Page 17 of Rejected Nanny Mate (Crystal Creek Wolves #3)

The magic surge threw Joe at least ten feet, but it was gone before his canine body hit the ground, rolling. I yelped in panic, running to him, forgetting that I had been in grave danger just seconds before. Nothing mattered to me but reaching him.

He'd saved me. Twice. And he could die because of it.

The moment I reached him, I shifted, stumbling to a stop on human feet and falling to my knees in the muck beside him.

“No,” I breathed, running my hands through his pale fur, “No, no, no...”

He was bleeding from his mouth, and there was a huge gash on his side from the impact of the surge. I lowered my ear to his chest and heard the faintest heartbeat. His chest was still rising and falling, but Joe's breaths were quick and thready.

I was a second away from bursting into tears, but I was too afraid to even let the tears fall. If they started, they might never stop.” What do I do?” I whispered, lifting my gaze to the sky, “What in the world do I do?”

I pressed my hands to his wound, trying to stop the slow leak of blood, and it made him groan.

Joe opened his forest-green eyes just a sliver and looked at me, letting out a soft whine and trying to press his muzzle against me.

But as soon as he opened them, they started to drift shut again, and the panic returned in full force.

My chest felt heavy, my heart galloping, but I had to keep myself in the moment.

I couldn't have an anxiety attack right there when Joe needed me the most.

I shook his heavy, hairy body. “No! Keep your eyes open! You have to stay awake!”

He whined again and tried to obey, but he was fading. I could see it. The rise and fall of his ribs had gotten weaker, and the bleeding wouldn't stop.

I wasn't sure what happened. All I knew was that one moment, the world was spinning around me, and the next, a bright light surrounded us, and I could feel the warmth of the power filling me, spilling over, pouring out.

Magic, my brain told me, and for a moment, I wondered if it was my own or the power from the surge, but I already had my answer.

It felt nothing like the surge magic. Instead, it was clear, pure, and flowing out of me like an open tap.

It surrounded Joe and me like a luminescent cloud, and I was taken aback by just how good it felt. How comforting.

The magic came out of me when my greatest desire was to keep Joe alive, so without thinking too hard about it, I tried to gather it and pour it directly into Joe.

It wasn't a science, and the first few attempts didn't seem to work, but eventually, I managed to find a rhythm.

The blood that had been seeping from his wound slowed and began to heal, and his breathing seemed a little stronger.

I had no idea how long I sat there, pouring the magic into him, but when the power began to wane, the brightness around us dulled and grew thin. A voice startled me, making me jump.

“Holy shit. Boss!”

I turned, still sitting with one hand pressed to Joe's side, and saw a man with dirty blonde hair and a scruffy beard racing toward us.

I recognized him immediately as one of the wolves Joe had introduced me to at the pack gathering the other night.

Vernon, a mid-level warrior who had seemed kind enough at the time.

I'd never been so happy to see someone I barely knew in my entire life.

“Oh, thank God,” I gasped, the magic fading, “Help me get him out of here. He needs a hospital.”

The man knelt beside us, his eyes scanning Joe's form. “Naw. We've got a healer on the pack's payroll. No hospitals.”

“Then help me take him to the healer!”

Vernon looked at me and narrowed his eyes. “You're the nanny, right? The Saltfang girl? Why in the hell are you out here, and what happened to the Alpha?”

“Some magical surge,” I babbled, hating that we were wasting time talking when Joe needed help. The exasperation came through in my tone. “It hit him. Really hard, as you can see.”

Vernon rubbed his chin. “Yeah, that was the thing he'd sent me and a few other wolves out looking for earlier. We didn't find anything, but I guess the two of you did.” He trailed off, eyes narrowing further. “Was it the same magic I just saw you using on him?”

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. “No. I promise. Now, can we please just focus on getting him somewhere safe?”

The man looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded, kneeling down and scooping Joe up in his arms. He struggled under the weight of the shifted Alpha wolf, but his unnatural werewolf strength prevailed. “I've got a truck parked on the road a bit from here. We'll have him taken care of soon.”

“Thank you.”

I stood and followed him, staying close and keeping an eye on Joe, whose face was slack.

“I'm not sure how well you know our pack,” Vernon said, and his voice had an odd, almost wary, tone to it.

“But you'll want to watch yourself. We aren't always.

..as forward as the Saltfangs and Shadowbays have become.

I know they're perfectly happy to have witches as Lunas, but that ain't our way. Joe runs his pack like his father. He respects the old ways.”

The old ways where women stay at the bottom of the pack until a male decides she'd make an adequate mate, he meant.

The words went unsaid, but I heard them loud and clear.

It made my stomach drop, but I also thought that Joe might be more progressive than he let on to his pack.

He never treated me, a lowly Omega from another pack, with anything but respect.

I didn't say that out loud, either. I needed Vernon to get Joe to the pack healer without stopping to argue with me about a woman's place in a wolf pack.

“Thank you for the warning,” I said instead, and then, unable to resist, I added, “It's nice, though. The changes Samson has made.”

“You don't have to convince me,” Vernon replied, sounding amused.

“I like things just the way they are.” He grunted under Joe's weight once more and adjusted his hold on the Alpha.

“I've been waiting a while to see Joe take the lead.

I'm glad he's finally done it. That's why, no matter how much the Alphas might trust witches, the rest of the pack doesn't. They've seen what the Saltfang pack has become.”

“And what is that?”

Vernon's eyes darkened. “Soft. Women taking charge, witches...a mess.”

My blood boiled, and I bristled. “You know, you can't even imagine how good it is to not be at the bottom. To be respected. To have the freedom to choose what you want. To know that no matter what, you're strong and capable and can handle whatever is thrown at you.”

“Like you could handle this?”

He didn't have to elaborate. I knew exactly what he meant, and the worst part was, Vernon was right.

I didn't even know why I spoke up in the first place.

Arguing with a more dominant wolf was a nightmare scenario for me most of the time, but I was so exhausted, and there was still so much adrenaline in my body that I'd spoken before thinking about it.

My shoulders slumped under the weight of his words, and I pressed my palm to my chest, focusing on my breathing. There were a lot bigger things to worry about besides arguing, and all of them had to do with Joseph Longwood.

He would be okay. He had to be. I'd been able to slow his bleeding using the magic—or was it my magic?

The idea was mind-boggling. Both of my best friends were witches, and powerful ones at that, but I'd never thought I would have power manifest, too.

Maybe it was just a one-time thing, or a side effect of the magical surge.

Or maybe it really was mine. Far back in my family, there had been women with magic, but it hadn't manifested in at least two generations. I thought it was just an urban legend in my family, but now...

Whatever. That was a problem for another day. For the time being, I would just count it as a blessing and pray it didn't decide to come back.

A few moments later, a pickup truck appeared on the road, and a young man hopped out. There were other wolves emerging from the forest, apparently having abandoned their search once word spread that the surge was gone and the Alpha was missing.

“Boss!” the first guy called, racing over.

“Get the door,” Vernon commanded.

The younger man jumped to attention, rushing around and opening the backseat, where we could lay Joe across the seats. The five or so other wolves hovered in the background, and it took some effort for me to push my way through to be closer to Joe.

“Is he dead?” the young man asked, his face pale.

“Not yet,” Vernon answered, laying Joe down gently. “But we've got to get him to the pack healer.”

“What happened?” someone else asked, and a low murmur of chatter spread through the small group. I'd finally pushed through to the front. I laid my hand on Joe's damp, furry thigh and felt my heart in my throat. He just had to be okay.

“He was searching for the magic surge,” Vernon said, “and we all felt when he went down through the pack bonds. I found him over by the river, with the nanny bombarding him with magic.”

I whipped around to stare at the man that I'd previously been so grateful for, despite our differences. I'd have never been able to carry Joe out of the forest on my own, but it looked like Vernon could be turning on me.

And I was all alone, the only wolf, not part of the pack, surrounded by worried, potentially pissed-off males. My anxiety surged as the chatter kicked up higher.

“Bombarding him with magic?” a wolf asked.

“Yeah. It seems like Alpha's new nanny is also a witch.”

Everyone went quiet at that and looked at me. I moved closer to Joe, even if he was still passed out, fingers clutching his fur. “I'm not a witch.”

“Aren't you?” Vernon didn't sound curious. He sounded accusatory.

“No. Well. Maybe. I—”

“The real question is—how do we know you were helping him like you say? What if it was your magic that stuck him down in the first place? That created the surge?”

“That doesn't even make sense,” I sputtered.

“It does if you're a rogue witch. You've been hanging around our Alpha and his child, and now the Alpha's hurt and unconscious, and you're standing there saying you aren't a witch. Seems like a whole lot of coincidences to me.”

I felt light-headed, the anxiety making it difficult to catch my breath. They were all staring at me, and it was hard to tell how much of what Vernon was saying they believed, but none of them seemed ready to stand up and defend me.

“I'm not a witch,” I repeated. “And I didn't do anything to Joe.”

“So, you were trying to save him.”

“Yes. He was bleeding, and he needed help. So, yes. I used the magic.”

“And where did the magic come from, then?”

I had no idea, and there was no good way to explain that without sounding insane. The simplest solution was that it came from me, but for my magic to manifest at such a time? It felt impossible. “From him, maybe? Or the land? I guess it could have come from me, but...”

“From him.” Vernon barked a laugh. “You can't be serious.”

“Yes. Or...I don't know. Maybe...”

Vernon shook his head. “It doesn't matter. It's too much of a coincidence,” he looked around at the other wolves who had pressed closer to us, trapping me between all of them and the truck. “We need to restrain her and take her to the Beta so he can question her.”

I could feel the blood draining out of my face.

I'd met Joe's Beta, Malcolm, only once, but he'd intimidated me even then.

An older man, Malcom, had been Joe's father's Beta, and when Joe took over, he didn't bother to replace him.

Malcolm was old, but he was a fiercely effective Beta. “No, please...”

Someone's hand landed on my arm, and then another on my shoulder. I tried to push them off, but my anxiety surged again, and my vision started to go blurry at the edges, my hands and feet tingling.

Oh no. It was too late. I was minutes, if not seconds, away from a full-blown anxiety attack, and I was in the middle of some messed-up citizens’ arrest by Joe's pack.

Just as my breath started to come short, there was the smallest flicker of power from behind me, and the hands on my body fell away. I turned, along with all the other wolves, to look at Joe.

Somehow, he'd shifted back to human and was pushing himself to his feet.

Without the fur, his wounds were even more visible, and they looked terrible.

Even if I hadn't been on the verge of losing control, my head would have been spinning from the sight of the gash along his ribs and the smaller wounds dotted around.

“Alpha!” Vernon exclaimed, but the look Joe sent him was withering.

“Get. Away. From. Her. All of you!”

Even in his weakened state, Joe's voice was commanding. His dominance filled the air, and the pack members all dropped their hands and stepped away from me.

“Joe?” I whispered.

His gaze snapped to me. “Gwen. Are you okay?”

“Yes. I think.”

“Good. Then get over here.”

I rushed toward him, and he wrapped a protective arm around my shoulders. When his fingers grazed my skin, I felt a measure of comfort and reassurance I hadn't expected.

He turned his attention back to his pack.

“I don't know what kind of ideas you all have gotten into your thick skulls, but Gwen saved my life.

I don't give a damn if she used magic or anything else at her disposal.

She'd just run miles and miles to get away from the surge, and she used what was left of her energy to save me.

I don't want to hear another damn word about her being dangerous. Do you understand?”

The wolves murmured their agreement.

Joe looked over the group one more time, and all of them averted their eyes, submissive even with how hurt Joe was. Then he exhaled slowly, wincing from the pain in his ribs. “Now. One of you drives the two of us home. The rest of you can walk.”

“Of course,” Vernon said, jumping into the driver's seat.

I helped Joe back inside the truck and then scooted him over so that I could sit next to him, holding his hand. He squeezed it once and gave me a smile.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Don't thank me,” I murmured, leaning in and letting him press his face against my neck.

It was so painfully intimate that I should have pulled away and put some space between us, but having him touch me was bringing me back from the edge.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the tension inside me eased, and my chest opened up once more, letting my lungs fully expand. “Thank you. You saved my life.”

Joe closed his eyes and relaxed, his lips moving lightly against my throat. “Always.”