Pulse

^Pulse 11^

A tickle of something went and frozen on my nose awoke me from the darkness. I realized I was being carried in somebodies arms. They were warm, but I could tell whoever was carrying me was struggling. That made the person human. I opened my eyes and white was all I could see. Snow fell widely around me, the chill of it was unbearable. Struggling in the arms I noticed that it was the man from earlier.

"Let me go" I shouted but it drowned away in the wind. Finally I got the upper hand and fell, not so graciously, from his arms. The snow cushioned my fall but had made it so I was wrapped in a blanket of frost. The man hastily picked me up, fingers wrapped securely around my bicep. We moved towards the edge of the mountain. I noticed how far up we were sending my stomach down to the end of my body.

"Please" I begged but again no words could be spoken. A loud roar broke through the winds noise and it seemed at that moment the wind dropped down a notch.

"Let her go!" Hayden screamed walking closer to us. His eyes flickered towards, me making sure I wasn't harmed. Tears welled in my own eyes, emotion seemed to surround me. The man backed away slowly, intimated by Hayden.

The grip on me tightened once more before it loosened, making me stumble at the lack of balance I suddenly had. It seemed like slow motion as the man lightly tapped me and I fell backwards. Time then stopped. I didn't feel myself fall, I couldn't feel the wind in my hair, or sense the ground beneath me disappear. Everything simply stopped.

It might have been seconds, or hours but I was suddenly on the ground again. Adrenaline pulsed through my body and I couldn't feel the bones in my body. I looked at my leg, the awkward swell of the calf muscle and I knew if I could feel it, I wouldn't want to know anyways how it felt. I couldn't hear anything from what was happening above me, the ledge that I fell upon could easily be jumped back on but because of my leg I couldn't get the strength the jump. I got up and leaned heavily on the mountain wall, trying to get all the weight off my leg.

"Hayden" I called. I hoped in someway he could come to my side and lift me from the depths. he must have heard me because shortly he was peeking over the side his eyes shining with worry. Hayden reached down and I put my hand in his. Warmth radiated from the simple touch.

Easily he lifted me up and I sagged heavily in his arms.

"Are you okay" he whispered in my ear, brushing a strand of hair from my face. I nodded, mentally everything was okay.

"I think my leg is broken" Gently he set me on the ground and I looked behind him to see the man struggling on the ground. Hayden briskly walked over as the man swayed uneasily on his feet. Just as Hayden reached him, the man lunged forward seeming to collapse in Hayden's body.

Hayden pushed him off and just stared at him for a moment and the man looked down to his hands in silence where a blooded knife lay.

Hayden growled loudly lunging for him. The man easily dodged Hayden's advance before he took off back in the woods. Hayden staggered forward before he collapsed in a heap on the ground.

Instinct kicked me into overdrive and I quickly limped over to him, my leg groaning in protest. I heaved him up to my side and shuffled forward. I knew that I couldn't carry him all the way back to the cabin, but I had to get out of the snow covered area. Luckily a cave was tucked away about 10 feet away. Gritting my teeth I started forward. Hayden breathing was really hard once we reached the cave entrance. He let out a huff and suddenly all his weight was on me and I tumbled forward, him landing on me.

Tears welled in my eyes as I tried to hold in a scream as I seemed to feel the bone crack even further.

Pusing Hayden off me, I quickly leaned over to check his puncture wound. The wound was oozing blood and I could see a tint of the green around the edges. The blade was poisoned.

Automatically I pressed my hand to his side, using them to hurry along the clot.

"We are both hurt" I quickly put more pressure to his wound, or attempted to. He easily pushed me away, stumbling into the wall behind him. "We need help Hayden"

"I'm trying but the blade is covered in silver, it's blocking signals to my brother" he leaned heavily against the wall of the cave. "Dammit" he said slamming his fist against the wall. "I'm going to shift"

My back was to him as he quickly stripped off his clothes and shifted into his wolf, his howls of pain were deafening through the small cave. Limping as quick as possible I grabbed his tee shirt wrapping it around his bleeding abdominal. Then I sat back against the cold cave wall my hands shaking wildly as I wrapped them closer to my body. Hayden tried to take steps towards the entrance before he collapsed, whimpering as he lay on the ground. Our eyes met and I looked away from the helplessness. He got up before collapsing heavily by my side.

"I'm sorry Hayden" I cried leaning over his body and gripping it tight. He nudged me and I looked into the blue eyes. They flashed gold and I felt something like a nudge in my head. Gasping it was like a flood of thoughts entered into my head at once.

"Don't be afraid" Hayden's voice was loud throughout my head.

"Is this a werewolf thing?" I hesitantly asked aloud.

"It's a mate thing. We could have done this the first time I linked to you but this is the first time I've felt the need to use it. Come closer, I will try to keep you warm"

"I'm sorry for getting us into this mess" I said burying my face into his thick fur. My body was shivering uncontrollably and I am sure my lips were probably blue.

"It's not entirely your fault" he sighed and I could feel him nuzzle my head.

"Human Hayden would be scolding me" all he did was laugh in return. "Hayden I'm cold." I said after a moment of silence. I could feel him try to scoot closer.

"My mother's nickname was Lobo. It means wolf in spanish. My dad was the alpha and wolf, but my mother was the true alpha, always taking charge and having the spirit of the wolves. My mother was also a gentle soul. She would take in wild wolves if they were hurt and nursed them back to health. A few stuck by her side and watched over her. She died when I was 13 to influenza. She would have liked you. Sometimes I can see her in my head shaking her head at how I've treated you. I'm sorry Ella. But I promise I will do everything possible to get you out of this mess, anything"

"My favorite color is green" I said suddenly.

"What"

"At the mall, you asked me if I liked the color blue. I do but my favorite is green, like the pine trees"

"I like the color amber. Like your eyes" the silence followed his sentence and we sat there, lost in our own thoughts for a while.

"Are we going to die" I asked, no longer having enough water to shed tears. My only response was a whine. "Hayden I'm scared" after getting no response I looked towards his face, and saw that he was already unconscious.