Midnight Wolves

Chapter Forty Two: Colliding

Blood and pain and anger. Something raging, something quieting. The two in tandem, the more it raged, the quieter it got, until all was silent. Until she sat alone in that darkness, warmth pooling around her.

She fell first to her knees. They sank into the ground, the mud went from the warmth pooling around her. And then she slid to her side, her ribs protesting.

It was nice here, she decided. Here she could sleep.

Her eyes fluttered closed as her mind delved into itself, replaying her worst moments on a reel behind her eyes.

It was unfortunate, she thought, to have survived only to lose herself.

Something warm tugged at her heart and she had a vague memory of feeling content. A face came into view, blocking the horror show playing behind it. It was hard, all lines and a mop of black hair. Stubble lined the chin, stubble she'd felt graze over her skin. She shivered, a small breath leaving her as she stared into those eyes. She'd seen them full of hate and anger, full of love and hope, of pain and torment. She thought she knew those eyes better than her own.

It was a shame, she thought, to have been so close to love only to lose it all.

She was tired. Tired of fighting, surviving.

The face faded as the memories rose, and Callie let them swallow her whole.

*

VIK

He'd been four years old when he'd first discovered his power.

He'd been doing it long before then - but it was when he was four and his mother was running back and forth before him, yelling his name despite him being sat right by her feet, that he first truly discovered what the shadows did.

He wasn't sure how he could do it. No one was. They'd seen seers and healers but never a wolf that could blend into shadow. That could hear what the shadows saw.

He'd always been secretly proud of the power - now he was eternally grateful.

He moved through the shadows, letting them guide him. They whispered what they'd seen, driving him close enough to pick up her scent. His heart leapt when it did, leaping again when he heard the best sound in this world – the rhythmic patter of her heart.

Callie was alive.

His wolf pushed them forwards, his paws thudding through the undergrowth, leaves rattling beneath him. He knew the rest would track him eventually and would follow his trail. He didn't care to wait for them. He could save his mate, he didn't need them, and he didn't like Caleb being close to her.

That wolf needed to understand who she belonged to.

Beneath the moon and hidden in the shadows as he was, he couldn't fully make out the scene before him, but saw the shimmery flow of liquid surrounding her small form. His heart stilled as he neared her, scenting all that blood. She wore it like a halo.

His paws skidded in it, the cooling substance thick in his fur as he nudged her with his nose, and then with his hands as he transformed into his human form. He cradled her to his chest, the only sign of life was the steady heartbeat beneath her skin.

She was alive but she was not responding. His hands flitted over her, looking for a wound. She had one to the back of her head but this much blood...

No. It wasn't hers. It wasn't her scent but it was familiar. He turned around, scanning the forest around them. A body, twisted and mangled. Henderson, he realised as paws thudded towards them.

Scooping Callie up into his arms, Vik started running heading for his packlands. She would be safe there. With him, she would always be safe.

*

He'd barely got her settled on the bed when he felt wolves at the perimeter. He snarled, double checked she was settled and turned, locking the bedroom door and shack door on his way. He didn't need to, he'd know if anyone was here, but if he had to leave her then he'd at least lock the doors.

Caleb's chest heaved up and down as he spotted Vik, but he'd been sensible enough not to try to enter his land without permission.

Wolves skittered away from him as he approached and he wondered how out of control he looked in this moment with his wolf in his eyes and growls emanating out of his chest with every breath.

"Where is she?" Caleb shouted.

"Safe," Vik whispered.

"Lets us see her."

Vik shook his head sharply. "She is my mate, and none of you will come near her until she's healed.

"She's injured?" Felicity asked, stepping forwards, earning a growl from Vik.

"Mildly. I will heal her."

"You're not a healer!" Caleb snapped, taking a step forwards.

Vik snarled at him. "Don't come any closer. All of you go. Until I know what happened, none of you are trusted. Leave!" he screamed, his wolf raging against him. He wanted to annihilate them, to ground them all into dust for even daring to pose a threat to his mate.

"Caleb, please," Heather whispered, the voice of reason. "We can't fight him on this. Surely you must understand why he needs to protect her. This fight isn't going to help Callie. Come on, let's just go. We need to work out what happened too."

"Listen to your mate," Vik spat at Caleb when his eyes warred between leaving and staying.

Caleb curled his lip and glared at Vik in disgust. "We will return tomorrow, and we will see her. Treaty or not, I will kill you if she's hurt."

Heather stormed off, dragging other wolves with her.

Vik couldn't help his smirk – or he could have done but had no mind to. "You'd be better worrying about your own mate rather than mine."

Turning his back on Caleb, an insult in its own right, Vik headed back to his mate's side.

She was still unconscious when he eased himself onto the bed beside her. He'd dragged the medical kit out and cleaned the wound on her head. It was bad but not too deep and she should heal soon enough.

Wrapping an arm around her, Vik sighed into her soft hair.

"What happened Callie?" he whispered to the silence that stretched between them.

"Come back to me," he begged.