Page 67 of The Patron Saint of Timber Hollow

"Where is she?" Ethan demands, "I know you can understand me,Temple." Ethan spits, and my blood runs cold when he unholsters the pistol.

Jay growls, exposing his sharp, white teeth. My heart is in my throat, and my ears are pinned to the sides of my skull.

Ethan raises the pistol to the dark sky and fires into the canopy. The forest goes quiet with the echoing shot ringing through the Hollow, and my breath seizes in my chest.

I have to dosomething.Or Ethan is going to kill our Alpha. Slowly, with Ethan's attention firmly on Jay, I slink forward, Saint a half step behind.

"Where is she? That bitch needs to pay for disrespecting me like that."

Jay growls again, louder than before.

"Answer me, you dumb mutt!" Ethan demands, leveling that gun at Jay.

I can't take it anymore. With my wolf in complete control, Isnap.

With a mighty lunge, I jump and close my teeth around his wrist, closing my jaws with enough force that we cleave clear through the bone, tearing free ligaments and muscles.

Ethan screams, staggering for a moment as blood pours out of his wrist, the other hand clutching the stump. And then he's screaming and running away from us. I don't know how it's possible, but I guess adrenaline will do that.

The boys and I follow him for a few steps and have thesupremepleasure of seeing Ethan tumble straight down the overhang,crashing into rocks the entire way. A satisfyingly painful-soundingthudtells us when Ethan has finally stopped moving.

When Jay prowls forward, standing next to me, I can tell by looking at his wolfish face that we can't leave Ethan to die on Pack lands.

My wolf and I sigh. Then, Jay leads Saint and me down the ravine to where Ethan fell, finding him unconscious with his arm stuck under a boulder. His entire body is bruised and badly mangled. The massive rock on his arm, though, is probably the only thing keeping his bloodinhis body.

Jay shifts, then, in a gruff voice, orders Saint to run back to the packhouse and get a four-wheeler to get Ethan out of the forest.

And, despite everything that has just happened, or maybe it's because of it, I find myself unable to look away from my Alpha.

Naked Jay in the forest is a distraction. One that makes me almost want to shift and have my dirty way with him right on top of the boulder that holds Ethan prisoner.

While we wait for Saint's return, I realize that shifting would be a ticking time bomb to doing just that, so I decide to stay wolfy.

Even then, I can't do much other than ogle Jay's body.

Eventually, Saint returns on a four-wheeler, fully clothed, carrying a change of clothes for Jay and a length of blue stretchysilicone to wrap around Ethan's forearm so he doesn't bleed out when they move the boulder.

He and Jay quickly get Ethan onto the machine, and before they take off with him, Jay looks at me and asks, "You're running with us, right?"

My wolf and I nod, tracking his every movement. I can't stop thinking about the fact that Ethan had managed to fire a shot at Jay before I bit off his hand. Ethan could have killed him. And I was almost too late.

Sloppy, Artemis. So sloppy.

My irritation rises step after step, trailing after the boys.

When we get back to the cabin, I shift, running up the stairs while ignoring the looks of Jay and Saint, who are busy getting Ethan into the Jeep so we can haul his ass back to the hotel.

Quick as I can, I pull leggings up my legs, along with a bra and long-sleeve shirt that I pick up from the closet floor. Thick socks are pulled onto my feet, and then I rush back down the stairs to shove my feet into boots and grab a hoodie.

Jay and Saint are waiting for me next to the Jeep, as is Nero's car in the drive.

"Ready?" I ask, rushing to get the word out before Saint says anything.

"Yep," Jay answers, opening the door for me. Unfortunately, it's the front passenger door, meaning I have to sit next to Saint, but at least it isn't Ethan, so I will have to take the situation as a win.

The ride back to Sommerville is quiet as a hearse. I keep replaying the night over and over, wondering how close that bullet came to Jay and if Saint could have gotten hurt, too.

"What happened to the gun?" I blurt, breaking the silence.