Whirling around as a twig snapped, a scream was about to leave her throat when Eva recognized the two people appearing through the trees. Dragging in a breath, she begged her racing heart to steady as they approached.
“Eva, why aren’t you with the others?” Tyler asked. His arm was hooked under Regan’s as she limped, blood running from a wound on her thigh.
“I….” She shrugged. There weren’t enough words to explain her head.
“Leave me here, Ty,” Regan instructed. She reached out for Eva as they neared. “Eva can help me to the infirmary.” Tyler glanced between them, a silent battle in his eyes. Regan gripped his jaw and pressed a rough kiss to his lips. “It’s a graze. I’m not going to die. Go.”
“You’ve got her, Eva?” Tyler asked as Eva wrapped an arm around Regan, taking her weight.
“Yes, I’ll get her to Oliver.” Tyler ran back the way he came. “What happened?” Eva asked as she helped Regan across toward the clearing.
“He got a round off before I could reach him. Bullet grazed my thigh. I could have stayed in position, but Tyler can’t think straight while I’m bleeding.”
“So, it is the Indiana pack? They’re really here?”
“Yes, it’s them, but this isn’t the final battle. There’s a small group that’s hit the border but not enough to breakthrough. They were simply a distraction while they attacked those in Atlanta.”
“Oh no, did they hurt anyone?”
“Not sure. Not heard anything since the initial info. Bass and Jackson are out there picking them off.”
Reaching the infirmary, Eva helped Regan inside, shocked to find more than one injured packmate within the building.
“Joys of war,” Regan muttered. “Dump me on the bed, please.”
Walking across the room, Eva stopped at a free bed, unsure what to say. While she’d been worrying about her brother and what she was going to do with her life, people had been attacked and injured.
“Everything all right, Cass?” Regan asked as she groaned and hoisted herself up into the bed.
The pregnant woman rubbed her belly and smiled. “Baby’s excited by all the drama, that’s all. Nothing major.” She nodded at Regan’s leg. “Hope they paid for that.”
Regan’s smile was nothing human. “Oh yeah. I made him pay.”
Wringing her hands together, Eva wondered if she should go or stay. Oliver hadn’t even acknowledged Regan, but then he was busy with a wailing child at the other end of the room, and his assistant was currently stitching up someone’s forehead. Looking around, Eva swallowed her fear and decided to make herself useful.
She wanted to be a vet, and she’d done a summer volunteering at a wildlife rescue center and completed half her degree in biology; she should be able to clean and dress a wound.
When no one shouted at her for touching supplies, Eva pulled up a stool beside Regan’s bed and inspected her leg.
“Do you know what you’re doing?” Regan asked as she began to cut away the woman’s cargo pants.
Eva shrugged. “I’m going to be a vet. You’re half wolf…. It’s kinda like a dog, right?”
Regan laughed. “Good enough for me. Patch me up.”
Meeting her gaze, Eva sighed. “I wish I was as brave as you.”
Regan’s gazed softened. “It’s easy to look around and see nothing but strong, heroic types, but I’ll let you into a secret, Eva. Not so long ago, I was so afraid I’d never have dreamed of setting foot on the front lines again. We aren’t all fighters here. If we were, we’d be an army with no one to protect.”
Taking a moment, Eva inspected Regan’s wound as her words sunk in. “Do you think I could learn to fight? I know I’m only human, but… I want to be useful.”
Regan’s hand found hers. “Sure, I can teach you some things as long as you don’t tell John, but Eva, there’s more than one way to be useful.”
“Wait, why not tell John?” Eva asked as she began to clean her wound.
Regan laughed. “Because he’d kill me for teaching his woman how to fight, and I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, Eva, but John can be kinda scary.”
His woman. She frowned. “I’m not his.”
Cassady burst out laughing. “Oh, Eva, honey, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do. Whether you think it or not, in his mind, you’re his. He’s just waiting for you to cotton on.”
Eva wasn’t sure how she felt about that. “I’ve a degree to finish and vet school.” She groaned. “Surely he doesn’t think I’m giving that up. He hardly knows me.”
“He’s a shifter, Eva. He doesn’t need to know you. He just needs to know,” Regan explained softly.
Any chance of answering was lost as Bass rushed in, Nico unconscious in his arms.
“Shit,” Regan muttered.
Securing the bandage Eva had wrapped around Regan’s leg, Eva stood, watching as Oliver burst into action. Bass took Nico’s hand, his face seeming to twist in pain before Nico’s eyes fluttered open.
“There’s too many people in here,” Oliver shouted, staring down the family who’d followed Nico in.
“You’re good to go,
