Sacrifice

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Gabriel.”

Hearing his name, he looked up to find several wolves and lions standing around him. He had just about fallen asleep next to Sophia and hadn’t realized what was going on around him.  For a moment, he wanted to ignore them and remain with Sophia, but if she were awake, he knew she’d immediately push him away and get down to business.

Slowly he started to sit up, putting a hand on the ground so he could stand up, but as soon as he put pressure on it, he pulled his arm up and remained on the ground.

“Don’t move,” Blake said, coming to crouch down in front of him. “Where does it hurt?”

“I don’t know. Everything.”

“Just now,” Blake clarified. “What was that? Your wrist? Forearm? Elbow?”

“My shoulder.”

“I’m going to cut your shirt off,” Blake said. “I don’t think you’ll be able to take it off on your own.”

Despite what he said, Gabriel started to try taking his shirt off, but he soon found out the hard way that Blake was right. Giving up, he let Blake take a pair of scissors to his shirt and slip it off. Once his shirt was off, he heard a gasp from those around him. He saw Destiny, her hands over her mouth and a worried look in her eyes.

“Oh Gabe,” she said, coming over to sit with him.

He couldn’t help but look at his shoulder to see what had his sister worried and he immediately regretted it. His shoulder was swollen and covered in a black and purple bruise.  He looked away, only to find that he had several more bruises all over his body, but none seemed quite as bad as his shoulder.

“You’ll need antibiotics for the bite wounds,” Blake said. “But they’re not too bad. Looks like you have a separated shoulder. Try not to move your arm for now, but unless it’s severe, you shouldn’t have too many problems. How’s your head?”

“Fine,” Gabriel said.

“What’s your name?”

                “Gabriel.”

                Blake asked several more questions, which he started to find irritating, but then Blake nodded and stood up. “Can you stand?”

                “I think so.” Remembering not to use his arm, he stood up. His legs hurt, but there didn’t seem to be any severe injuries.

                “Hate to do this to you now, but we got a lot of things to take care of,” Lukas said. “First things first. Who’s in charge?” He glanced over at a woman who Gabriel knew as the beta of the Pikes Peak Pack.

                “We do have an alpha present,” Sam said, looking at Ruby. “And I believe we are in their territory.”

                “Given my inexperience in these matters, I am willing to pass on the leadership role,” Ruby said.

                “Blake, this is your pack’s operation,” Sam said. “So I suppose as the beta’s mate, you’re the next in line.”

                “What about the alpha’s mate?” Blake asked, looking at Gabriel.

                “I don’t… I can’t.” Gabriel didn’t feel like he was part of the pack yet and he didn’t think he could suddenly take charge.