She nodded and said nothing as she followed him out. There was something wrong, very wrong. Her heart ached for no reason whatsoever. It was an odd feeling, as if she were in pain, but she knew she wasn’t. Alex wanted to know more, but she knew better than to argue. She was trained to take orders and take charge if need be.
They headed in the direction of his parents’ house. “Did something happen?”
He looked her, his eyes darker, his face a mask of anger and pain. “My mother was attacked.”
Chapter Sixteen
A loud rush filled her ears as Alex tried to gain a breath. It was as if her heart had stopped, then sped back up…almost too fast. Fear slashed through her so quickly and so hard it almost knocked her out. She didn’t understand it. She was upset that Abigail had been hurt, but this was something more…something familial. It was as if Abigail was her own mother.
“Your mother?”
He nodded as he turned down the road that led out to his parents’ ranch. He had been stoic since the call. The teasing lover was gone. The death grip he had on the steering wheel was turning his knuckles white.
“Is she okay?”
He nodded, and she felt something loosen in her chest.
“That’s why Caleb wants you to be there. He intends to talk to you about something. About our background.”
“Jake, what are you talking about?”
He sighed. “Just wait until we get there.”
It only took them another five minutes to make it to his parents’ house, but it seemed to last forever. When his truck came to a stop, the front door opened. Bud Sanderson looked like he had aged ten years since she had seen him earlier that day.
“You brought her. Caleb has your mother in here.”
As she drew closer, she smelled it then, the metallic scent of blood, but it was what she felt that made her ill. Fear rushed through her system, but rage quickly replaced it. Her head spun, her pulse seemed to beat out of control. For a second, the world around her seemed to revolve as she walked in slow motion.
“Alex?” Jake asked as he touched her. Just that, the touch, the feel of his fingers gliding along her flesh, calmed her.
She looked at him, more dazed by that connection than the sudden attack she had just suffered. With a nod, she let him lead her into the house. The smell of blood grew stronger as she was led into the bedroom. What she saw on the bed was enough to make her blink.
In the middle of the bed lay a dog…no, a wolf. One massive wolf.
“What…”
There was a gash on one side of the animal, oozing blood. It seemed to flow so fast; she was amazed the animal was still alive.
Caleb came forward. “We don’t know how it happened, but she doesn’t have enough energy to change back right now, and I need you. Fi is on the phone and she can give me directions.”
Alex opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. “What? Who is Fi?”
Like that was the important question. Her brain was trying to comprehend what Caleb was trying to tell her.
Caleb looked past her to Jake. She turned around and took a step back.
“What the hell is going on, Jake?”
His expression darkened as his eyes narrowed. He was irritated?
“Jake?” she asked.
“It’s kind of hard to explain.”
“Well, you have to do some sort of explaining right now.”
He glanced past her to his father, then to Caleb.
“Look at me, Jake. Me. Tell me what this is.”
“We’re wolves.”
She waited for him to explain that, but he didn’t. Her irritation grew. “This is not a time to joke around.”
“I’m not lying to you or joking around. We are wolves. The one lying on the bed is my mother, and while you stand here and argue with me, she might be dying.”
She studied his expression to see if he was joking. When she glanced at his cousin and then his father, their serious expressions told her it was no joke. Still, she couldn’t accept the explanations. It was too much to wrap her head around.
“You are shapeshifters, like in movies and shit?” She shook her head. “Don’t fuck with me.”
Bud decided to step in. “Alexandra, I really hate that Jake didn’t explain our lives, what we are. But I can assure you that it’s true. The woman lying on the bed is my life. How she was attacked, and like this…I don’t know, but I know that Caleb thinks you can help. Please, even if we’re lying, you can walk away at the end. Just…please. I cannot lose her.”
His ragged plea touched something deep inside her. She had resisted any kind of connections, other than her partners on the force. Since arriving in Sanderson, she had kept to herself on purpose. Getting attached was something she didn’t want, but something about Bud’s request made her turn and walk to Caleb.
“Tell me.”
He held out his phone. She looked at the phone, then at him.
“What?” she asked.
“Fi will explain it better than I can.”
She hesitated, then she took the phone. “Hello?”
“Alex? This is Fi,” the voice on the other side of the line said. Her tone was crisp and hurried. “I know you don’t know me, and this is a big FUBAR because Jake was being an ass by not telling you anything, but listen to me. I need you to go to the bed and lay your hand on the wound.”
“On the wound?” she asked, looking at Caleb for guidance. He nodded.
“Yes. Then I’ll have something for you to chant.”
“I’ll get you some gloves,” Caleb said.
“No,” Fi said, apparently hearing Caleb over the phone. “Tell him no, it must be flesh to flesh.”
“Fi says no.”
He nodded, and Alex approached the wolf. She clicked the speaker on and handed the phone to Caleb. The animal whimpered and looked at Alex—and in that second, she knew it was Abigail.
Those were the same shade of eyes she had seen earlier that day in her office. It was the same woman who had fed her dinner just a few nights earlier. She knew right then and there that the animal was Abigail.
Jesus.
She could not think about that right now, about the idea that this was actually a woman she had talked to. For some reason, they felt she could help. Carefully, afraid she would hurt the wolf—Abigail—she set her palm against the wound. Blood seeped through her fingers, and the stench of something off, something just not right, filled the air. Bile rose up in her throat. It took all her effort to swallow it back. She closed her eyes for a second to regroup, then opened them again.
“Are you ready?” Fi asked.
“Yes.”
“Repeat this…” Fi spoke the words as if she knew what they meant, but they were in a native language.
Alex did as requested.
Heat seared down her arm, then to her hand and light burst out of her fingers.
The shock of it left her breathless, and she wanted to move her hand, but another hand came down on top of hers. It was Jake’s. She looked up at him, and he nodded. She closed her eyes and concentrated on saying the phrase again and again until the heat dissipated. She opened her eyes, her head still spinning, and looked down. The seeping wound was now closed, and the wolf was no longer in distress.
Jake lifted his hand, as did she. When she stepped back from the bed, though, she lost her balance. “Damn.”
Her head was spinning, her mouth dry, and her stomach felt as if she had eaten nails. She could vaguely hear as Fi continued to ask if she was okay.
Jake picked her up in his arms.
“Put me down.” But there was no heat in her words. Mainly because she could barely get them past her lips. Her head was still spinning, and she felt as if she had lost a pint of blood.
“No,” Jake said.
“Hey.”
“Hey, yourself. You’ll dissolve into the floor and embarrass yourself.”
She couldn’t argue with that, so she let it go.
“I’m g
oing to take her to the guest room.”
His father nodded but stepped forward. He placed his hand on her cheek.
“Thank you for giving her back to me.” Each word dripped with relief.
She studied him, even as her vision wavered. “I don’t know what I did.”
Then, he did something so odd, she would have normally freaked. He lay his head on her arm. “I owe you my life.”
When he lifted his head, his eyes—the same shade as Jake’s—told her he would repay her in kind if need be. A lump rose in her throat, and she nodded.
Jake walked her out of the door and down the long hallway. The room they stepped into was smaller than his parents’ but still seemed massive to her. He walked over and set her down on the bed. She tried to sit up, and the room began to spin again. Her arms turned to jelly and she collapsed back on the bed.
“Rest for a second. Caleb will be in here soon.”
“You’re going to explain everything.”
Jake frowned. “Yes.”
“At some point, I was going to figure it out.”
He opened his mouth, but Caleb walked into the room.
The look of relief on his face almost made her laugh but she didn’t have the energy. “You are not getting out of this, Jacob Sanderson.”
He frowned at her and opened his mouth but Caleb stopped him.
“I think you need to go wait outside, Jake.”
Oh, big bad Jake didn’t like that. He crossed his arms and gave his cousin a glare that scared even her.
“Listen, I need to do an exam, and then you can come back in. You can stand right outside.”
Jake did not like that either, but he nodded, gave her a look, and stepped out of the room. The final click was the only sound in the room.
“So, how are you feeling?” Caleb asked as he approached the bed. He had his stethoscope out and was ready to examine her, apparently.
“I'm all right. I just felt light-headed.”
“That’s understandable. You expended a lot of energy on my aunt.”
He listened to her heart, took her pulse, then smiled. “You look fine, but you’ll probably need to sleep it off.”
“What was that? Why could I do that?”
“I can’t really explain it yet. All I know is that some time long ago, your people and mine lived together. We were the protectors, and you had healing powers. We are still trying to research everything. Much of the information about it was lost.”
“Lost?”
“Your people were hunted like we were…obliterated.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Part of it had to do with the U.S. government. But you were a race who protected us. Our enemies wanted to be sure to kill us all off. If your people were out of the way, then it was easier.”
She nodded. “You keep saying ‘your people.’ I don’t know my people.”
“It isn’t something you learn, Alex. It’s something you are. It is in your blood, in your soul.”
Shaking her head, she tried her best to come to terms with what Caleb was telling her. “I don’t see myself that way.”
“Really? You chose a job to protect people. And you probably could have gone to another major city, even with the issues at SAPD, right?”
She nodded.
“But you chose here. Maybe you were drawn here by a purpose, a need. Either way, I’m thrilled you’re here.”
“I don’t know if what you’re saying is true. Hell, I would have sworn werewolves didn’t exist just an hour ago.”
He put his hand over hers. There again was that connection she’d felt. Not the same as with Jake, but it was there. Familiar…not familial. She had never felt it with anyone in her life before moving to Sanderson.
“Take it one day at a time. Jake will explain the rest of it.”
“Don’t worry about that part. I’ll make sure of it.”
He chuckled. “You’ll do. Get some rest.”
He walked out of the room and she sighed. Exactly what the hell had her life become? Only a few days earlier, she had worried she was bored. Now it looked like she had a serial killer on her hands and, apparently, shapeshifters surrounding her.
“You sure know how to pick them, Littlefoot.”
But, what did she do now? She needed to find out what the hell this was all about. Getting the sheriff’s job in Sanderson had been a godsend at the time, and she knew that the job market wasn’t much better now. With her history with the SAPD, she wasn’t a prize.
Then, there was the fact that the Sandersons seemed to know more about her than she did. Her background was a blank slate to her. When she’d graduated from the academy, she had searched for information but found nothing.
Then, there was the other stuff.
Fucking wolves. What the hell had she gotten herself into? She was actually sitting in a bed thinking about werewolves and her connection to them.
Panic had her heart beating so damned hard she was amazed she didn’t pass out. This was almost too much, too...personal. Now there were werewolves in her life? What the actual fuck. Her first instinct was to run, to get as far away from this town and Jake as she could. Until she could breath again.
She closed her eyes. She couldn’t leave when they needed her. And she was still pissed at Jake for not explaining everything. She was pulled there, just as Caleb said. From the moment she had seen the ad for the job in Sanderson, she’d wanted it. If fact, Sanderson had been the only place she had applied.
There was one thing that was for sure. Her idiot lover was going to explain everything, or he was going to get smacked upside the head with a two-by-four.
Chapter Seventeen
Jake paced the floor outside the bedroom, not happy with the situation. He trusted Caleb with his life, but he did not like the idea that he was touching his mate. They had not bonded completely and even being apart made him want to kill any male in her vicinity.
The door finally opened and Caleb stepped out. It took all of Jake’s control not to lunge at his cousin and demand to know everything.
“She’s fine. More than fine. But, she is tired. Fi said she would need a lot of iron after the healing.”
“What the hell was that?”
Caleb shook his head, his weary expression telling Jake his cousin felt the weight of the situation just as Jake did.
“It was something from the past. You know how that woman is with research. She’s been going crazy since the moment she heard there might be a healer like Alex here. She found some old text after talking to a relative. If there’s one, then there is a good chance there are more, just displaced.”
It made sense. From the moment he had read her application, he’d felt the connection. Even when she had been annoying, he couldn’t seem to stay away from her. “What happened with my mother?”
“Just as I said on the phone. She was outside in the garden, picking a few tomatoes. Your father was in the shower, so he didn’t hear anything right at first. By the time he sensed the danger, it was too late. Whatever it was that attacked Aunt Abigail was long gone, though it looked to be the marks of a wolf.”
He shook his head, trying to make sense of the situation. “But who would challenge her? Dad is out of the Alpha spot.”
Caleb shrugged. “I said it looked like a wolf, but it was different. You smelled it, didn’t you? Something wrong.”
He nodded. There had been an odd scent in the air. It had been an animal, but something was very wrong with it. As if it were tainted in some way.
“Oh, and your mate is not too happy with you, but I tried to ignore all her questions, so you could answer them yourself.”
“Gee, thanks, cuz.”
“No problem. I have to call Fi and give her an update.”
As soon as he finished speaking, his phone rang with the song “Witchy Woman.” Caleb rolled his eyes and answered the call.
Caleb walked away as Jake turned to face the door. This was going to be difficult. She had a righ
t to be angry, but he couldn’t let her get pissed enough that she would leave.
He opened the door and found her just as he had left her. Although her skin looked better and she had her eyes open.
“So, you finally grew a set and came in.”
He frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
“You two were so damned loud. I could hear you from the hallway.”
They hadn’t been that loud; in fact, they had been whispering. He was definitely going to talk to Fi about that aspect. There was always a chance she would exhibit some of their abilities even though she wasn’t full wolf.
“Are you going to explain yourself?” she asked, breaking into his thoughts.
He thought of a hundred different ways to say it but he knew only one would work with her—total honesty.
“I should have told you.”
“Yes, you should have.”
“But, would you have believed me? I mean, if you hadn’t seen that before, been convinced by all of us that she was my mother, would you have believed we were wolves?”
She sighed and picked at the quilt. “Probably not.”
“I knew if I told you that you might start to wonder about my sanity. I’ve never really had to explain myself to anyone.”
“Being Alpha helps with that, I guess,” she said.
“No.” She looked up at him. “No, I have not always been Alpha. But, I had always thought my mate would be another shifter. We know each other by scent.”
Alex said nothing for a moment as she studied him. Then, “I want to see you.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Change for me.”
He blinked. again “You want me to shift?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
He hesitated, not sure if he should.
“Does it hurt?”
“No. It just takes a little energy.”
She nodded and waited.
He unbuttoned his shirt.
“What are you doing?”
“I can’t really do it in my clothes, now can I?”
She shook her head. He pulled off the rest of his clothes, then closed his eyes. The energy filled the room as bright sparks of light and electricity flicked around him. In the next second, he was on all fours.
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