Running With Wolves

He was running, storming unstoppably through the woods. It took every ounce of control not to Turn, not to truly run, but he couldn’t, he didn’t dare. Control was something he had very little of when he was a wolf and right now he needed control.

Sage, Sage, Sage, Sage

Her voice was a perfect mantra in his mind. He always thought of her, her name always in the back of his mind like elevator music. But this second it was full force and present in his mind. Panic and worry for her safety struck him and he bit down hard on his tongue to find clarity and pull his wolf back.

He thought of Jasmine, Rune, and Mia who had all come bursting into his backyard from the wood line, beaten and bruised and wide eyed they recounted with as few words as possible what had happened.

He heard the rustle of leaves before he saw it—three men hovering above a crumbled person.

Garbage, rotting meat, blood

Then he smelt it, only in the breeze and only because it was his favorite scent in the world: Tangerines and lavender.

”You’re mine aren’t you Pretty?

In an instant he was several feet away and in the next he was beside them, his hand coming down hard on the man’s shoulder.

“No,” His voice was a low lethal growl like gravel and razor blades. “She’s mine.”

“Who the fuck are you?!”

He didn’t answer as he grabbed the man by the back of the neck and dragged him off of Sage’s motionless body. He heard his partner rushing at him, coming to his friend’s aid and in one swift moment Lukas drew Kerrick’s gun and shot the dark haired man between the eyes, then twice more before his body even hit the ground dead.

The man in Lukas’s clutches, who had assaulted Sage, screamed as Lukas through him to the ground watching him scramble away on all fours. The third man Turned then took off like a bullet into the woods.

“P-please man, don’t kill-“

There was not a caring, compassionate fiber in Lukas’ body just now. All he could think was,

Sage, Sage, Sage, hurt, Sage, enemy, kill, protect, protect, protect, kill, kill, kill to protect.

The wolf in him was pacing back and forth like a caged leopard, hackles raised, snarling and snapping like a rabid dog, blind with rage.

He shot the man in both knees and watched as blood instantly pooled in the places. The man rolled back and forth in the fetal position howling in pain.

“Pl-please d-don’t!”

“Did you stop when she begged you?” He snarled furiously, his lips pulled back over his teeth. “Did you stop when she begged you not to? Did you?!”

The man didn’t respond as he cried.

Disgusted and enraged he hovered over the man and pressed his gun to the man’s shoulder and pulled the trigger.

“Answer me.” He ordered with deadly calm. “Did. You. Stop. When. She. Begged?”

“No!” The man screamed, hardly moving now as he bled.

“You’re Were.” He stated, his hand gripping the man’s jaw and forcing him to look at him. “You know she is spoken for—you could smell me on her.”

“S-she wasn’t Mated man, I-I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, well know you know.”

He stood up and emptied his gun into the man until the face that would haunt Sage was no more.

Disgusted he tossed the weapon to the ground and turned on his heels toward Sage who hadn’t moved a muscle. His grey eyes became glassy with tears as he collapsed to his knees beside her. She was fragile, so broken like a bird that he didn’t want to touch her. Her shirt was torn to shreds, her pants were thrown carelessly beside her.

“Sage,” his hand shook as he gently, barely touching her, cupped her cheek. Sage stared unseeing in his direction but her eyes were empty of recognition. “Sage,” he bent over her, pressed his cheek to hers, his lips at her ear. “Come back to me Sage. Please come back to me.”

She was motionless and Lukas swallowed hard, fear coursing through him.

“Sage, please,” he whispered.

“Luke,” her mouth didn’t move as his name left her lips. “Get. Me. Away.”

Gently he scooped her into his arms and carried as carefully as he could back home.

To Lukas the trek back seemed to take forever. Ten minutes away seemed to take hours as he held Sage’s fragile unconscious form in his arms, his worry for her taking over all of his senses. When he finally reached the clearing in the woods, a pretty green little lawn with a log cabin house. Rune, Jasmine, and Mia who had all promised Lukas to stay in the house were in the backyard waiting for them.

“Oh god,” Mia cried her hand flying to her mouth.

“We should never have left.” Jasmine snarled, angry with herself and Rune and Mia.

Rune was silent though quick as a darting deer she was at Lukas’s side, falling into step just beside him like a perfect little shadow, her wounded eye forgotten.

“Sage?” She peaked over Lukas’s shoulder, her hand moving to touch Sage’s hair gingerly.

“Get in the house Rune, now.” Lukas growled the order and Rune flinched away—Sage wasn’t the only one with Alpha blood in her veins around here.

“But I-“

“Go,” He ordered before his eyes moved to Mia and Jasmine. “Both of you—in.”

Hesitation filled Rune’s eyes but reluctantly she hung her head like a scolded dog with her tail between her legs and moved toward the door, following the orders.

The women hovered just inside the door and as Lukas made his way into the safety of his home they crowded around Sage.

Protect, protect, protect, Sage, hurt, protect, Alpha, vulnerable, protect.

“You, You’re Mia right?”

Mia seemed momentarily startled that he knew who she was, let alone by that name.

“Ye-yes, I’m Mia.”

“Mia, on the fridge there is a phone number written in red. Dial it, explain the situation, tell them it’s Sage.”

Mia licked her lips anxiously but nodded, her eyes flickering to Sage nestled safety in Lukas’s arms before she went off to look for the phone number unenthusiastically, not wanting to leave Sage.

Their instincts thrummed through the air like a heartbeat and Lukas, though Western Pack, could nearly decipher each of their broken thoughts.

“Stay here,” He demanded of them, command in his voice. Lukas knew Rune and Mia would obey without resistance but Jasmine wasn’t ever the most compliant creature in the world—especially when she held no allegiance to Lukas. “I mean it Jazz.” Her jaw locked in response but she nodded.

Reluctantly the girls stayed put, moving on uneasy anxious feet as Lukas moved through the house, down the dark hallway lined with framed pictures until he reached his bedroom. He made it to the bed in three strides and gently, gingerly, he placed Sage’s body upon the soft plush bedspread.

“Sage,” he murmured, his voice low and pleading for her to come to. He sat beside her hovering over her, as he gently brushed her cheek with his. “Sagemint, love…”

Despite his pleadings Sage remained motionless and Lukas swallowed hard. The wolf in him was pacing back and forth across his mind, unable to understand whether to feel blood thirty anger toward her attackers or filled to the brim with unabashed worry, love, and the need to protect Sage.

Sage, injured, protect, protect, stay, protect, help, heal, Sage, love, Sage protect.

He pressed his cheek to hers, his breath in her ear. “you are safe Sage, safe and protected. You’re home. They can’t hurt you here, no one can hurt you here.”

A low whine like an an injured animal, slid through her lips but she didn’t move and Lukas didn’t dare leave her side—he’d never leave her side again if he had anything to say about it.