He turned his gaze to Gavin. If the Alpha felt any satisfaction, it didn’t show in his eyes.
“I won’t forget this,” Rafe warned.
“Neither will I.” Gavin nodded.
A current of energy pulsed along Rafe’s nerves, shooting tiny electrical impulses that pinched his skin. There was a sudden shift in awareness as he morphed from man to wolf.
The wolf wanted to run. Hard, fast and without looking back.
Doc knelt in front of Rafe and rubbed his ears. “You’ll be all right, son. I promise.”
Brice walked beside Rafe to the cage. Tristan opened the door. Both of them looked as uncomfortable as Rafe felt.
He padded into the cage. The door clanged closed and the lock dropped, driving panic into his stomach. An involuntary cringe rippled down his back.
An instinctual growl rolled up his throat.
Doc squatted beside the cage. “Calm yourself. We don’t want you snarling when the sheriff arrives.”
Refusing to face forward, Rafe turned in a tight circle and lay down. Paws tucked under his chin, he exhaled a heavy breath from his snout and closed his eyes. He wished he could nap through the humiliating demonstration, but Wahyas only held their wolf form while conscious.
He heard the crunch of tires on the dirt road, the hum of a V-8 engine, and the cold silence of his dad and three wolfans in human form standing on the outside while he was trapped on the inside.
Poetic justice?
Maybe.
After all, a beast lurked inside him. If it ever got out, a cage would be the least of his worries.
Car doors shut. Voices blended. Rafe didn’t much care about what was being said. He wanted this degradation to be over.
It seemed an eternity passed before the sheriff and a lady deputy stood by Tristan next to the kennel.
“Where’s Wyatt?” The sheriff swung his gaze around the men gathered.
“He’s dealing with a family matter. Doc is here on his behalf,” Gavin said.
Squatting, the sheriff peered at Rafe. “So, this is the wolf that shredded a man into a bloody pulp.”
The hackles rose along Rafe’s spine.
“He was protecting his family,” Doc snarled.
“The incident was investigated. The hunter was trespassing. He shot two Co-op members, killing one of them. The wolf’s actions were defensive,” Gavin replied matter-of-factly. “The sheriff and the DA’s office agreed.”
“There’s a new sheriff in town now.” Locke’s gaze pinned Rafe. “Seems Wyatt has a penchant for luck with the courts. Things get swept under the rug. No charges were filed when he drove off the road at Wiggins’s Pass, drunk out of his mind. And he just happened to be in the woods when a resort guest wrecked her car because his wolf darted into her path.”
Rafe really didn’t like the way this demonstration was going.
“What’s the real story?” The sheriff rattled the cage.
Rafe swallowed a growl and forced himself to shrink away.
“Don’t harass him.” Brice stepped up. “If you intentionally provoke him—”
“He’ll bite me? Rip my throat out?” Locke stood.
“You’ll be in violation of the wolf protection order issued to the Walker’s Run Cooperative, signed by the governor,” Brice said coolly. “A sheriff who breaks the law won’t remain sheriff for long.”
“Is that a threat?”
“A promise.”
Rafe snorted. Brice never made a promise he couldn’t keep.
Locke walked around the perimeter of the cage. “He looks sick.”
“He’s pouting because he’s penned,” Gavin said.
“I have his paperwork if you want to see it.” The cold, hard edge to Doc’s voice hadn’t mellowed. “Latest shot record, last physical exam. He’s in excellent health.”
Something jabbed Rafe’s side, hard. He scrambled to his paws, whipping his muzzle around, barely restraining the growl scaling his throat.
Locke poked his baton toward Rafe’s chest.
Rafe stepped backward, his rump grazing the inside side wall of the cage.
“Don’t do that again.” Brice stepped into the sheriff’s personal space, forcing the man to look up. At nearly six and half feet tall, Brice could be a formidable force when he chose to be.
“Making sure he’s not sedated.”
“Our wolves are docile. Tranquilizers are rarely necessary.” Gavin approached the side of the cage where Rafe’s wolf form pressed against the slender, aluminum bars so flimsy that one or two good shoulder dives would bust them wide open.
“But you have used them.” The sheriff tipped his head. “On this one in particular.”
“During an extraordinary situation we hope never happens again.” Gavin’s fingers slipped through the slats and stroked behind Rafe’s ear. Some of his agitation eased, but it annoyed him that he could be manipulated by a gentle petting.
He should’ve nipped Gavin’s fingers to protest. Of course, the action wouldn’t go over well with the sheriff.
“I want his paw prints to compare with the ones we found at the botanical gardens and the public library.”
“Here.” Doc handed the sheriff a copy of Rafe’s wolf prints, on file in his medical chart.
“I’d prefer to take a fresh set.” The sheriff nodded to the lady deputy.
“This will be interesting.” She approached the cage with a handheld scanner and knelt next to Gavin. “Never had to use this on a wolf.”
She whistled. “Come here, boy.”
What the hell? I’m not a dog.
Yet, here he was, locked inside a pen, padding toward her as commanded.
If anyone tried to put a collar on him, he’d bite off their hand.
“Whoa!” Her head tilted and her gaze targeted between his hind legs. “You don’t neuter them?”
Rafe froze.
“We encourage our wolves to mate. When they select one, they’re together for the rest of their natural lives.”
“But his mate was killed, right?”
“Yes.” There was a sorrowful note in Gavin’s voice.
Rafe pressed his snout against the cage and the deputy stroked his muzzle. “Sorry about this, big guy, and sorry about your mate.”
“He can claim another one,” Gavin said. “He’s being stubborn, even though it’s high time for him to settle down again.”
The Alpha’s gaze heated Rafe’s fur, still Rafe refused to make eye contact. Instead, he watched the woman work the handheld scanner through the thin bars of the cage. She lifted his left front paw.
“He isn’t the one.” She looked over her shoulder toward the sheriff.
“You got his prints that fast?”
“He’s got a thick scar on his left front paw pad. The molds we made at the scene didn’t show any ridges from a scar.”
“Get his prints anyway.”
Rafe heard a car drive up but couldn’t see anything other than the woman deputy and the back of Gavin’s jeans-clad legs.
He sensed Doc’s presence behind the cage. Tristan and Brice walked away, presumably toward the newly arrived vehicle.
Offering his right front paw, he wished the lady would go a bit faster. The cage was closing in and it was all he could do to not fight his way out.
The deputy had a difficult time scanning his back paws. She kept twisting his leg odd ways until he yelped.
Grace’s scent reached him about the time her voice did, in a high-pitched squeal. “You put him in a cage?”
Phone clenched in her hand, she broke free of the huddle around her and darted to the kennel. Kneeling, she pressed her hands against the bars. “You poor thing.”
Rafe eased to her and touched his nose to her palm, breathing in her scent.
“He’s bee
n a trouper.” The lady deputy rubbed his ear and stood. “Got ’em.” She held up the scanner and walked toward the group headed to the cage.
“Shouldn’t be much longer,” Doc said. “Sit tight.”
Having Grace within reach eased a lot of his anxiety, although he’d rather she didn’t see him caged.
He stuck his snout between the bars.
“I’m so sorry, big guy.” She cupped his muzzle. “When the deputy said I had to identify the wolf who caused my accident, I had no idea they would do this to you.”
“Ma’am, step away from the cage. He’s a dangerous animal,” a male deputy said. Rafe hadn’t seen him earlier, so he must’ve been the one who brought Grace.
“He won’t hurt me.” Grace kissed Rafe’s wolf nose.
Her trust reinforced his resolve. He needed to tell her the truth, show her all that he was. He couldn’t wait another day.
“I said, step away!” The deputy grabbed Grace’s shoulders and harshly yanked her to her feet.
Startled, Grace yelled in fright and she struggled to get free of his grip.
Rafe’s tenuous restraint on his wolf’s instinct broke.
He barked, he growled, he threw himself against the kennel door.
Shouts were raised, shoving seemed imminent. All Rafe cared about was Grace.
As her panic rose, so did Rafe’s primal need to protect her. He rammed the kennel door, over and over again.
Doc’s commanding voice faded in the chaos.
Rafe heard a loud pop. Then another. And another.
He kept slamming against the cage but his force lessened as his body slowed. His vision blurred and he lost complete coordination in his legs. He collapsed, unable to stand.
The only things working were his ears and those rang clearly with Grace’s voice screaming, “You shot him. Oh, my God! You shot him.”
Chapter 34
Grace nearly knocked Doc over as she slid to her knees.
Rafe’s wolf lay crumpled on his side. Struggling to remain open, his arctic blue eyes followed her every move.
“Will he be all right?”
“As far as I can tell, he’s not bleeding,” Doc said.
Doc slowly opened the cage side door and reached inside. The wolf growled a warning.
“Easy, son.” Doc inched closer. Grace moved to the side, giving him more room.
The wolf snapped and snarled.
“So help me, if you bite me...” Doc’s voice sharpened.
“He needs to see Grace,” Brice said, approaching at a fast limp.
Doc pivoted to allow her to scoot forward. “Try to get him to come closer so I can examine him.”
“You won’t bite me, will you?” she asked the wolf.
“Right now, I suspect you’re the only one he won’t bite,” Brice said.
The wolf snorted. As if that were possible.
Doc helped Brice drape the cage with an old tarp, blocking the view of the commotion between Gavin, the sheriff and his deputies.
“All right, buddy.” On her hands and knees, Grace poked her head into the pen. “Come here.”
He diligently tried to stand but his body wouldn’t cooperate and he collapsed. Each time his eyelids lowered, it took longer for him to raise them.
“Grr...ay...sss.” Rafe’s slurred voice whispered through her mind.
“Rafe?” She glanced around but didn’t see him.
The wolf stretched his front left leg toward her. She took his paw in her hand, rubbing her thumb against a thin, hard ridge across his pads.
“Hey. He has the same scar as Rafe, in the same spot.”
A tingly current nipped her palm and zipped through her body.
In the blink of an eye, the furry paw she held morphed into a man’s calloused hand. Her gaze flew to the wolf’s face. Rafe stared back at her.
Grace’s heart stopped midbeat, her lungs froze midbreath, trapping a lump in her throat. Her ears rang with voices or static or maybe the sound of madness. An icky, clammy chill coated her skin.
“Grrr...aayy...sss.” Rafe’s voice rang in her head but his lips never moved. “I—”
His eyes rolled upward and his entire body went limp.
No, no, no! Please God, no.
Her stomach seized so hard acid spewed up her esophagus.
A large hand clamped over her mouth and she was quickly hauled back from the cage.
“Don’t scream,” Brice’s soft, stern voice filled her ear. “If you do, the sheriff will come over to investigate. What do you think he’ll do when he finds Rafe tranqed inside the cage instead of a wolf?”
Gagging, Grace tugged at his hand and thrashed against his light restraint. It wasn’t a scream she needed to let out. She elbowed Brice in the ribs until he released her.
She crawled a few feet away and vomited.
Death, the thought of someone dying, or close to dying always caused a revolution in her stomach. She’d seen too many death messengers in their dress uniforms walking up to the doors of neighboring houses, fearing one day it would be her door they knocked on and hung a black wreath over.
“I’ll take care of her.” Brice knelt next to Grace and called back to Doc. “You take care of him.”
Brice’s hand rested on Grace’s shoulder. “Breathe slowly and try to calm yourself,” he said gently.
Calm? How could she remain calm at a time like this?
A wolf transformed into Rafe—right in front of her freaked-out face. Her mind got stuck in one thought.
Rafe was a wolf.
The freaking wolf who caused her accident.
“This isn’t happening,” she kept muttering to herself.
“Grace. Everything happening is as real as it gets,” Brice said. And here she’d always thought he was a reasonable sort of fellow. “Pull it together, Grace. Rafe needs you.”
“He’s not dead?”
“He was hit with tranquilizer darts.”
“Oh, God.” Another bout of nausea struck.
“Easy.” Brice’s thumb slipped beneath her ponytail to massage the base of her skull.
“That’s not helpful.”
“Yeah, Cassie says that, too.” He removed his hand and handed her a handkerchief. “My dad always did that for me and it made me feel better. Maybe humans are different.”
The words sunk in.
“Oh, my God! You’re a...a werewolf, too?” She scooted away from him.
“We’re not werewolves,” Brice snapped. He swallowed a breath and began again. “We’re called Wahyas and our species has maintained a fairly harmonious existence with humans since the beginning of recorded time. You don’t need to be afraid of us.”
“Cassie—”
“Is human.” Brice’s mouth pressed in a firm line. “She has always been and always will be human. Wahyas are born, not turned.”
“Does she know what you are?”
“Of course she does.”
“She should’ve told me.” Grace shook her head. “Why didn’t she?”
“We had a plan...” Brice’s voice trailed.
“What?” She jerked away from Brice when he offered to help her stand.
“I’m still the same person, Grace. Just like Rafe is. Neither of us will hurt you.”
She suspected he told the truth. If either had wanted her harmed, there had been ample opportunity before now. Besides, the sheriff and three deputies were nearby in a heated discussion with Gavin.
In all likelihood, he was a werewolf, too.
A cold, hard tremor shook her entire body.
“Grace, I know this is a shock. This isn’t how we wanted you to find out about us.”
“When were you planning to tell me?”
“We wanted to explain everything before Brenna arrives. B
ut when Rafe showed an interest in you, we decided to see what developed between the two of you. We didn’t want to complicate things.”
“What do you call what happened here, if not a complication?” Grace watched the sheriff’s department vehicles slowly leave.
“An unfortunate situation.” Brice frowned. “I trust you with what you’ve seen. Understand what a great responsibility this is. We’re an evolutionary species, similar to humans, but we keep the truth of our existence secret because the world isn’t ready for us. For Chrissakes, look at what Locke did to Rafe’s wolf while he was caged.”
As confused and hurt by the secrecy as she was, Grace forced herself to compartmentalize the situation so she could deal with a more urgent matter. “I want to see Rafe.” She needed to know he was still alive.
“Good start.” Relief softened the clench in Brice’s jaw.
They hurried back to the cage. Rafe was curled on his side, breathing hard and fast.
“Let him scent you.” Brice gently nudged her forward. “It’ll calm him.”
Hesitantly, she stroked Rafe’s cheek. He turned his face to nuzzle her palm. He whispered her name like a reverent prayer and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Doc held three darts in his hand. Still kneeling by the cage, he glared at Gavin. “You saved my life once and I swore I would always be at your side. And when you convinced the Woelfesenat to let me adopt Rafe, I believed nothing would ever break our friendship. But I swear, if you ever do this to my son again, I will fucking kill you.”
The fierce, drop-dead seriousness in his eyes, and the frigid sharpness of his voice iced Grace’s veins. He was the kindness, gentlest soul she’d ever met, and yet she believed he would absolutely carry out his threat.
Gavin knelt next to Doc and took the darts. “On my life, this will not happen again.”
“We need to get him out of there,” Tristan said.
“He’s heavily sedated but not in any danger.” Doc stroked Rafe’s head. “Bring him to my house. He’ll never forgive me if I hold him in the hospital for observation.”
“I’d like to come, too,” Grace said. She and Rafe had a lot to discuss when he woke up.
Chapter 35
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