I held very still as her growl faded, and she dipped her head to snuffle at me. She whined before growling again.
Lisa darted forward, catching my arm and sinking her teeth in before jerking her head and almost wrenching my arm off. I cried out, claws tipping my fingers as I raked them down her face, catching one eye under them. She yelped and let go. Caroline body checked her, forcing the smaller wolf away from me.
With my othersight, I could see the umber streaks were snarled and tangled at the base of her chest. They called to me, whispering of their wrongness—like a song where one note was off-key, throwing everything else off balance. I had no other time to consider them before Caroline was on me, her teeth in my shoulder as she shook her head fiercely.
I screamed, punching and raking at her with my claws to no effect. Her blood dripped down, mixing with my own. Somehow, my hand landed on that snarled knot, and I did something in my panic and terror—that something born of desperation and a will to survive. I wasn't sure how, or if I could do the same something again. The tangle unknotted, just a little bit—the inky blackness and burnt umber separating just slightly and seeming to work together instead of apart.
I punched her in the head one last time before my arm fell to my side, blood coated my neck and chest. "Caroline, I love you," I managed to whisper.
Her teeth gentled on my shoulder, and I slipped to the ground as she took a step back. She nudged me where I lay unmoving, a whimper in her throat. She nudged me harder.
Before she could do more, a smaller wolf barreled into her, snapping and snarling. Caroline snapped back, drawing blood and using her larger mass to hold her own. Lisa was no slouch, using speed to attack. Caroline snarled, her head darting down, her teeth closing around the smaller wolf's leg and jerking. There was a yelp, and then Lisa limped off, disappearing into the forest.
Caroline padded back, nudging me with her head before licking at my shoulder a couple of times then moving to my other wounds. The cold that had been spreading, a product of her demon taint, began retreating under her ministration. Having given each wound her attention, she lay down next to me, setting her head on the unwounded part of my stomach. Her ears tilted forward, and she laid her tail over my feet as if she was trying to keep them warm.
I didn't know what had happened to cause her to change from ruthless slayer of vampires to something close to man's best companion, but I was too tired and wounded to try to fight my way free. Instead, I held still and hoped that she remained Caroline.
We stayed like that for a long time as my body fought to heal itself. I remained conscious as pain throbbed in the individual wounds, the skin just beginning to knit together, the blood slowing and stopping.
There was a pop of air, and then Liam appeared at the edge of the forest. Caroline's ears twitched, and she lifted her head, her lips peeling back from her teeth. Her chest vibrated with a nearly silent growl. Liam moved closer, his feet whispering over the ground—his face a dark, murderous mask as he took in my blood coated body.
His eyes turned to Caroline, death on his face and his fangs down. His blue eyes burned with fire, the skin on his face thinning and letting some of the monster within peer out. I realized with a start that he thought I was dead, and she was feasting on my body.
"Liam, I'm fine," I croaked. "She's protecting me from Lisa."
I chanced laying a hand on her back and sitting up. She swung her head, forcing me back down, the movement sending shards of pain through my shoulder. I gritted my teeth against the groan of pain, knowing it wouldn't help matters.
When the haze faded and I could focus again, I realized Caroline was standing on all fours, straddling my body as she faced Liam, the fur on her back standing upright and her ears pinned back against her head.
I turned my head, noting that Liam wasn't the only vampire standing there. Several of the enforcers were at his back, including Eric and Anton. A wolf I recognized as Brax appeared out of the woods like a ghost. I blinked and realized there were several wolves at his back, like silent sentries as they ringed the two of us in a half circle, the cliff at our back, cutting off any possibility of retreat.
"Stay down, Aileen," Liam ordered when he saw me try to sit up again, his focus entirely on the wolf over me.
"She's not a threat," I said. Not entirely true. She'd always be a threat, that was the nature of the wolf, but I didn't get the sense that she was an immediate danger to my survival.
"The blood coating your body would say otherwise," he returned in a cool voice.
Fair enough, and normally I would agree.
"That happened earlier tonight. I'm practically healed now," I said.
He didn't answer, advancing on her with steady steps, Brax mirroring him from a few feet away. Caroline's head swung between the two, unsure which one presented the bigger threat.
"Ready?" Liam asked.
Brax chuffed.
Liam sprang at us, his body a blur of speed. Caroline whirled toward him with a snarl. Brax hit her from the side, his body weight knocking her off me, the two of them going over the cliff.
"Caroline!" I screamed, rolling over on my stomach to crawl to the edge.
CHAPTER TWENTY
LIAM WAS BESIDE me in the next moment, his arms scooping me up and quelling my struggles.
"She isn't dead," he said in a low voice in my ear. "That fall wouldn't be enough to hurt either one of them."
"How do you know?"
He chuckled. "I've thrown the alpha off much higher objects during the course of our acquaintance."
"Caroline's barely been a wolf for a few months. She won't have his healing," I returned as I tried to wriggle out of his arms. His grip tightened, and he dropped his head to run his nose along the side of my face, breathing deeply at the same time. He dipped his head further until he could reach the wound in my shoulder, his tongue darted out in a move much like the wolf's as he licked it once before straightening.
"No, hers is better. A consequence of her taint," he said, sounding unworried as he resumed walking at a pace that had the trees blurring around me. "They'll fight it out until the moon sets, at which point she'll be taken into custody. You can see her then."
I let my head fall back, looking up at his face. "What will happen to her?"
His eyes met mine. "That has still not been decided."
I set my forehead on his shoulder and closed my eyes. I'd survived, but it didn't feel like I'd won anything since Caroline's fate was still up in the air.
We reached a road that had several cars parked along it, including several black Escalades I assumed belonged to the vampires. Liam carried me to one car, barely pausing as Eric appeared to open the door for us. Setting me inside, Liam climbed up beside me as Eric shut the door, sealing us alone in the car.