Tears welled in my eyes in response to the relief in her voice. How hard had it been on my sweet niece? On all the wolves? “I am, sweetie, and your uncle Daniel is going to help your dad. Take us to him. He doesn’t have to wait.”
She nodded and started to turn, but the wolves were making their way out of the tunnels. Neil carried one end of a stretcher, a young wolf I didn’t recognize carrying the other end. There were others trailing in, but my eyes were on that stretcher because I recognized the she-wolf walking next to it.
Lisa Owens, Zack’s wife. She walked beside the stretcher and there was a sling around her body, a toddler clinging to her.
Neil held up a hand and they lowered the stretcher to the soft grass. He looked around and his eyes stopped on Danny, and I watched a shudder of relief go through him. “Daniel, he’s dying. He needs you. Please.”
Daniel was already rolling up his sleeve, moving in and kneeling down. Courtney held her mother’s hand and watched.
Neil strode up to me and I found myself in a bear hug. “God, Z. What the fuck took you so long?”
“It’s only been a couple of days for me,” I admitted, holding him close.
He pulled away, looking back to Zack. “Bitch. I missed you. I’ll break down and let you pamper me when we figure out if Zack is going to live or die. He’s been weak, but whatever that asswipe sent through our camp damn near killed him. I’m sorry. I didn’t know where else to go, and I couldn’t leave the rest of them behind.”
He took my hand and pulled me closer to where Zack lay.
He looked pale, and he’d lost so much weight. His brown hair was limp against his forehead. Zack took such pride in his clothes and took care with his appearance. He’d modeled himself after Devinshea, wearing slick suits and keeping up a meticulous grooming routine. He looked more wolfy than I’d ever seen him with a scraggly beard. I didn’t like it. The years had not been kind to this man who’d become family so long ago.
“Your High…Dan…it’s been so long. I thought you were gone,” Zack whispered.
Danny put a hand on Zack’s shoulder. “We got trapped and then something went wrong when we came back. We never meant to be gone so long.”
“He needs blood, Dan.” Lisa didn’t prevaricate. “You can explain later. Save him now.”
“Lisa…” Zack admonished.
Danny simply bit into his own wrist and started the flow. He put his wrist to Zack’s mouth. “She’s right, old friend. Take what you need. We’ll sort it all out later.”
As Zack began to heal, we all took a deep breath and realized what we’d managed to avoid.
* * * *
Two hours later, we sat at the big dining room table that also served as a conference room. Though because there were wolves involved there was also food. Lots of food. Albert had started cooking the minute he found out who our guests were. I happened to know he was planning yet another feast for this evening. Though the wolves would likely simply call it supper.
“How long has Zack been sick?” Daniel paced the floor. “How did you end up here? Why didn’t you go with the kids? Is Chad sick, too?”
Neil set down the turkey leg he’d been eating. I’d helped him settle everyone into various shelters around the base before we’d come back here for the debrief. I’d watched in a bit of shocked wonder as Neil had capably handled his small pack. They’d all looked to him or Lisa, who’d introduced me to my nephew Justin who was three years old and looked like his father.
“Which question should I answer first?” Neil asked. “Do you want a rundown of what happened when you disappeared or my analysis of why Zack has been in decline? Chad is good. He hasn’t had your blood in years, but he’s kept himself under control.”
That turkey leg was getting thin. I moved to serve him some of the enchiladas Albert had made. We’d asked for some privacy and I’d promised to pamper my dearest friend. “I think you should start with Zack. Danny’s feeling guilty.”
“And confused,” Danny admitted. “I know after you stopped taking my blood, you lost the strength it had given you, but it didn’t make you sick.”
“Of course it did,” Neil said softly. “You weren’t around to see how it affected me.”
When Daniel and Neil had broken off their working relationship, Neil had left us for over a year. He’d gone to the woods and kept mostly to wolf form. He’d been weak when we’d found him, but at the time we’d thought it was because he hadn’t been in human form for such a long time. “You didn’t need Danny’s blood to bring you back.”