise's soft expression hardened, and it didn't look natural on her face. "Fine. I can at least clean this without making anything worse. Give me some gauze and saline." She held her hand out flat, fingers splayed, and gave him an expectant expression.
He wanted to see her in her element. He wanted to see the competence that he glimpsed under the surface when she wasn't under duress.
She splayed her fingers wider. "Now, Nico."
He sprang into action. There was a bottle of saline and gauze near the top of his bag of treasures, and he handed them over before starting to sort through everything he'd stolen.
He'd barely started when someone tried the handle on the door.
"Nico, are you in there? Why is this locked?" Javi shouted through the door. He tested it again. "Come on man, let me in."
Elise looked up from where she was cleaning Cole and pursed her lips. She glanced at the door and then back at him, expression full of life. She gestured towards the door as if to sayyou deal with that.
He'd known the shit was going to hit the fan. He just hadn't expected it to happen so soon. Nico went to the door and leaned against it. The lock wasn't anything special, and Javi would be able to break it with little more than a twist of his wrist. The house was in the middle of pack territory; it was their safest space. There was no reason to add extra locks to the interior doors.
Until now.
"I'm in here," Nico said. "All's good."
Javi took a deep breath. "Are you alone? I can smell?—"
"All's good," Nico repeated before Javi could say something too shiftery. So far, Elise seemed to buy the excuse he'd given for Cole's appearance. He didn't need to blow it now.
"Dude, let me in." Javi slammed himself up against the door, and Nico had to put all his weight against it to keep the thing closed. He braced in an awkward position, back against the door, half twisted, with one hand flat against the wood.
"Do you need to go out there and deal with that?" Elise asked, surprisingly sharp.
No way in hell was he leaving her alone with Cole unconscious and vulnerable. "Just keep working," he said.
"Who the fuck is that?" Javi demanded.
