Turns out, ignoring Kyle's attempts to contact me wasn't a good idea. He became more and more insistent. Finally, he mind-linked me that he was outside the building and was following my scent.
'Crap!' I thought. 'I got to stop him.'
I glanced down at the silent conversation below me. The woman handed the man something that looked uncomfortably like a gun.
'Kyle!' I mind-linked him. 'You need to stop, wherever you are! It's too dangerous. I need to stay hidden…'
'WHAT?!' He yelled through mind-link. 'What are you talking about? You're in danger? Where are you!'
'I'm up a tree. I'm safe for now. They can't see…'
My heart dropped to my feet as I saw Kyle come into view at the opposite end of the path from the clandestine meeting. The woman had her back to Kyle.
Before I could think, say, or do anything, the man facing Kyle sprang into action. He shoved the woman to the ground and aimed the gun at Kyle.
I don't know what it was, but something about the look of the man told me he wouldn't hesitate to shoot.
"No!" I yelled and jumped out of the tree. I had hoped to distract the male shifter. But instead, I distracted Kyle. He turned his face towards me, and his gaze left the danger.
The man let out an unhappy growl. The woman got to her feet. "Shoot him!" she yelled.
I pumped my wings hard, aiming for Kyle. I saw the man pull the trigger. A split second later, I heard a scream. I didn't know it was mine. I felt pain tear across my left side and heard a grunt of pain from behind me. I felt myself falling and hands grabbing me. I felt my heartbeat in my ears… and then, I snapped myself out of it.
I raised my head and saw the woman and man running away. I heard shouts approaching us. The man dropped the gun, and both shifters changed. They became large eagles and took to the sky.
I noticed then that my hand was holding my left side and that I wasn't lying on the ground. As my eyes followed the downwards trickle of my blood, I heard Kyle's voice. It was fainter than normal, gruffer too. "Sam."
I turned my head towards his voice and realized that it was him lying between me and the ground. I was propped part way up, with my back against him. "Kyle." I whispered.
"Are you ok?" he asked me. I realized he didn't know the bullet hit me. I heard him hiss in a breath as I carefully pushed away from him. On my knees amongst the garden plants, I turned my body to face him.
At the same time as he spotted my injury and cursed, I let out a cry of anguish. He was injured too. I knew instantly that his injury was worse than mine; by the looks of it, his held the bullet.
I had no time to dwell on this, though. In the next moment, there were werewolves everywhere. Wolves were trying to assess our injuries and as Kyle was appearing weaker by the second, Father asked me what happened.
But in all honesty, even I wasn't sure completely what happened, or why. I was still piecing it all together in my brain.
"Kyle was shot." Those were the first words out of my mouth, as I held my side with one hand, and pointed at the discarded gun with the other. "He still has the bullet in him."
A hand grabbed my chin. I looked up and found it was Mother. "Sam…" She said in a sympathetic tone. She turned to look at Father. "I don't think you should be asking her questions right now, it's clear she is in shock. Your focus should be getting them both proper medical attention and finding whoever did this!"
A werewolf trained in first aid came over and interrupted Mother. "I'm sorry to have to say this, but he's getting worse. This is not something we can treat in the field. He needs to get to a hospital. It appears he was shot with a silver bullet. We have to move him immediately, or you may risk losing him."
"Do it, now!" Father said.
Orders were given, calls made and five minutes later, a helicopter touched down just outside the garden.
I stood up, wobbled, and then tried to rush towards Kyle as they got him on a stretcher and began to carry him away.
"No." Father said, as he grabbed me gently, but firmly, not allowing me to walk any further. "I'm going to carry you."
"But Kyle…" I began to protest.
"No." he said again. "His mom is going along in the helicopter. There isn't enough room for us in there with all the medics he needs. We are going to take the car."
He scooped me up and we were surrounded by strong werewolves from our pack. We were escorted to the car, where he placed me next to the open door of the car's backseat. As I got in, he immediately went around to the other side, so we would both be seated in the back. I could tell this meant he wanted to talk with me.
My mind raced, trying to comprehend all that had happened and why. I was still trying to fit the puzzle pieces together. But the more I tried, the harder the task was to do; like trying to make yourself remember where you left something important. So, I took a calming breath and tried to tell him what happened.
I will admit there were some bits I left out, like recognizing the woman from the bookstore incident. But I did tell him that I could identify her and the man if I needed to.
When I got to the part about flying up into the tree, he interrupted me and asked me to explain again why I had left. I tried to elaborate on the sudden feeling of danger that make the room feel to hot, and caused me such anxiety, but I didn't have the right words. So, I simply repeated myself and then continued.
I noticed he looked at me oddly, but also like he was thinking. I let it go.
By the end of my telling, he said nothing. He just stared ahead looking pensive. I wasn't in the mood to break that silence.
Since the car was driven at a speed far over the limit, we didn't take long to reach the hospital. I said a little 'thank you' prayer to whichever god kept the cops far from the path we took on the drive. Before I exited the car, I got rid of my wings, as I shifted back to normal.