Chapter 3

• Down at the bottom lay a cheetah. Her coat was paler than most, but it wasn’t as if all were a carbon copy of each other. She wasn’t moving at all. Asher moved by the men to find the trail she’d taken down. He stopped and watched a small wolf pup circling her. “There’s a wolf down there; if the parents are nearby, we need to hurry.”
• “That’s her pup.”
• Asher jerked his chin and looked back at him.
• Alvin smirked, “Maeve said the pup lay on the porch while Journee was in the house.”
• Asher looked down the incline again. A cheetah shifter with a wolf pup that was new. He wouldn’t have any problem getting down there in cat form, but then he wouldn’t be much help in that way. “I’m going to zigzag down to see how bad she’s hurt.”
• “Be careful. I’m going to call Jag and see if he’s got that old sled he used to pull the kids around on.”
• Asher nodded and started down. His boots were great in the snow, but there was no way his boots weren’t going to fill up. A few steps later proved him right. The snow was up to his knees. He slid a few times and had to drop to stop himself from tumbling down there with her. Now he had snow in his jeans, jacket, and sleeves. Yeah, driving sounded good right now; a heated vehicle and miles of no people, and no chatting was what he longed for.
• As he reached the bottom, the pup started going crazy and barking at him. Asher guessed he was around four months old, judging by the teeth he was seeing. They were not all milk teeth but a mix of half-grown adults as well. “Hey, bud, I’m here to help her.” He kept his hands at his side and did not move them around as he walked slowly in that direction. The pup crouched and snarled at him. “It’s okay.” He kept his tone soft and even.
• When he got closer, the animal ran back to her, whining and licking her face. “I’m Asher, Alpha Cain is at the top of the hill.” She lifted her head and looked at him. He could see the pain in her amber eyes. “Don’t try to get up yet. Let me take a look.” He crouched down a few feet from her and waited for the pup to decide if he was allowed near her. Journee turned her head and looked at the wolf, and he lay down by her head.
• Creeping closer, he saw her back leg sitting at an odd angle. “Can you get up?” He held his hand out when she moved her front paw. “Whatever you do, don’t try to shift.” He wasn’t trained, but he’d been around others that had gotten hurt in their animal form and knew that shifting back if something was broken could permanently disfigure them.
• She lifted her weight until she had both paws under her chest and started to rise slowly. He could see the shaking.
• “You know what, don’t try to get up.” He knelt and reached over to run his hand along her back leg. He stopped when he felt an uneven area along the bone. “Stay down.” He leaned back and rested his weight on his heels, “I think it’s broken.” He glanced to see her watching him, “I have no idea how to set it so you can shift, so we’re going to have to get you up out of here and let someone more qualified do that.”
• She huffed out a breath and dropped her head back down. The pup inched closer and rested his chin on her shoulder.
• Asher couldn’t imagine being hurt and stuck in one form. He pulled out his phone, “I might know someone with answers.” He had no idea how he was going to get a hold of Calum’s mate, but Jesse could. He brought up the number and saw that he had no signal. “There’s no signal. I’ll have to call when we’re back up top.”
• The pup jumped up and started growling. Asher turned to see his Alpha and the other man coming toward them with a long plastic toboggan. It wasn’t ideal for transporting her, but it would work.
• He stood up and turned to go get it when she groaned. Asher’s cat was immediately there and tense. The pup started barking and growling. His cat probably wanted to eat the vicious little furball. Walking around her, he squatted, “Come here.” He held out his hand to it. “Come on, we can’t help her if we’re tripping over you.” He paused to wonder if the pup had tripped her up on her way down. He glanced around and couldn’t see the tracks. How long had she been lying here? The pup came closer and inched further, dragging his belly in the snow.
• “How bad?”
• He kept his eyes on the pup, “I think there’s a break in her back leg, but I’m no expert.”
• “Okay, we’ll get her to the top, and then I’ll have to call around and see if any of the clan doctors are nearby. Ours is off helping the Alliance at the Headquarters.”
• “I can call someone once we back up top and have a signal.” The pup was only a few inches from his hand now. Asher wondered if it would be okay with his scent. Then again, he was running with another shifter, so he should accept him. When he was close enough to grab, the wolf darted in the other direction and stood ten feet back, watching their every move.
• “Let’s get her on this.” Alvin looked back up the hill, “It’s going to take all three of us to pull her up safely through this.”