Danielo nodded. “Let’s roll.”
They scrambled out of the ditch. Wolf howls greeted them. Danielo grabbed Devan’s arm. “I need to shift. Are you gonna be okay?”
“Of course. Go. I’ll shift if I need to defend myself.”
Danielo was gone before Devan had finished the sentence, bursting into his silver-grey wolf form and darting forwards, wobbly at first, but then straight as an arrow as he picked up speed.
Devan sprinted after him. Ahead, a fierce fight raged, punctuating the frosty air with battle cries and screams of pain. He was getting better at distinguishing between pack and enemy, his natural instinct to help everyone blunted by each new bond he forged with the northern wolves. In time, perhaps, he’d begrudge the fundamental change pack life had forced on him, but in the heat of the battle, protecting the pack was everything.
More explosions boomed. Trees splintered. There was no way the human authorities weren’t going to respond. Devan pushed his human form to its limits, leaping into the trees and swinging through the branches to get a better view of what awaited him when he caught up to the wolves.
A scene of carnage greeted him, blood on the ground, bodies scattered. For the first time since he’d been reborn, Devan resented his enhanced ability to see in the dark.So many dead. From this distance, it was impossible to tell who had been lost, but his gut told him Bomber and Danielo were still alive.
Zio too. Devan had given up trying to quell their connection. Zio was angry and fighting, but for now, he was safe.
Devan sprang out of the trees and raced the last hundred metres. The beast within prowled and snarled, eager to end any creature who sought to harm his pack, but his instinct to heal won out. He didn’t know the names of the northern wolves he passed his hands over, just that there were more of them than the southern wolves he ignored—for now. His connection with Bomber burnt bright. Devan found him at the foot of a tree, bloodied and broken in his human form.
Dread filled Devan as he crouched beside him. He healed the surface wounds he could see, but lifeblood poured from the gnarled stump that remained where Bomber’s left leg had been.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Bomber gritted out.
“It’s not good.” Devan dug the berries he’d picked that morning out of the pouch slung over his back. He pressed them into Bomber’s mouth. “Swallow. I’m going to drip sap onto the open wound, okay? It’s going to hurt like the gods, but it’ll buy me some time while I look for your leg.”
Bomber laughed, flat and defeated. “There is no leg. It got blown to bits. Just leave me. Help the others.”
Devan gripped his hands. “There must be something left of it. I can’t make you whole again, but I can save you, if that’s what you want?”
“Of course it’s what he wants.” Danielo dropped beside Devan. “Fix him.”
Devan kept his gaze on Bomber. “It’s up to you.”
“You can’t bring my leg back?”
“No. The damage is too great. If you survive, you’ll be without it, both as a human and as a wolf.”
Comprehension dawned in Danielo then. He sucked in a shaky breath, all the while glancing over his shoulder as the fighting continued. “Shit. I’ve got to shift, or it won’t fucking matter.” He turned back to Bomber and dragged a rough kiss over his split lips. “Do what you need to do. We’ll be here, always.”
He vanished. Devan didn’t watch him go, his commitment to Bomber absolute. Battle sounds faded. He squeezed Bomber’s hands tighter.Whatever you need.
Bomber swallowed thickly. “I’m no use to the pack if I can’t run.”
“That’s not true. You have years of military experience. You can train, teach, assist Varian in command.”
“But what if I can’t shift?”
“That won’t happen.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ve seen it. Shifters can live happily without limbs just as humans can. And there’s more to life, and to war, than being a soldier on the ground.”
“You want to save me.”
“Of course I do.”
“Then why—” Bomber swallowed again. “Why did you give me the option?”
“Because you need to choose so you don’t regret being alive later.”