Justin had pushed the shirt patch against Bosse’s chest and stared at him. “Mate?”
“Yes. Save her as you would your own.”
Justin cursed and demanded, “Put your hands here so I can get to her.”
Bosse complied.
Krol screeched with his hands fisted. “I fucking hate idiots who won’t listen.”
Vicious sounds of snarling and howling erupted. Bosse checked on Adrian. He’d shifted into his huge wolf called Red that fought a black wolf Bosse couldn’t identify. Had to be the wilkotauk. When Bosse looked back at Alifair, Justin had gone down on a knee next to her. His quiet curse reached Bosse.
Alifair sobbed, “Help me up.”
“Just lie here and—”
“Shut up and help me up, or Adrian is going to die!” Her face clenched in pain, and she sniffled.
Hope kicked Bosse’s heart into beating harder when he saw Alifair on her feet. The Gallize could save her.
Alifair called out, “Tranquillitas wilkotauk.” Her words had been too weak to hear. She frowned and took a deep breath, whimpering in pain, then shouted in a raspy voice this time, “Tranquillitas wilkotauk.” She told Justin, “I can only slow it down. I can’t kill it. That’s your job.”
Conflict smacked Justin.
“Please, let me lay down, Justin. I won’t bleed out as fast. Go help Adrian, then come back.”
He lowered her to the ground, pulled his T-shirt off, and wadded it up to hand her. “Keep this in place. I’ll be right back.”
“Go!” she ordered with the urgency of a general.
Justin shed clothes and shifted into his grizzly as he raced toward Adrian.
The wilkotauk had leaped ten feet in the air and arched to hit Adrian.
That monstrous grizzly launched itself into the air with claws reaching ahead of a giant head. Justin’s bear slammed the wilkotauk wolf, then flew behind it as they both slammed to the ground.
But the grizzly was on top and ripped into the strange wolf faster than anything Bosse had ever seen.
He’d never want to face an angry Justin.
Turning back to Alifair, he tried to smile as he shared one last time with his mate that Justin had gifted him.
Voice gurgling and face racked with pain, Alifair spoke in spurts. “My death... was in the dreams. Not yours... Fight to live.”
No, no, no. She knew she would die here. Bosse started dragging himself with his one good arm. “No, sweetness. Life is nothing to me without you.”
