Blue Violet - By Abigail Owen Page 0,41

the wolves and over to where Alex stood. He didn’t flinch, his focus solely on the wolves. He had never tried to hold a metamorph still before, let alone five of them. Once Ellie was clear, he released the pack and turned his full attention to her, confident that Nate, Dexter, and Ramsey would handle the wolves. He would need his power to help Ellie.

*****

Just moments before Alex froze the wolves, Griffin reached the clearing. From the air, he’d been able to see his jaguar-sister battling five huge timber wolves. But, unfortunately, he was still too far away to project his defensive shield around her. Diving toward the action, Griffin briefly considered calling to Ellie through their mental link but dismissed the idea, not wanting to distract her even for a second.

A sound of the mighty jaguar’s scream had split the still night air, and Griffin had known a second of the blackest rage and utter despair. He was going to be too late. There was too much movement for Griffin to be able to make out exactly what was happening, but he knew one thing for certain… His sister was going to die and there was nothing he could do to save her.

But suddenly, the wolves had frozen in mid-fight as though they’d been turned to statues. He saw a tall, blond boy run into the midst of the solidified fray and pull Ellie out, leaving her with another male. Griffin recognized Alex, Ellie’s te’sorthene.

*****

Dropping down to his knees beside Ellie, Alex ignored the fight raging in front of him, trusting Nate, Dexter, and Ramsey to keep the wolves off them, and choosing instead to keep all of his skill focused on Ellie. He would’ve tried to hold the wolves still and let the guys kill them right then and there, but he needed every ounce of his power to help Ellie now.

Weakened from her injuries, Ellie shifted back to her human form. She was bleeding badly from the multitude of gruesome-looking gashes all over her body—the worst on the back of her leg. He could tell she had several broken bones, judging from the odd angles of two of her limbs.

But she was still breathing.

Alex used his power to staunch the blood pulsing out of the gash in her leg. But it was tricky. He had to try to stop the blood only on the surface of the vessel, making sure that the blood in her body continued to pump. If he was off even just a little, he could kill her.

Adding physical pressure to two of the bloodiest gashes, Alex waited for the fight with the wolves to be over. He needed Hugh, but he knew his adopted father had stayed behind to protect the rest of the family.

Ellie’s eyelids flickered. “Alex?”

“It’s me…You’re okay now.” He smoothed the blood-matted hair back from her face and bent to give her a quick kiss on her forehead.

“Lila, Adelaide, Nate?” she asked in a broken whisper.

“All safe. You just concentrate on not dying on me.”

*****

Realizing that he could talk to her now without distracting her, Griffin pulled slightly out of his dive and thought her name.

“I’m still here, Griffin,” she answered him silently.

“I’m coming to you, Ellie.”

“No!” she protested. “Protect the family first. If you can get to her, tell Charlotte to come to me.” She knew that Griffin would understand exactly why she was asking for Charlotte.

*****

Alex watched as Ellie closed her eyes again. She looked so pale and so much blood was seeping from her body. He raged inside at his utter helplessness. There had to be something else he could do.

“Ellie?” He tried to get her to talk, keep her with him until Hugh could get to her.

“Griffin…” she murmured. “No,” she said, a little louder. “Protect the family first.” She mumbled something else unintelligible. She wasn’t making any sense.

Alex’s anxiety level ratcheted up another few notches. Clearly Ellie was delirious. She was losing too much blood, and she needed Hugh now. Alex tried harder to stop the blood coming out of the gash in her leg, terrified he’d stop the wrong part of her body. Jaw clenched, sweat dripped down his face with the effort, he held on, praying she wouldn’t die.

*****

Griffin landed between Ellie and the wolf pack and morphed back to a human. Starting with Ellie and Alex, he threw his defensive shield up around everyone but the wolves. This included the house, as he wasn’t sure who was where. This took a tremendous