Blood, Sweat and Fur

Chapter Five

"Call the pack doctor!" Jamie said to a patrol wolf as they crossed into the Southern Packs territory. She had shifted to convey the message and chose to continue their run in her human form. Brandon carried his mate Bellona on his back, both of them still in wolf form.  As they approached the last leg of their strenuous journey, Bellona had collapsed. An old internal injury had reoped and caused possible internal bleeding. Although they healed faster than humans, the lost of large amounts of blood slowed that down significantly. Jamie had sent Richie ahead as soon as they realized how bad the situation was, hoping that they could skip the debriefing and move straight ahead to dealing with what ever was going on with the Eastern pack that made her fear for her packmates lives.

The Southern Pack was large enough to have three medical posts, excluding the main clinic, for patrol wolves close to their borders. Jamie directed their course to the closet one considering Bellona's critical condition. All Jamie wanted to do was go to bed after eating an entire deer by herself.  A food coma sounded appealing, but she refused to rest knowing their hasty leave from the Eastern Pack was her fault.

As they entered a small clearing some way into pack territory, they spotted the three bedroom cabin, fully stocked with medical supplies to treat wounds from patrolling indecents. Jamie still in human form caught the scent of her brother, Richie and another wolf nearby. Opening the door for Brandon, they were greater with a rustic open floor style waiting area which was separated from the hospital rooms. She directed Jason to place Bellona on the hospital bed in the first room, which was bathed with neutral hues of dark green and dirt brown. Having your wolves sense a more earthy field relaxed them more than the stark white of human hospitals. From what little knowledge  Jamie had from the field she began assesing Bellona's wounds. She attempted to clean the small scratches she had received from the harsh run and clean away the sweat from her wolf's body.

Brandon stood gaurd at the foot of the bed where Jamie worked, preventing anyone whom he did not trust from getting anywhere near his mate. Jamie began silently pleading with her Wolf God and Goddess to ensure the survival of her pack mate. She had thought that because Bellona was a wild wolf that she'd be able to handle the journey, but watching her collapse and tumble into a nearby tree made her heart stop. Bellona looked more or less sixteen and she had been through what some seasoned warriors couldn't. If Bellona died, she could not live with the guilt of having failed a pack member that badly.

A few minutes later, Brandon caught the scent of a pack doctor and their Alpha Jesse, just as Jamie was covering her body with a large t-shirt she had found. Richie has opened the door and lead them straight to Bellona. Jamie could see the worry etched deeply in the man's eyes, knowing that he already began to form a familial bond with the pup.

"Why is she still in wolf form?" Asked Dr. Landon. Usually when injured, weres returned to their most natural form, which allows for faster healing and proper bone regrowth.

"She's a wild." Answered Alpha Jesse stiffly. "You brought a wild into our territory! This could cause retaliation Jamie!" Jesse directed his anger at his sister knowing it was most likely her nobility that would also her to care for complete strangers. He on the other had was sceptical. He could not trust wolves who were not family or pack. Most alliances he had was always met with caution as wolves could not be governed by paper, as much as he'd like to believe. Jesse's comment was met with a threating growl from Brandon, who stood prepared to attack his alpha if it mean his mate's safety.

"She is pack now. Her mate stands sides her, as well as I do brother." Jamie knew that Jesse thought it would not matter to the Mountain Alpha's as they did not believe in mating with one person, and could still attack to reclaim the girl. She also knew that because Bellona was exciled that she was technically a rogue wolf, regardless of birth pack, and that she was free to be claimed by another pack. Jamie began to explain just that to her brother and had heard her brother released a deep sigh of relief at the end of it. He motioned for her and Richie to follow his outside the small cabin as the doctor ushered them out of the room.