Page 6 of Rising Reign (The Wolves of Crescent Creek #3)
WREN
Everything came in sharp, jerky flashes. The sound of the bullet. Kingston shoving me to the side. Him falling to the ground. All the blood.
A massive SUV jerked to a stop just outside the clearing, and some part of me recognized Locke behind the wheel and a back door opening, Hera at the ready.
Ender’s arrows flew, raining down on anyone who stepped into view, but I only had eyes for King.
Blood had soaked through his tee, spreading too fast and far.
Puck shifted, lifting King into his arms and hurrying for the SUV as Ender provided cover.
I slid into the rear seat with the rest of them, and Ender and Brix leapt into the back.
“Help him,” I croaked at Hera.
Her face paled as she took in Kingston’s form. His eyes were closed now, his breathing shallow.
“Please,” I begged her .
“Hands on his chest, over the wound. Press as hard as you can,” she instructed.
I moved instantly, kneeling on the floorboard and putting all my weight into the contact.
King’s eyes fluttered, and he let out a pained groan.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
His eyes opened, heavy-lidded and trying to focus. “Wren…”
“I’m here. Just hold on. We’re going to fix you up. Just hold on.”
“Love…you…best honor…of my…life…loving you,” he rasped.
Tears streamed down my cheeks, mixing with King’s blood in a horrible sort of beauty as they fell. “Don’t leave me. Please, don’t leave me.”
His lashes fluttered again, and this time, his eyes fell closed.
“How close to the safe house?” Hera barked.
“Five minutes out,” Locke called.
“Make it three,” she ordered. “Did you stock it with my supplies?”
“Of course we did,” Puck growled as he pulled on a shirt to go with the sweats he’d obviously pulled from somewhere in the vehicle. Since the SUV belonged to shifters, it wasn’t all that surprising to find extra clothes, but I saw his nose wrinkle at the enemy’s scent.
Hera pulled a pouch from her pocket and sprinkled the contents over King. “This won’t help for long, but it will hold him for now.”
She began chanting, and light illuminated the SUV, sparks that circled and danced, hovering over King. My gaze moved between the light, Hera, and Kingston. Her face grew paler by the second, and I somehow knew she didn’t have much left in her reserves.
I closed my eyes, lifting prayers to the gods of nature and the universe, begging them not to take King from me when we’d only just begun.
Tires screeched, and we jerked to a stop. The sparks blinked out, and then we were moving again. Puck and Ender lifted King out of the vehicle, carrying him toward a cabin I didn’t recognize.
“On the table,” Hera yelled, running for the kitchen island.
I stayed right at King’s side, gripping his hand as they set him on the hard surface. He groaned, but his eyes never opened. I could feel him slipping away. The tethers not yet binding us were fading.
Hera moved to the table, barking out orders. She cut the shirt from King’s body, and fresh blood pooled. She cursed, and her gaze snapped to me. “You’re his only hope. You have to keep him here.”
“How? Tell me what to do. I’ll do it.”
“You need to bite him. Bond yourself to him. It may be enough to save him.”
The guys instantly started shouting.
“It could kill her!” Puck yelled.
“King would never want to put her at risk like that,” Locke argued.
Everything about it was wrong. A one-sided bond would be a disaster in the long run, but I also knew exactly why Hera had suggested it. We could draw strength from our bondmates, and right now, that was what King needed the most.
He’d been willing to give his life for me, and I would do the same for him.
My canines lengthened, pressing through my gums. Before anyone could stop me, I bit Kingston’s shoulder, sending all my love, strength, and hope with the bite. Sensations swept through me—pleasure and pain, hope and fear. Wave after wave until I felt a mental click.
I gently pulled my teeth from King’s flesh and wiped away the tiny specks of blood. Below the bite, a mark began to appear. A heart half-covered in what looked like hand wraps from the gym. A choked cry left my lips.
“Take his hand,” Hera ordered. “Keep him here.”
I gripped King’s hand as hard as I could. My vision blurred as she went to work with a mix of medical and magical tactics. King’s energy started to fade, and I pushed more of mine into him.
I swayed on my feet, and Locke instantly moved in to steady me. “It’s too much,” he said.
“No,” I rasped. “He’s not leaving. I won’t let him.”
“Almost there,” Hera called.
Her hand hovered over King’s chest, and the bullet sprang free. The moment it did, her hand clamped over the wound, and she began to chant. But it was too much. Everything in me started to waver. The room tipped sideways, and then I couldn’t see anything at all.