The Shy Wolf

Chapter Twenty Three

Bursting through the hospital's entrance, I ran down a hallway and stopped. I sniffed the air and growled slightly. Something was wrong. Ryan stumbled to a stop beside me.

"Do you smell that?" I asked. "Something's wrong."

Ryan sniffed the air then widened his eyes. "That's blood. Coming from ... " Ryan trailed off, his face dropping. He ran down the hall and turned left. I followed him into a room to see Astrid lying unconscious on the floor, a deep cut on her forearm.

"Astrid!" We both shouted. I slid down to her side as Ryan called desperately for the nurse. I cradled her in my lap. "Astrid!" I sobbed. "Wake up. Wake up! Please!" I snapped my head to Ryan who was staring down at us. "Can you see any rogues outside?" I growled deeply.

Ryan looked. The disappointment that crossed my face was recognisable. To distract myself, I looked down at the girl in my lap. Multiple strands of her hair had fallen out of her braid, covering most of the left side of her face.

"Astrid... " I whispered. "Come on wake up."

I must have been there for an hour, watching a nurse as she fixed up Astrid's forearm. With my help, we got her back onto the bed. Me and Ryan sat either side, holding her hands. I squeezed hers gently, running my thumb across her skin.

"Don't squeeze too tight ... "

I froze. I looked up slowly to see Astrid's eyes twitching open. "Astrid!" I gasped. She smiled a bit.

Astrid turned to Ryan, holding out a fist. "Hey bro," she murmured, her voice straining.

Ryan sniffed. "Hey," he slightly sobbed, bumping his fist with hers.

Astrid turned back to me. "Why are you crying?" When I didn't respond, she pushed on. "Harry?"

"I should've been there!" I exclaimed, shooting up to stand. I began to pace, letting out growls now and again. "I should've been there."

"Harry stop," Astrid mumbled.

I glared at the window, sudden determination etching across my face. "I'm gonna kill him. I'm going to kill that stupid rogue!"

"Harry, stop!" The hurt in her voice made me pause in my tracks. "Don't. He's probably long gone by now."

I heard my knuckles crack as I clenched them into fists. How dare they. How dare they! Attacking a Wolf Shifter for reason? Now I knew the Rogues were bad but I didn't know that they would randomly attack someone. Unless ...

My eyes widened. "This isn't the first time," I whispered.

"What?" Ryan said as Astrid stared at me.

"This isn't the first time," I said, louder, with more confidence.

Astrid stuttered on her breath. "Harry, what - what are you talking about?"

I rushed over to the bed, growling slightly at Ryan to back off. I sat down on the edge of the mattress, placing my hand on Astrid's uninjured side. I leaned down, letting my lips brush her ear. "This isn't the first time you've been attacked by a rogue," I whispered.

I watched as realisation crossed her face. "So what are you thinking?" Astrid finally asked after a long pause.

"What I'm thinking is that somebody is targeting you specifically."

That was then everything went quiet while I listened, until... "Get down!" I shouted viciously. I launched over Astrid, shielding her body under mine as the glass in the windows shattered.

Astrid cried in pain as the sudden jolt surprised her. Glass rained all over the room, some sticking in my back. When it stopped I looked down at the floor to see a rock with a message attached to it.

Making sure Astrid was all right, I walked over to the broken window, the glass crunching under my feet. I stared around the whole grounds but saw nothing. Whoever it was, they had got away, for now.

"Harry? You better come read this."

And that's exactly what I did.