Page 53 of Taming the Beasts (Crooked Point #3)

“But it’s smaller than it was before. I swear it was bigger a few minutes ago. And blood had still been coming out of it. The blood has stopped now.” It was all dry around the gash, just like it was dry around Otto’s ears .

“His ears!” I stood up and stared back at Huxley and Ace. One of them had bloody ears. The other’s head was smushed into the ground and his ears were caked with mud. And Bennett was covering his exposed ear with his paw.

“What?” Emma asked.

“They can’t hear the sistrum!” And thank God they couldn’t. “Stop the music!” I yelled over at Kebe.

Kebe played one last strange clanging noise and stopped.

I crouched back down to Otto. “Otto, can you hear me?”

He made no reaction.

“I think something in his ears is damaged,” I said.

“I think maybe a lot of him is damaged,” Emma said.

“Yeah, but he’s a werecat. Bennett told me that werecats heal quickly in this form. As long as the four of them stay in this form for as long as possible, they can heal themselves.”

Emma didn’t respond. She just stared at Otto’s lifeless body.

I wasn’t sure if she believed me. But that gash was getting fucking smaller by the minute! I was sure of it.

“You got this, baby,” I said and touched Otto’s side.

“Zoey,” Emma finally said. “I’m not sure...”

“Well, I am. Otto’s ears are bleeding. So are one of the twins’ ears.

The other has his face smushed into mud, making it impossible to hear.

And Bennett is covering his ears with his paw.

Titan was the least hurt of all of them.

He was still fighting. His ears must have been fine.

So he heard the music and was cured, making him shift back too quickly to heal properly. ” My voice cracked. Oh, poor Titan.

“Look!” I pointed as Otto’s furry stomach slowly started moving.

It had probably been labored this whole time and I just hadn’t seen it.

“He’s breathing! He’s alive.” They were going to be okay!

It felt like the weight of the world had lifted from my shoulders.

I don’t think I’d ever smiled so hard while there were tears on my cheeks.

I leaned forward to hug Otto’s werecat form.

Just as Emma scrambled away from him.

Oh shit. She was right. This was very dangerous. But I didn’t want to move.

“Zoey, Emma, you both need to get out of here,” Callum said.

I shook my head. “I’m not leaving them.”

A low growl made me turn my head toward the twins. One of them was starting to stand up. It felt like my heart started beating again. I wanted to run to him, but then he growled even louder.

“Everyone needs to clear out of the town square!” Callum yelled.

The townspeople didn’t run. They just kept walking around in a daze. I was pretty sure the cure had messed them up a bit. Hopefully it was temporary.

Callum cursed under his breath and turned to me. “Where is the pocket watch? I need it to make sure your boyfriends don’t hurt anyone.”

“Bennett usually has it on him,” I said. I wasn’t sure where his pants had been discarded when he shifted... Wait, no, I remembered. “It’ll be somewhere near the gazebo!” I took a step forward, but Callum put out his arm to stop me .

“I’ll get them back to their vaults.” He pulled out his car keys and tossed them at Emma. “Take Zoey to the hospital to check on Titan. He’s the one that needs her right now.”

He was right. Titan was the one barely hanging on.

“Callum, you don’t have vampire strength anymore,” Emma said. “You can’t...”

“I can help,” Kebe said as she ran over to us. “We’ll do it together.” She put her hand on Callum’s arm.

I didn’t love that . But I did trust her a little more now.

Emma started to shake her head.

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t get hurt,” Kebe said. She turned to me. “I’ll make sure none of them do.”

“Thank you,” I said.

She nodded. “And please take Grudge with you. I don’t want him to get hurt either.” She pointed toward the edge of the town square.

Grudge was walking around in a circle. What was wrong with him? Seriously, the cure had made all the former vampires quite loopy.

“Go, baby,” Callum said.

Emma nodded. We both sprinted toward Main Street. I only slowed down to loop my arm through Grudge’s. “Grudge, you’re coming with us,” I said.

“Hey, Zoey. You got a little something on your tits.”

So he wasn’t that loopy apparently. I looked down. I had some blood smeared on my chest. If he was talking about my boobs, I was sure he’d be fine soon enough. I pulled him toward Callum’s parked car .

It felt wrong to drive off in Emma and Callum’s wedding car without Callum. I’d decorated the car earlier with window paint and tied cans to the back of it.

“Where are we going?” Grudge asked.

“The hospital.”

“Did someone get hurt?”

Yeah, probably by your hands, Grudge! Did he seriously not remember anything that had just happened back there? I unceremoniously shoved him into the back seat and slammed the door closed.

“Are the wedding guests going to be okay?” Emma asked. “They seem...off.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine.” I hope. “Let’s get to the hospital.” I pulled the sides of my torn dress together and climbed into the car.

Emma got into the driver’s seat and started the ignition.

My four boyfriends that were still in the town square were going to be okay. The quick werecat healing was a real thing. I knew it because I was pretty sure I’d hit one of them with my car ten years ago, and no one had even bothered to mention it.

Titan though? He’d lost his werecat healing abilities. He needed me.

The cans clanged behind us as Emma put her foot down hard on the gas.