Although he didn’t make a sound, she knew when Joshua came up beside her. She could feel the sheer power of his presence like a ripple in the air. “I’m not sure I can get used to all this nature.”
Ignoring her, he headed off again. Her ears perked up a couple of minutes later. If she wasn’t mistaken, she was hearing water. Cool, wet, running water. Her throat burned and her skin itched, especially her arm. She was going to drink her fill and then strip off her clothing and wash every inch of herself. She smelled rank and felt worse.
But Joshua stopped before they reached the water. It was so tantalizingly close she was tempted to go on alone. Then she remembered his injuries and began to worry. Just because he acted as if everything was okay, didn’t mean it was.
He led her in between two large rocks and she was shocked to find there was actually a small cave nestled behind them. She assumed there were no other critters inhabiting the dwelling at the moment, but she still waited just outside until he poked his large furry head outside and peered questioningly at her.
“I’m assuming there are no surprises in there? No furry creatures, besides yourself that is?” There it was again, that wolfish grin. She’d almost swear he was laughing at her. “Well, you won’t be laughing if I find a mouse or a spider or anything,” she warned as she stomped past him.
The cave wasn’t actually a cave. More like an indentation. It only went back about ten feet and was about fifteen feet wide. And thankfully, from what she could see in the fading light that shone in from between the two large rocks, there didn’t seem to be any other inhabitants. It was dry and comfortable.
Laying Joshua’s clothing on the ground, she changed her mind at the last second and grabbed his T-shirt. That would do for a towel. She was having a bath before she was doing anything else. He was blocking the entrance now and she put her hands on her hips and glared down at him. “I’m having a bath and unless you want your furry butt kicked, I suggest you get out of my way.”
She’d had enough of alpha-type men in the past thirty-six hours. They either wanted to kill her or mate with her, with the exception of her father and Joshua, who wanted to protect her. Either way, she’d had enough. Apparently Joshua must have thought so too because he nodded and led the way out of the cave and headed toward the sound of the water.
The stream wasn’t far from the cave at all, for which she was grateful. Her poor feet couldn’t take much more abuse today. Falling to her knees in the moist dirt that lined the bank, she stuck her face right in the water. The cool wetness soothed her skin. She yanked her head back and took a deep breath before lowering it again. This time it was to drink.
It was awkward to try to slurp up water, but she didn’t stop until she’d had her fill. When she raised her head, Joshua was sitting beside her, watching her with that wolfish grin in place. Obviously he’d seen her make a fool of herself while she was drinking. He’d apparently had no such problems in his animal form. And why would he. Drinking from a running stream would be natural to a wolf.
He stared at her, his eyes going even darker. Lowering his head, he heaved a sigh before stretching his neck upward.
She sank back on her heels and waited, knowing what was coming. The first crack took her by surprise. It was strange and frightening to watch him change. Yet she couldn’t make herself look away. This was Joshua, the man she loved. And for better or for worse, this was now her life, her fate.
Bones lengthened, reforming into familiar limbs as hair began to disappear. His jaw cracked, shortened and reset itself in a familiar line. The hair on his face receded until there was nothing but the black slashes of his brows and heavy stubble on his jaw. His shaggy hair hung to his shoulders. It took only seconds for him to transform from beast to man. Only those deep, fathomless eyes were the same.
She sat there in the dirt, amazed and horrified.
It was… She didn’t know what it was. Incredible. Unbelievable. Enthralling. If she hadn’t seen it with her own two eyes, she never would have believed it. Her heart was pounding and her palms were sweating, which was stupid. This was Joshua. She knew him and certainly wasn’t afraid of him.
He slumped forward and then pushed himself upright again. That’s when she saw the wounds. His shoulder was bleeding again and there were several large gashes opened up on both his sides.
“You’re hurt.” Although she’d seen the blood earlier, she hadn’t been able to see just how badly he’d been injured. Scrambling closer, she all but crawled through the dirt to reach him.
“It’s nothing.” His voice was rough. His eyes steady.
“It’s not nothing. Of all the lame-brained idiotic things…” Her tirade trailed off as she examined his injuries, trying to be as gentle as possible. “We should have stopped earlier so I could have taken care of this for you.”
He seemed more bemused than angry as she trailed her fingers over his ribs checking for broken bones. “I didn’t have enough energy to change and still get us here. In my wolf form I have more strength and my senses are keener. I needed to be alert.”
She supposed he was right. She had no idea how hard it must be on a body to go through such a transformation, but having just witnessed it, she had a feeling it had to take something out of a person, especially if they were already injured. “Come over by the water so I can clean these.”
He followed her, his movements fluid as he settled on a flat rock that rested along the bank of the cheerful little stream. She plucked the hunting knife from the sheath and held up his shirt. He stayed her motions, his hand wrapping around her wrist. “If you cut that, I’ll only have my jeans to wear.” It was then she remembered he’d sacrificed his coat earlier to throw the hunters off their trail.
“I have to have something to wrap around your arm and you can wear the leather jacket. It’s my father’s so it should fit you.”
He shook his head. “Then you’d have nothing to wear.”
He had a point there, but she shook her head bravely. “I have my bra. It’s enough.”
His fingers stroked the back of her wrist, soothing the skin over her pounding pulse. “It’s a fairly long T-shirt. Cut a few strips off the bottom.”
Nodding, she did as he’d instructed and laid the rest of the shirt and the knife to one side. She dipped one of the strips into the water, wrung it out and began to clean his wounds. She flinched several times, but Joshua never moved a muscle.
And it had to hurt. The long gouges, obviously from the other wolves’ claws, were jagged, but thankfully, upon closer examination, not deep. They had almost stopped bleeding. She knew werewolves healed quickly, but this was incredible. Still, she wasn’t taking any chances. Cleaning each wound carefully, she made sure all the dirt had been removed from the area.
She tried her best to ignore the fact that his thick muscles rippled beneath her fingers as she stroked the thin piece of cloth over them. His flesh was deeply tanned and very appealing. She swallowed, not daring to look any lower than his waist.
Wringing out the cloth again, she focused on his shoulder. That wound was seeping blood once again. She did her best to wash it clean before making two pads out of one of the other strips of cloth. She picked up the final strip and wrapped it around the pads to hold them in place. She supposed he’d lost the original bandage when he’d shapeshifted into his wolf form.
She sat back on her heels, swiped her hand over her forehead and was immediately reminded of her own grungy state. “That will have to do until we get somewhere that has some real medical supplies.”
Joshua shrugged. “I’ve had much worse. I’ll be fine in a few days.”
“You may be fine, but I might not be.” Alex staggered to her feet and tossed the wet piece of cloth down onto a rock. “I need a bath.” Ignoring his blatant stare, she eased the leather jacket down her arms. The darn thing was heavy and her arm still stung from earlier. She sure as heck hoped she didn’t have a splinter or something sticking out of her arm.