Predatory
38: A Chance

A/N: The dark/gory descriptions continue in this chapter. Read at your own risk.

RIKA POV

“Back. What’ve I missed? Is Sasha still doing okay?” I ask Callum softly as I approach him from behind. I took a quick detour to retrieve Sasha’s things while Callum trailed Drake, but it wasn’t hard to find the lycans, with Anselm’s agonized roars and the ever-strengthening heavy stench of blood in the air.

“She’s…upright,” Callum replies with a gesture to Sasha, who’s holding one leg off the ground and is looking somewhat the worse for wear. Even so, she’s got a terrifying look in her eyes and is repeatedly bashing Anselm’s skull against the floor. “You weren’t kiddin’ ’bout her skill.”

“I don’t blame you for needing to see proof to believe me.”

Callum rolls his eyes. “You find what you was lookin’ for?”

“Yeah, I got the tracking device jewelry that led us here. Outfit’s shredded to bits though. Zoe won’t be pleased, and I don’t know if we’ve got spare clothes.”

“I grabbed a blanket from yo’ stockpile, and that’ll be enough. We got more important shit to worry about.”

“True facts. How’s Drake holding up?” The gunmetal grey wolf looks tense, and I think I would be, too, if I was watching Zoe beat the absolute fuck out of someone. Anselm’s guts are strewn across the floor, and there’s blood spattered all over the warehouse. We must’ve missed one hell of a fight.

“His energy is all sorts o’ haywire, but he’s stayed outta the fight. Not that she’s showed any sign of needing backup. That lion looks pretty well done for. How you handlin’ all this blood everywhere?”

“I’m fine. I had a snack before we came—oh, shit, she’s down.” I thought she’d hold it together a little longer than this. She must be completely spent. “Catch Drake before he does something stupid—”

“On it,” Callum interrupts, moving like lightning to intercept Drake with a strong hand on the wolf’s steely shoulder. I’m only slightly slower, dashing to Sasha’s side.

Oh, fuck, that’s gnarly. Her hip’s cut deep, almost to the bone, and she’s got dozens of less severe lacerations all over her back, sides, limbs. She’s lost a lot of blood. More than likely she doesn’t have any energy left to shift, so I’ve got to handle at least the preliminary healing now, and draw on my very limited knowledge of treating animals.

Shit. I knew I should’ve gone to vet school. I know I’ve got the necessary supplies in this bag, if I can just find them…. There we go. Antiseptic, bandages, rubbing alcohol, wads of cotton gauze—

“Looks rough. What you need us to do?” Callum asks tersely.

“You said you’ve got medic training?” I reply as I start blotting the deepest wounds with antiseptic-soaked gauze. Sasha doesn’t even flinch. She’s still breathing, but it’s shallow, labored. This can’t be the end for her. She’s so fucking strong. “Can you triage the more minor stuff while I work on her hip?”

“Sure.” He starts helping himself to my medical supplies. “And Drake?”

“What use is he gonna be in that form?”

Drake snarls at me and I hiss back. I’m not here to deal with anyone’s bullshit, not while Sasha’s life depends on us acting quickly.

“If they’s actually mates, maybe more than you think,” Callum hedges as he starts treating some of the scratches on Sasha’s shoulder.

“I’m no lycan expert and we don’t have time for riddles,” I snap. There’s just so much blood. Everywhere. All over her. And we don’t have anything or anyone here that can provide a transfusion. How much is hers and how much is Anselm’s? Does she even have a chance?

Don’t think like that. Keep packing the gauze in. You’ve treated worse wounds before.

“Dunno if it’ll work, since she’s no lycan, but it can’t hurt if Drake lies next to her.” He turns to Drake, expression unreadable. “Try to keep her warm, yeah?”

Drake immediately does so before I can say anything, careful to arrange himself so that most of her injuries are still accessible for treatment. Smarter than I gave him credit for.

“Probably a good call,” I mutter. “More than likely she needs help with that, thanks to all the blood loss.”

“You think she’s gonna make it?”

The question is Callum’s, but it’s punctuated by Drake whining pathetically, his golden eyes meeting mine with a desperation that would be cute if it wasn’t so irritating. Bitch, you didn’t even know her real name until, like, half an hour ago, tops. I’ve known her more than a decade, worked with her closely for several years.

A parade of memories flashes unbidden behind my eyes: sparring with Sasha in training, trying (and failing) to teach her about some of my surveillance equipment, arguing with Anselm about how much supervision she should be under. Our first mission together, when a crazed lycan lunged at me and Sasha came out of nowhere, shredding his throat before he could lay a claw on me.

“No one messes with my friends,” she said by way of explanation, in response to my no doubt shocked expression. I hadn’t even thought she saw me as anything more than Anselm’s flunky and an annoying babysitter, up until that moment.

The time our former teammate, a fae named Ullanna, turned traitor and led us into an ambush. I caught and restrained Ullanna while Sasha slaughtered the ambushing forces, and then Sasha and I took turns stabbing Ullanna with silver daggers until all that remained of her was a pile of pixie dust and flower petals.

And then Zoe came to take Ullanna’s place, and from the first time she spoke to me I knew I wanted to be with her. Sasha saw it immediately.

“Ask her out,” she told me.

“Why? She’s so vibrant and full of life. She’d never want someone like me,” I protested.

“You’re wrong. Trust me. Ask her.”

And after a few days of Sasha’s pestering, I did, and to my surprise and delight, Zoe said yes. We’ve been together ever since, and we have Sasha to thank for it.

Callum clears his throat, bringing me abruptly back to the present. I’ve never been more grateful to be incapable of crying. I don’t want these two lycans to see any weakness in me.

“She’s made it through tougher scrapes before,” I manage, trying to look like I’m completely focused on healing her and not at all distracted by memories. That incident with the rogue mermaids, for one— Ah fuck, she did it again, didn’t she?! She let him land this hit on her so that she could get the opening she needed to destroy him. SHE FUCKING PROMISED ME SHE WOULDN’T USE THAT BULLSHIT TACTIC AGAIN. She’d better live through this, just so I can yell at her for breaking her promise. “I think her odds are pretty high, as long as we work quickly and work together.”

Drake seems to be relatively reassured by this and starts working to nudge Sasha’s head off the ground and onto his front paws. Trying to make her more comfortable, I guess.

“Would it be useful to get Xander and…your blonde friend in to help?” Callum inquires. His hands are quick and sure as he treats Sasha’s minor wounds. I hate to admit it, but I guess I’m glad that at least he came along.

“No. Zoe’ll make sure they find us once they’ve handled whatever it is they’re handling. Must be pretty important, since they’re not already here. And it’d be too many cooks in the kitchen, anyway.”

“Yeah. She’s pretty banged up, but there ain’t enough of her for that many hands to treat efficiently.” A pause; he seems to be listening to someone I can’t hear. Probably Drake. I think they can communicate telepathically with one another. There’s still so much I need to learn. I should’ve spent more time studying lycans, from the moment I first suspected Drake might think Sasha is his mate. “Kinda expected her to be bigger, in this form. Impressive that she took down that lion. He must be at least twice her size.”

“Closer to three times her size. And she’s on the large side, for a panther.”

“And you said she’s the best at what she does in WASP? She always get herself this beat up?”

“She’s by far our best assassin in special ops. The others don’t come close. That lion was the commander of WASP Special Ops. He trained us. This was a special case.”

“Why’d she do it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Fight her boss. Put herself on the line like this.”

“That’s not a question I can answer for her.”

I have a pretty good guess, actually. I know Sasha better than anyone alive or undead. But it’s not my story to tell.

“You’ll just have to do your best work helping me patch her up and hope that you get a chance to ask her once she’s recovered,” I add with what I hope is enough venom to shut down further conversation. I’m grateful to have help, but I can’t be bothered making small talk with lycans. All I want is to know that Sasha’s going to survive.

Hi everyone. I know it’s been 8 billion years since I touched this book. I wrote a short story that gives some more detail on Rika’s history with Sasha. If you want to give it a read, find it here:

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