Shane

Will had two guys standing behind him as he dragged Wendy away from us. Ralph quickly ran to his mate and ushered her inside the house. I expected him to stay with Maddi and Clara, but he said something to her then returned to me. "Let's go before they get away" Ralph said. Tyson even forced himself up and limped over to us. His breathing was heavy and one of his arms was broken.

I shook my head, keeping my eyes on my mate. Will didn't reach the forest line yet. "Both of you go back to the house. Stay in there. Don't even argue right now, Ralph" I said firmly. "You have a daughter in there. I know that you want to protect Wendy too. But Maddi and Clara need you right now" I stated

"So does Wendy" Ralph snapped. "I let her down once. I'm not doing it again" he told me.

I sighed. "Trust me. I'll get her back. They won't make it out the territory with her. Just go inside so I can do my job. This is why I'm the Head Warrior. I can deal with this stuff. Your family needs you. So get in that damn house" I demanded. He bit his lip, glancing at Wendy before slowly walking back to his house. "And you're in no condition to fight" I told Tyson.

He nodded, wincing as he did it. "I know. She told me she wouldn't die today. Make sure of that" I quickly nodded my head, holding my hand up to pat his back but deciding against it. "Go get her, Shane" Tyson urged.

I quickly ran in the same direction, keeping my footsteps soft and quiet. Their backs were facing me, so they wouldn't see me coming. They entered the forest and I followed after them, hiding behind a tree. By the way that Will was acting, he wanted Wendy to suffer. He wouldn't snap her neck or slit an artery to kill her. He would most likely torture her. So he's not gonna kill her in the middle of the forest any time soon.

That gives me time. Most of his group is long gone. There's four that are close in front of him and Wendy. Then the two guys behind them. I can take out the two guys first, hopefully be able to get Wendy away from Will. Then I can take care of the other four.

Distraction is the only way to make that possible. I looked around for something that could help me. My eyes landed on a rock a little bigger than my hand. I picked it up and threw it at a tree as hard as possible. Everyone's heads snapped in that direction. "Go check it out" Will demanded. Two people from the front and one of the guys from behind went towards the noise. "This better not be one of your little friends" Will sneered, tugging at Wendy's hair.

Clenching my jaw, I held in my growl. Wendy shrieked, her hand flying up to her head. Taking a deep breath, I moved from behind the tree and walked towards them. No one heard me until I snapped a guy's neck. Everything happened so fast. People emerged from other areas and began attacking Will's group. They all tried to run away.

Wendy scratched Will and shoved him away from her. I grabbed her waist, pushing her further away. "Oh. Mr. Hero" Will scoffed, wiping blood off his arm from where my mate clawed at him. "You think you're so smart" he teased. I growled at him, making him laugh. "Did you know that Red can climb trees?" he questioned. "Yeah. She learned it from us. It really comes in handy" he stated, his lips curling into a smirk.

"Shane" I turned to Wendy. A girl was behind her. Blood dripped out of Wendy's mouth as she stared at me with wide eyes. Looking down, I saw claws coming out of her stomach. The girl tugged her claws out of Wendy, causing my mate to fall to the floor. I ran towards the pair, throwing the girl against a tree. "Sh-Shane" Wendy muttered, blood pouring out of her mouth.

I shook my head, picking her up bridal style. "Don't talk. You're gonna be okay. Don't say anything" I told her. I glanced at Will, who was being brought to his knees by Dominic. Will had a smirk plastered on his face. Dominic easily wiped it off by bringing his fist to Will's face.

Chewing on my lip, I began running out of the forest. I mind-linked the doctor, telling him the situation and to go to Ralph's house. "You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay" I told Wendy. I felt like the more I said it, the less I believed it, so I shut my mouth.

Forcing my legs to move faster, I clutched my mate tighter to my chest. As the house came into view, I could see three silhouettes standing on the porch. I knew it was Ralph, Maddi, and Tyson. Getting closer, I spotted Clara in Ralph's arms. Tyson's face became panicked as he ushered Ralph and Maddi out of the way.

I passed by them, running into the house. Following Tyson up the stairs, he threw the covers off of the bed. I gently set Wendy onto the bed, her warm blood covering my arms. Tyson muttered out a curse, rushing to put pressure on the wound. "It goes straight through" he mumbled. He continued speaking, but I was too engrossed in my hands. The dark red covering my skin. "Shane! Snap out of it!" he shouted, getting in my face.

Shaking my head, I made my way towards my mate. Tyson pressed down on her stomach and I put pressure on the back. The doctor came into the room along with a few other people who I knew were his assistants. He dropped a bag on the bed and started examining Wendy. Going to her head, he looked into her eyes. "Stay awake for me, Wendy" he instructed.

"She's awake?" I asked. The doctor gave me a nod, but quickly focused back on Wendy. "Um... the girl her claws went in from her back and straight through" I informed him.

Doc nodded. "Her blood type. What is it?" he questioned. I didn't answer, not knowing. Blood types aren't something that just comes into conversation. "Great. No one knows" he muttered.

He gave some instructions to his assistants and they took out some supplies from the bag. "Do you need blood?" Tyson asked. Doc nodded taking a needle from one of the assistants. "I'm O- a universal donor or whatever" he stated. The doctor looked at him, scanning his injuries. "I'm fine. Just a little beat up. You can use my blood" Tyson offered.

The doctor looked skeptical for a few moments, but he nodded his head. The assistants took out an empty blood bag along with needles and tubes. "Someone take over for Tyson" Doc demanded. A woman quickly replaced Tyson's hands as he sat down. "Hold up the blood bag" the doctor began telling even more instructions.

I focused on keeping pressure on the wound. However, my eyes trailed up to Wendy's face. Her eyes fluttered shut and opened again as she blinked slowly. "Stay awake, Wendy" Tyson stated as people connected a tube to his arm. "You said you wouldn't die today. You can't die" he ranted.

Someone began slowly pushing me away. Hesitantly, I let the people do their jobs. I moved to the other side of the bed so I could see my mate's face. Her lips lost their color, turning pale just like her cheeks. "Sew up the entering wound. We have to cut her open to fix up whatever internal organs may have been affected" the doctor stated.

I froze. "Cut her open? Won't she lose more blood? You can't cut her open" I said, my voice rising.

Tyson weakly slapped my arm. "She can bleed out inside if they don't. Just let them save her" he muttered. I bit my lip, nodding in understanding. "You have to let them save her. She can't die today" he continued.

Sighing, I gently patted his shoulder. "Shane. You don't want to watch this. Go get cleaned up and we'll tell you when we're done" Doc said. I shook my head at him. "I can't do my job with you in here" he gave me an apologetic look.

"Just tell me what you're doing first" I begged.

He nodded his head, glancing at my mate. "She lost a lot of blood, so we're giving her Tyson's blood. That should help her heal faster, so she won't lose any more blood. But we don't want her to heal too fast because her insides won't heal. So we put wolfsbane on her skin so it won't heal, giving her organs time to heal. But with you here, it's making her wolf fight and try to heal everything. And we don't want that. We want her organs to heal before we sew up her skin so she won't bleed internally" he stated quickly.

I nodded my head. So they want to make sure her insides heal. That's a good thing. Because her organs and stuff are important. I stared longingly at my mate before turning to the door and walking out. I passed by Ralph, going out of the back door. "Hey! Where are you going?!" he called out.

"I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch" I growled, turning around to face him. "You coming?" Ralph nodded his head, following me to the cellars. There's a cellar in almost every building on the territory. But there is also a cellar, which is it's own building. That's where we keep the more dangerous rogues that we really, really want to kill.

But for some reason, we don't kill them all. "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa" Dominic said, holding his hands up as he came out of the cellar. "You two are not going in there" he demanded. I narrowed my eyes at him. "I don't want to command you, but I will if I have to" he stated.

I clenched my jaw, staring at the door to the cellar. "I'm not gonna kill him. I can't promise anything about my wolf though" I said honestly. Dominic shook his head at me, grabbing my shoulders to turn me away from the door. "Okay. I won't kill him. He'll just be brain dead" I turned back to the door.

He yanked me away, making me glare. "A couple of hits. Please" I begged.

Dominic shook his head. "We all know that's bullshit. Once you get a single hit in, you won't stop. And I'm not gonna kill him before we get some answers" his voice was stern as he waited for me to nod. Let's weigh the pros and cons of going in the cellar and beating this guy up.

Pro: I get to beat the crap out of this guy.

Con: Dominic doesn't get his answers.

Pro: Vengeance.

Con: I would have to look at his face if I'm gonna beat the crap out of it.

Pro: He might die.

Con: He might die.

Pro: One less twisted rogue in this world. 

Hmm. There are definitely more pros than cons. But it's just not logical. "Fine. You get your answers and I want to know everything" I demanded. Dominic nodded his head.

I turned and stared at the Ralph's house that was still visible, even with the distance separating us. "Is she gonna be okay?" Dominic asked, looking in the same direction as me. I didn't know. The doc seemed sure of what he was doing. And Tyson's blood would definitely help. But you can never be sure.

"She can't die today"  

_____________________________________

"None of us got to where we are alone. Whether the assistance we received was obvious or subtle, acknowledging someone's help is a big part of understanding the importance of saying thank you. "
-Harvey Mackay

About a year ago, on March 1, 2015, I posted the first part of Rejecting A Princess. Now, I'm writing the sequel and spin-off. And there is no way that I could've done it without you guys. Your support is what motivates me to continue writing. I love you guys so much!!!

Kayyyzzz Byeeeezzzz

~A.J.