by Lauren Dane
Andreas took up pacing again, working through all the possibilities. After a few minutes he stopped and turned to them. “We’ll bring her here tomorrow. Elaine’ll help us get her out of the hospital. She and Henry will have to drug Kari and drive out. It will probably be necessary to keep her locked up for a bit. We can’t have her trying to escape out here. She could get lost easily.”
“What about the brother?” Phillip asked.
“Maybe we can bring him over later. For now, well, we can’t say she’s dead or he’ll want to see the body. We can’t just take her or he’ll wonder where she’s gone.” Laurent fell silent for a moment before speaking again. “He lives in Boston, he’s a cop there. I think I need to call the Lieutenant for the Quincy Clan. If I remember correctly, at least one of their Pack is on the police force there. Maybe we can arrange to have him go back suddenly.” Making his mind up and getting a nod from Andreas, Laurent left the room to make the call.
* * *
Kari had the dream again. The moon hung heavy and fecund overhead and it pulled at her blood. The scent of forest, fur, filled her senses. She ran. The pads of her paws sank in the loam of the forest floor. Her breath came in pants, steaming in the crisp air in ribbons of frosty white.
A dog—no, a wolf—came to her and rubbed the side of his muzzle along her own, his amber eyes alight with the joy of freedom, the joy of the run. Another wolf, this one black as night with splashes of gray on his haunches, approached, and it appeared that he was grinning at her. He bumped her, pressing his body to hers playfully. There was an overwhelming sense of rightness about the moment and a terrible sadness washed through her when she awoke. Alone.
* * *
Andreas Phinney watched the sun rise over the lake. He, Phillip and Laurent had all run the night before. He was tired but in a good way. His muscles held residual warmth, the aches were ones that would make his sleep deep and restful. He’d need to take a good solid nap before Elaine arrived in the late afternoon with Kari. He had a feeling he’d need all of his energy to deal with her and the resulting situation.
He was a werewolf. One of the very few who were born that way. And not just any werewolf—Andreas was the Alpha wolf of one of the most important packs in North America, the Cherchez Clan. Important due to size, strategic placement of Pack lands and the influence his Pack and family held nationwide and had for generations.
There weren’t a whole lot of female werewolves—especially those born that way. Those human females who’d survived the change and become werewolves didn’t always have the necessary biology to be able to crossbreed.
Kari didn’t know it but three generations ago her family had two werewolves born to it. These cousins many times removed were born to the Appalachian Clan. Andreas knew this because the genealogical records of werewolfkind were kept meticulously. Chances were excellent that Kari would be able to bear his children. Thankfully, that biology was also what enabled her to survive the transformation.
Admittedly, that had been his biggest fear. The children stuff, that would come later. But he worried for Kari and couldn’t lie that he’d been ridiculously relieved she’d come out of the process all right.
Physically anyway. There’d be plenty of emotional stuff to deal with once she arrived. Andreas hated that Michael had gone against orders and had forced transformation on her. Stupid, stupid wolf.
He snarled, angry again.
Her old way of life had ended and she didn’t even know it yet. She’d have to be guarded at all times, especially in her first year. Protected from other werewolves who smelled the chance to challenge her. Protected from herself until she could control the change better. And once she did get pregnant, the next generation of the Cherchez Clan would be guarded at all times.
All sorts of choices had been made for her. That wasn’t such a big deal in his world, where males tended to rule. But it wasn’t okay for humans.
Laurent walked into the great room, bringing him out of his reverie. “Brother situation handled. The Quincy Clan does have two members on the police force, one of whom happens to be the third in command. Apparently a case Kari’s brother worked on is coming up for trial. He probably won’t have to testify but they’ll make him believe he’s needed. I’ve spoken to Elaine, she knows what to expect. She and Henry will take Kari out once her brother leaves.”
“All right. Thank you, Laurent. I want Phillip with her at all times. Sean’s coming later today. I wish we could have a few women with her.”
“You can’t cling to what-ifs anymore, Andreas. She’ll be here. She’s our new Alpha. She might not like it but she’ll have to deal with it.” Laurent was a man of exceptional bluntness. It made him an extraordinary bodyguard and Lieutenant and an equally exceptional best friend.
“I’ve sent out the Call. There will be a Gathering Saturday. The entire Clan should be here. We’ll have a full house. Make sure Anna and Gregory check the cabins to be sure there are enough linens and firewood.”
“Of course.” Laurent nodded to placate Andreas. Andreas knew this. Naturally anyone with half an ounce of sense would never do such a thing. Anna and Gregory had run the house for decades and knew their jobs better than any of them did. Being a smart wolf, Laurent of course had no intention of risking life and limb by telling Anna how to take care of guests.
“Oh and Laurent? Be sure that Kari’s room is comfortable, please. I want flowers and those personal effects from her apartment that Michael brought put out. She’ll be a prisoner for a while, yes, but she’s my Mate and I want her to feel as comfortable as she can under the circumstances. She’s an Alpha, I want her to be treated like one.”
“It’s done, Andreas,” Laurent said and left the room.
* * *
Kari turned to catch his grin as her brother came into the room, blushing that he’d caught her annoyed muttering over the television remote.
“Hey, what’s up?” Winking, he sat on the edge of her bed.
“Not much, I’m bored. I have a headache but I feel pretty good otherwise. How about you?”
Taking her hand, he smoothed a thumb over the spot where her IV had been. “I just got called back to Boston. One of my cases finally went to trial and I might have to testify. I have to leave in an hour and a half. I’m sorry. I feel like shit for abandoning you.”
“Jeez, Jack. You’ve been here since Sunday, right? Rushed off and came out here and sat around while I was unconscious for a few days? I’m all right now. Honest. Go home. Do your job. Send the bad guys to jail. Don’t feel bad. It was good to see you. Next time come out when I’m able to show you around Seattle, okay?”
He hugged her tightly. Since their parents had died in a car accident when he was fifteen and she was twelve, he’d been taking care of her. She knew he felt awful for having to leave but she trusted he knew her well enough to know she was okay with it.
“Be good, okay? Doc Kennedy told me you’d be going home tomorrow or the next day. She says that you shouldn’t need it but your insurance covers home health care.”
“There are a few people at work who’d help if I asked. Truly. Don’t worry about me! I’m a big girl and I feel just fine. I love you. I’ll call you when they release me and I get home.”
He kissed the top of her head as he stood. “Rest. Oh, and no more alleys, Kari. Talk to you soon.” He blew her a kiss and was gone.
A while later the male nurse came in, took blood and gave her some pain pills for her headache. They made her sleepy so she lay down and took a nap.
* * *
An hour later, the man came back in to check on her and then went out to the doctors’ lounge. Elaine saw him and walked into the hallway to meet him.
“She’s out. Let’s get this show on the road. I just called the airlines, and her brother is on the plane and in the air,” Henry said quietly into Elaine’s ear.
“Okay, I’ve filled out her release papers and they’re filed. Why don’t we wheel her down to X-ray and I’ll pull the va
n to the loading dock? I’ll meet you there in ten minutes.”
“Right.” Henry left then, going into Kari’s room, putting the pink “discharged” placard in the slot above her bed. He rolled her out of the room, looking for all intents and purposes like he was wheeling her to get an X-ray. Instead, he took a right rather than a left and pushed her out to the deserted loading dock, where he easily picked her up, gently of course, and placed her into the waiting van.
He returned the bed to the area outside of X-ray, where other empty beds were sitting, then jogged back to the loading dock and jumped into the van.
“Call the lodge, Henry. Tell them we’re on the way,” Elaine said as they pulled onto I-90 going east. “We’ll be there—barring any trouble—in about three hours.”
The drive was fairly routine. They had to give Kari a shot about an hour away from Star Lake Lodge, the seat of the Cherchez Clan. She started to wake up but Elaine wanted to be sure she was still under until they got her settled in at the house. It would be better to avoid panic as long as possible.
Pulling off the main road down the long, wooded drive toward the lodge, Elaine finally began to relax. The main house loomed ahead of them, three stories tall, faced with windows and large timber beams. Decks ran the entire length of the ground floor. Pretty flower gardens surrounded the lodge and led down the path to the lake and the many cabins there. The lake cast silvery light up onto the windows. It was home even though she didn’t live there. It always gave her a feeling of belonging.
When they pulled the van to a stop, Andreas and Laurent came out to help. Andreas opened the door and stared down at Kari. Wonder licked at his senses as he took in the beautiful golden hair, curls softly framing her face, the gentle mouth, even the bluish smudges under her eyes. He’d never seen her this close in person before, but her genetic code sang out to his. She was his Mate, no doubt about it. Leaning down, he put his face to the crook of her neck and inhaled her. She smelled of the hospital, of antiseptic and cleansers. Beneath that she smelled like the forest, the deep woods where the loam on the ground cried out with fertile beauty. His body tightened, attraction and desire, electric, shot straight to his cock and wrapped around his heart. She was his. He was hers.
He picked her up, marveling at how very small she was in his arms, and a protective glow burst through him. Gently, as if she were the most precious thing in the world, he carried her up the great winding staircase and into her room, adjoining his own.
“When will she wake up?” he asked Elaine, placing Kari on the bed with care.
Elaine dropped to her knees, brushing the side of her face against his calves. She kept her head bowed in a submissive pose at his feet. He touched the top of her head, caressing the side of her face, and she stood, not meeting his eyes.
“In about an hour. She’ll be hungry then too. She’s healed remarkably well. Michael really hurt her, Andreas.” Elaine frowned at that. “It was so much more violence than was necessary. He needs to be spoken to about that.”
“That’s already happened. He said she fought him hard and hit her head as she tried to get away.” Admittedly he felt pride in the fact that even as a human Kari fought her hardest to survive. She was most definitely his queen. He also felt a rumbling of rage, again, thinking of the many ways the situation could have gone wrong—could still be complicated because of his weakling of a cousin.
“Yes, that’s certainly what it looked like and how she described it. If she hadn’t been an Alpha, she probably wouldn’t have survived. She lost an incredible amount of blood and the perforated bowel would have killed her if the blood loss hadn’t.”
Anger radiating from him, he clenched his fists at his sides until he saw Elaine’s nervousness. Willing himself to relax, he touched her face to calm her. “She remembers?”
“Most of it, yes. I think I managed to convince her that her concussion messed her memory up. That she’d been mugged or assaulted.” Elaine shrugged.
“Ah, well. One way or the other she’ll know the truth soon enough. Did her brother get off okay?”
“Yes, we made sure he was on that plane before we left the hospital. She’ll have to talk with him in a day or so. He’ll be suspicious if she doesn’t. I’ll call him later tonight to fill him in on her progress, stave him off a bit.”
“Thank you, Elaine. You’ve done well by me and my Mate.”
Chapter Two
Kari awoke, feeling as if she was wrapped in cotton. She opened her eyes to find she wasn’t in the hospital. Confused, she looked around and saw she was in a large room with wood-paneled walls. Light shafted over the blankets on the bed. A real bed, not a hospital bed. Flowers burst from vases on every conceivable surface, filling her view with a riot of color. Beneath the sweet scent of the wildflowers was the clean smell of beeswax on the furniture. More distant, fresh air and the crisp scent of pine trees and verdant moss. Faintly, she heard water lapping against a shoreline of some sort.
She continued to study the room until her eyes focused on Dr. Kennedy, who sat on a nearby chair reading a mystery novel.
“Dr. Kennedy? What’s going on? Where am I?”
Looking up, Dr. Kennedy placed her book aside and stood with a smile. “Kari, you’re awake. Good.” Getting up, she quickly checked Kari over and stepped back, apparently satisfied with the results.
“Where am I?” Kari repeated.
Dr. Kennedy smiled and took a deep breath. “Well, Alice, you just fell down the proverbial rabbit hole. I’ll start simple. You’re at Star Lake Lodge. It’s up in the Northern Cascades about an hour north of Leavenworth. You’ll be here for a while.”
“What? Why?” Alarm began to creep through her system.
“Well, the why is pretty complicated and I’m not the one to tell you everything. Your life changed that night in the alley, Kari. It wasn’t a dog that attacked you. It was a wolf. A werewolf.”
“A what?” Kari laughed. “My head injury is worse than I thought, or the drugs are working too hard because I swear I heard you say I was attacked by a werewolf.”
“No, your head is fine. And yes, you heard correctly. You were attacked by a werewolf,” Dr. Kennedy repeated with annoying calm.
She sat up and winced, a bit dizzy. “So you’re the one on drugs then? There are no such things as werewolves.”
“Ah, but there are, beautiful.”
Kari turned in the direction of the deep voice and found herself looking up into the face of the most breathtakingly handsome, masculine man she’d ever laid eyes on. He was easily six and a half feet tall, broad-shouldered. Thick, muscular arms and thighs and a long, lean stomach were obvious markers of his strength. He had large hands with beautifully long fingers. Wheat-blond hair brushed his shoulders, loose, holding a slight wave through the thick silk that made her fingers clench with the desire to touch. Eyes the gold-brown of whiskey took her in. Lips, full and ripe for kissing, held a natural smile. His voice flowed over her like water over a river stone, smooth and deep. The man was a complete package of devastating attractiveness. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Kari felt her body respond to him.
“I’m Andreas Phinney. Welcome to my home.” Reaching out, he took her hand in his and electricity flowed back and forth between them, bringing a gasp from her lips. Smiling in a cocky, self-assured way, he planted a kiss on her palm.
“Why am I here and when can I go home?” A bit breathless, Kari pulled her hand out of his grasp.
Andreas sat on the bed next to her. The heat rising from his skin in waves enveloped her, dizzying her. “Kari, the next few days are going to be hard for you but please believe that I’ll do everything I can to make them easier. Not just me but everyone here. Before we get to any long explanations, let’s get some food into you. Are you hungry?”
Annoyed, she waved her hand at him. “What? No, I’m not hungry. I want to know what the hell is going on here!” Well, she was hungry actually, but fear was overtaking hunger pretty well right then.
As Dr. Kennedy left, Kari backed up against the headboard, scanning the room, looking for something to use as a weapon.
“You don’t have to fear me, Kari. Not ever. I would never hurt you.” Andreas’s voice was soothing.
“Yeah, well, forgive me for not believing that. I don’t know you. I’m in your house. And no one seems to want to tell me anything other than some farcical nonsense about werewolves.”
“All right. From the beginning, the unabridged version. I’m a werewolf. The leader of the Cherchez Clan. My father and grandfather before him held the position I hold now. You were marked by a werewolf in that alley on Saturday. Michael—the wolf who changed you—got a bit excited and lost control. He’s very sorry and will continue to be until you are well enough to decide on his punishment. You weren’t supposed to be marked for another few months so that we could ease your transition.”
Mouth open in shock, Kari sat speechless. He seemed so normal. Hell, Dr. Kennedy seemed normal too. Just went to show how people could be totally lucid and yet completely batshit crazy at the same time.
Ignoring her look, he continued. “Anyway, when you were bitten—marked—the saliva that carries the virus got into your blood and is already working. The marks are gone, aren’t they?” He went on without the answer. “We need more female wolves. There aren’t a lot of natural werewolves that are female. So we must, from time to time, find human women who have shown a biological ability in their family tree to not only survive the change but to be able to mate and breed with us once changed.
“Werewolves can be created when a human is bitten by a werewolf. But it’s more complicated than contaminated saliva being introduced into their system. Not all werewolves can do it and not all humans survive. In fact, many don’t because the bite has to be deep and severe enough to cause a certain level of trauma in the body, and many humans die from the wounds before they can transform. Moreover, only werewolves who are born so can create new werewolves.
