by D. M. Turner
“I didn’t expect to see both of you this morning.” Ian frowned. He’d assumed David would fly the human members of the pack to safety and return later. “Are your families safe?”
“Yes, sir.” O’Neil dipped his chin once.
David nodded agreement. “A pilot buddy of mine flew our wives and kids to Texas. We came straight here from the airport.”
“I see.” Ian looked from one to the other. “You know, none of us would’ve thought less of you if you’d left with your families. This situation could get dicey.”
“We realize that, sir.” O’Neil smiled. “But this is where we need and want to be. Our wives aren’t thrilled, of course, but they understand it could take all of us to fight this battle. If I wasn’t here and it cost lives, I’d never forgive myself.”
“Me neither.” David shook his head.
“Well… thank you for standing by the pack.” Ian motioned toward empty chairs at the table. As they took seats, he glanced at Brett. “Does anyone know if Tanya’s parents are safe?”
Donna raised her hand. “They left early this morning to visit her brother in Phoenix. She had them call me to confirm they were on the road.”
“That leaves only one human to secure. He’s not a member of the pack, but he might as well be.”
Brett nodded in understanding. “Pastor Fleming.”
“Yes. Do you suppose we can convince him to leave town for a few days?”
“We can try.”
Sophia cast Ian a puzzled frown. “Why would they go after the pastor? How would they connect him to the pack?”
“We attend his church. Our scents will be all over the parking lot and the church. They won’t have to know any of us by scent, of course, but they’ll smell wolf. That’s more than sufficient to put Pastor Fleming in danger.”
“Oh.” Her frown deepened. “I’d like to pretend no one would hurt a man of God, but I have a feeling these guys don’t have a single moral fiber to dissuade them from such evil.”
Ian nodded. “His father was one of us, so that makes him as close to pack as a human can get without being mated to a wolf. We need to protect him.”
A broad grin crept across Brett’s face, immediately raising suspicion. “Well, then, I suppose it’s a good thing you’ll be seeing him later, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean? I have no plans to see the pastor today.”
“Sure you do.” Brett shared a look with the other pack members surrounding the table.
Most of them smirked and hid grins without looking at Ian. Donna and O’Neil glanced at Ian then ducked their heads.
“We have decided that you and Sophia are getting married today,” Brett declared.
Eyes narrowed, Ian frowned. “You decided? What makes you think the pack has any say in the matter? It’s up to us when we get married. It’ll wait until we’ve dealt with Brimfield.”
His friend’s eyes narrowed with a knowing smirk. “Why wait? Are you afraid to do it before then?”
The implication was more than annoying, making him clench his teeth. “Of course not. We’ve got a lot to do today, and I’m not willing to be away from the Preserve when we know they could show up at any time.”
“Well, they won’t be here until at least tonight, plus the pack has everything else in hand, so you’ve got the whole day free. You can go this morning to get your marriage license. The county clerk’s office opens at eight o’clock.” Brett raised a brow in what struck Ian as a condescending smirk. “If you’re not afraid, that is.”
Ian growled.
Several pack members shot concerned looks at Brett, Ian, and each other then made an intense study of the top of the dining table.
Then Sophia growled, drawing Ian and Brett’s attention. She glared at the latter. “Stop prodding at Ian. He won’t have to kick your butt. I’ll do it for him. I’ve already eaten the liver of one guy who ticked me off. I’d have no problem doing so again.”
Brett’s eyes widened, then he lowered his gaze.
Ian forced back a laugh and trained his face into neutral lines.
Some of the pack stared at Sophia with wide eyes then quickly looked away before her gaze left the pack’s enforcer. Doubt, fear, and surprise warred on their faces, like they weren’t sure whether to believe the threat, much less that she could back it up.
Truth be told, Ian wasn’t sure she could take Brett in a fight, but he wouldn’t put it past her to try, if he pushed her buttons. In his experience, female wolves were ruthless fighters, especially when defending their mates and children. Alison had taken on a monstrous mountain lion alone to protect Colin. Ian had little doubt Sophia would take on Brett to defend him. Hopefully, it never came to that. He’d hate to lose either of them.
Brett was right, though. They had time to get married before the threat of Brimfield’s pack loomed close enough to keep him home. Besides, it could be days before Brimfield attacked. For all they knew, the alpha could decide to wait until the full moon to show, though he doubted the man would wait so long.
Ian didn’t particularly want to wait and find out. He wanted Sophia as his mate, binding and legal. She’d been with them less than a week, and he already had to watch his behavior around her. If she showed up in his room again because of nightmares, or he had to comfort her for some reason, things could get out of control quickly. Being with him seemed to allay her bad dreams. What better way to help with that than for her to share his bed without fear of impropriety or sin?
Ian squeezed Sophia’s hand and glanced at her. “Are you game?”
“To get married today?”
He nodded.
“I guess so. I don’t see any reason to wait. Do you?” She cocked her head just enough for him to realize that, despite her threat against Brett, she had doubts of her own about his readiness to move on. Justifiably so, after the way he’d behaved.
He half-smiled and met her gaze without flinching. “No reason in the world.”
A warm smile curved that totally kissable mouth.
Without regard for their audience, he leaned the few inches between them to kiss her.
Whistles and hoots rose up from the pack.
Sophia pulled back and lowered her gaze, her cheeks reddening.
Ian chuckled. “Have your driver’s license and birth certificate handy?”
She nodded. As embarrassment drained from her cheeks, she looked even paler than before.
“Good. We’ll go after breakfast.” He studied her closely.
“I should get started on that.”
Donna waved a hand. “I can help, if you like.”
“Sure.” Sophia smiled and motioned for the other woman to follow. “Let’s get these guys fed.”
“By the way”—Donna got up and trailed after her—“did you make the cake?”
“Yes.”
“My mate is so definitely gonna love you. He’s got a sweet tooth like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Really?”
“Yep. I keep telling him it’s a very good thing werewolves can’t get diabetes.”
Sophia laughed.
Heat rushed through Ian. It was good to see and hear her happy.
As she dug in the fridge, a movement on the other side of the kitchen caught his eye.
Alison’s back. A faint sound reached his ears. She hummed as she washed dishes.
He closed his eyes. Lord, help me. I don’t want to be stuck in the past. I loved Alison with my whole being, but it’s time to let her go. Please, help!
Peace filled him. When he opened his eyes, Alison was gone. Thank You, Lord. He allowed his gaze to linger on Sophia as she talked to Donna and worked in the kitchen. Thank You, twice over. Then he turned back around to face the others.
Smiling, Brett rounded the table to stand next to him and lowered his voice to a whisper even the other wolves couldn’t hear. “She may not like me much, but she’s perfect for you.”
“She doesn’t dislike you, you know. In fact, the two of y
ou think alike in some ways.” He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Sophia wasn’t close enough to hear their whispered conversation. “Know what she said when I remarked that I hadn’t been able to protect Alison and Marie?”
Brett cocked his head. “What?”
“That I can’t save the world because I’m not Christ.”
A barked laugh erupted, making Ian flinch slightly. Hopefully Sophia didn’t ask what that was about. Funny how his friend had reacted the exact same way Ian had to that statement, and quite possibly for the same reason.
“I told her that sounded like something you’d say.”
The man’s laughter quieted to soft chuckles. “You’re right. It does.”
* * *
At Brett’s laughter, Sophia glanced up from cracking eggs and dumping the contents of the shells into a large bowl to make sure the man wasn’t having another joke at Ian’s expense. Her hackles rose when she saw him slap Ian on the shoulder.
“They’re fine.” Donna waved a hand. “Those two are like that a lot of the time. It’s the fact they’ve been friends so long, I think. Brett can say things the rest of us can’t.”
“Yeah, well, maybe he shouldn’t say them either.” She scowled at the man’s back then shook her head. “Never mind me. I haven’t been sleeping well. It’s made me more moody than usual.” Re-emerging weakness wasn’t helping. She didn’t want to appear weak in front of the rest of the pack. At the same time, she wanted nothing so much as to find a place to sit down, regardless of who might see or what they’d think.
“Do you want me to get started on bacon and sausage?”
Sophia growled. “No sausage.” She glanced over her shoulder at the other woman, who watched her with wide eyes. “Sorry. Ian and I already agreed, no sausage. Ever again, probably. It brings up bad memories.”
“Oh, I see.” Donna smiled and nodded. “I understand all about bad memories.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah. I never knew my father, and my mother was a drug addict who had one abusive-scumbag boyfriend after another. My brother, Tommy, who you’ll meet later when he comes back with Colin and Tanya, was born with serious medical issues. I basically raised him.”
“I guess you’ve been through the wringer.” Sophia considered that then frowned. “So, you and Kelly both came from abusive backgrounds.”
“Yes.”
“So do I.”
Sympathy wreathed the young woman’s face. “I’m sorry to hear that. I wish we all had families like Tanya.”
“Me, too. At least, based on what I read about them.”
“They’re good people.” Donna smiled warmly and reached for a pair of skillets hanging on a small section of wall. “I’ll get the bacon started.”
Sophia nodded and turned to whisk the eggs. After a few moments, dizziness rose. She set the bowl on the counter, braced a hand on the solid surface, and tried to breathe through it. I really should’ve eaten something yesterday.
“Are you okay?”
She wanted to say yes but shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“Maybe you should sit down.”
“I think… you’re right.” She released the counter and started across the floor to the breakfast bar. Her vision tunneled to a pin point then went black.
Chapter 24
“Ian!”
Donna’s cry yanked him around to face the kitchen just as she barely caught Sophia, who collapsed. Ian brushed past Brett and rushed around the breakfast bar to Sophia’s side, just as she convulsed. He pulled her to him to keep her head from slamming into the tile. “What happened?”
“She got really pale and said she needed to sit down.” Fear widened Donna’s eyes.
“Brett, call Jeremy!”
“I’m on it.”
By the time Brett returned, phone in hand, talking into it, Sophia had gone still. “Jeremy wants to know when she last ate.”
“I don’t know. Um….” Ian frowned, trying to recall the last time he’d seen her eat.
“Sun…day.” Sophia’s slurred speech scared him.
“When we went hunting?”
Her nod was disjointed and jerky.
“You didn’t eat anything yesterday?” Why hadn’t he stayed on top of that? He’d known she needed to eat, and he’d seen firsthand that Sophia didn’t have a strong appetite at times. Unlike her wolf.
She shook her head then grimaced. “My head… hurts.”
Kneeling beside them, Brett relayed the information to Jeremy, though Ian was pretty sure the man had heard most of it, if not every word.
Jeremy’s voice slipped into the room, audible to keen wolf ears. “On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the worst, how bad’s the pain in your head?”
Sophia was so slow to answer, Ian thought she might have lost consciousness. Then her eyes opened to tiny slits. “Twenty.”
The panic that had taken up residence threatened to escalate. She’d done so well since that last hypothermic reaction. Though she still needed to regain muscle mass, she’d put on weight. The feast with Sunday’s hunt had gone a long way to helping her body restore itself to health.
I should’ve made sure she ate.
“She needs food ASAP.”
Ian glared at the phone. “I figured that. Tell me something I don’t know, like what’s going on with her. She was doing fine!”
“She can’t go without food right now. Even though she appears better on the outside, she’s probably still healing internally. She has to eat every day, preferably more than once a day, until her weight is back to normal.”
Brett frowned. “Would a fresh kill be best?”
“Yes, but right now, anything you can get into her will do.”
“I’ll fix something.” Donna hopped to her feet and went to the stove, working at a rapid rate to prepare bacon and eggs, as well as to heat broth she pulled out of the refrigerator.
“Annie and I almost have our schedules cleared. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
“Okay.” Brett hung up and laid the satellite phone on the closest counter. Then he got to his feet and looked to the four men standing around the table, intently watching the situation. “We need to hunt.”
All four began stripping off shirts and headed for the back door.
Brett followed them, yanking his Polo over his head. He turned back just before he entered the living room. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
Ian nodded and returned his attention to Sophia, who lay limp and quiet in his arms. He should move her to the couch. He slipped around to pick her up only to freeze when she stiffened. Another convulsion? He breathed a sigh. No.
In moments, she had Shifted and lay panting on the cool tile.
“Sophia?”
No response. Not so much as the flick of an ear. Were they dealing with the wolf again?
He laid a hand on her head.
Her eye rolled toward him. After a moment, she tried to get to her feet. None of her legs seemed to cooperate. In fact, they acted like they had no idea what to do. Panic filled lupine eyes.
Ian caressed her ear. “Easy. Easy. You’ll be alright. I’ll take care of you.” Hopefully, better than he had in the last twenty-four hours.
The wolf settled then whimpered softly.
“Donna, help me get her out of these clothes so she doesn’t overheat.”
The moment the woman got close enough to touch her, Sophia’s wolf went wild. Her legs churned in useless, uncoordinated fashion. She snarled and snapped at the other woman, though she came nowhere close to making contact because she could barely lift her head.
Donna shied back, her eyes wide.
Ian laid a stilling hand on the wolf’s neck and leaned close enough to look her in the eye while keeping his face out of striking range of her teeth. “Easy.”
Canine eyes shifted to him, and growls turned to whines.
“I know. I wouldn’t like it either.” She wouldn’t understand the words, but he had
no doubt his soothing tone would relay what she needed to hear. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Muscles relaxed under his hand.
“That’s my girl.” He kept his gaze on the wolf but turned his attention to the woman hovering at a safe distance. “Donna, go ahead and remove the clothes from her tail end. I’ll take care of the front.”
Donna knelt behind the wolf and quickly dispensed with Sophia’s sweatpants and underwear with minimal threats from the wolf. “I thought she liked me.”
“She does.” He glanced at the other woman. “Don’t take it personally. She isn’t Sophia right now.”
“What?”
“Come around behind me and look her in the eye.”
The moment Donna made eye contact, the wolf growled and flashed teeth.
“What do you see?”
“She looks… wild.”
“Exactly. Right this moment, you’re looking at pure wolf. The human mind isn’t in charge.”
“I didn’t know that was possible.”
“Until Sophia came along, neither did I. At least, not in a wolf that hadn’t gone mad.” He stroked the wolf’s neck.
She continued to eye Donna with suspicion.
“When she’s like this, the wolf responds on a hair trigger to anything she deems a threat. Right now, she’s vulnerable. That makes her even more touchy.” He’d hoped they were past such episodes, but apparently not.
Donna sprawled on her stomach, turned her head to expose her throat, and averted her gaze from Sophia-wolf’s. An act of submission Brett would probably never have offered. It worked.
The wolf heaved a soft sigh and relaxed, her gaze setting on Ian, dismissing the woman.
“Nicely done, Donna.” Ian smiled.
“I couldn’t think of anything else to let her know I’m not a threat.” She slowly, cautiously rose to her hands and knees, watching Sophia for any reaction. Nothing happened, so she got to her feet and returned to food preparation.
“I’m going to get that shirt off of you.” He carefully freed each front leg then slipped the t-shirt over her head. The bra came off next. “There. That should be much more comfortable. Now, I’m going to move you to the living room.”
