Tabitha was the first to reach the person they saw get tossed over the bushes. Amanda followed close behind her. It was a male student.
“Hey, can you hear me?” Tabitha asked the male that was knocked out on the ground. She checked to feel for a pulse. It was faint, but he had one.
Tabitha assessed the wounds across his body. They didn’t look good.
“We need to call for help,” Tabitha said.
Amanda dropped down to the ground and took her flannel off.
“We need to also try to stop the bleeding.”
Amanda pulled out a small pocket knife and started to cut the flannel into strips.
Tabitha pulled out her phone to call the paramedics and campus security.
Amanda started to wrap the strips around the different wounds and then applied pressure to the one she felt needed the most attention.
“How do you know to do that?” Tabitha asked.
Amanda shrugged and said, “Girl Scouts.”
Tabitha nodded. She kept canvassing the area, trying to get a bearing if the shifter was still in the vicinity. She could sense something in the far distance, but it moved farther away.
In the distance, Tabitha could see the emergency lights of the paramedics and started to wave her arms in the air to get their attention. When the vehicle pulled up, two uniformed paramedics jumped out. One grabbed their medical bag, and the other rushed to the back to open the back door. Another paramedic hopped out and assisted with getting the stretcher out of the vehicle.
“Can you tell us what happened?” a female paramedic asked while assessing the injured victim.
“We were walking back from the diner a few blocks down and saw him being thrown over the bushes to the ground. We didn’t see anyone or anything else. We tried to talk with him, but there has been no response, and my friend here tried to dress some of the wounds to stop the bleeding.”
“Okay, we can take it from here. If you could please step back, thank you.” Another paramedic told them.
Both Amanda and Tabitha stood up and did exactly what the paramedic told them to do. A few officers started to walk up and addressed them.
“Excuse me, my name is Officer Steven Reyes. Did either of you girls see what happened here tonight?”
Both girls nodded their heads. Amanda rubbed her arms to create some heat since she tore her flannel to shreds. Tabitha moved closer to Amanda to help distribute some of her heat to Amanda.
“Can you tell me what you saw?” he asked Tabitha.
Before she started to give her statement they heard a howling in the distance.
Crap.
“Why don’t we talk privately, and you can tell me what happened,” the officer asked Tabitha.
Tabitha nodded. She took off her sweatshirt and handed it to Amanda to keep her warm.
“Why don’t you go sit on the bench right there, and I’ll tell the officer everything we saw.”
Amanda smiled a half smile and walked over to the bench. She wrapped the sweatshirt around the front of her to keep her warm.
“Tab, what the hell happened?” Steven asked in a low tone.
“It’s another shifter attack. We saw him get tossed from the bushes. We tried to help with the wounds and then called for help.”
“Where’s Alpha?” Steven asked.
Tabitha looked off into the woods and nodded her head.
“That howl was either his or Marco’s. I had mind-linked Marco about another attack. I’m sure he told Hudson.”
“Who’s the girl?”
Tabitha sat quietly for a moment before answering. “That is Amanda, my friend, and roommate.”
As much as she wanted to tell Steven about Amanda being Hudson’s mate, she knew it was not her place to tell people. Especially if he kept screwing up his chances with Amanda and she rejects him.
Steven wrote the information down.
“Are either of you hurt at all?”
“No, we’re fine. Just tried.”
“Go ahead and head back to your dorm. If I need anything else, I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks, Steven,” Tabitha said before she turned and walked over to Amanda.
“All right, Wonder Woman let’s head to our dorm.”
Amanda smirked at the remark, Wonder Woman, she wished. She was actually surprised at how quickly her instincts kicked in to help that guy. She had never been in that type of situation before, and in Girl Scouts, they practiced First Aid, but she never needed it in a situation until now.
Amanda followed Tabitha to the dorm. Tabitha unlocked their door and opened it for them both to step into the room. Tabitha closed and locked the door before turning back to Amanda.
“Are you okay?” she asked as she looked at Amanda and saw the shock finally settling in.
‘What do you think did that?” Amanda asked.
Tabitha had a clue but was definitely not ready to explain any of it to Amanda.
Tabitha shook her head. “I have no clue. Something with very long and sharp claws.”
Amanda shivered, “I guess I never thought that there could be animals that big living so close to the campus. I assumed with all the rucks it would scare them away. Guess I was wrong.”
“Well, let’s not dwell on it anymore tonight. If we do, we probably won’t get any sleep. And you know how I get if I don’t get my sleep.”
Amanda let out a laugh and got ready for bed.
It wasn’t until she got under the covers that she remembered her quarrel with Hudson. For a moment, she almost wished he was here. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes.
Amanda didn’t know how long she had been asleep until she heard a tapping on her door. She pulled back the covers and walked over to the door. She felt a shiver before she got to the door.
“Who is it?” she whispered through the door.
“It’s Hudson.”
Amanda’s heart started to beat quicker, and her anxiety hit her quickly. She took a deep breath before opening the door.
Pulling the door back, she saw a figure by the door.
“It’s late, Hudson. What do you want?” she said quietly.
“I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. I heard about the attack and was worried.”
The flutter shot through her like a whirlwind, and her heart swelled. But her head squashed it all down when it reminded her of how he looked at her at the diner.
“Thank you for checking on me. We’re fine,” she said, as she tried to keep her emotions in check.
“I also wanted to say I’m sorry for earlier,” he whispered.
Amanda let out a sigh.
“Hudson.”
He lifted his hand and rubbed the back of his fingers against her cheek.
“I know I screwed up. I let my jealousy get the best of me.”
Hudson moved a little closer into the light. Amanda wasn’t sure if the shadows were playing games with her or if Hudson looked like he had been in a fight.
“What the hell happened to you?” Amanda asked in a loud whisper.