She looked around for a place to sit. No telling what other animals had taken shelter in the cave. Liam tossed his backpack on the ground. “Sit on this, and put your backpack behind you. You’ll be warmer that way.”
“Thank you.”
Alex placed his next to Liam’s. “We’ll be back as soon as we can. If I find him, I’ll telepath to Liam, and he’ll find you.”
“Thank you.”
As much as Liam didn’t want to leave her alone, time was of the essence. Alex took one tunnel, and Liam traveled down the other. The shaft was cold, damp, and smelled like more than just a few animals had died in there. He doubted any human would want to spend much time within the confines of these walls. Some of the stone was slick with water, indicating water had managed to seep through some cracks. Mold streaked the sides.
As he headed farther down the rocky path, the air slightly changed. He couldn’t tell exactly what had caused it, but the scent was different.
“Zach?” he called out.
What sounded like rocks scraping on stone echoed off the walls, but he heard no other noise, either telepathically or with his ears. Liam slowed, not wanting to scare whoever or whatever might be there.
When he eased past a large boulder that almost blocked the way, he stopped. A man was lying on the ground, face down.Oh, shit.
CHAPTERSEVEN
Liam rushedto the prone man and knelt down. He was a werewolf, that much he could tell. While it was possible the man was not Zach Granger, he bet he was. The horrifying thing was the backs of both the jacket and shirt were open, sliced vertically down the middle. Someone had carved a symbol in Zach’s back, but caked blood had obscured most of the image. Not only that, several bullet holes had pierced the skin. Hopefully, none of them had hit the man’s heart, though if they had, he’d already be dead.
Why hadn’t Zach shifted into his wolf form? Had he been unconscious before he had the chance? If so, who had scraped the stone against the rock for Liam to hear? Those questions could be answered later. Zach needed to get help for the man. And quickly.
He shifted into his human form, took off his jacket, and placed it over the prone body to keep him warm.
“I found him—or who I think is Zach,”he telepathed to Alex.
“Is he alive?”
“Barely. Find Tawny, but warn her that her brother is in bad shape.”It hadn’t occurred to him to ask to see a photo of her brother beforehand.“I need the fire paste so I can light a fire.”
“I’ll grab what you need, as well as a few sticks on the way.”
Liam leaned over and placed two fingers on Zach’s neck to feel for a pulse. He found one, but it was faint. Liam shook Zach’s shoulder. “Can you hear me?”
There was no response.Damn.
Ten minutes later, hurried footsteps neared. “No!” she practically shrieked.
“It’s your brother I take it?” Liam asked.
“Yes.” Tawny rushed toward him and dropped to her knees. “Zach?” She stroked his cheek and then looked up at Liam. “Is he dead?”
“No, but he’s in bad shape. Zach needs help. Fast. Can you call your dad and ask him to have a stretcher brought here? From his pale coloring, I’d say your brother has lost quite a lot of blood.”
Being the professional that she was, Tawny quickly composed herself and pulled out her phone. She’d figure it out quickly that she’d get no reception deep inside the cave.
“I have to go outside.” She sucked in a breath. “I have a first aid kit in my backpack, but it’s near the entrance.”
“I think he needs more than a Band-Aid.”
“I can clean his wound at least.”
“Make the call,” Liam said. “Then we’ll clean him up.”
“I’ll go with her,” Alex said.
“Good.”