#Chapter 24 Secrets and Lies
I waited for the killing bite, but suddenly, and without warning, the imposter wolf was turning tail and bolting from the scene. At that same instant, another figure loomed over me, and I nearly screamed again before I realized who it was. Justin, my heart, my mate, had saved me again
“Oh, my dearest,” Justin murmured, gathering me into his arms. “You need to shift so I can carry you.”
In my human form, the pain in my leg was just as intense, but I could see the damage much clearer, which made it that much worse. He had torn my leg open to the bone, and it dangled uselessly from my body.
“This is going to hurt, but we have to slow the bleeding,” Justin said as he pulled his shirt over his head. He was right. I was losing a lot of blood and beginning to feel woozy from it.
He balled his shirt up and pressed it against the wound. I screamed again. The fact that I remained conscious was a miracle.
“I know, I know,” Justin soothed, as he tied the sleeves of the shirt around my thigh, to help hold the whole thing in place. “We have to get you back. You need a hospital.”
He picked me up and began heading toward town. I could barely think straight, but I needed Justin to know. “They were from Donna’s pack! The bitch set me up again.”
“We’ll go to the Alphas.”
“We can’t,” I realized. “They saw me shift. They know about my coat.”
“Hele they tried to kill you.”
I had to make Justin understand. “Diana has used my tricolor coat against me my entire life. Keeping my new coat
a secret from her is the only advantage I have when I compete against her.”
“If they tell anyone they saw me shift, they’ll have to admit they were the ones who attacked me. They’ll keep their mouths shut as long as I do, too.”
“Helen,” Justin said, gently. “The competition is tomorrow. Look at you.”
I knew he didn’t want to say the words, just like I didn’t want to admit them to myself. I had to compete. Somehow.
#Chapter 24 Secrets and Lies
I waited for the killing bite, but suddenly, and without warning, the imposter wolf was turning tail and bolting from the scene. At that same instant, another figure loomed over me, and I nearly screamed again before I realized who it was. Justin, my heart, my mate, had saved me again.
“Oh, my dearest,” Justin murmured, gathering me into his arms. “You need to shift so I can carry you.”
In my human form, the pain in my leg was just as intense, but I could see the damage much clearer, which made it that much worse. He had torn my leg open to the bone, and it dangled uselessly from my body.
“This is going to hurt, but we have to slow the bleeding,” Justin said as he pulled his shirt over his head. He was right. I was losing a lot of blood and beginning to feel woozy from it.
He balled his shirt up and pressed it against the wound. I screamed again. The fact that I remained conscious was a miracle.
“I know, I know,” Justin soothed, as he tied the sleeves of the shirt around my thigh, to help hold the whole thing in place. “We have to get you back. You need a hospital.”
#Chapter 24 Secrets and Lies
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He picked me up and began heading toward town. I could barely think straight, but I needed Justin to know. “They were from Donna’s pack! The bitch set me up again.”
“We’ll go to the Alphas.“.
“We can’t,” I realized. “They saw me shift. They know about my coat.”
“Helen, they tried to kill you.”
I had to make Justin understand. “Diana has used my tricolor coat against me my entire life. Keeping my new coat a secret from her is the only advantage I have when I compete against her.”
I closed my eyes. “If they tell anyone they saw me shift, they’ll have to admit they were the ones who attacked me. They’ll keep their mouths shut as long as I do, too.”
“Helen,” Justin said, gently. “The competition is tomorrow. Look at you.”
I knew he didn’t want to say the words, just like I didn’t want to admit them to myself. After everything. To get this far and have the victory taken from me before I even had a chance to fight for it was unthinkable.
It was a testament to Justin’s strength that we made it into town as quickly as we did. But still, I was barely conscious as we entered the building. He must have been insistent with the Emergency Room staff because we were brought quickly to a private room.
I was glad to find the doctor treating me was also a werewolf. She was a short, severe woman with gray hair and glasses too big for her slender face. It would have been rude to ask, but I wondered if her coat had also turned gray or if it still held some of her original color.
She spent some time examining the wound, though, surprisingly, she asked few questions about what caused it. Her hands were gentle, but even the littlest pressure was almost unbearable. “I’m sorry. I know this is painful. I’ll be done as quickly as I can,” she reassured me.
After cleaning and dressing the wound, she stepped back, leaning against the counter. “I’d say you’re lucky to be alive, but it’s not luck. If you’d been anything other than a werewolf, you’d be dead by now.”
She explained the cleaning and dressing process. “For anyone else, we’d recommend surgery to close the wound, but your werewolf DNA has thankfully slowed the bleeding enough that we don’t need to do that. Often, surgery can introduce even more complications, so we try to avoid it whenever possible.”
I took a deep breath. “Doctor, how long until I’m back to normal?” I asked. “We heal so much faster than most. Soon, right?” It was like I was afraid to stop talking because I knew I wasn’t going to like her answer.
She seemed unsure of how to answer. “Helen, we’ve all been watching the games. I know you’ve been doing very well. I’m sorry though, even if I thought there was a chance you could compete, it would be much too dangerous.”
“I’m already feeling so much better, and it’s hardly been any time at all!” I struggled to get to my feet, but Justin placed a hand on my shoulder, guiding me back to my seat on the exam table. I refused to say so out loud, but even that little movement was excruciating.
I opened my mouth to continue my protests, but something about the doctor’s pitying expression and the weight of Justin’s hand on my shoulder stopped me. They were right. Finally, I began to cry.
Justin wrapped his arm more fully around my shoulder, pulling me into his side. I turned and buried my face in his neck, letting myself cry. He brushed his other hand gently through my hair.
The doctor continued talking, but I hardly heard her. I vaguely registered Justin responding, so I figured that was good enough. I trusted him to take care of me.
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#Chapter 24 Secrets and ties
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After a few minutes, the doctor gathered her things and healed toward the door. “Take your time, but you can check out with the front desk when you’re ready. They’ll have everything you need.”
“Come on,” Justin whispered eventually. “Let’s get you back to our room. We can figure out what to do there.” He tried to guide me to the wheelchair they’d left for my use, but I refused.
“I can walk,” I insisted through gritted teeth. I placed my foot on the ground and tried hard to hold back the cry that wanted to escape my throat. I might not be in danger of bleeding out, but it was still the most intense pain I’d ever experienced.
Still, I was determined. Whether or not the doctor and Justin thought I could compete the next day, I had to. I refused to accept the alternative.
Back in our room, Justin helped me into bed. I hated to admit it, but I was exhausted from everything that had happened.
The fox hunt felt like a memory from long ago. I remembered how light and happy Joy was as we’d raced through the woods. How could a day that started so incredibly end like this?
I began to cry again. I don’t know that I ever really stopped once I began at the hospital. I hated feeling so helpless, but I didn’t know what else to do.
“Helen, you’ve done so well, and you’ve been so brave,” Justin said as he cradled my face in his warm, strong hands. He wiped his thumbs across my cheeks, catching the tears as they fell. For a man who could be so dangerous, he was so gentle with me.
I turned my face to press a kiss to the palm of his hand. I tried to find the words to make him understand. “Justin,
I am nothing. I have nothing. The night I met you, Diana had already taken everything from me.”
My eyes were closed, but I felt Justin kiss each eyelid. “My sweet, little wolf. You are so good. No matter what happens.” I turned carefully onto my side, and pillowed my head on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat in
my ear.
I wanted so badly to believe him, but I knew it wasn’t true. I would never be good enough for him or anything if I couldn’t prove myself. I knew, somehow, I had to compete
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