Embracing The Shadows (Shadow Series #5)

28 - Watch

A cloud of black smoke billowed out from behind the animal clinic. My foot pressed down on the brake pedal when I whipped the car around the back of the building. The tires drifted across the gravel until I forced the car to an abrupt stop. My body jerked forward from the motion with my hands wrapped around the steering wheel.

The mammoth feeling of dread sunk deeper in the pit of my stomach and simultaneously stole the air I desperately needed from my lungs when I realized the terrifying feeling I felt back at the apartment connected to my friends was true. My knuckles drained to a pale white as my grip tightened around the wheel.

The bright headlights poured out of my car and across the backlot, highlighting the short distance between our vehicles. A new wave of panic simmered behind my sternum when I spotted the beloved Jeep flipped upside down with two bodies laid unconscious, trapped within the confinements of it.

"Oh, my God," I breathed, horrified.

The mental connection I shared with the pack, granted to me through my Protector abilities, appeared to have strengthened during my separation from my friends the past two days. Isaac and I were nearly asleep tonight when I jolted up in bed in a cold sweat, rambling about how something was deeply wrong with the pack.

The palm of my hand slammed against the buckle of my seatbelt until I felt the release from around my body. The door to the driver's side swung open as I aggressively threw my body out of the car. My boots slipped against the gravel and jerked my upper torso forward.

The tips of my fingers brushed against the ground before I regained my balance and darted toward the flipped Jeep. I sucked in a deep breath at the terrifying sight of Stiles laid partially out of the vehicle unconscious.

A haze of thick smoke coated my throat with every ragged breath I took. His neck rested against the top of the opened window in a concerning position.

"Stiles?" I cried out, desperately.

My knees harshly slammed into the gravel road after I skidded to a stop and dropped to the ground. An uncontrollable shakiness overtook my hands as they reached out for my best friend's unconscious body.

Small pebbles clung to the bare skin of my knees through the ripped holes of my black jeans. The mix of lights from the back of the clinic reflected off of the blood splattered across Stiles' face. My stomach flopped at the sight.

Was that his blood? I wondered.

I pressed two fingers against the side of his pale neck. My erratic nerves eased a smidge when I felt a strong pulse against the pads of my fingertips. The cloud of smoke hovered thickly in the air around our figures and slipped its invisible tendrils up our nostrils until the ability to breathe became increasingly harder. A cough was smothered into the crook of my elbow.

The warmth of Stiles' neck greeted the palms of my hands when I pressed them on either side. My eyes fluttered shut as I concentrated on tapping into my Protector abilities by increasing the sensitivity pressure in my fingers.

The tips of my fingers lightly tapped along the back of his neck, searching for any broken or fractured bones that would worsen if I moved him away from the Jeep. A small sigh slipped past my lips in relief.

A few pebbles were scooped into my right hand before I tossed them across the inside of the jeep at Theo's unconscious body to encourage him to wake up at a faster rate. His body jolted when they landed on the side of his face and left shoulder. He rolled over on the ground on the other side of the jeep as he regained consciousness.

I barely glimpsed in his direction while I climbed back to my feet, unbothered by the pebbles that clung to my knees, indented into the bare skin. The only thing I cared about during this dangerous situation was to keep Stiles safe and alive. Nothing else mattered.