Chapter 23

Good sleep and now a run, Jesse would be able to focus now and get some miles between them and the border. He dashed after Thera, trying had to close the distance. He was fast, probably one of the fastest types of shifters, but the real deal he was chasing made him look moderately slower than he would like. 

Thera made a short turn and then crouched down. Inhaling, Jesse realized why she had been pouring on the speed. She was hunting. As he slowed, it dawned on him that she really hadn’t eaten since their trip began. It wasn’t like he could pull up to a drive-thru and order ten pounds of raw meat. 

He turned and purposely went in a wide circle away from where she was stalking something. He couldn’t get a clear enough scent of what it was. Mostly because all he could smell was Minn. Her scent was making it difficult to keep his cat under control. His animal side knew the risks and issues pertaining to their mate, but that didn’t make him any less aware of her. 

Thera bound after her prey and shortly after that, the squeal of a caught animal sounded through the quiet valley. Jesse stopped short and stood there, scenting the area again and checking that the sound hadn’t alerted natural predators. Although, if there was anything in the area that could compete with leopards, he’d eat his shirt when he got back to it. 

Minn paced back and forth a respectful distance from Thera and her breakfast. Leah had filled up on protein bars and a few apples when they’d woke up this morning. Saying she didn’t dare let Minn free to hunt. 

Jesse hadn’t meant to sleep as long as he had, but the relief of getting over the border to a quiet area he recognized had him relax enough to get some real rest. His plans were to drive through, with few stops for the entire day, bringing them close enough to Blair’s that they would get there the next day. He just wanted somewhere stable enough to settle for a short while and let Leah adjust to her new life. 

Lifting her head, Thera paused in her meal and sat there, alert and watchful. Jesse stopped the internal dialogue and listened. Minn was paused in movement too. Inhaling, he brought the scent around them into his body to process. His cat reacted before it registered what they were smelling. There was no mistaking gun oil. That scent was one every shifter learned early on, for survival. There were hunters in the area.

Crouching, he issued a few soft grunts to let Minn and Thera know he scented them too and that they needed to get back to the van. Keeping low, he looked back in the direction they’d come and cursed himself that they’d gone this far from it. There was a lot of open ground to cover to get back to it.

As quiet as he could, he growled, telling them to get moving. Minn was the first to react and started with a slow pace run, keeping her legs bent and trying to keep as low to the ground as she could. He looked over to Thera to see her looking down at her kill and he was sure she was pissed that it was going to have to be left behind. He’d buy her something from the next store they passed, he promised her silently. When she swung her head around, he knew she was plotting the course to get back.

He waited a few seconds when she went by him to follow. He wasn’t taking a chance with anything happening to them. He would run at the back and be the distraction if that was what it took. Calling out a few short commands, telling them to run, he straightened up out of the short growth and started after them. 

His head and back would be visible and he knew it. Hopefully, the hunters were looking to the sky and hunting birds and no one would notice an animal that was not normally in this region. 

The first crack of a riffle split the silence and in turn spurred both of the other cats to pour on the speed. As they blurred across the open space, Jesse kept his run slow enough that he would catch the attention of anyone looking. His heart was going crazy in his chest, and it wasn’t for his own safety that was causing it. 

As Thera and Minn hit the area with the longer growth, he decided he could pick up the pace and get moving. The echo of another shot registered around the same time an intense stinging in his side did. The last thing he picked up as he increased his speed to his absolute fastest was blood. His own blood. He’d been shot.

When the van was in sight, he saw Leah, half-dressed opening the door and Thera jumping in. He slid to a stop where he’d left his clothes and shifted fast. His injury didn’t take well to the shift and the moan he heard was his own as he staggered to two feet and grabbed his jeans. 

Tossing his boots in the direction of the van, he looked down to see a gash in his side and blood running down his side. Fuck. Balling up his shirt, he pressed it against his side and stepped out of the trees. 

Leah tossed his boots in the van and closed the door. The look on her face told him she could smell the blood before she noticed him holding the shirt against his side. “Get in.” He told her as he rounded the front and opened his door.

As he started the van, she pushed the console between the seats out of the way and placed her hands over the shirt. “Is it bad?” Her voice was shaking.

“We’ll look at it once we get out of here.” He put the van in gear and stomped on the gas. His side was burning and throbbing, as he steered out of the hidden spot they’d found. 

“Jesse, it’s a lot of blood.” 

He nodded, not even needing to look to know. “Grab the med kit. It’s under your seat.” He couldn’t look to see if she heard him, there were too many trees to navigate around to get back to the road. The pressure on his side changed, so she must have been holding it with one hand and reaching with the other. 

Thera pushed her head between the door and his seat. Rubbing her face against his. “I’ll be fine, girl, just lay down and keep out of the way for a bit.” He could smell the blood of her kill on fur. “We’ll get you a snack in a while.” The cat must have understood his words, or tone because she moved back out of the way.

“I’m not sure what to do.” Leah’s tone was filled with panic. 

“We’ll be on the road in a second. Just see if you can pack it with some gauze and tape it up or something. I’m not stopping until I know they’re nowhere near.” Logically the hunters wouldn’t associate that their leopards had just driven away in a van, but he wasn’t taking any chances. 

When the tires grabbed onto the pavement, he reached and quickly tapped the screen of his phone. “Call Calum.” He said in a loud tone. 

“Calling Calum.” His phone repeated.

“Are you calling for help?” Leah was on her knees between the seats now.

“No, just need someone to be aware of what’s happening.” He didn’t say it out loud, but he knew if this turned out to be more serious, he’d need others to know where they were. 

“You’re up early.” Cal’s voice came through the speaker.

“I’ve been shot.” Jesse knew not to waste words on Calum “What? By who?” Cal’s tone was lower now.

“Hunters. We were out for a run so Thera could eat before we got back on the road.”

“Where? How bad?” That was Shaelan, Cal must have put the call on speaker. 

“His right side below his ribs,” Leah said in a loud voice that shocked Jesse. “He’s driving, I’m trying to stop the bleeding.” Now her voice shook.

“Okay, Jesse you focus on the road,” Shaelan said in an authoritative tone. “Is this Leah?”

Jesse was pleased she’d thought to ask.

“Yes.”

“Okay, Leah, see if you can tell how big and deep it is. Push hard on it for a few seconds before you look and hopefully it will slow a bit so you can see.”

“Okay. I have the medical box, there are some big bandages in it.”

“You’ll need those. Is there some gauze? You’re going to have to pack some in it if it’s deep.”

“Let me get that ready before I look.” 

Jesse glanced to see her blood-covered hand riffling through the med kit. He blinked and brought his focus back to the road. 

“Jesse, start pounding back some liquids, juice if you have it.” Cal’s tone said it wasn’t a request. “As soon as you put enough miles between you find a spot to hole up so you can deal with this.”

Before he could speak, Leah held up a bottle of water. “I’ll get the juice in a moment.” She told him softly. “Okay.” She blew out a breath, “I’m going to look.” He felt the air hit the site and it stung. “I don’t,” she made a soft noise as she dabbed against his side, “I don’t think it’s deep. It’s long though.” 

“Good. Sounds like a graze. Grab the gauze and the big bandages and get that on it. You will have to keep pressure on it until he stops, but it should clot and slow until he’s able to shift and heal it.”

He watched her grab things out of the box and then she pressed the gauze against his side, it stung like a bitch making him clamp his teeth together.

“How are you doing, Jesse?” Shaelan asked.

“Just dandy.” He growled out.

“No dizziness or shakes?”

He looked at his hand on the wheel and shook his head, “no, I’m good.”

Leah leaned closer and looked up at him, “he’s a little pale.”

“Okay, if you have it covered, get him some juice now.” Shaelan’s voice never changed in tone as she spoke. 

Leah moved out of his peripheral vision for a moment and then she was back with a juice box and holding it out to him.

Setting the water, he hadn’t drunk between his legs he took the juice and literally sucked it back until the box was indented. With a quick nod, he held out the box to her.

“How’s it looking, Leah?”

“The bandage is red, but it’s not running out of it.” Leah’s tone was filled with worry.

“Okay, it should be okay until he stops.”

“How much distance have you put between them now?” Calum asked in a less harsh tone. 

“If I remember right, we should be to a good spot in fifteen minutes,” Jesse told him. He was not stopping until then.

“Don’t wait too long,” Calum said in a quiet warning tone. 

“I won’t.” Leah still had one hand over his injury as she straightened up so her face was level with his shoulder. Reaching, he cupped the back of her head in a brief awkward hug with his other arm as best as he could manage while driving. He felt her breathing change against his bare arm. 

“I don’t—I can’t stay Jesse.” She said in a hushed tone. 

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine now. You do what you need to feel safe.” He assured her.

“Okay,” she blew out a breath, her head resting completely against his arm for a few seconds. 

Jesse had to focus hard on the road and not check to make sure she was okay. 

“What the actual hell was that?”

He smirked knowing that Evanna was fronting now. “I’ll be fine once I shift.”

“I heard. I was right at the front but didn’t want to take over.” Evanna moved out of his hold and pressed against his side. “It’s going to take some work to mop up this mess.” She held out one of her blood-coated hands. 

“How’s the bleeding, Evanna?” Shaelan’s voice startled him, he’d forgotten they were on the phone. 

“Uh, I think it’s slowed down. Should we put some of this antiseptic spray on it?”

Jesse cringed at the thought of spraying it with that. 

“If it’s going to be a while before he shifts, you could, but otherwise infection shouldn’t be an issue.” 

He could see Evanna nodding out of the corner of his eye.

“Okay. It’s a good thing I was close,” she moved so she was sitting sideways on the other seat, leaning over and still holding his side, “Leah was close to losing her hold on Minn and Minn wanted to go hunt down the hunters.” She grinned at Jesse before lowering her head to look closer at his side.

“I’m glad you were close, chasing after Minn would not have helped things,” Jesse said quietly.

She chortled, “when are you stopping? This isn’t going to soak up much more.”

“A few more minutes.”

“Okay, I’ll stay out and Thera and I will watch your back while you fix this.”

“Jesse, send me a text after you’ve shifted and are back on the road.” 

Evanna looked at the phone, “Hey, thanks for the help, Shaelan, Leah was close to freaking out until she heard you.”

“Anytime, Evanna. She did great.”

Evanna nodded, “yeah, she held it together.”

“Stop soon, Jesse,” Shaelan said just as the line went quiet.

It was silent for a moment, then Evanna looked away from the road and at him. “You don’t look the greatest, you should stop and shift to close this up.”

He nodded and motioned with his head to the windshield. “There’s a small roadside rest area up here, I’ll stop there and do a quick shift.”

Evanna moved her hand off of him and looked down at her hands. She picked up his shirt and wiped them. “You’re going to need some food after that.”

“I’ll look at the map then and see where is the closest, maybe grab some breakfast.”

“I could eat.” She said with a grin. 

Jesse pulled on his jeans and stepped out of the shrubs that surrounded the little area. Thera and Evanna stood looking in opposite directions, watching. 

“You good?” She came over as he cleared the scratchy growth.

He nodded, “Yeah.” He looked down at his side to see the graze was healed and gone. “I could use a bath now.” He mumbled.

She came over and leaned close to him, running her hand over his skin. Glancing up at him, she smirked, “if you could try to not get shot often, I’d appreciate it.” Straightening, she dropped her hand away from him. “I’m all for the excitement, but Leah isn’t.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he smiled at her.

With a nod, she turned back to the van. 

Evanna stopped short and spun back to him. “I’m just going to say it. I know it’s probably something people just don’t say to other people, but I’m not other people.” She snorted, “I don’t even know other people.”

Jesse grinned, “that’s not an entirely bad thing—once you meet some people, you’re going to wish you didn’t. Not all, but some.” 

“Don’t distract me, Jesse, this has been driving me mad.”

He sobered, not sure what could have her so wound up. “What is it?”

“Okay,” she blew out a breath, something that wasn’t really in her character, to be nervous, “okay, I like the way you smell.” She waved her hand around, “without the blood scent.

Jesse grinned. He wanted so much to tell her why that was but needed to find out more from that shifter doctor that Shaelan had talked about. “Well, if we’re confessing, you smell amazing to me too.”

“Really? I’m not weird?”

“No.” He brushed back the strands of hair that had fallen out and rested against her jaw. “You’re not. It’s a perfectly normal thing for our kind.” 

She looked relieved and smiled, “I was so worried about it, I thought it was an us thing,” she motioned to herself, “Leah and I—us,” she clarified.

His cat was practically pacing inside him, urging him to explain. Jesse clamped down on him, hard, it wasn’t the right time. “It’s a good thing you’re both in agreement. I can’t explain why right now, but just know it is.”

Evanna nodded slowly, “I believe you. We all trust you.”

“Even Minn?” He needed to know. She didn’t let him anywhere near her when they went for runs. 

“Well, she’s coming around, but she hasn’t tried to take a bite out of you, so that’s good, right?”

Jesse laughed quietly, “yeah, that’s good.”

Evanna nodded, “we should get Thera loaded up again.” She reached up and rubbed her hand over his chest. “Thanks for being so cool with everything, Jesse. It means a lot.” Turning she went back to the van and opened the door. 

He stood there and watched her get in and close it. He was going to lose his mind being so close to his mate, but not able to be close to her. She looked at him as if to say ‘are we going or what?’ Jolting, he went around to get in.

Lose my mind.