I shook my head. “Cam, I can’t let you do that. Going lone? Slowly going feral? That’s not a life you should live.”
Being mindful of my injured arm, she pulled me tighter and kissed me again. “Can you just trust me for once?” she murmured against my mouth.
Before either of us could say more, Alec ducked back in, phone pressed to his ear. “Hey, lovebirds? I have good news. The hearing is being rescheduled to tonight. You two can get patched up and calm down from whatever this shit show was.”
“Oh, thank God,” Cameron said with a sigh.
The room had nearly been torn apart in our fight. Rick lay motionless, breathing heavily. I was covered in sweat and blood. Yeah, it was good the hearing was being rescheduled.
“Get ready,” Alec cautioned. “Our guys are one floor down. They’ll be here in a minute to get you and our friend out without being seen. Stand by.”
Wrapping my good arm around Cameron, I pulled her close. In a couple of days, my life would be completely different. If everything went well, anyway. And when I looked down at Cameron’s face, I couldn’t help but smile at the possibilities.
55
Nate
Two firefighters arrived a few moments later in full gear, including oxygen masks. They were hauling a bodyboard. I cradled my arm, which was hurting worse by the moment. Rick had torn the skin deeper than I’d thought at first, and as the adrenaline faded, the agony increased.
Alec waved to the firefighters, and they lifted a hand in greeting. The lead one pulled their mask down, revealing themselves to be a woman. The other did the same. He was a middle-aged man with a deep tan and what looked like a perpetual frown.
“Alec?” the woman said, hurrying forward and scowling in confusion. ”Are you going to tell us exactly what’s going on here?”
“We’re here saving these two,” Alec said, gesturing toward Cameron and me. “That’s what’s going on. Let’s do it.”
The man headed straight to me, whistling when he saw my injury. “Damn, son. What the hell got a hold of you?”
“That,” I said, nodding at Rick.
“Here, let me get something on that before we move.”
He tore a Velcro panel open on the leg of his pants, revealing a simple first aid kit. He rolled gauze around my wound, though it was soaked within seconds. At least it stopped the blood from flowing down my arm and dripping on the floor.
My brows furrowed as he worked. I didn’t sense any of the old disgust and distrust most shifters usually directed at me. He would have scented I was a lone wolf, yet he was treating me like a member of his pack. Helping me without hesitation.
“Unroll this,” the woman said, tossing a thick black bag to Alec.
It was a body bag, thick, heavy-gauge plastic with a full-length zipper running from top to bottom. As Alec unraveled it, she went over and placed the bodyboard beside Rick.
“What are we doing?” I asked, watching her work.
The guy wrapping my arm glanced over. “Alec told us we had to extract a body.” He grunted a laugh. “Didn’t tell us it would be a sleeping wolf, though.”
When he was done with my arm, he helped his partner roll Rick’s slumbering body into the bag and onto the board. Once he was secured, they nodded to Alec.
“All right, folks,” he said. “Time to evac.”
“How?” Cameron asked. “Won’t there be people everywhere? Cops and emergency personnel?”
“We’ve got a beat cop at the delivery door,” the woman said. “JC and Ollie have him stationed there, keeping everyone away. That’s our one shot to get out unseen. We’ll take the freight elevator at the rear of the building, but we need to hurry. We were first on the scene with our crew, but every second we wait, the larger the crowd will get.”
“Let’s go, then,” I said.
It went smoother than I thought it would. Rick’s body bounced on the board, and it was hard for me not to think of himdead inside the bag rather than simply unconscious. I’d wanted to end him, but had stopped at the last second. Cameron was right. He needed to answer for what he’d done instead of getting the easy way out.
That didn’t mean I couldn’t fantasize about being a less compassionate person.
Beyond the rear exit, the cop waited, rushing us out of the building and into a waiting van.
