Nemesis - Book 3 of the Hunted series.

Chapter 3 - The unexpected twist.

I did what anyone would have done. I panicked and I forgot the ass hole. Forgot about him, forgot to care about the danger of him being around, just ran to the big wolf and tried to shake him. Wake him.

Was it a spell? Did that matter?

I rushed at the still body, felt the warmth starting to fade under the golden fur, and knew I had to try it. I hadn't done any sort of first aid for a long time, though I used to love reading the books, and it was impossible to know just how the hell to do CPR on a wolf anyway. Did that stop me? Hell no. Even the awful smell of a wolf's mouth didn't stop me. I yanked him so that he was lying perfectly on his side, heart up, paws floppy, not seeing an injury, not seeing anything wrong with him at all, and felt for where I knew his heart was. Where I'd last heard it. Everything was so still. He felt so empty.

What was it? One, two, thee, for, five, cover the nostrils, blow into the mouth... that wasn't easy, he had a huge mouth, a huge stinking mouth, and I wrapped my jacket around the base of it in an attempt to keep the air going in rather than out. No, that was not going to work, he was not human and his mouth was too big- air kept escaping. The tongue was blocking it too. I yanked it forward and closed his mouth. He had a nose. A -compared to his mouth- small nose that was going to be easier to keep air in.

I blew, five times, and tried to push down on the heart. Get it moving again. Get his heart going again. Nothing, and so I tried again, using the nose, finding it kept the air inside so long as I kept his mouth shut. If this worked I'd have to tell Clayton that- I only got him back because he kept his mouth shut.

Kept going, breathing for him, moving his heart for him, I couldn't give up, couldn't just let him die out here on his own. Elena, Nick, Jeremy, I knew how it'd be for them, how fucking terrible... and for me, because I had a brother in this strange man, a brother that'd brought my nephew out and helped him embrace the bite.

A minute into it I heard Elena, behind me, heard her skid to a halt, heard a low groan like she'd been hurt, her knees hitting the ground as she started to breathe fast, gasping for air, sobs suffocating her. She knew. A small voice beside her spoke, Kate's voice, not understanding what was wrong. What I was doing. What was going on.

I ignored her, ignored her hand trying to pull me away, growling at her. She backed off and I kept trying. It took Elena another full minute, though it felt like hours, before she suddenly understood what I was doing. Elena slid beside me, taking over the heart, pushing it down. She'd figured out what I was trying to do and she could push it deeper than I could. Kate knelt between us, her small hands touching her father, trying to understand. Like Matt must have done when he found his mother.

She'd started to cry, started to realise he was wrong, even if she couldn't connect death to him.

Then he breathed. His heart suddenly started to pound, so hard, so fast, lungs filling with air, his legs twitching, suddenly no longer empty but full and panicked and scared. I'd never smelt fear in Clayton before but I did now, and felt him launch himself at me, teeth going for my neck, eyes wild with fear.

Elena bowled into his side, shoving him off me, yanking Kate close.

He stood there, shaking, blue eyes wide, the snarl fading as he seemed to regain his senses. Then he collapsed onto the ground and started to change.

I turned and so did Kate, but Elena couldn't seem to bring herself to stop looking, to stop watching, to turn her back on him for a second. She was still crying, still shaking, and she sat there on her knees, arm around Kate.

"There have been too many fucking close calls." Clayton swore, standing up, his legs shaking. He knelt beside her, grabbing her and Kate in a hug together, burying his head in Elena's hair. "Too many fucki-" He hesitated. "Sorry, Elena. Kate, don't say that word. Daddy's just angry."