Reece watched helplessly as Maddison lost the ability to stay awake. She had lost too much blood. He had to get her to a hospital!

  He jumped away from his foe, and sent up a howl. He desperately hoped one of his pack was near enough to hear it and reach them in time.

  He turned back to the pitiful creature that had attacked his mate. His first instinct had been to kill it, but Maddison had claimed that this poor, tortured woman was her friend. He could not kill her friend.

  Then he had to remove the silver collar from around the girls neck. He wouldn't be able to do that in wolf skin, yet at the same time the girl would never give him the time he needed to shift back.

  The girl let out a pitiful half wail, half whine, as she again attempted to shift and heal her wounds. But the silver would not allow it. Whoever had done this was cruel beyond imagining. The girl was covered in deep cuts and livid burns, and then someone wrapped silver wire around her neck to prevent her from shifting, causing additional pain. Whoever they were had driven the girl temporarily mad.

  Suddenly there was the screeching of tires and an old beat up truck skidded up onto his lawn. It was Andrew. Thank God.

  A man leapt out of the truck, mocha hair escaping from his ponytail and a gun in his hand. From the bed of the truck leapt two wolves. The cream colored wolf was Tabatha, Andrew's mate, and the grey wolf was none other than Ryan, Reece's older brother and Alpha of the pack.

  The two wolves rushed to Reece's side while Andrew ran to check on Maddison. He desperately hoped she would be okay.

  With nothing more than body language and facial expressions, Reece delivered the necessary information to his packmates: The she-wolf needed to live. They had to remove the collar.

  Ryan confirmed, then dashed in and locked his jaws around the girl's left wrist. While she was distracted, Tabatha ran in and got ahold of her other one. The girl screamed and squirmed but was unable to break free.

  Reece took his opportunity and began to shift back to a man. It only took him a minute to shift, and when he did, he stood naked on his own lawn. Not wasting a moment, he dove forward and griped the silver wire with his bare hands.

  The thin metal seared his flesh, but he didn't let go. One, two, three times he unwound the wire from around her neck, and once it was off he tossed the offending metal to the ground.

  The girl whimpered and was finally able to complete her shift. She lay on the bloody grass as a 170 pound grey wolf, matted in blood and quickly healing wounds.

  Maddison was not as lucky. Abandoning the small grey wolf to be watched over by the other two wolves, Reece rushed back to his front step.

  A painful, animal like whine escaped from his clenched jaw as he saw Maddison sprawled on the concrete step, now on her back. Her robe was open, exposing her for the world to see, and down the center of her chest were four long grooves where her friend had tried to tear her heart out. The green sleeve covering her left arm was shredded, as was the flesh beneath it. Her beautiful blonde curls were dyed red from blood.

  Andrew sat over her, a hand on her neck, checking for a pulse.

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  "Is she-?" He found he couldn't finish the question.

  "She is alive, but she needs a doctor now." Said Andrew, tying his hair back. "she's lost too much blood."

  Reece shot back into his house and grabbed his cell off the kitchen counter before running back outside. He dropped himself to the ground beside Maddison and pressed 'two' on his speed dial.

  "OWPD, this is officer Williams speaking." Said a voice over the phone.

  Trevor Williams, a six foot eight African-American man in his fifties, with a bald head and too much mustache, was Reece's direct superior at the OWPD. He was known for his constant complaining, obsession with fantasy football, and being an all-round dependable man.

  "Trevor! Its Reece. I need to report a werewolf attack at 29 Alburn circle Moncton! One severely injured werewolf, now shifted and healing, and one human civilian down." Reece sounded off automatically as he applied pressure to Maddison's arm. "I need OWPD medical evac now!"

  He heard Trevor curse then a series of keystrokes as he set about complying with Reece's requests. "Damn it Reece! Can't you have a day off without getting into a mess? Medevac is on its way. Do you need back up?"

  "No need. The pack is here."

  "Good. Ill be at the nearest OW hospital as soon as I can."

  "Yes sir." Reece hung up the phone one handed, and moved the blood matted hair out of Maddison's face.

  She had recognized him as a wolf. She knew what he was now, and in the exact way he wished to avoid. It didn't matter. So long as she pulled through he would be able to explain...

  Reece looked up into the sky at the full moon. If she survived she may wish she hadn't. Bitten this badly by a werewolf during the full moon? She was more than likely a werewolf herself now.

  "What the hell happened!?" snarled Ryan. Reece's head snaped to his brother. He was now in his human skin and as naked as he was. No one would doubt that the two were brothers. The only real difference in them was age lines, a lighter shade of hair, and their eye color. Ryan's eyes were just a shade lighter than his own.

  "I haven't a clue..." admitted Reece shaking his head numbly. "This is Maddison. She just moved into my rental this morning..."

  "Why exactly, would you rent to a human? For God's sake Reece you are a werewolf and an OWPD officer! You know you attract trouble like the plague!"

  "She- she is my mate... I can feel it, the Bond..." he said weakly, cradling Maddison's cheek. "I hadn't even told her what I was yet... she knows it was me though. She called me by name! She is my mate!" he ended on a vicious growl. If his brother thought he could send away his mate just because he was Alpha, then he was in for a shock!

  "Easy Reece." Soothed Andrew with his light Acadian accent. "Don't want to wake her now."

  Reece snaped his mouth shut but glared daggers at his brother. Ryan shook his head and turned to the unconscious grey wolf laying on the lawn next to Tabatha.

  "And who is this? Do you know?" asked Ryan, pointing to the wolf.

  Reece continued to glare for a moment before answering his alpha. "I believe she is Maddison's friend, Kalie. She stated that she was her friend before she collapsed, anyway. Earlier she mentioned that her only real friend was a girl named Kalie. Though she didn't mention that Kalie was a werewolf."

  "Its entirely possible she didn't know. Without a werewolf's nose she wouldn't have smelt the difference. Many Others have kept themselves secret, even from family." Said Andrew as Ryan went to the old truck and removed his cloths from the cab. He pulled on a pair of jogging pants and a matching sweatshirt.

  "Go get dressed." Ryan commanded.

  Reece didn't budge. He would not leave his mate. His wolf raged that she was not kept nearer, that they were not there to defend her properly. He would not abandon her now. Not even at the command of his alpha.

  Ryan sighed and crouched down next to Reece. "I assume you will want to go to the hospital with her. Do you think she would be comfortable to learn that a naked man had followed her all over town? Get dressed. Grab your wallet and see if you can find her phone. I'm sure her family would like to know what is happening to her, yes?"

  Reece's heart plummeted. He had just promised Maddison's father that he would keep both eyes on his daughter. He had failed miserably in less than a day. And Chase would likely hate his guts now...

  Reece nodded numbly and left to do what he was told. His pack would likely do a better job protecting his mate than he had.

  What was he going to tell her family? What was he going to tell Maddison?