Jen threw her shirt and Jacque’s jacket at Sally. “Take off your shirt and take these and get them wet, then put your shirt back on and then throw me these two back. We will cover Jacque’s body in them to protect as much of her as possible as we pull her out.”

“What about you?” Sally worried

“DAMMIT SALLY JUST GO!” Jen hated yelling at her but she had to keep her focused, she was also beginning to realize that she cursed a whole lot more when she was under pressure. Oh well, could be worse, Jen thought.

Sally was back, dripping wet in her shirt. She threw the jacket and shirt to Jen and did her best to cover Jacque. She figured her face and stomach, where there were vital organs, would be the most important which left Jacques arms partially bear and her legs completely uncovered, but it couldn’t be helped. Jen once again got her arms underneath Jacque’s armpits and lifted. Sally grabbed Jacque's legs and on Jen’s count of three Sally pulled and Jen pushed. With strength that neither could have ever dreamed they got Jacque’s limp form moving forward out of the window. Jen saw the flames leap forward and scorch Jacque’s legs. She figured this would wake her friend up but Jacque never stirred. Finally, Jacque's upper body was making it through the window which put Jen directly in the line of fire, literally. Jen felt the flames on her bare skin and couldn’t help the scream that forced itself from her lungs. The flames hitting her skin acted like a whip slashing her forward into motion. She heaved with all her might, lunging forward, but just before she could get her and Jacque far enough from the flaming SUV, there was a huge boom, a flash of light, searing pain, and then Jen saw no more.

Sally screamed as the engine exploded; the smell of gasoline permeated the air. She suddenly felt part of Jacques body go slack and she realized the explosion had pushed Jen forward and onto her stomach. Both of her friends were unconscious and laying on the ground next to a burning vehicle.

“MS. PIERCE!” Sally yelled. When she didn’t get a response she turned, looking for Jacque’s mom. Finally she saw her through the haze of smoke billowing from the burning vehicle, sitting and staring into the flames, her face as blank as a freshly painted white wall. “LILLY! GET UP AND GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE AND HELP ME!” The urgency and desperation in Sally’s voice snapped Lilly out of her shock and she ran over, realizing what was happening.

“Grab Jen’s arms, flip her on her back, and start pulling as fast as you can. Don’t worry about her skin, it will heal. We have to get them as far away from that vehicle in case it blows again.” Lilly jumped into action, finally realizing that the stuff had hit the fan and she had to pull it together.

“Okay, okay, let's do this,” Sally said as she grabbed Jen and flipped her on her back and began to pull and walk backwards as fast as she could.

Lilly grabbed Jacque by the arms and began to drag herback away from the flames as well. When they had finally gotten a good distance away, they fell down next to the two unconscious forms. Sally immediately checked to see if Jen was breathing. She was, but it sounded labored. Both girls were severely burned, but they were alive, and at that moment that was all that mattered. Sally could hear sirens blaring and figured somebody who had seen the smoke must have called 911. The sirens seemed really close but that wasn't what she saw first. Suddenly through the smoke Sally saw a form racing towards them, moving faster than she thought possible. Fane came to an abrupt stop in front of Jacque’s prone, still form. He knelt down next to her and, taking a deep breath, he let out a mournful howl of sadness and fury.

Chapter 5

Fane was sitting quietly next to Jacquelyn as the ambulance, fire trucks, and police came blaring onto the scene. He didn’t dare touch her for all her burned skin. The ache in his chest felt as if a sharp wire had been wrapped around his heart and was being pulled tighter and tighter. He hadn’t even heard his father walk up, nor did he realize when the rest of the pack had arrived. Not until he heard Decebel’s deep growl did he finally snap out of his grief. Fane’s eyes jerked up as he saw the huge wolf kneel down next to Jen’s unconscious body. She was only in a sports bra and every inch of her exposed skin was burned, red, angry, and blistering. Fane didn’t know what to make of Decebel's behavior but that could be dealt with later, after Jacquelyn and Jen were taken care of.

Fane walked beside the gurney the EMTs had loaded Jacquelyn's damaged body on. He wasn’t letting her out of his sight. He didn’t care that he wasn’t a family member as the EMTs kept telling him, he was riding with her, and once he let them see the wolf in his eyes they quit arguing with him. Fane heard his father tell Decebel to ride with Jen. Fane could only assume that he had picked up on Decebel’s earlier show of emotion and decided to use it to his advantage for now. After all, a good Alpha always utilized his wolves to the best of their ability. Fane could only hope that his Alpha was utilizing the other wolves to figure out exactly what had happened. Sally and Lilly were being taken in another ambulance and Fane saw his mother climbing in to ride with them.

Fane’s father walked up to him just before they closed the ambulance doors. “I will follow you to the hospital. Sorin, Skender and Boian are going to stay here and see if they can get some idea of what happened and if it was truly an accident or not.” Fane simply nodded. His wolf was on the surface and Fane did not trust himself to speak for fear that he might let lose the barely contained rage that boiled close to the surface. In truth, at this moment anyone near him was in potential danger. That’s what you get when an Alpha’s mate is injured. The EMTs shut the ambulance door and a few moments later Fane felt the vehicle begin to move.