The Better to Bite (Howl #1)(36)

“Pull it…out.”

“With what?”

A car door slammed outside. My head jerked up. My dad’s back-up. Other deputies. Time was running out.

“Use…your fingers…just…ah…get it!”

His body started that shuddering thing again. Not good.

“You can’t take me to jail! You can’t!” Sounded like Mark Hamilton’s wild yell.

My teeth sank into my lower lip. “L-let me go into the kitchen, I can find something—”

He grabbed my hand. His skin looked yellow now. Another very not good sign. “Take it out.”

I managed a nod. I sucked in a deep breath, tasted blood, and I pushed my fingers into the gaping wound on his back.

He hissed out a breath even as I started muttering, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Because I knew what I was doing had to hurt him. And I couldn’t find the bullet. The wound gaped and twisted inside. My fingers slipped and—

Footsteps thudded on the porch steps.

No.

My fingertips touched the hard edge of the bullet.

“Get it, Anna,” Rafe begged. “Just…get it out.”

The wood on the porch creaked. The footsteps were just outside of the door.

My fingers closed around the bullet. Not shattered, luckily, the bullet seemed to be one big piece. I yanked it out.

Rafe groaned, and his body sagged on the floor.

I jumped to my feet and ran for the door. My bloody hand curled around the bullet.

I flipped the lock and hauled open the door. Being careful to keep the fingers of my right hand out of site, I peered outside.

The light from the den—I had only opened the door a few precious inches—spilled onto the porch. My dad was staring down at the old wood beneath his feet.

Don’t see the blood. Don’t.

He glanced up at me. “Are you okay?”

No. A werewolf is bleeding out in the den. “Fine.”

He gazed back at me, a faint line between his brows.

I couldn’t even fake a smile to reassure him. The night was too crazy.

“Anna?”

I saw two patrol cars behind him. And it looked like some kind of animal control van had pulled up, too. “What will happen to them?” Mark Hamilton was already loaded in the back of one patrol car. As I watched, a deputy cuffed another man.

“For tonight, they’re staying locked up. I’ll be keeping them at the station until they can all think with sense again.” He rubbed his hang along his jaw, sawing over the stubble that lined his face. “Are you gonna be okay out here until I get back? It could take a while to get them processed. You can come with me to the station—”

“No, I’m good.” I couldn’t leave Rafe.

He nodded. His gaze dropped to the wooden slats that comprised the porch floor. “You sure that you’re all right?” He asked without looking up at me again.

Could he see the blood? “I’m sure.”

“Sheriff!” Deputy Jon called after him.

My dad leaned toward me. He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. “I think I lost about five years of my life when I saw those damn idiots pointing their guns at you.”

Fair enough. I lost five years when I found a bleeding werewolf on our porch.

“Put my gun back in the closet and make sure the bullets are secure,” he told me before he turned away.

I blinked. I’d thought that I’d been so careful.

Not careful enough.

I slid back inside and bolted the lock once more. Then I turned off the lights. I didn’t want to risk the guys outside seeing my shadow—and Rafe’s—when I moved him to a more secure room.

“Let’s get you upstairs,” I said. My room would be safest. It wasn’t like I could put him in my dad’s room.

I shoved the silver bullet into my back pocket. I’d deal with that soon enough. I eased down beside Rafe, and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “We have to be careful,” I told him, squinting as I tried to make out the lines of the furniture in the dark. We rose together carefully. “I can’t see anything.” Which meant we could take a header any moment. As if he weren’t hurt enough.

“I can see everything.” Figured. The guy’s voice wasn’t weak anymore, either.

We reached the stairs. Our steps were slow as we climbed up to the second floor. He held the quilt around his waist with one hand while the other hand held tight to me. Our bodies brushed in the small space, and the air seemed to get really hot.

I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t speak. After what seemed like forever, we made it to my room.

I guided Rafe to the bed. “You need to rest.”

I figured I could sit by the window and watch the activity below. When it was all clear, he could sneak out.

Rafe eased onto the bed. I darted away and ran down the hall. When I came back, I had a pair of my dad’s old sweats gripped in my hands. “Here.” I tossed those on the bed. “You can wear these.” I turned away, aware that I was blushing. Really. Blushing. After everything that had happened…

“You can look at me now, Anna.”

I didn’t exactly want to. “Rest a few minutes. I’ll keep watch.” I hurried to the window. My eyes had finally adjusted a bit to the dark. When I’d gone after the sweats, I’d only rammed into one chair on the way.