The Element: A Shift in the Water (Completed)

Chapter 36- From Across the Stars

Zeke

The pain is intense. Like a jagged knife stabbing me in the heart that is then dragged down to my gut.

And it pisses me off.

It's not so much the rejection that hurts. More so than that, it's the distress Everly is experiencing. Her lack of trust and her anger towards our pack causes my wolf to go on defense.

Plus, the stubborn woman keeps running from me. It takes everything in me not to throw her over my shoulder and lock her in my cabin until we work this all out.

As Everly brushes past me, I hear her wolf whine from within and I can't hide the half-smile as it grips my lips. I turn and follow closely behind her as Doc leads the way to Trent.

When we step to the second-floor landing, Everly spins and faces me, "What are you doing?" She demands.

Playing dumb, I shrug my shoulders and innocently reply, "Checking on my packmate."

"Oh," she replies. Lifting her finger in warning she speaks with authority, "Just, don't stand so close to me."

Laughing on the inside, I slowly step closer, "Why, angel? Does me being close do something to you?" I lean to her ear and whisper, "You know, shifters have a heightened sense of smell, right? We can smell everything," I say in a suggestive tone. "And, right now, angel you smell... delicious."

With a gasp, Everly jerks back. Lifting her finger again her eyes look at me like two large saucers. "Don't, Zeke. I mean it," she scolds. "Now is not the time."

"You're right, angel. Now is not the time," I place my hands on her hips and pull her toward me. "But soon. No arguing. No denying. And no more running." I kiss her lightly before I step away and walk into Trent's bedroom.

The stench of pain and burning loom in the air. I stand near Trent and grimace at his still form. Lying in bed, his chest rises and falls with stuttered breaths. The lines in his forehead are pronounced as he wears an expression of great discomfort. Sweat drips from his ashen skin and small moans rumble from his throat.

Doc walks to the other side of the bed and lifts the blood-soaked bandage from Trent's shoulder. The once white cloth is now crimson with splotches of some kind of dark, green liquid bleeding through the red streaks. When Doc removes the bandage, I hear Everly gasp. Her hand is covering her mouth and her eyes begin to shimmer with unshed tears. I place my hand reassuringly on her shoulder.

"Wh-why does it look like that?" Everly chokes out.

Trent's injury has tiny, dark, spiderweb veins shooting from the open wound down his arm, around his shoulder, and spreading across his chest. The bullet hole itself is seeping the dark green liquid, which bubbles as it spills out, reminding me of a science experiment gone terribly wrong.

CeCe is standing nearby, burning her ever-present smudge stick. The aroma of sage begins to battle the stench of burning flesh as the medicine woman slowly wafts the herb around the air as she mumbles a chant under her breath.

"Trent was shot by a bullet that was fashioned out of dragon scale. Do you remember the origin story from your vision?" Doc asks as his hands busy themselves treating Trent's wound.

I glance at Everly who nods her head before she replies, "Dragons were the creation of Sun, daughter of the Creator. They wield and carry her fire."

"That's correct. Very few dragons exist today. In fact, many argue of their extinction. But, many also argue over your species of wolf extinction as well. Anyways, dragon scales are poisonous to shifters. They seep an acid into the shifters bloodstream. I cannot heal him of this injury, I can only try to reduce the pain."