Free Fated To The Alpha: A Paranormal Shifter Romance by Simply Shifters, Jasmine White Page B

human shape, kneeling down over me.  He took a good look at my wound, and then stood up.  “Stay there,” he said, “I’m gonna find something to treat that.”
     
    “Out here in the middle of the woods?” I said,
     
    Jeremy was already hurrying off into the foliage, digging around in the bushes, for what, I couldn’t imagine.
     
    He soon disappeared from my sight, though I could still hear him rummaging around.  As I lay there, pressing a hand to my wound, I started listening to the sounds of the forest around me.  I heard the chirping of crickets, the hooting of owls, and the scurrying of small animals in the brush.  All of it sounded much bigger than it ever had before.
     
    Being a wolf meant I was more than accustomed to running around without my clothes on, just like I was right then.  I couldn’t remember ever feeling quite so naked.
     
    Because I’d always had my pack behind me.
     
    What did I have now?  I defied my alpha, stood up to my father, ran away with a member of a rival pack and been called a traitor.
     
    I’d been torn over what to do before, when I was expected to marry Leon.  Now I felt truly lost.  More than ever, I had no idea what to do next.
     
    Jeremy returned with a few bits of plants in his hands, and knelt over me again.  “Let me see it,” he said.  I reluctantly removed my hand from the bite on my shoulder, while he started picking some little flowers from his hand.  “This might sting a little,” he cautioned.  I hissed in pain as he pressed the plants to my wounds, but he kept a hand held tight over me to hold me steady.  Then he took a large leaf and wrapped it over my shoulder, pressing it down to hold it in place.  “This ought to help the pain, and keep it from getting infected.”
     
    I clenched my teeth for a few seconds more, but then the pain started to dull.  I sighed as my muscles started to relax, and my hand came on top of his, partly to help hold the leaf in place, partly for… other reasons.
     
    “Where’d you learn that?”
     
    “My pack puts a lot of value on learning herbal medicines,” he said.  “You never know when you might need to treat something when you're miles from a first aid kit.”
     
    “Case in point,” I said.
     
    Jeremy lay down on the ground and curled up with me.  “You know we can’t stay here long,” he said.  “If they come looking for us, they’ll find us.  They only have to follow our scent trail.”
     
    “And what happens if they do find us?” I wondered aloud.  I was not expecting him to know the answer; I just needed to ask it, because I really wanted to know.
     
    “Who can say?” he said.  “I guess it depends on which pack finds us first.  They’ll probably try to kill one of us and take the other one back.”
     
    Great.  Really comforting.
     
    “Well,” I sighed, “maybe they’re still too busy fighting each other to worry about us right now.  How many of them even know we’re gone yet?”
     
    “Glad to see you finding the glass half full,” he said.
     
    “Actually I’m coming up with an excuse to just lie here for a while.”
     
    Jeremy chuckled.  “I can appreciate that.”
     
    He wrapped an arm around my back and pulled me against his chest, which I pressed my head against, using him as my pillow.
     
    I think we dozed off like that for a few hours.  The next thing I remember was being awoken by the sound of a howl in the distance.  It didn’t take me long to recognize the howl either.
     
    “That’s my alpha,” I said in a harried whisper as Jeremy and I lifted our heads.  “He’s looking for me.”
     
    “How’s your shoulder?” he asked.
     
    I looked down at it, pulling the leaf away.  The area around it was pretty purple and yucky, but the bite wound had closed.  “I think I’m okay.  Going to leave a scar, though.  Guess I’m due for one.”
     
    “Come on,” he said, rising to his feet and extending a hand down to help me to mine.