Heya guys! Wassup? We've had quite a few new readers recently, so welcome to all the newbies. And don't forget to vomment. Yes, that's right, when voting and commenting are mixed, they make a word that sounds far too much like vomit for my liking. So definitely vomment, but try not to vomit. Those two words should not be confused. Anyhow, on with the story.
Getting shot hurts.
Getting shot in the head hurts even more.
It was also supposed to kill you.
So why wasn't I dead?
A shaky hand reached up to touch the warm blood which covered the side of my face. It took me a while to work out that the blood wasn't coming from my head, but rather just to the side of it.
The douchebag had hit my ear.
Slowly, painfully slowly, I became aware of the world around me again. I was lying behind a tree, and weirdly, there was a wolf standing over me. Protecting my body with his own. The wolf was bleeding from several places as well. Had he been shot too?
Ollie was crouched beside me, saying something that sounded like, "Stay down."
Well, screw that. I wasn't going to lie down while my friends risked their lives, especially if these packling shitheads were trying to kill me. I felt I had completely overreacted to getting shot, so now I needed to redeem myself.
I gave the wolf who was protecting me a shove and climbed unsteadily to my feet, making sure to stay in the cover of the trees. Leo must have felt my pain through the link, because his concern was hounding at my mind. I tried to give as much reassurance as I could convey over such a fragile connection. He was too far away.
Realising my knife was still in my hand, I flipped it into a throwing position and glanced at where I had seen the flash earlier. Another shot skimmed against bark only a foot from me. Whoever this sniper was, he wasn't half bad.
"Skye, it's you he wants. You gotta stay down," Ollie insisted, tugging at my arm.
The panic around me made it hard to concentrate. Screaming and shouting from every direction. Or maybe it was the blinding pain coming from my ear distracting me the most. I was glad to see that the guns were only aimed at me, not the hordes of rogues still running for the castle. I was less glad to see that the sniper was out of knife range. If I could just make it a little closer...
A hand snaked around my waist, and before I could resist, I was thrown over someone's shoulder. A familiar mess of light brown hair was all I could see of my attacker. Rhys, of course.
Well, dammit. I couldn't exactly stab him. It would almost have been better if it was a flockie. Then at least I could have some fun. I kicked uselessly at his stomach and swore.
"Nice to see you too, Skye. Let's get you somewhere nice and safe."
I didn't have to look at Rhys to know he was grinning.
"Put me down, jackass!" I growled at him.
"I'll look after her. You guys deal with the sniper," Rhys ordered. He shifted my weight and started walking. "You should have listened to Ollie. No suicide missions today."
With every step he took, I was getting further and further away from the fight that was about to take place. If I knew my fighters, they'd already be underneath the sniper, ready to move in. And I definitely didn't need babysitting.
Finally, when there were so many trees between us and the gun that a clear shot was beyond impossible, Rhys put me down at the base of a tree. Once we had completed the ritual of me trying to stand back up and him stopping me, I let out another growl.
"I'm fine."
"There's blood all over you," he pointed out.
"It's just my ear," I explained impatiently.
"I don't particularly care," Rhys shrugged. "It only takes one shot to kill you, Skye. So let's not give him anything to aim at."
One final shot echoed across the forest, followed by victory howls form a dozen or more werewolves. The pain in my ear seemed to recede a little. My would-be-assassin had been killed. And now I might never know who wanted me dead so badly.
"Do you want me to carry you back?" Rhys teased.
"Idiot." I shoved his chest and Rhys fell back, laughing his head off.
***
My ear wasn't healing. After an entire hour of constant pain, all I wanted was for my skin to knit itself back together and the bleeding to stop. Was that too much to ask? Even worse, I was feeling weaker and weaker by the second. Exhaustion? Or something worse?
And of course, there was a group of mother hens gathered around me, all crowing their concern. Instead of lying in bed, I was sat up in the council chambers, discussing how a packling got through our defences. Rhodric, Rhys and Fion were taking it in turns to casually slip into the conversation that I should be seeing a doctor.
"Why would a flockie want to kill Skye?" Ollie demanded. "She's the first rogue leader ever to recognise that we need peace with the packs. No offence, Rhodric."
"None taken," Rhodric grinned. "I take pride in being prejudiced against all things pack related."
"It wouldn't be the first time," Rhys pointed out. "Some of Jace's fighters tried to kill her at New Dawn."
"Yeah, and I fire-hosed them. That should have put them off," I argued.
"Has anyone else tried to kill you?" Fion asked. "Anyone at all?"
"It's quite a long list," I sighed. "And it might just be someone I've pissed off recently."
"Skye!" That was Leo shouting outside. I stood up too fast, and my vision blurred.
Leo shoved his way into the command room and wrapped me in a relieved hug. I buried my head in his neck, inhaling my mate's scent. The world didn't ever feel quite right when we were apart.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Leo asked, still holding me close. And I certainly wasn't complaining.
"Got shot," I mumbled into his jacket.
By the time we explained the whole story, Leo's expression had turned from worried to angry.
"I'm going to kill him," my mate growled.
"The assassin's already dead, buddy," Ollie said. "Sorry, I beat you to it."
"No, not him. Alpha Jace."
I raised my eyebrows, waiting for an explanation. If Leo was angry at Jace, that probably meant he had something to do with the attempt on my life.
Rhys growled, "You mean it was him? Son of a—"
"Jace didn't try to kill Skye," Leo interrupted. "But it's his fault."
"You know, I enjoy watching drama unfold as much as the next person," Rhodric said. "But would you mind explaining?"
"Do you remember at the Council of Alphas, when Keith tried to poison Skye?" Leo asked.
My eyes widened in realisation. "I told him that if I was going to assassinate myself I'd use a gun."
"Let me get this straight," Rhodric sounded like he was trying not to laugh. "You gave him tips on how to kill you?"
"Yes, she did," Rhys muttered. "I thought we'd established he would think it was a trap and not send a sniper."
My hand crept up to brush against my ear. It still felt swollen and tender. Fion leant towards me and examined the wound. Suddenly, it dawned on me why my wound wasn't healing.
"He did think it was trap," I realised. "And he used both of our ideas. The bullets were poisoned."
"Oh, great. Perfect!" Rhys hit the table. "Now what do we do?"
"The bullet only grazed her. There's a good chance it wasn't a fatal dose," Fion said. "You still need medical attention."
"I'm staying for the end of this discussion," I insisted. "Just tell the doctors so they can treat any other shifters who were shot. Why is it Jace's fault?"
"Well..." Leo sounded nervous. "My parents let a few things slip. Remember how Keith also said that if we beat the ferals, we would have to fight him too? Turns out New Dawn declared war on Keith's pack a few weeks ago. There was some kind of unprovoked attack..."
"And we haven't heard of this why?"
"That, I don't know. But I'd bet that assassin is linked to the pack war somehow," Leo said.
"Alright, that's quite enough," Rhodric interrupted. "Skye needs a doctor, we all need sleep and someone needs to bury the decomposing corpse on our front lawn."
"Alright, alright," I grumbled. I let Leo lead me towards the medical tents, while shouting back over my shoulder, "Ollie, arrange a meeting with Jace first thing in the morning. I have a bone to pick with him."
There weren't any doctors to spare when we arrived. The few who were on duty on this hour were assisting in surgery on the werewolf who had shielded me from the bullets. I was told that he was in a critical condition, with no fewer than four bullet wounds. The surgeons were trying to extract all of them before the poison could get into his system.
I was more than happy to wait, especially to save someone else's life. A nurse dressed and cleaned my ear while I snacked on the highest sugar content snack bar that Leo could find.
As the nurse cleaned up, Leo touched his own ear, a finger brushing over the faint scar of where he had been injured fighting ferals. "We're matching now."
I touched the pale mark on his shoulder where I had claimed him all those months ago, then pulled down my collar to show my own mark. "Ain't we just," I whispered back.
Leo gave the nurse a look that told him privacy would be appreciated, using that universal language that all men seem to share. Seconds later, we were alone in the tent. And no sooner did the flap of the tent swing shut than our hands were all over each other.
We had been apart for too long, which became all the more obvious when Leo's lips pressed against mine. Recently, it had felt like we couldn't get enough of each other. I shoved his chest lightly, pushing him onto the small camp bed that was supposed to be for patients. I moved to straddle him without breaking the kiss.
I could feel Leo smiling against my lips, making me smile as well. It was good to be alive. Even better to be alone with my mate.
A little while later, when we finally finished making out, I lay stretched out beside Leo and used his chest as a pillow. One of his arms circled around my shoulders, pulling me close. These moments sometimes seemed to be the only peace I ever got.
"I thought you were hurt earlier," Leo said suddenly.
"I was," I replied. "I got shot, remember?"
"No ... I mean I thought you were dying," he explained. "I woke up to blinding pain and I had no idea what happened. For all I knew, you could have been dead already. So I got in my car and drove all the way over here, praying to the Moon Goddess that you were okay."
"I'm really sorry I scared you," I bit my lip. I felt guilty, of course. Knowing you were the reason for someone else's pain was never fun.
"You don't have to apologise, that's not what I'm getting at. What I'm trying to say so eloquently is that- well," Leo paused, struggling to find the right words. Finally, he just blurted it all out at once, "We need to complete the mate bond."
I burst out laughing, and Leo frowned down at me. "Sorry, it's just ... that was very blunt. And I'm not sure how it relates to what you were saying."
"I'm serious, Skye." Leo gave me a grudging smile. "If we completed the bond, we'd be able to talk anywhere, anytime. I didn't want to rush you or take advantage of you..."
That was all it took. I started laughing all over again. I was in a very happy mood — maybe it was too much sugar before bed. Somehow, I managed to get out a sentence, "If anyone's taking advantage of anyone, it'd be me."
"You mean ... you're okay with it?"
The levels of bashfulness only made me love Leo even more. He was like an adorable puppy, still in that awkward, unsure phase. I realised I had just compared my mate to a puppy and immediately resigned never to eat sugar so late at night again. I sounded like well ... a teenage girl.
"Of course I'm okay with it. I love you — you know that, right?" I said.
Leo shuffled his arm around to pull me even closer. "I know. And I love you too. Which is why I've been trying to make sure we don't do anything you're not ready for."
"I've been ready for months, jackass. What does a girl have to do to get laid around here?"
This time it was Leo who started laughing. "Well, if you're sure, we have all night..."
"Great plan," I snorted. "In a tent surrounded by hundreds of shifters with amazing hearing. Two of which are my father and brother. Do you have a death wish?"
"At least I'd die happy," Leo pointed out.
"I would prefer that you didn't die at all. Give me a day or so — I'll find some excuse for the two of us to get away from everyone," I said.
"You sure that's a good idea? With Alpha Keith trying to kill you and all?"
"I can look after myself, Leo. If anything I would be safer somewhere else. At least then he can't find me so easily," I murmured drowsily. The warmth and darkness was finally taking its toll, along with the day's events. I fell asleep in my mate's arms, listening to the sound of his heartbeat.