Walker (Bowen Boys, #1)(2)
Twice she had to stop to lean against a tree. When she started to get too weak to move, she sat down. Gathering as many leaves as she could find on the earthy floor, she covered herself up and leaned gently against the tree behind her. Her back screamed at the pain, but she was to the point she couldn’t go on. Closing her eyes, she thought that dying right here would be the best solution to her weakness. Either she’d be too weak when they found her and she wouldn’t care, or the big cat or one like him would come find her and eat her up. Again, she probably wouldn’t care.
~~~
Corrine reached for her son. The old fool just laid there, staring up at her. She looked at her mate and wanted to kick him in the head. The darned old fool. When Khan answered her she wanted to cry. He always sounded so distrustful.
“You have to come to the west wood. You’re not going to believe this. Your father has been shot.” She felt his immediate concern and she continued. “He’s going to be fine, more’s the pity. What possessed him to take on a man with a gun? Could have been the girl, but I don’t know. I would say it was the poor thing. All beat up like that.”
“Someone beat Dad? When? Where? What girl are you talking about? I’m coming, and I’m bringing the rest with me.” She told him to bring the truck. He would need to load the old buzzard in it. “Can he shift, Mom? Is he hurt badly?”
“No. He’ll be fine. He and I were out exploring when we came up on this noise.” She looked off in the direction that the girl had gone, knowing that she wouldn’t get far. “Tell Walker to come to me. I want him to see if he can find the girl before…she might already be dead, the poor thing.”
“Mom, we don’t need to find a girl. And I’m assuming you mean a human girl. Let her die if that’s what is necessary. She shouldn’t have been on—”
“Listen to me, young man. You will stop that train of bull hockey right now. I will not have a young woman die on this property if there is something this old woman and you can do to fix it.” She looked at her mate again. “You stay home if you don’t want to help, but you send Walker. Now.”
Corrine wasn’t pack leader any longer, but she was still Khan’s mother and he would listen to her or she’d take a paddle to his hide. She didn’t care how much larger he was than her, he’d darned well listen to her. Kneeling down next to George she ran her finger down his cheek then smacked him. Darned old fool.
Walker showed up first. His long panther was sleek with sweat from getting to her so quickly. She waited for him to check out his dad before she told him what she needed. He was a good boy and, unlike his older brother, Walker didn’t hate everyone that wasn’t like them.
“She was leaning against that tree. There’s enough blood on it for you to scent her.” He stood up against the tree and buried his nose in the bark. When he turned to look at her he had a very strange expression on his face before he turned back to the tree and licked the blood. “She went that way, but I’m pretty sure she didn’t get far. I know she’s been shot at least twice and her face…” She wiped at the tear. “Walker, the men who shot your dad were intent on killing her or worse. I believe they beat her pretty badly as well.”
Walker dropped to his four paws and took off. But not before he leaned against her and whimpered. She assured him that she would be all right until the others got there and sent him on his way. She had no idea where the girl had come from or where the men who had been chasing her had come from, but they had been on family land, their land. She sat next to George and waited for the cavalry to show up.
The first person to get out of the big truck was Dylan, the bad boy of the family, yet so calm. He was one of her middle children and the most laid back of all her sons. He walked over to his dad and felt his pulse much the same way she had every two minutes since she’d shifted to care for the old man.
Khan and Reed, the oldest at thirty-six and the baby at twenty-six, rolled out next, each of them nearly vibrating with anger. Marc just stood back and smiled. He always was one to let others settle it before he’d take over if they didn’t do it fast enough. Khan, she had an idea why he was upset, but Reed she didn’t. Before she could ask, he looked at Khan and picked up the argument that had apparently been going on for some time.
“And what does it matter to you one bit if I move out on my own? Maybe if I did then you’d quit breathing down my neck all the time. I went to college like you made me. I thought you’d back—”
“When you get settled in a job, then maybe. You want to end up in a dead-in job without any kind of future? I say no. You’ll do what I tell you or so help me—”
“Enough.” Corrine looked at George and nearly wept with happiness. But he looked mad enough to tear into both them and the men who had shot him then his voice thundered again. “That’s quite enough out of both of you. You’re upsetting your mother. Now, help me up. Where’s that girl?”
“I sent Walker after her. She’s hurt pretty badly.” She let George lean on her as they made their way to the truck. One of the boys, she noticed, had put a single mattress in the back for him. “Walker will be able to track her with all that blood. And he’s the best suited to find her. He’s supposed to let me know when he does.”
“Those damned men. What the hell were they thinking running her down like they were?” He looked up at Khan when he growled. “What you got to say, boy? Spill it.”