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Captivated by the She-Wolf

Page 18

by Kristal Hollis


  “Where are you?”

  “In the camper. They wouldn’t let me ride with her.”

  “Everything is going to be all right, okay?”

  There was a muffled sound. “Where’s my dad?”

  “Um.” Glancing around their empty hotel suite, Ronni wondered that as well. For the second time tonight, she had awakened to find him gone. “He stepped out, but I’ll have him call you as soon as he gets back.”

  “Okay.” Willow sniffed.

  “I’ll ask Rafe to come by. You can stay with his family and Alex until we get home.”

  “Thanks,” Willow said quietly.

  “Bye, hon.” As soon as the line disconnected, Ronni called Rafe. He didn’t hesitate when she asked him to pick up Willow so she wouldn’t have to be alone.

  The call to the hospital was less than productive. Since Ronni wasn’t family, she couldn’t get any information on Mary’s condition. Anticipating that Bodie would want to leave immediately, Ronni dressed quickly and packed their bags. She padded out to the balcony. The sun had peaked on the horizon and was rapidly laying claim to the day.

  Ronni tried, unsuccessfully, not to be annoyed. Bodie had left her alone in the room, again, to go off to wherever to do whatever, and now his daughter needed him.

  What was he hiding that he didn’t want her to know?

  Rubbing her arms did nothing to dispel the uncomfortable, itchy feeling prickling her skin.

  “Bodie, where the hell are you?”

  As clear as if he were standing next to her, Bodie’s voice resonated in her mind. “Right here, beautiful.”

  A second later, the door opened and he walked in wearing sneakers, gym shorts and a glistening layer of sweat.

  Ronni buried her surprise that Bodie had heard her thoughts and responded in kind. There were reasons it could’ve happened other than a mate-bond, such as an overactive imagination.

  His relaxed grin dissolved and he pulled out his earbuds. “What’s wrong?”

  “Willow called. Your mother fell and had to be taken to the hospital.”

  Some of the color drained from Bodie’s face. He reached for his phone on the bedside table.

  “I asked Rafe to pick her up. She seemed too upset to stay alone.”

  Phone tucked between his cheek and shoulder, he nodded, but she wasn’t sure he actually heard her.

  “Hey, chickadee,” he said in a soothing father’s voice. “Ah, sweetheart. Everything’s going to be fine.”

  How many times had she assured Alex of the same, knowing there was no way to guarantee the promise?

  Ronni slipped onto the balcony, lightly closing the door behind her. She inhaled a deep breath of fresh air, allowing it to filter through her entire body before releasing it.

  Bodie had simply gone to the resort’s gym to work out and her mind had immediately accused him of doing something behind her back.

  Just because Zeke had kept a secret throughout their entire mateship that undermined her trust in him didn’t mean that Bodie was untrustworthy. Still, it was unsettling to wake up and find his side of the bed vacant and cold, twice in one night.

  Shortly after midnight when Ronni had got up to look for him, she had startled him, meditating on the balcony. Unable to sleep, Bodie had said he needed the fresh air.

  Ronni sensed something was bothering him but he brushed aside her concern. A little part of her worried that he felt smothered by the amount of time they’d spent together. Maybe all they were good for were the stolen moments.

  The balcony door opened.

  “Did you call the hospital?” Ronni’s grip on the railing tightened.

  “Yeah. Mom is going for X-rays, and the doctor wants to do some other tests because she’s had a few falls lately.” Bodie’s chin rested on Ronni’s shoulder. Hugging her waist, he sighed. “Thank you for thinking about Willow. She’s never had to be alone.”

  “There’s no need to thank me. I’m a mother. I know when my child needs something.”

  “You think of Willow as your child?” Bodie’s tone was perfectly neutral and she began wondering if his feelings ran as deep as hers.

  “It’s an instinct.” She kept all emotion out of her voice, but yes. Willow had become quite special to her.

  “Hey.” Bodie’s hands gripped the railing on either side of her, effectively pinning her between his arms. “Are you upset with me because we have to cut the weekend short?”

  “Of course not.” Ronni could ignore the feelings creating havoc inside her but that wouldn’t do either of them any good. “On the first night we’ve spent together, you disappear twice. It’s unsettling. And you’ve seemed distant ever since I found you meditating.”

  “Baby.” He turned her around and cupped her face. “When I can’t sleep, I meditate and when that doesn’t work, I exercise. And I’m not distant. Just tired.”

  The knot tightening in her spirit made it difficult to believe him.

  “I’m going to grab a quick shower and we’ll check out.” His thumb gingerly caressed her cheek.

  “Okay.” Ronni nodded.

  “We’ll have more weekend getaways, I promise.” Sighing, he walked inside the room, leaving her on the balcony.

  Ronni turned to watch the sunrise painting the sky in vibrant colors behind the hazy mountains.

  Her hopes that Bodie’s feelings were as real as hers began diminishing. If he didn’t trust her enough to share his troubles or worries, maybe they weren’t as close as she imagined.

  Chapter 22

  “Bodaway!”

  His head jerked, his eyelids flew open and he found himself awkwardly scrunched in an uncomfortable chair. Restless after the meeting with Kane, Bodie slept very little last night and had planned to spend a lazy Sunday morning making love to Ronni and sharing a leisurely breakfast in bed before coming home.

  Instead, his mother’s accident had rushed them back to Maico. Ronni and the kids went to her house and he’d come straight to the hospital, only to find the patient peacefully sleeping when he’d entered her room more than an hour ago.

  Straightening his back, he wiggled into a better sitting position.

  “What are you doing here?” his mother asked. “You didn’t need to cut your weekend short.”

  “Of course we did.” At least he and Ronni were able to spend an entire day and night together before having to fly home.

  “Ronni probably thinks I did this on purpose.”

  “Why?” Scooting closer to her hospital bed, he reached for his mother’s hand.

  “I told her she wasn’t the right woman for you.”

  “She doesn’t hold that against you.” Bodie smiled. “Ronni said she might feel the same way when Alex gets a serious girlfriend.”

  “What you’re doing with her is unnatural.”

  “I love her,” he said without thinking. But once the words were out, he recognized the truth.

  At first, he’d viewed the relationship as an opportunity to gain membership into the Co-op. But that changed so fast and he truly had fallen in love.

  “Have you revealed your raven?” A pensive frown tightened his mother’s mouth.

  “We came home before I had the chance.”

  “I’m sorry to have ruined your plans.” She smoothed the bedsheet over her stomach.

  “Then why did you send Kane?” The unexpected encounter had knocked Bodie off-kilter and whatever connection he and Ronni shared had allowed her to sense his conflicted emotions. Just as he had been able to sense hers.

  Before she began to suspect that he was harboring a dark secret, he needed to reveal his raven. Once they both came clean about their abilities, they could discuss a future together.

  “You spoke with Kane?” Mary’s hands stilled.

  “He summoned me. And I’m not happy that you
have been communicating with him.” Not happy was so much of an understatement when Bodie couldn’t even begin to describe the depths of disappointment, anger and hurt that had twisted his heart.

  But he was a parent, too, and intimately understood the drive to protect one’s child. Regardless of any true jeopardy.

  “I told Kane that Ronni will become my next mate and warned him not to interfere.” The ache in his back growing to a burning pain, Bodie stood and stretched. “I’m anxious for Ronni to know I’m the raven who watches over her, but I’m not sure how she’ll take the news.”

  “It shouldn’t be too difficult for her to understand, considering she’s a wolf.”

  Fear clanged in Bodie’s ears and his entire body chilled.

  “Don’t look so shocked.” Mary used the hand controls to adjust the bed. “I’ve seen the inside of the Co-op’s wolf sanctuary, too.”

  Fear stabbed Bodie’s heart. “Did you tell Kane?”

  “No.” Mary patted his hand wrapped tightly around the bed’s side rail. “That would’ve been too large of a betrayal for you to forgive.”

  It absolutely would’ve been.

  “There are whispers of resistance among the Tlanuhwa. If the Tribunal learn we are living among another shifter species, paranoia will cause them to act irrationally. I want Wahyas to be our allies, not our enemies. As a people, we must change but an outright revolt can only end badly for everyone.”

  Bodie stood, stretched his back and walked to the window to open the blinds. The sun was high above but the sky was overcast and gloomy.

  “You knew this time was coming. That is why you brought us here, isn’t it?”

  “I can’t be the only father in my generation to struggle with how the way things are done.” Bodie gave a half shrug. “I hoped joining the Co-op would give us a surrogate family, in case things went badly for our people, but I didn’t know the wolves were shifters until I met Ronni.”

  “Will the wolves shelter us if war comes?”

  “I believe they protect their own. If Ronni takes me as her mate, I will become a pack member and so will you and Willow.”

  “But what about our clansmen? We’re a peaceful people, Bodie. Many will flee a war.”

  “I doubt Gavin Walker wants his territory flooded with Tlanuhwa refugees.” Bodie crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “Maybe they have insight on reconciling the old traditions with the new.

  “Considering the werewolf legends, I imagine their history isn’t unlike our own. If we can learn how they managed to adapt and thrive, maybe there is hope for our species.”

  “There is more of your father in you than I ever wanted to admit.”

  “He always wanted me to be happy.” The old ache in Bodie’s heart throbbed. “Why didn’t you?”

  “Because I don’t want to lose you to the Quickening. Once it fuses your soul to the one it seeks, the Quickening can make you act against your nature and do unimaginable things. I know you, Bodaway. If these things manifest in you, the guilt will destroy you.”

  “Nothing is going to make me act against my will. True love doesn’t do that to a man.”

  “Fear of losing that love does,” Mary said.

  Maybe some of that was true. If someone tried to take Ronni from him, Bodie would do everything in his power to keep her safe. But his efforts wouldn’t turn him into a monster.

  His phone pinged and he pulled the device from his pocket to read the text message.

  Hey, hon. How is Mary?

  “Ronni wants to know how you’re feeling,” Bodie told his mother.

  “Sore,” she answered. “But I’ll live.”

  Bodie replied with only his mother’s response but he wanted to say so much more. Like how he wished they could go back to yesterday and do it all again. And that he was growing more restless by the minute because he was here, she was there, and he was damn tired of saying goodbye.

  His phone pinged again. This time, Ronni sent a picture of Willow and Alex in her kitchen with the caption:

  Having pancakes for brunch. But there’s more batter on the counter than on the griddle :)

  Bodie’s heart smiled because Ronni had thought to include him in their fun. He replied:

  Wish I was there.

  Me, too.

  It wasn’t difficult for Bodie to envision laid-back mornings spent with family. A family that had grown from three to five, at least in his heart.

  “Willow was right.” His mother’s voice pulled his attention from the phone. “Ronni genuinely makes you happy.”

  “That’s why I love her.” Showing Mary the photo of the kids making more of a mess than brunch, Bodie would’ve sworn that he could smell the delicious scents of buttery pancakes, maple syrup and sizzling ham.

  Someone rapped on the door.

  “Mrs. Gryffon?” A tall, fit man, somewhere in his sixties, entered the room. “I’m Doctor Habersham. I’m not your admitting physician but Ronni asked me to check on you.”

  Studying the man, Bodie stepped forward. When dropping off Ronni and the kids at her house, Ronni had said she would ask Doc—Rafe’s adoptive dad, who was also the Co-op’s doctor—to stop by. Bodie had assumed the physician would be wolfan; however, nothing in his manner or movements suggested he was anything other than human. “Are you Rafe’s father?”

  “Yes.” Doc’s eyes crinkled behind his thick glasses.

  “I’m Bodie.” He shook the doctor’s hand in the customary human greeting.

  “Glad to finally meet you, though I wish the circumstances had been better.” Doc moved toward Mary’s bedside. “How is your pain this morning, Mrs. Gryffon?”

  “My right side is sore. If I move my leg, my foot throbs,” she replied.

  “Any headache?”

  “A slight one.”

  “The good news is that the CT scan doesn’t show any cranial trauma incurred during your fall, or any other worrisome process. Bad news is that your X-rays confirm a nondisplaced fracture in your foot.

  “Even though they’ve fitted you with a walking cast, you should avoid weight bearing so it can heal properly. At the very least, you’ll need to use crutches. A knee scooter may be better, at least for the first few weeks.”

  A knee scooter? There was barely enough room to walk around inside the camper.

  “And of course,” Doc continued. “No driving.”

  “How long will this take to heal?” Mary frowned.

  “A good six to eight weeks, maybe more, depending on how compliant you are with the discharge instructions. You’ll need to follow up with your primary care doctor in a week or so.”

  “I don’t have one.”

  “Then come see me. I’ll have my office schedule an appointment for Thursday.”

  Bodie’s shoulders sank and his chest tightened at the added responsibilities his mother’s accident would put on him. Already, he was jostling long work days. How would he manage to get Willow to and from school, take his mother to the doctor, do his job and spend time with Ronni?

  Simply, he couldn’t. Something had to give but he didn’t know what.

  * * *

  The pungent antiseptic smell of the hospital burned Ronni’s sensitive wolfan nose. She tried to breathe as little of the air, saturated with the scent of sickness and suffering, as possible.

  Alex’s hand cupped his nose and mouth as they passed a room with an offending odor. “What is that smell?”

  “You don’t want to know,” Ronni answered.

  “Gross.” Willow pinched her nose.

  At the end of the long corridor, she saw Bodie exit a room. He stretched his back and shoulders, then crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. With his head bowed and chin tucked, he looked like a man deep in prayer.

  The weight on her chest seemed heavier with every
step. And the jumble of nerves converging in her stomach weren’t quite her own. The only explanation was that Bodie’s emotions were blending into her own.

  Definitely a mate-bond manifestation.

  So much for her decision to never allow herself to sync so intimately with another man. And from the way this one acted this morning, he might be having second thoughts about continuing their relationship. “Dad!” Willow called out in a hoarse whisper and she scurried toward him.

  Bodie slowly turned his head as if he wasn’t quite sure if he was the one being sought. The moment his gaze found Willow, a soft smile lightened his brooding expression.

  Ronni could see all the love and adoration Bodie had for Willow in that hug. The father-daughter moment caused emotion to swell in Ronni’s throat because she knew the hardest thing he’d ever do would be to let his little girl grow up. Ronni understood the turmoil firsthand. She lived it every day, watching Alex mature.

  Bodie’s gaze lifted to Ronni. Relief and gratitude shimmered in his eyes. And a rush of masculine energy warmed her, head to toe.

  “Hey,” Alex said casually as Willow stepped back from her father.

  Bodie answered with a nod.

  “How’s Enisi?” Willow asked.

  “The nurses are helping her get dressed and then we can take her home.” He glanced at the room’s closed door. “It might take a while. She’s moving fairly slow.”

  “Why don’t you two get a snack from the cafeteria?” Ronni said to Alex and Willow.

  “Here.” Bodie pulled out his wallet and handed a ten-dollar bill to each of the kids. “It’s on me.”

  “Thanks,” Willow and Alex said in unison.

  They left in a fast trot, racing to see who got to the cafeteria first.

  “Have you eaten?” Ronni asked Bodie.

  “Coffee and peanut butter crackers around lunchtime,” he said softly.

  “Join the kids and get something substantial in your stomach. I’ll wait here with your mom.”

  Slowly, Bodie shook his head as his tired gaze caressed her face.

  “Come here,” Ronni said, stepping up to him and circling her arms around his neck.

 

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