Tegan nodded and immediately stated blathering something about needing new shoes to Zee. I heard Zee laugh weakly, but she answered and seemed a bit calmer. I turned to the rest of the pack. They stood, bodies tense, waiting for my orders.
“Aaron, I need you to stay here with Mackenzie, Cody, and Delaney. If by some chance this man gets past us, you get them out of here,” I waited for Aaron to nod his understanding before turning to the rest of the pack. “The rest of us are going to meet Zee.”
Wyatt’s eyes shot to Tegan and I understood his worry. I pulled him to the side and spoke quietly, “She won’t fight, but I need her there for Zee. Someone has to get her away while we deal with the hunter.” Wyatt’s shoulders eased and he nodded.
The room suddenly filled with the sound of screams and I snatched the phone from Tegan’s hands in horror. “Alex!” Zee’s voice ripped through me. I could hear the tires squealing and then a loud crash, like the car had collided with something. The sudden silence that followed was deafening.
I dropped the phone and ran from the house. I shifted as I ran, and my paws slipped a bit on the wood porch. Frustrated, I leapt into the snow and loosed a howl of frustration and warning. I didn’t wait for the rest of the pack as I took off towards where I knew Zee would be. Still, I wasn’t surprised to hear their answering howls as they followed me into the night.
She’d made it to the first road in the forest, right where our boundary used to be. Tegan tried to replay parts of the conversation as we ran. She was trying to slow down some because the roads weren’t cleaned. She said the other car was picking up speed. I heard something hit her and you heard the rest. Yeah, I did, and it didn’t sound good. I put on more speed, pushing myself past any limit I knew I had.
I could smell blood in the air, along with the smell of gasoline. I broke through the trees and skidded to a stop in the snow. Her car was smashed against a tree. I was vaguely aware of Wyatt telling the guys to fan out and look for signs of the Hunter. Tegan whimpered at my side, and I understood her concern. The car was crushed on the driver’s side, and that was also where the gas tank was. We needed to get Zee out quickly.
I shifted and started toward the car. I pulled the passenger door open and crouched down to get an idea of how bad she was. I struggled against the instinct to yank her from the car and get her to the house quickly. I knew I had to be sure of her injuries though. If I moved her too fast, then I might make things worse.
“Alex,” Tegan was beside me looking in at Zee’s crumpled form. “Do we need to call an ambulance? She isn’t a wolf, Alex. We don’t know how to help her.” I shook my head as I took in Zee’s injuries. Most of the blood seemed to be coming from a head wound. It looked like she hit her head on the door when the car hit the tree. Her left arm looked bad from what I could see. Thankfully, her legs looked unhurt.
Moving around the car, I slid into the passenger seat and carefully unbuckled her. It looked like the steering column had held, so I worked on moving her carefully into my arms. She didn’t wake during the entire process and I worried that her injuries were much worse than what I could see. Once I had her in my arms, I worked to get back out of the car without jostling her too much. Tegan helped me lay her in the snow several hundred feet from the car.
“I know someone,” Jarren spoke from behind us. “I’ll get him to the house. He lives near here. He was an ER doctor before he was turned.” I nodded, barely registering his words, but I felt his shift before he left. Tegan’s face was pale, and her lips were set in a hard line. I know she didn’t like what I was going to do, but we couldn’t call the police.
“Ryker get the truck, we have to tow the car,” Wyatt seemed to understand what had to be done, and he started issuing commands. “Have Delaney bring the jeep, pull out the seats first, so we have somewhere to lay Zee.” I glanced up to see Ryker shift and dash into the woods heading towards the house.
I stood up, leaving Tegan to hold Zee’s uninjured hand to search the car for anything to cover her with. I sorted through her old car, finding nothing of use inside but her cellphone in the driver side floorboard. I pocketed it quickly and snatched the keys to get into the trunk. I lucked out, finding an emergency weather kit that had flares, a first aid kit, a flash light, and several blankets. I yanked out just the blankets and the first aid kit and rushed back over to where Zee lay in the snow.
“What if she’s bleeding internally Alex?” Tegan had passed afraid and moved on to pissed off. “She hasn’t woken up yet, either. She could have bleeding on her brain or something.” I ignored her and sorted through the first aid kit, finally pulling out some gauze. I pressed it gently against the gash in Zee’s head.
Wyatt knelt beside Tegan and pulled Zee’s shirt up to reveal bruising along her ribs. “She’s breathing ok, so I think her ribs are fine,” Wyatt said. “I don’t know about anything else, but with her broken ribs I think her lungs were the biggest concern.” Tegan smoothed Zee’s shirt back down and she worked one of the blankets gently
