She charged over. “Get the hell away from my dog and off of my property, assholes!”
The men’s heads whipped up to see a fully naked Maddy waltz out of the woods with a hand on her hip, breasts out without a care in the world.
The men stood dumbfounded as they stared at the beautiful naked woman yelling at them.
“Uhh, ma’am, I’m sorry—” They lowered their guns. “We thought this was public lands.”
“Do you want my coat?” The other guy averted his gaze and started to shrug his jacket off.
Maddy scoffed. “I’m a nudist, you idiot. I don’t wear clothes and now you’ve shot my wolfdog. Get off my property before my husband kills you.”
The men looked worried at that and started to back away. Even though I was terrified that I was dying, or at the very least would be paralyzed for life, I couldn’t help but let out a wolfy chuckle at Maddy’s nudist claim.
“Better run,” Brayden’s deep voice boomed from the woods, and the men took off at a full sprint.
Now that they’d left, the adrenaline rushed out of me and I craned my head to look at Brayden, who was walking towards me with a painful expression. When his eyes landed on me there was so much emotion in them that I couldn’t help but whine. He tossed Maddy his shirt and then fell to his knees before me. His eyes darted wildly around my lower half. “Don’t shift. I think the bullet is still in you and you could be paralyzed.”
Well, that certainly put the fear of God into me. I wanted to tell him I already was paralyzed and couldn’t move, but I suddenly felt too weak. Dropping my head to the ground, I started panting again and Brayden burst into action.
One second I was lying there and the next I was being lifted and a slice of pain ripped through my hindlegs at the sudden movement. I growled and he nodded.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, speed-walking back towards the house. “Maddy, run ahead and call Mary at the hospital. Tell her to send an ambulance and clear the OR for me.”
Maddy nodded and took off running, her naked pale legs streaking through the forest.
Brayden was walking fast but not running, and I wondered if it was because he didn’t want to jostle me too much.
This was bad. This was so bad. I was really scared. Could I die? Could I die without even knowing if I was Lena? To die with that kiss being our last?
Brayden seemed to be thinking the same thing. “I’m sorry I ran off after I kissed you,” he said, holding me firmly to his chest as he navigated the forest. “It’s just that I feel so attracted to you and yet I’m loyal to Lena. Since I married Lena in Moon Valley, I’ve never kissed another woman, so if you’re not her and I just cheated…” He released a shuttering breath. “I’m sorry,” he said again and my heart broke.
I realized then that if we never found out which one of us was Lena and which was Wren, then he’d be alone forever. That was some stupid loyalty that I couldn’t help but admire. I picked up my head as much as I could and nuzzled it into his neck to let him know that I accepted his apology and it was okay.
Before I knew it, we’d reached the house. Leah was standing in the doorway with a panicked look on her face.
“Averly!” she shouted when she saw me.
“Get my med-kit!” he yelled to her, stepping inside.
Maddy was on the phone, and Leah burst into action. She ran to the corner of the room where Brayden kept his old school black bag. He brought it to work with him every time he left.
“Okay, Averly, I’m going to get this bullet out so that you can shift and I can bring you into the OR to fix the damage. Your back legs have been dangling this entire time, which means there’s spinal cord damage. Even with your shifter healing, if you heal wrong or something heals out of order, you can be permanently injured.”
“Permanently injured” were two words I did not want to hear. I just nodded and he set me on the kitchen table.
It no longer hurt, and the numbness seemed to be rising up to my abdomen, which was scary.
Leah set Brayden’s doctor bag down for him and then jumped in front of me, eyes brimming with unshed tears. “I love you, bitch. Don’t you dare die on me.”
I gave her what I hoped was a wolfish grin and Maddy stepped up beside Brayden.
“Mary sent the ambulance and says your OR is being prepped. I told her spinal damage was in play and she called Dr. Kent from Neuro.”
Brayden nodded as he slipped on blue latex gloves. “Kent is good.” He went into doctor mode but I could see the panic just below his features. Pulling out a large pair of tweezers and gauze, he looked over at Maddy.
“Get some more clothes on or my paramedics are going to wonder what the hell kind of life we live up here,” he snapped at his sister.
She startled, probably completely forgetting she was naked but for Brayden’s shirt, and bolted into the bedroom. I had about two seconds to wonder how weird it was to see your sister naked, when he looked at Leah.
