Rejected

A loud scream bellows through the halls and is now accompanied by soft whimpers…a child. Nadia’s wolf snarls as it rounds a corner and runs down a hall, reaching an apartment with the door wide open. She crouches and slowly stalks in with her teeth bared. I am right behind her and I see what has her attention. There is a haggard man standing near the window with an infant in one arm and Danny ’s arm clenched tightly in the hand on his other arm. What are they even doing? Was he planning on taking them? Since when do rogues abduct children?

I watch as Danny’s eyes the white wolf and I could swear he recognizes her with how his body begins relaxing. Nadia is merely inches from the man and his body is beginning to shift with the children still held tightly in his grasp. As his back begins to stretch and tighten, he lays the infant on the counter, giving her the perfect opportunity to lunch at him. She takes him by the arm and he immediately releases his hold on Danny. My wolf gets ahold of the blanket that the infant is wrapped in and carries it out to the hall. I rush back in and usher Danny out, leaving the toddler to watch the infant…not the best idea, but I know I can’t leave her to fight him alone. When I return to the room, there is blood covering both of them, her white fur stained with it as they nip, snarl and bite at each other. The rogue has his back to me so I seize the moment, jumping on his back, wrapping my jaws tightly around his neck and biting down until I feel the crunch of the bones between my teeth. Nadia’s wolf makes eye contact with mine, bows her head slightly then rushes out to the hall. I step out to see her inspecting the children closely, seemingly satisfied once she confirms they are unharmed.

My wolf walks back into the apartment, takes a blanket off the couch and drags it to her. She nods and watches as my wolf heads back into the apartment to search for Danny’s parents. Both parents are in bad shape, but none of their wounds are fatal. I use the pack link to call for the pack doctor, grab a blanket and shift quickly, wrapping myself tightly with the blanket before returning to the hall. Nadia is already shifted and covered, but something about her seems off.

“Hey, everyone okay out here?” She slowly lifts her head, her face, hair and neck still covered in blood. I am about to dismiss it as shock from the events that just transpired, but then Danny speaks and something in me shifts.

“Ouchie!” His little chubby arm is pointed at Nadia, specifically at her chest area that is covered by the blanket. I drop to my knees beside her, pull her toward me and gently lift the blanket. I feel my blood run cold when I see the 3 large gashes across her chest. That rogue must have clawed her!

“Hey, we need to get you to the hospital.” She shakes her head, a movement that is slow and looks as though it is taking too much of her energy.

“Rose…Ed…Edmund.” She is filleted and bleeding, but she is worried about the children’s parents? Who the hell is this she-wolf?

“They are going to be fine, but we need to get you looked at.” She looks at Danny and then her eyes shift over to mine.

“We can’t…” before she can finish, Kyle rounds the corner and kneels beside me.

“How bad is it?” He scans the children carefully before his eyes land on Nadia and the blood covering every inch of her exposed flesh.

“Rose and Edmund are in their bedroom. They are pretty banged up, but have already begun healing. One dead rogue on the street and one in the living room.” He nods, but his eyes stay locked on Nadia.

“What about her?” I look down at her limp body, her eyes now closed and breathing shallow. I decide to open a pack link to prevent her from hearing how concerned I am.

‘three large gashes across the chest. I could see the bone. I don’t know how much of this blood is hers and how much is from the rogue. She beat the shit out of him and the one on the street…that was all her.’

‘She took on not one, but two rogues and only has three gashes to show for it? What is she, super wolf?’

‘She is something else. I need to get her to the hospital. Can you stay with the pups until help arrives?’

‘You got it. Go take care of our hero.’