Chapter 74 WHO'S IN BIG TROUBLE
RAGNAR AND YURIK'S POV
We still have blood dripping along parts of our hide from where skin tore during the shift.
But we don’t wait.
We leap straight from the balcony, four stories down.
The impact splits the earth beneath us as some wolves scatter and fall to the ground from the force.
We ignore the staring and the whispering as we beeline straight to wherever the bond is pulsing strongest.
The forest receives us like a heavy storm.
A lot of branches snap under our weight with leaves scattering into air as we barrel through.
The scent hits us halfway down the western trail as we take it in.
It's a smell of blood, and a fresh one.
I also smell Sebastian.
It’s not faint or something I imagined, but it's there.
It’s everywhere.
Yurik growls low, the sound vibrating through his massive chest to mine as he urges us to go.
We push faster into the forest as we pray to every deity that all is okay.
The bond flickers erratically in my chest, like a heartbeat struggling to continue.
I feel like someone suffering from a heart condition just from the movements of the bond that is now starting to affect my heart.
The closer we get to Sebastian, the worse it feels. It doesn't feel like he's dead or gone though, but it feels really wrong.
Wrong in a way that's making all of my instincts that have guided me all my life scream for danger.
We finally burst through the final tree line as we see a clearing near the forest entrance.
There’s a cluster of wolves gathered there all looking uneasy and murmuring from beneath the breaths.
The moment they see us, they stiffen in shock and fear but we don't slow down.
We throw our head back and unleash a loud violent howl that splits the sky.
It is not a greeting or an inquiry of any sort, it's a command.
Dominance rolls outward from me to them in crushing waves immediately causing some to faint. Several wolves immediately drop to their bellies as others back away with their ears flattened.
“Move,” I snarl through the wolf’s throat.
And they all scatter like a pack of flies.
And it's then I see him, everything blurs out to a blur and disappears as I take in his appearance.
Sebastian lies near the mouth of the clearing, with shadows from the forest covering half of him but there's still light on his other half.
For a second, just a second, I cannot move or even think.
He looks like something or rather someone dragged from war.
His body is completely soaked in blood. Not splattered or splashed,
Soaked.
As if he’d been submerged in it and laid there to dry for a while.
His shirt has also been reduced to shreds with scrap fabric clinging to his skin in stiff, dark patches.
They don't look like it's been ripped from transformation, they look like they were ripped from him.
Across his ribs and abdomen, bruises bloomed and splattered in a violent shade of black and purple.
There’s a deep gash across his brow almost nearing his hairline as there's dried blood trailing into his hairline.
His lip is split and his cheeks are swollen.
“Oh my goddess Sebastian, who did this to you?”
I'm circling him with care because I don't even know what to touch or hold.
There are claw marks raking down his side, four distinct slashes that tear through his muscles to his skin and look threatening.
One of his arms lies twisted unnaturally beneath him as he's staying still.
Too still.
For moments I'm not happy for, the bond goes quiet and my heart stops.
Yurik falters inside of me with a painful gasp as he whines and starts using his snout to push Sebastian awake.
I can't… Sebastian is… no how…
The world narrows to the space between his chest and mine as I spiral in despair.
Then–
A faint pulse comes from him.
It's weak and not following rhythm but it's there.
I gasp in relief as I feel tears starting to gather in my eyes.
Alive.
He's alive!
The breath I release nearly brings me to my knees as I falter and take a step back.
Without any hesitation, I shift back without a thought.
The reverse transformation is just as brutal as the first but I'm only thinking about Sebastian right now.
As my bones snap inward, I'm praying and thanking anyone who would listen about helping Sebastian.
As my fur recedes painfully, dragging against my skin as it vanishes, I'm back to being furious.
Who would dare do something like this in my territory and to someone who clearly belongs to me.
Even visiting wolves from other packs know all about Sebastian's existence and meaning to me thanks to the boy elders so who would dare do this?!
I collapse beside him, naked with blood still slick along parts of my own skin from the violence of shifting.
But I don’t feel it.
I don’t feel anything but him.
“Sebastian.”
My voice breaks as I fight back a sob.
I briefly brush trembling fingers along his jaw, smearing his blood across my hand.
It’s still warm.
His lashes are clumped with warm red blood and I see that everywhere, there’s blood in his hair now matted thick in his roots.
His knuckles are shredded raw and his skin is torn and split everywhere.
I follow the scent trail off of him taking huge breaths and inhaling just to try and figure out who would do this.
It takes almost a minute before I can finally get it.
It's a… Rogue.
A dead one.
I turn my head and look back at Sebastian.
How is he alive when the Rogue is dead?
How did he survive a Rogue attack all on his own?
I smell another pungent smell coming from Sebastian.
It takes a while before I can figure out what it is to know almost exactly what happened.
His breath smells like… a herb I've seen in the forest before.
The kind that some starving, crazy Rogues would eat out of hunger because it made a person stronger and faster.
But the only disadvantage was that it made you into a monster and would burn your life force ignoring whether you were sick or injured.
How did Sebastian know of it? It's been banned for centuries.
Except… Alisander!