OMG I'm so sorry it took so long to update! I've been having trouble figuring out how to get this chapter right (too many details!!!) and then I took a break from STAWP to write an adult paranormal romance (which is now published!). You can read it here: https://geni.us/Amber6 and I'll show off the cover at the end of the chapter!!!
Hope you like the latest STAWP/LBAWP installment and again sorry for the delay!
Saffron
"How long before Jasper gets here?" I ask Logan.
"Any minute now." Logan pushes his airbag aside, his movements stilted and sluggish. He's got a bloody nose and black rings are starting to form around his eyes. He'll heal quickly, but I know from experience that his face must be throbbing.
Logan doesn't so much as grimace to show he's in pain. It makes me want to pull him into my arms for a hug. And that word echoes in my head. Mate.
Now is not the time to ask Logan if it's true. Not with Mrs. Jones injured. Not while there's blood everywhere and Rylie's got tears running down her face. I need to focus on getting everyone out of the car and then into Jasper's the moment he gets here.
"Rylie, can you go around and open the door on my side?" I ask.
She hesitates for a second, like she can't bear to let go of her Mom. Then, with a quick nod, she lets me take the scrap of fabric from her bloody fingers.
The once purple dress has long since turned brown, and I press it against Mrs. Jones's wound and turn to the driver's seat. "Jess, I need you to come around and help us while I put pressure on the wound."
Jess nods and pushes past her own airbag and out of the car.
I'm about to ask Logan for help as well, but he's resting his forehead against the car door and clearly struggling to stay upright. At this rate, we may need to carry him, too.
I feel a wave of worry, but Logan a Wolf. He'll be fine.
I focus on getting Mrs. Jones's limp wolf form out of the car. It takes Riley, Jess and me several minutes, but we get it done.
Then, we lay her down on a patch of grass next to the smashed car. The front bumper is embedded in a huge tree trunk, and honestly, we're lucky we survived. If we'd been driving a smaller car, we might not have.
I send up a quick prayer of thanks to the Moon Goddess and turn to watch for Jasper. Periodically, I press my hand against Mrs. Jones's hind leg to make sure her heart is beating steadily. It's weird that a wolf's pulse point is located there, and not the neck like with humans, but her heart beat is fast and steady.
"Saf?" Logan says it so softly that for a second, I think I imagined it.
"Yeah?" I let Riley take over with her Mom and move to his side.
"Here." He takes off his tank and hands it to me.
My cheeks flush and I quickly pull it over my head. It reeks of someone else, and the scent nearly makes me gag, but it reaches my hips, so it'll do.
Then I glance at Logan and realize that he's barefoot. He's also wearing super tight jeans that dig into his abs and nothing else. It's a hot look on him and I can't help staring at his muscular chest.
Then, Logan takes my hand in his and tingles shoot up my arm. His hand feels warm and strong and my breath catches in my throat. For a few seconds, I can't tear my eyes away. We're so close that if I were to just reach out...
No! I shouldn't be thinking this way when Riley's begging her mom to wake up. It's wrong, so wrong. And Logan isn't even looking at me. He's doing what I should be doing... watching for Jasper. His eyebrows drawn in a frown and his face pale, but even like this, he looks so handsome a part of me thinks he can't be real.
A single lock of brown hair falls over his forehead and I reach my free hand up to brush it back only to freeze when I see that it's coated with blood. Mrs. Jones's blood.
I turn to watch the road until Jasper pulls up. He's driving the same red sports car that we took to school, but that suddenly feels like it was an eternity ago.
"What happened? Why didn't she shift?" Jasper shouts through the open window, his gaze moving from Mrs. Jones to Logan and me.
I expect him to let go of my hand, but he gives it another squeeze instead.
"It'll be easier to treat her in wolf form," I call up to Jasper. I give Logan's hand a squeeze back and then let go. "Jasper, help us get Mrs. Jones onto the back seat."
"In wolf form? What do you mean—"
"Now, Jasper! We need to get her to a doctor. Help me lift her!"
Jasper immediately rushes over. Between the four of us, we stagger up the hill and get Mrs. Jones to the small sports car. Rylie climbs in first, and then we settle her mother onto her lap.
"Did you bring the paper and lighter?" I ask Jasper.
He frowns but then nods and leans back inside the car and grabs them for me.
"Everyone, stay here," I order.
Before they can say anything, I race back down the hill to our wrecked car. I open the doors, throw the paper inside and light it on fire. For a few seconds, I watch it burn and then I race back up the hill to safety, just like like Dad taught me.
"Logan, call the fire department," I order as I climb into the car next to Riley and her mom.
"Fire department?" Jess sounds like she's never heard of fire fighters. Or fires. "Shouldn't we send for the clean-up crew?"
"We should," Logan says. I'm about to ask what a clean up crew is, and why we'd call them, when he adds, "they're too busy with the challenge."
I mentally switch gears and open my mouth to ask about the challenge instead, but Jasper speaks up first. "What the hell happened to you, Log?" he asks.
"Goddess forsaken Rogues injected me with some shit tranqs," Logan mutters as he holds up the phone to his ear. He quickly tells them to our location and hangs up, while Jess runs around the car and tries to squeeze in next to me.
The sports car is tiny. The back already feels squished with just Rylie, her mom and me. I know Jess won't fit. I glance at the front where Logan is sitting, but the low riding car is also narrow, and another person wouldn't be able to squeeze up there with him.
"Someone will have to shift and run," I announce. "Not Logan." Not with the tranqs. "And Rylie you need to stay with her mom." And she's got no clothes. "I'm staying to make sure she's okay." And because I also don't have any clothes. "Jasper, let Jess drive. She's—"
"I need to get back to Zara!" he cries.
I start to argue. To explain that Jess is in no shape to run all the way home after what she's been through, but he's already starting the car.
"Sorry, Jess," he shouts as he hits the gas.
"Meet us in the infirmary," I shout out the window. It might take Jess a bit of time to get there, but she's a Wolf. She'll manage.
Then, we're on the highway, leaving behind a wide-eyed Jess standing by the edge of the road.
"Why won't anyone pick up?" Logan mutters as he dials another number.
Jasper hits the gas, hard. The engine revs and he guns it down the highway at what has to be at least twice the speed limit.
Even after the accident we were just in, no one tells him to slow down. Rylie keeps pressure on the wound and whispers softly to her mother, while I periodically check her pulse to make sure she's holding in there.
"Pick up, pick up," Logan mutters as he dials another number. His parents. Maybe Dr. Dev.
"We're almost there," I tell him when Jasper gets off the highway.
He takes us past the same Mapleton sign that POW drove past when he first brought me here. Which is when I remember that POW called me a liar. That he accused me of working with the Rogues. That he plans to interrogate me.
"Jasper, stop the car!" I shout, reaching for the door handle.
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Oh shit, why did Saf order Jasper to stop the car?
And you think she's right about a Wolf's pulse? Is Mrs. Jones still alive?
And what did you think of this chapter? I know it's been forever, but I hope you still liked it!
This is the last part of this story for now. I will finish this book, but I can't figure out the ending, so for now I'm writing other stories.