Heat Race - Tanya Chris Page 0,104

doctor and watch the baby die from what was called “wasting disease” while possibly dying themselves of sepsis. Or be cut open by his alpha’s claws and bleed out. Awful options, neither of which was acceptable. If Elias had read that pamphlet before they’d gotten Jack Henry pregnant, they wouldn’t have done it.

Having all that in the back of his mind made Elias’s visit with his parents even more uncomfortable because his mother only had one topic of conversation, and it was the one he was trying not to think about—the baby. Baby, baby, baby.

“I need to go pick up Saul,” he said after another spate of baby talk. They’d agreed Saul would walk over when he was ready, but it was a long walk, and the light had nearly faded. Saul might be wounded from the fight. Or worse. Elias wished he hadn’t left him, no matter how much Saul had insisted. Otis Guttman was a monster. As young and strong as Saul was, there was no telling what might happen.

Elias drove along the route Saul would be most likely to take, going slowly so he could scan both sides of the street. The closer he got to Otis’s, the more he felt… something weird. Not fear or pain or anxiety or sorrow. Just… red. Anger, aggression, animal. Not emotions Saul usually radiated. Elias sped up. Saul was still at his father’s house, and something was wrong.

He was out of the car almost before he’d turned it off. A howl split the air as he sprinted for the house, redirecting him to the backyard. That’d been a wolf howling, a true animal. Was Jasper here? Was Otis able to shift? Elias burst through the gate to find a man on the ground being shredded by the fangs of a giant wolf. That was Otis on the ground. Which meant the furry, ferocious thing on top of him must be…

“Saul?”

The wolf raised its head and turned toward him. Its fangs dripped red, and its eyes were wild with fury. Otis twitched, a hand coming up to cover the wound in his throat. Still alive then, but not by much. How had this happened? Would Saul be able to come back from it?

Elias steeled himself as the wolf headed his way, but deep down he knew Saul wouldn’t hurt him. He held out his hand, and the wolf sniffed it. Through the bond, Elias felt a sense of mate. The wolf recognized him. It licked his hand once, and then—slowly—Saul took its place.

Jasper shifted so fast Elias couldn’t even catch him doing it, but Saul’s shift was an awkward, painful-looking thing. When it was over, Saul lay mostly naked on the patchy grass, curled into himself like he had no idea where he was. Elias got down on his knees to assess his patient, using the triage techniques he’d started to learn, but he couldn’t find anything wrong with him. Not so much as a scrape.

“Is he dead?” Saul asked. He was on his back now, dazed but recovering.

“Not yet. You want me to…?”

Saul shook his head. “My job. I started it, I’ll finish it.” He pushed himself to his feet, staggering at first but growing stronger as he walked the few steps over to where his father lay bleeding in the dirt. He reached down and hauled his father to his feet with one hand.

“Fight me.”

Otis made a pitiful noise. Streams of blood ran from the wound on his throat. “Help me, Saul. I’m dying.”

“Did you help Mom?” Saul shook him, sending drops of blood splattering around the yard. “You deserve to die like the animal you are.” His claws were wickedly sharp as he set them against Otis’s throat, his eyes merciless and cruel.

This wasn’t the Saul Elias knew. He reached out through the bond, searching for his Saul, offering love and support. Two months ago, he’d killed someone himself, and though he would never be sorry he did it, the death was a stain on his soul, a source of both pride and irrevocable regret. He would back Saul, whichever path he took, but he was relieved when Saul let Otis drop to the dirt.

“Call an ambulance. And the cops. Tell them… tell them my mother’s body is in the flower bed.”

Elias’s gaze swung around to the flower beds bracketing the back door. He’d vaguely noticed one of them had been dug up, but there’d been too much going on for him to think about why. Now he