Page 40 of Bound

The three of us stay where we’re seated and watch her sleep. I can’t seem to take my eyes off the rise and fall of her chest, terrified it might stop. I place my hand on her side for further reassurance.

“I’ve been thinking,” Gage says after a while. “After we found her, she was unconscious for days. Maybe the same thing had just happened to her.” He frowns then shakes his head. “No, the rebirth seems to cleanse her completely.”

“And when we found her, she was injured and filthy,” Maddox finishes for him as he nods in agreement.

“But it’s most likely tied to the reason why she was hiding in the first place.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, giving Gage my full attention. If there was a threat out there, I wanted to know about it before it came anywhere near her.

“That’s such an unheard-of gift, there would definitely be people out there wanting to take advantage of her for it. Then again…” he trails off and I try not to growl in frustration.

“Then againwhat?”

He takes a second to glance at each of us, pushing back his black hair and letting out a sigh. “Maybe whoever she’s running fromgave herthat power.”

“Why would someone do that?” Hunter asks as he and Chase return with several fresh kills each. They start to prepare them for cooking as Gage answers his question.

“They could be experimenting with immortality,” Gage says, his tone measured but quickening as his thoughts take shape. “Think about it. Shifters already heal much faster thanhumans. What if someone wanted to find a way to replicate that? If someone wanted to understand or even manufacture healing, a wolf would make the perfect foundation. You start with what already works, then push it beyond its natural limits. They might think the only way to test those limits is to injure her, record how long it takes to recover, and then repeat the process until they’ve mapped every threshold.”

My hands clench tightly, my claws extending out to puncture my palms. “Are you saying someone experimented on her?” I growl out.

“It’s possible,” Gage says worriedly, his gaze fixed and unblinking as he watches her. “She could be a prototype. If you can engineer a single subject to recover without fail, then you’ve proven the concept. From there, it’s only a matter of replication. Soldiers who don’t stay down. Weapons who heal between battles. An army that doesn’t die. Or—” He pauses, his jaw tightening slightly. “It might not have been about an army at all. It could have been personal. An obsession with creating something unique, something powerful, something that would never leave because it literally couldn’t. But without her being able to tell us anything, these are all just guesses at this point, theories.”

The fire pops sharply, filling the silence that follows his words.

“When we get home, I’m hoping I can find records of something similar. Just because I haven’t heard of a wolf regenerating doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened before. It just means I haven’t read about it yet.”

We all knew the truth, though. Gage has already read every book we own, and he has a photographic memory; he shouldn’t need to reread any of them.

As if hearing my thoughts, he adds, “I’ll search the pack archives for anything similar. There must be something I canfind.”

Maddox nods. “Good idea. Her safety is our priority now. I just wish we knew what we’re saving her from.”

Eventually, we cook dinner, and when she doesn’t wake, I shift back into my wolf form so I can lie beside her. Everyone sleeps close, and she sleeps through the entire night without even moving.

I find myself waking up often to check she’s still breathing. The memory of her motionless body will haunt me for a very long time.

Chapter 20

Cherry

Aslight rocking motion wakes me. Am I on a boat? No, that isn’t right. I wait as my body and senses adjust to my surroundings before realizing someone’s holding me while they walk. I inhale, smelling pine and citrus.

Hunter.

Opening my eyes, I lift my head as he tilts his to look down at me, and a small smile lifts his lips.

“Hi, baby girl. Are you feeling a little better?” I try to give him a small nod and he chuckles.

Feeling awkward being carried in my wolf form, I squirm and Hunter gets the message, setting me down gently. Stretching out my legs, I take a moment to look around, wondering where the others are. As if he knows what I’m thinking, he tells me, “They’re all around us, keeping watch.”

I raise my nose and sniff, hoping to catch a whiff of their scents, but I can’t smell anything.

Because you’re broken.

Suddenly, Chase, in wolf form, jumps through the trees to my right and pounces on me, sending me onto my back.

“Chase! Be careful with her!” Hunter yells as I look up at him with wide eyes.