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T W E N T Y - T W O

H A L F S I S T E R: a female offspring having only one parent in common with another offspring (see: Nicole Storm)

“What are you doing here?” I asked Nicole hurriedly. We both sat in cramped backseat of Jungkook's car. Well more like I sat and Nicole leaned on me to keep from falling over. Jungkook sat in front, driving. Nicole needed a pack healer, but Jungkook's pack had been void of one for almost a decade. Nicole needed Henry, he'd studied under a pack healer before choosing to be a fighter. He was the closest thing to a pack healer that I could think of, “What happened to you?”

“Four pack. For the past few years they've been after something of mine. The bloody bastards are unrelenting,” She hisses in pain, and I allow her to slowly rest her head in my lap, “I told my fighters to scatter and regroup with my beta.” I pressed my hoodie against the cut in her side that just didn't seem to stop bleeding.

“Why aren't you healing?” I asked as her face twisted in agony.

“Wolfsbane,” she mutters, “Only Cade would use wolfsbane on a fellow shifter. ing asswipe.” Jungkook laughs from the front seat.

“What about you?” I asked, “You told your packmate's to scatter, what are you doing here?”

Nicole shook her head, “I don't bring my pack healer with me to the States and I know this cut needs more than just rubbing alcohol and a band aid. I could only think of you guys.”

“How did you find us?” Jungkook speaks up.

“I followed your scent.” Bull.

“All the way from Vegas?”

“Yes.” Her voice changes, “I know it sounds crazy, but believe me; when I'm not withering in pain I'll explain everything to you.”

“Okay- Then how did you get here?”

“I ran,” Nicole says. I turn to ask her something but find her eyes fluttering shut.

Well.

I open my mouth to say something but then Jungkook pulls up the driveway and parks harshly in front of my house. “Come on, she conked out. That can't be good.” I quickly step out of the car and put her arm around my shoulder so I can hold her up.

Jungkook jogs around the car to help me.

“Henry!” I yell, knowing he can hear me, “Get downstairs, I need you.”

Within seconds he appears at the doorway, already moving to take Nicole from Jungkook and me and cradles her in his arms, “What happened? I could smell the blood from miles away.” His usual teasing voice is all business as he leads us into the house.

“She's hurt, wolfsbane. She can't heal.” I say.

Henry strides into the kitchen where Jaron, Mark and Taylor are playing cards on the counter top. They all look up in surprise. I push past Henry and swept the cards off the counter top hurriedly.

“Aaemi, what's going on?” Jaron asks, eyes wide as he watches Henry place the bleeding girl on the marble top. I turn to answer him but then I catch Mark's face in the corner of my eyes.

“Cole?” His voice is ragged with surprise as he stares at the limp girl with a look I can't begin to decipher. Mark takes a step closer, his face impassive. Henry ripped at her shirt and starts examining the cut, but can't get Mark's voice out of my head.

“Do you know her?” I ask, concerned by the amount of anxiety that pours off him.

Mark turns to me, running a hand through his hair, and for a moment, I don't think he's going to answer. Then, “She's my mate.”

“Your mate?” I practically shrieked, “You have a mate?” Mark shakes his head.

“I had a mate. Cole isn't my mate anymore, we severed the bond years ago.” He said distractedly as he watched Henry tear more of her shirt.

We all hold our breath as Nicole's side comes to view. Her injury has food roiling in my stomach. Her skin had bloated, increased in surface area and bunched in huge sickly green mounds around her cut. The actual cut itself mustn't have been more than a nick, but it was barely visible around the mess of dead skin leaking with puss and a silver blue liquid. Henry swears colorfully and I glance back to Mark who looks utterly immobilized.

Nicole moans in pain, tipping towards Mark who almost stumbles back. Her hand falls in his direction, but all he does is stare at her. Question overwhelm me, but I can't afford to ask them as I position my hoodie underneath her head.

“What's going on?” Jaron asks, moving closer to me, “Who is she?”

“We met her in Vegas, she's alpha of a pack in England,” I say, turning slightly to look at Jaron.

Suddenly Jungkook appears beside me, holding a plastic box out to Henry who throws open the lid and shuffles through the supplies quickly. He produces a bottle of rubbing alcohol, a pair of surgical scissors and a lighter.

Nicole's eyes flutter open at just that moment and Henry lets off another round of swear words. Her eyes are still dull with the haze from unconsciousness but the second her eyes focus on Mark, pain slices through them and she regains her thoughts.

“Hold her down,” Henry orders, “I don't have any painkillers strong enough to work immediately and this needs to be done now.” I shoot forwards with Jungkook and grab hold of her legs. Mark moves to her other side in seconds, any hesitation from his initial shock in gone and his have is a mask of indifference. He clamps a hand on her upper forearm and her thigh.

“It's okay,” Nicole breathes out harshly, barely restrained pain making it hard for her to talk without screaming as silent tears pour down her face, “It's okay, just do it.” She grips the marble edges of the counter

“This is going to hurt,” Henry says, moving to block her view, “I need to cut away the skin that's infected with the wolfsbane.” Just the thought of