“We don’t know. We think she might have hit her head. She’s not responding.”
Hazel, Gabriella, and Kaleb took the woman over to the other witches, and Brandon stopped next to me. “Something doesn’t seem right here.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“She was alone for starters. There was no one else around. How do we know we aren’t getting played? If something happened, why wasn’t there anyone else around? We’ve been dealing with these monsters for years….how often do they leave someone alive?”
I understood Brandon’s concern. The alarms were going off, and we found her alone in the woods. With everything else going on, we didn’t know who we could trust. We were constantly having these false alarms and never seemed to findout who was causing them. And he was right. We rarely saved anyone. Most were holding on to life.
“What’s the plan?” Kaleb asked as he walked back to us. “She’s injured. Someone said stitched and possibly a concussion.”
“Or she might be covered in someone else’s blood,” Brandon countered. “She could be a vampire hunter for all we know.” I could see Brandon’s head was spinning with possibilities, and as Alpha, he had to make the call.
I looked back at Hazel and Gabriella. Hazel pulled herself up and walked toward us. “We need to get her in town. She’s got a huge cut on her left leg that needs stitches, and if she has a concussion, they want to get that checked out as quickly as possible.”
Brandon’s lips pursed together. “We need to question her first before we allow her into town.”
Hazel’s eyes looked at Brandon like he was crazy. “Question her? Brandon, she’s injured. She needs to be treated. Why the hell are you saying you need to question her?”
“We need to know where she came from, Hazel,” Kaleb added, giving Hazel a soft smile. “As a precaution. We have to protect the pack, and with everything going on, we don’t know who we can trust.”
“Are you kidding me right now?” Hazel snapped, anger crossing her entire face. “She’s bleeding, and instead of helping her, you guys want to stand around here and question if she’s someone who deserves to be healed? Why don’t you just fucking start digging her a grave at that point!”
“That’s not what he’s saying,” Gabriella said, trying to calm her sister.
“No, that is what they are saying,” Hazel snapped back at her sister. “They want to question an unconscious woman before giving her help.”
“Hazel, we need to think about the safety of the pack, and with everything that happened with the animal shelter, we can’t just open our arms to anyone. It’s not that we don’t want to help; we just can’t let anyone in. We can’t have a repeat of the shelter.”
“And what about people who need help? Who are trying to run away from something like Gabriella and I were? What if she was trying to get free and got injured?”
“And what if she’s playing us?” Brandon asked. “Just like that injured puppy was playing with Nora. I have to think about the pack as a whole, Hazel. I can’t just open our doors to anyone anymore.”
“You don’t know that she’s evil!”
“And neither do you,” Brandon said. “We have to keep her locked up until we know more of what happened here. We have to protect our people.”
“Hazel is right,” Gabriella spoke up, nodding in agreement with her sister. “We can’t turn away people who are hurt. She clearly needs help. We could just have someone keep an eye on her and question her when she is feeling a little better.” Gabriella looked at Brandon. “You didn’t turn us away. Doesn’t she deserve the same treatment? I understand you’re worried, but what’s worse? Turning someone away because you’re scared of what could happen, or sending her away and finding her dead a day later?”
I watched Brandon think about it. He looked over toward the witches and then back at Gabriella. He contemplated it for a long moment before he gave a nod. “Have her taken care of, butas soon as she is feeling even a little better, we are having her questions. I want answers to whatever the hell is going on.”
Hazel stormed away, telling the other witches to get moving. I looked over at Brandon, who looked stressed, running a hand over his face. “Kaleb, find out what the alarm was. I want to know what the hell is going on with this one and all the others.”
I looked at Gabriella as Brandon headed over to talk with the witches. She looked calm, and I offered her a smile. I was proud of how well she handled everything. “Are you okay?” I asked.
She nodded, giving me a smile. “I’m good. I’m going to go offer them a hand at the healing center. Are you okay?”
“Westley,” Brandon called, and I turned around. “I’m going to have you sweep the wood again. See if there is anything else we need. Try and piece together what happened.”
I looked back at Gabriella. I took a step into her space and smiled. She was safe, and we were okay. That was what mattered. “I’m good.” I kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you back at the house.”
She nodded her head, closing her eyes as she leaned against me for a moment. The world felt silent and perfect. And then she pulled away, and I turned to the woods.
Chapter 19 - Gabriella
I went back to the healing center with Hazel and the woman. We got her into a private room, where Hazel started stitching up her leg. I sat across from her, watching. I had decided to come to give an extra hand, but I didn’t know what to do. So, I stood by and felt like I was a fly on the wall.
I watched the way Hazel stitched, her fingers working slowly and carefully, but I could see the way her fingers shook every once in a while. I tilted my head. “Do you need a hand?”
