Page 105 of A Monstrous World: The Complete Series

Chapter Seven

Nadia

A pparently, I have no sense of direction. I circle back around the gas station for the third time. I’m completely baffled as I try the road I know isn’t the road I used to get to the store.

However, I’ve spent the last hour or so trying different streets, and I’m super freaking flummoxed. It was evening, but I think I’ve driven around for so long this technically qualifies as night.

The road is completely dark, since there’s very little around. There aren’t street lights or homes to give ambient lighting. Nah, it’s just pure nothingness and the moon. My headlights illuminate the road, but only for a short distance.

I’m humming along with the radio and considering it might be time to bust out some magic when I see three wolves dart across the road.

Okay, darting might be too generous. One darts, one hobbles, and the third looks torn between the two. They’re all small, like adolescents or maybe teenagers. I really don’t think they can be adult wolves based on their size.

Slamming on my brakes, I pull off the road and aim the lights toward the woods.

The illumination sure doesn’t penetrate very far.

Am I really about to follow an injured animal into an unfamiliar forest? I’m not human; I’ve got my own protections if need be.

My car door opens, and I pop out of the vehicle before I can convince myself this is a terrible idea.

The ground is littered with the wolf’s blood. Something got one of them good.

My magic itches under my skin. It aches, calling to me that it wants to be used.

With a swipe of my hand, my magic pulls the energy from the blood and it slowly disappears. Witch light is a small ball of minimal brightness. It’s comparable to a small LED light.

I summon two, one to hover along each side of me.

I might feel compelled to help the pup, but I’m also not one of those too-stupid-to-live humans with more heart than brains.

I’m not going to barrel forward with no clue what I’m walking into, or that’s the plan until I hear a young girl sobbing. That’s apparently when I become one of those idiots who runs toward danger instead of away from it.

My magic floats out like tendrils of smoke, checking the area for danger. There’s a deadly poisonous snake twenty feet to my left, so I duck a little farther to my right. I’m barely fifty feet inside the tree line when the small clearing becomes visible.

“We need to go for help,” a boy in his late teens says. He’s trying to drag a young woman away from the boy on the ground.

“Stop, George,” she hisses. “I’m not leaving him. If you want to go for help, then go. We’ll be fine. Hurry back.”

“Jenny, come on.” George yanks harder, trying to drag her away.

“Just go,” the kid on the ground says. “Get her to safety.”

“No, Brock. I’m not leaving you,” Jenny says.

Brock is bleeding all over.

My magic aches to use all that freshly spilled energy. Being a blood witch sucks sometimes. I’m literally dragged forward by my magic.

The guy, Brock, is seriously jacked up. You don’t bounce back from that kind of damage without a hospital or a healer. Maybe a vampire, but no vampire would be willing to patch up an unknown shifter, so that’s basically irrelevant.

I’m none of those things, but my magic doesn’t seem to care. Three sets of glowing eyes find mine when I get close enough for them to register my existence. Jenny is probably in her late teens or early twenties, and the guys are likely around the same age.

This would be a lot less awkward if they weren’t butt-ass naked, but shifters in general are much more accustomed to nudity than a lot of the other species.

The low warning growl that comes out of the kid on the ground surprises the hell out of me. He’s literally bleeding out and he’s warning me?

He’s a future alpha.

“Who are you?” Jenny crosses an arm over her chest.

George takes a step in front of her, and I avert my eyes.

“You ran out in front of my car.” I approach slowly with my palms raised. Unfortunately, my magic thinks it’s needed, and instead of dancing over the forest floor, it all flies up to dance around my fingertips.

That earns me another round of ferocious growls.

“You’re wolves,” I say, hedging my words. “I’m a witch. I can heal him. He’s not doing well.”

“You’re a healer?” Jenny pops around George’s shoulder with her head tilted.

“Hardly.” I shake my head. “My magic is...” Okay, so blood magic isn’t quite death magic, but it’s also not far off.

“He’ll die before any of us can go for help,” I say calmly.

Hopefully, the sincerity in my words translates to the stubborn teenage brains in front of me, because I’m not exaggerating.

I don’t know what punctured his heart, but even the anti-aging kind of immortal that most shifters are will die if their heart or brain is damaged.

“You guys live in North Falls?” Jenny nods.

“I’m here to renew the ward and help rebuild the protections around the city.

I don’t have a lot of time left, though.

.. My fingertips are buzzing, and that means my system is anticipating collecting a lot of energy. ”

“You’re a death witch?” George chokes out.

“No, I’m a blood witch.” I grimace, because very few people in my real life know that fact. I get a few hours away from home, and apparently, I think it’s safe to spew out all my personal information.

“Help him,” Jenny begs.

They’re young—they likely have no idea what a blood witch is—but luckily, they’re no longer growling at me.

I’ll take that as a win. My hand falls to the metal cuff that appears around my wrist when I need it.

I yank out the pin. Okay, it’s like a tiny mini-dagger, but pin sounds so much less violent .

I’m nearly to Brock when a vicious snarl breaks the air behind me. Brock’s heart is barely beating, so I ignore the growling.

I assume it’s their alpha or one of his enforcers.

I’m sure they’ll let him know I’m helping.

Right ?

Are teenagers these days intelligent enough to make sure their alpha doesn’t kill the witch saving their friend’s life?

Shit, I sure hope so.

“Put a claw out,” I hiss at Jenny and George. Neither listens. “Really? No one wants to help me save your friend’s life?” Maybe teenagers are getting dumber... It doesn’t seem like the way evolution should go, but whatever.

Shoving up the sleeve of my cardigan, I drag the pin across my wrist. Blood pools, but the second it leaves my skin, it drips into black smoke. Normally, it would be a medium gray color.

It instantly clicks that it’s not going to be enough.

The thundering of a very heavy wolf approaching at my back makes my heart thump wildly. Oh good, that’ll help with blood flow. Brock’s heart hasn’t increased its rhythm. Shoving up the other sleeve, I repeat the process on that arm.

“Stop,” an angry voice growls. Lovely, it’s a voice I recognize—Mr. My Personality Is Severely Lacking—the guy from the gas station.

“Alpha,” Jenny bows her head respectfully, “she’s helping him.”

Blood pours from the gashes in my flesh. It spins into smoke so dark it seems to repel all the light in the little clearing. The metallic smell fills my nostrils, which is a good thing. No need to smell the manly delicious scent of the dickhead alpha.

“How do you know?” His voice is distorted, likely from his teeth still being extended.

“I’m helping,” I grind out, making fists and relaxing them to help the blood flow. “I followed them to keep him alive.”

“We mistakenly wandered onto the wrong property,” George says. Aww, the poor guy lies quite unconvincingly. Better luck next time, maybe . He really needs to work on his bluffing skills. He’s worse than me.

“You think I can’t smell the sex all over the three of you?” the alpha scoffs.

Jenny huffs.

Shifters are so fucking bizarre. Seriously... Where else would you find a giant of a nude man glaring down two equally naked teenagers while the third bleeds out, and no one blinks twice or even acknowledges it’s weird?

Well, not outside of me.

I think it’s super weird, but I also know shifters, and this is nothing for them. Just another Tuesday or whatever day of the week it is.

“Someone needs to slice me open farther.” My skin is already attempting to stitch itself back together. I know from experience that it hurts way worse if you have to cut the new skin open immediately after healing.

George stumbles back a step, making Jenny roll her eyes. “I’ve got you.” She shifts her hand into claws.

“No,” the alpha growls. “I’ll handle this.” His giant cock swings as he steps forward, and I focus my magic on the still dying wolf rather than the impressive alpha package.

My magic aches to stroke it, and that’s so mind-bogglingly inappropriate that I blush furiously in response.

Thank God shifters aren’t telepathic. That would just make this disaster even more awkward.

Alphas can communicate with their pack through the pack bond, but I’m not a part of his pack, so I’m golden.

So good.

Extremely fine, despite the fact I’m getting light-headed.

The alpha presses his massive frame into my body from behind. I’m much shorter than him, so my ass brushes his thighs as he curves around my back. His large, rough hand slides under my forearm as his warm breath hits my neck.

My lungs stop working at the feeling of his muscular body pressed against mine.

This is so not the time.

Wolves have notoriously good senses of smell. The last thing I need is to fill the air with the scent of my pussy. Hell, wolf noses are probably so sensitive that they can pick up my pheromones in the air with no actual arousal needed.

Nope, not today, forces of evil...pick someone else to screw with.

I glance up at him over my shoulder as aching discomfort sizzles across my tender flesh. My magic immediately floods my system, offering a fair bit of pain relief.

The alpha moves to my other arm and raises an eyebrow.

I nod my confirmation, and he slices that skin too.

I gasp as his claw rakes over the healing flesh. My knees wobble at the visceral feeling of hot lava being poured over the wound.

“What happened?” He rumbles out the words in his deep, growly tone.

My body sways as I lean into him for support.

“You got the healing skin,” I hiss through my teeth. “That always hurts a thousand times worse.”

The alpha wolf simply nods.

Black smoke eventually disperses away from Brock. His heart begins to thump in a slow, but steady, rhythm. His eyes fly open, and Jenny falls to her knees at his side. Once my shadows fully curve away from his middle, Jenny gasps.

“He’s completely healed,” she says in a tone that indicates it’s an accusation. “You said you’re not a healer.”

“She’s not.” The alpha snorts a derisive laugh. “Is he safe to move?”

I give a shaky nod.

“If I pass out, can one of you tote me to my car?” I try to point, but my arm shakes wildly. “I think it’s like fifty yards, or so, that way. I’d rather not wake up alone in the dark woods. There are snakes.”

The alpha swipes a hand over his face, shaking his head at something. He curses behind his fist.

It’s incredibly distracting, because he really is a delicious specimen of pure male perfection.