Rescue

Third Person POV
A black Range Rover flies through the night, along the winding road, through the forest towards the lights of the town.

The driver is grim faced and naked. His eyes are fixed on the road. There is an urgency to reach his destination.

In the back is a naked man cradling a woman. Tears are falling down the man’s face and onto the woman. He strokes her face, pushing her hair away from it.

‘Emma, Emma please don’t leave me,’ he whispers, pulling her closer to him. Trying to pass his life force to her, praying silently for her life.

The woman’s breathing is so shallow it is barely there; her pulse is weak and thready; she feels colder than the interior or the car. It would be easy to think that she has already passed.

The once pink shirt she wears is soaked in her own blood, smeared with earth and lichen from her journey through the woods, torn in places, and wet from rain, sleet and tears.

The man in the back begs the driver to go faster. Desperation impels him.

At last the car pulls onto a private road, trees hide the building ahead. Moments later the vehicle comes to a halt on a paved area in front of steps leading to a set of double doors.

People pour out, opening the car doors, desperate to aid the occupants. Someone hands joggers and a t-shirt to the driver, which he scrambles into gratefully. Another offers clothes to the man holding the woman… he refuses, clutching his precious cargo… scared that if he lets her go she will leave him forever. His nudity doesn’t worry him, so they leave him be.

A stunning woman with long black hair, mahogany coloured eyes and a mocha skin tone walks down the steps and approaches the man. She is dressed in a green trouser suit, with a white coat over it.

If you look carefully you can see that she resembles Felicia.

Her brown eyes dart over the scene, and she quickly appraises the situation.

‘Jess’ the man implores. ‘Help.’

‘Follow me little brother,’ she replies and turns on her heel, walking briskly back into the building, not bothering to see if he is following.
…
The woman is Doctor Jessica LeBlanc, half sister of Felicia and Peter. The result of a passionate affair between their father, Robert, and Madeline, a girl he met when travelling through the Ivory Coast.

As Madeline LeBlanc was human and not his mate, their father had failed to realise just what an impact having a child would have. Jessica was born after Robert had returned to the pack and had met his mate, so she didn’t meet her father for many years.

At fourteen Jess had her first shift. The emergence of her wolf, Akissi, who resembles an African painted dog, freaked out both the child and her mother.

Fortunately Robert had felt responsible for Jess and had stayed in touch with Madeline, although he hadn’t shared the family secret. When it became clear that Jess took after him, he arranged for them to move to Dijon in France.

Madeline didn’t want to lose her daughter to Robert’s family, so after a 6-month sojourn with the pack when she learnt to communicate with and control her inner wolf, Jess was enrolled at one of the best schools in France.

Jess had spent every summer holiday with the pack, allowing her to build a good relationship with her brother and sister, who were four and seven when she met them for the first time, and coming to terms with not just being a werewolf, but having such a distinct and unusual one.

She also learnt about the Goddess, and the wider supernatural community, although it wasn’t until much later that she understood or accepted either into her life.

Hard work, a natural intelligence, and a desire to understand what she was had led to Jess becoming a renowned doctor in both the human and supernatural worlds.
…
Jess had dropped everything when she got the call four hours ago, and a favour owed by a witch had got her to the safe house over two hours ago. She had set up in the penthouse of the private apartment block, and this is where she leads Peter.

Peter strode up beside her, and they wait for the lift in silence. Jess had considered the stairs, but disregarded the option as it would be too disrupting for the woman in her brother's arms.

Once inside the elevator Jess reaches across, feeling for Emma’s carotid pulse. She frowns.

‘Who is this and what the hell has happened to her?’ she demands.

‘My mate... she was attacked,’ he grates. ‘She’s human.’

For such a short sentence Peter has given Jess a lot to unpack. The broken form he is holding is his mate. She guesses that the woman must be a fated mate, and his proximity and the mate bond are the only things allowing her to maintain her tenuous grip on life.

The lift dings as it comes to a stop, the doors open into a small lobby which they cross and enter the flat.

The lights are already on and the most obvious thing is a large table, covered in a blanket, sitting incongruously in the centre of the lounge area.

‘Peter, I need you to assist me,’ she starts. ‘I suspect that you are your mate’s anchor to life, so I need you to maintain contact with her at all times, even if it is just holding her hand.’

‘You are going to find this difficult. You will see things that make you angry, that will make Braon want to kill someone, but you have to keep it together. Can you do that?’ She continues.

‘Yes,’ his agonised response. ‘Can you heal her? Can you save Emma?’

‘I don’t know Petey, but I will do my best.’
…
Jess indicates the table and Peter lays Emma on it. He holds her hand and gently strokes her face, murmuring to her.

‘Get her out of those wet clothes. They are adding to the problems.’ Jess instructs and she goes and turns up the thermostat.

Peter doesn’t worry about the buttons on the shirt, he literally rips the fabric, then gently pulls her into sitting position so he can get the destroyed garment off over her shoulders. Next he pulls off her shorts; then hesitates at her panties.

‘Everything,’ Jess says. ‘Her dignity isn’t going to do her much good if she is dead.’

Peter complies, laying Emma back onto the table.

His eyes rake her poor abused body; from her bruised and swelling face; to the marks on her chest; to the grazes and other cuts on her legs; to her bloody feet; to her red and unhealed mate mark.

She looks so small and frail. He is astounded that she has survived so much, that she is still clinging to existence. His eyes flash violet, Braon growls, then whimpers.

They looks at Jess for reassurance. ‘I know,’ she answers gently. Then she hands Peter a soft blanket to cover Emma’s dignity and help warm her.

‘Thank you,’ he whispers.

‘Roll her on her side,’ Jess is all business, inserting a rectal thermometer. ‘Shit 27 degrees cee - before we treat anything else we have got to get her body temperature up.’
...
Jess is sitting at a table in the sitting room, she holds her head in hands. She has spent hours treating Emma. Dawn had come and gone, the storm had passed, and lunchtime was fast approaching.

Eventually she got her patient’s body temperature to start rising, and was able to attend to the other injuries. Now it was with the Goddess.

So she had settled the girl into bed in the master bedroom. Dressed in one of Peter’s t-shirts, and he was maintaining physical contact with her, a drip and monitors in place so Jess could leave to write up her notes into a new medical record.
…
**Medical Record**
Name: Emma Ecles
Age: 46
Species: Human
Location - Symptoms / Injuries - Treatment :
Whole body - hypothermia - warm compresses
Nose - Broken - set and packed
Eyes - Bruising around sockets - observation
Mouth - Split lip - cleaned
Chest, right hand side - Cracked Ribs - salve and bandage
Right wrist - bruising - salve and bandage
Upper left thigh - mate mark unhealed - salve
Both legs - Minor lacerations and bruising - cleaned and salve
Both feet - chilblains - cleaned and salve
Right Foot - two broken toes - cleaned and strapped
Both feet - lacerations of various depths - cleaned and bandaged
…
Emma is in the big double bed, her tiny frame looks even tinier. A drip runs into her arm, a monitor beeps away filling the silence.

Peter sits beside the bed holding her hand, gently stroking the back of it. Jess comes in and approaches his slumped form.

‘I have done all I can, Peter,’ Jess says, laying a hand of comfort onto his shoulder. ‘It is up to her and the Goddess now.’

Peter nods at his sister. ‘I know,’ his voice rasps. ‘No guarantees.’

He turns his face back to Emma, to continue his vigil.