The Shadow Wolf by Bonnie Vanak Page A

fire.
    â€œHow bad is it?” Megan gunned the engine.
    â€œBad enough.” He lifted his wet hand. Blood gushed from the wound.
    â€œWe have to get you to a hospital.” She shot through a stop sign.
    â€œToo dangerous. Be okay. Can’t let them get to you.”
    Then he quieted, because it hurt too much to talk, and he needed to reserve the last of his precious energy. Because he’d be damned if he’d die now that the last safe place had been compromised, leaving Megan and the twins on their own.

Chapter 10
    G abriel was losing a lot of blood. If she didn’t do something, he’d bleed out.
    Megan glanced in the rearview mirror at her frightened nieces. “Jennifer,” she said, knowing the older twin was more able to cope with the emergency, “can you scoot up here by me and help? Take Gabriel’s shirt, fold it and press it against his tummy. I need you to stop the bleeding.”
    Paling gooseflesh springing over her thin arms, Jennifer did as she was asked. His eyes closed, Gabriel tossed his head, groaning. Her cousin was on the verge of crying, but bravely bit her lip to hold back the tears as she pressed against his wound. The blood flow slowed.
    Dusk began to drape the blue sky. Megan studied the GPS to figure out where they were going. “Jillian, do you sense anything?”
    At her cousin’s head shake, she made a decision. As they approached a small, narrow road bordering a field, she studied the abandoned barn sitting by the fence.
    â€œHang on.”
    She pumped the brakes to not leave a rubber trail, and made an abrupt left turn onto the dirt road.
    Some distance away from the main road, she parked the van beneath a copse of trees. Hidden from view by thick scrub, it would suffice.
    She lifted an unconscious Gabriel, using her wolf strength to carry him as gently as possible.
    Ever self-sufficient, Jennifer and Jillian gathered leaves and branches to form a makeshift lean-to shelter. Her heart ached as she remembered when they’d done the same on Shadow Island, after being evicted because a Draicon liked her grandmother’s beachfront house.
    Beneath the sprawling branches of a live oak, she laid Gabriel down. Megan put a pillow she’d found in the minivan beneath his head. She fetched a blanket and tucked it around him, checking on his wound.
    Overhead against the leaden skies, a red hawk circled as if sensing wounded prey below. She glanced upward, splaying her arms protectively over her mate. Megan stroked his brow, knowing how much pain he suffered. He woke up, writhing and moaning.
    â€œQuiet,” she soothed. “You have to stay still, let Jenny get the bullet out.”
    Gabriel stilled. Megan opened the first aid kit he’d packed and fished out a small box from her backpack. Contained inside were herbs she used for emergencies and a few steel instruments.
    Sweat poured down Gabriel’s face as he grit his teeth. Alarmed at the paleness of his tanned skin, which indicated shock, she turned him on his side. Two bullets had exited. The third in his stomach was lodged there.
    She sterilized the probe and sank it into the wound as Gabriel breathed through his clenched teeth. Finally, she set down the probe and turned to Jenny.
    â€œIt’s in two pieces. Remember how Gram taught you, Jenny? See the pieces in your mind and call them to you.”
    Using her telekinetic powers, Jennifer began extracting the bullet pieces. Gabriel’s dark eyes flashed amber, then red.
    Jennifer pulled out a bullet fragment, but his fingers dug into the ground and he growled. Backing away, Jennifer’s eyes grew wide. “I can’t do it, Megan. I’m scared.”
    â€œI’m scared, too, honey, and so is Gabriel.”
    But she wasn’t a dangerous wolf. His wolf might take over and instinctively lash out at anyone, even an innocent girl trying to help him.
    â€œKeep working, Jenny, and let me try something.”
    Her