Page 163 of Taming the Beasts

“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 himshift 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 lovethat. 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’tthatloopy 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.