She screamed, a wild, high-pitched sound she wouldn’t have believed herself capable of, but the big male in her room was the stuff of nightmares. First of all, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t scented him. He’d clearly been living rough or bathing wasn’t a personal habit. The poor visibility thrown by the tiny bulb plugged into the wall created ghoulish crannies over the planes of his face, and his swatch of dark hair hung in lank spirals.
“Who did you call, bitch?” He grabbed a handful of her shirt and shoved her into the wall. “Who?”
“My mate,” she gasped, wondering if it would be the last time she would refer to him.
“Fuck. Fuck me. You bitches always ruin things.” He threw her on the bed in a frightening display of strength and crossed to the phone, stomping it into the floor. “I could have stayed here, waited for him and surprised him. With you to keep me entertained and him under control.”
River tried to think what she could get her hands on that might keep the Regent at bay. For there was no doubt in her mind he was the rogue leader being hunted. She inched her way toward the lamp on the nightstand, but a heavy hand forestalled her.
“Move and I’ll break your arm. You’ll do as a hostage, and it doesn’t matter what shape you’re in.”
She froze and watched his shadowy form as he moved to flick on the light. Cleaned up, he would probably exude a caveman appeal, but all she could see was evil. He looked around and spied her bra, picking it up and motioning her to him. Somehow, she made herself get off the relative safety of the bed and move.
“Put your hands out.”
Numbly, she complied, and he bound her wrists together, then hooked a finger behind a piece of strap and dragged her along. He glanced into each room until gaining the master suite. Stepping inside, he shoved her to sit on the bed while he yanked open first the closet, and then a couple of dresser drawers.
“Trouble in paradise, girl? You and your mate sleep in separate rooms? I wonder why that is.” Moving quickly, he stripped off his filthy clothes, laughing when she averted her eyes, and pulled on some of Jett’s things.
“Where’s the money kept? And don’t stall, bitch. We’re leaving in three minutes, long before your mate can get here. If you delay me…”
“My purse. Downstairs.”
“Go.”
She clambered to the base of the stairs, her balance hampered by her tied hands, and headed to the meeting room, counting off the seconds in her head. “Were you looking for the Sanctuary?”
“What? I don’t need no church.” He dumped the contents of her purse out and grabbed the cash and cards from her wallet.
“The Sanctuary. Where the females you … held are staying.”
More seconds ticked by as the Regent’s big frame froze in place. Only his head moved as he turned it to fix a death stare on her. “Take me there.”
“Are you wanting Denise?” If he was distracted long enough, maybe he wouldn’t notice that over three minutes had passed. Something in her head clicked, like a switch, and she felt Jett as though he was right inside of her.
He was on her instantly, taking hold of her hair and yanking her head back. His sour breath nearly made her gag, his face was so close to her own. “Did she tell you?”
“That you’re her mate? How else would I know? She said you would come.”
He let go so suddenly, she sidestepped to regain her footing. Something that looked remarkably like pain twisted his heavy features. “We’ve been looking.”
We? “Is someone else here?”
He shook her, grabbing her shoulder. “What other females are there?”
“I don’t remember their names, but there are some who went with … your males willingly?”
“Francine? Sherri?”
“Maybe. I’m not good with names.”
“We’re wasting time. C’mon.” He pushed her toward the door. “Take me to her.”
“She’s pregnant.” It felt like the worst betrayal in the world, but it was all she had.
He slowed his pace. “Is she okay?”
“Yes. Though she’s refusing medical care. Maybe she doesn’t trust us.”
“I’ll take care of her. My pup will be fine.” His fanaticism burned past the softer side she’d glimpsed—mistaken for actually caring. Denise was merely a means to an end.
Four hundred and ninety-seven seconds had elapsed since he’d announced his time frame, and she hoped it was enough. If Jett had recognized her call as one for help. A shiver overtook her and she bit her lip as the rogue drove her ahead of him, past the prone form of Mik.
“Mik!” She slowed to look at him.
“He’s dead. Nothing you can do. Get moving.” Without mercy, she was shoved toward the doors opening onto the pool. Shards of glass shimmered against the tile floor.
“I don’t have any shoes.”
“You’ll heal.”
She tried to take care, but several tiny pieces ground into the ball of one foot, and a larger one caught her across the instep. She cried out and all hell broke loose.
Several dark figures swarmed toward the rogue male who raised a baton he’d picked up from somewhere. Her fingernails pricked savagely, trying to elongate into claws. River ducked, but the blow connected with a splinter of agony, and her world went dark.
****
“River.” Something cool touched her brow. “River.”
Her eyelids were simply too heavy to lift, and she sank back into the current to drift along.
“She was nearly back, I swear.” A familiar, feminine voice, thick with tears, protested somewhere close by.
“She’ll wake when she’s ready, Cass. Leave her for now.” Another familiar voice, this one male, cajoled.
“Please, River. I know you’re ready now. Please.”
The plea was too hard to resist, and somehow, she pried open her eyes. A young, pretty face greeted her, the brown eyes popping wide and a huge smile gracing the wide mouth.
“You’re back! I knew it. Jett!”
Wincing at the exuberant scream, she cautiously looked around, though it hurt to even move her eyeballs. As she lifted a hand to her head, the door flew open and a huge male shifter advanced into the room.
“River!”
Her name had to be River, an interesting choice. She felt she should know these people, all of whom, even the older man hovering in the corner, looked so happy to see her. She stared at the handsome, young male. A shifter. Wait. What?
“How are you, sw—River? The nurse is coming with something in case you’re hurting. And the doctor will be by soon.”
The door eased wide again, and a nurse, bearing a syringe, moved to her. She shone a light into her eyes and checked the machines surrounding the bed. “Your pupils are the same size, so the brain injury is healing. Blood pressure and oxygen stats look okay. Do you have pain?”
“My head hurts.”
“I’ll put this in your IV, but I’d like to ask you a few questions first.”
Was this like a reward? Her sarcastic thought made her wrinkle her brow, a mistake because that really hurt.
“You pulled your stitches a little. They’re a long way from being healed,” the nurse advised. “What’s your name?”
“River. At least that’s what they’re calling me.”
“Oh. Okay. Last name?”
A tendril of fear snaked up her spine. “I don’t know.”
“That’s fine. You sustained a hit to the head, a big one, and sometimes things get muddled. Do you remember?”
Thinking back, she couldn’t recall—anything. The fear morphed to full blown panic and the machines beeped and she struggled to sit up.
“Easy.” The handsome male set his hands on her shoulders, engulfing them in his palms and gently urged her to lie back. His touch lit something inside her that drove the panic back.
She took a deep breath. “I’m scared. I don’t remember anything.”
“None of us are surprised, or disappointed, sweethe
art. The surgeon warned us that short term memory loss isn’t uncommon with this kind of injury. Like the nurse said. Let her give you the medicine, and rest. When you wake up, it’ll be better. I promise.”
Somehow, she believed him. The young woman was weeping quietly and the older male appeared lost, but she had faith in this man. “Okay. But what’s your name?”
Despair flashed over his face before he smiled, his wintry, blue eyes softening. “Jett.”
“And how do I know you?”
“Why don’t we wait for the next time you wake?”
She wanted to know now, urgently, but whatever was in that syringe was potent. She succumbed to its pull.
****
“Her skull was fractured and her brain sustained an injury, Mr. Reeves. As I’ve explained. The pressure has been released, and she is healing. All the tests reveal normal progress. If anything, quicker than I’d expect, although that’s not uncommon with shifters. My task to play down that healing and explain away the anomalies in her blood was the difficult part, before we could move her from hospital. She’ll be fine.”
“But she doesn’t know me. Or her immediate family!”
“That isn’t uncommon either. I don’t expect her to ever recall the immediate events leading up to the blow. As for the other, things will come back. She can speak, and her hearing wasn’t affected. Her level of motion is good, including her fine motor skills. We took out the catheter and the IV. She’s doing very well.”
Jett put his head in his hands. “She nearly died.”
“But she didn’t. And she needs her mate in good shape to support her in her recovery. How much weight have you lost? How much sleep? Living in her room, trying to rest in a chair, and skipping meals isn’t healthy.”
“And yet she woke the minute I left to get a coffee.”
“It’s normal for males to be so distraught when their mate is in danger, Mr. Reeves. But you’ve surpassed everything in my experience. So either you aren’t dealing with the guilt or you love her so much you aren’t thinking at all clearly. Maybe it’s a combination of both.”
Jett looked up at the medical man, another shifter who had been happy to help River. Yes, he’d breathed, slept, and eaten guilt for weeks, since seeing his mate crumble beneath the cruel blow the rogue male had laid on her. But the sense of loss—if this was love, it should have killed him. Except it hadn’t.
“She’s my life. And I didn’t know until I nearly lost her.”
“Then take hold of your second chance with both hands and don’t let go.” The doctor rose and rubbed his own hands together, as if in sympathy. “I have to get back to the hospital. I won’t need to check on my patient again unless the nurse detects anything untoward. Bringing in a therapist is a good idea too.”
“Thank you.” When had those two simple words meant so much?
“Doing the job I was trained for. And happy I could do it. River seems pretty special.”
Jett showed the man out and shut the door, leaning his forehead against it. He had to gather himself and head up to see his mate. He owed her some explanations and the entire truth, as much as she could handle at one sitting.
“Hey.” Tahl set an arm around his shoulders and gave him a side hug. “How’re you doing?”
“For a dumb ass, as well as can be expected.” His friend had returned a few days after the battle by the pool, quietly taking over and keeping pack business running while Jett watched over River. Mik hadn’t died, but he wasn’t going to be the same old Mik, either, and Tahl had looked after the man. Tahl also arranged for Cassandra and her father to come and generally did what a lieutenant—and a best friend—did.
“Is she going to be all right?”
“The surgeon says so. He figures her memory will return in bits and pieces as she’s surrounded by the familiar, or even in a flood. I thought about taking her back to her home, but Reginald is against it. He thinks happier times will jog her memory quicker and be kinder.” He snorted. “He doesn’t know what happened between us.”
“Nothing happened, Jett. She fell in love and you didn’t reciprocate—or thought you didn’t, at the time. You didn’t lead her on, which would have been far crueler. Maybe you handled it badly, and you were insensitive, but females have a huge capacity for forgiveness if you give them reason.”
“When did you get your psychiatrist papers? Or lose your dick? Who are you and what have you done with my friend, Tahl?” More frightening, everything his friend had said made perfect sense.
“I talked with someone, a professional, and kept an open mind. Because I have some amends of my own to make.”
With an effort, Jett shut his mouth, watching the other male stride away. Scrubbing a hand through his hair, he winced and headed off to clean up before River woke. He avoided his office, where his mother lurked, unable to face her. She was hesitant to see River, as well, and he suspected she’d overstepped, as she was wont to do.
When he entered the master suite, now a hospital room for all intents and purposes, it was dim and quiet. Cass read in the corner, under a small lamp, but Reginald wasn’t there. She looked up and closed her book, keeping a finger inside to mark the page.
“She’s starting to stir. The nurse said to call if she wants a bedpan, but she isn’t due more pain meds for another couple of hours.”
“I’ll carry her to the bathroom.” His mate wasn’t going to endure another minute of humiliation if he could help it. “Can I have some time alone, Cass?”
“Of course. I’m sorry she woke when you’d stepped out, but I felt her so close to the surface.”
So had he, which is why he’d climbed the stairs in two long strides. “It’s fine. She woke up. That’s all that matters.”
He dragged her chair closer to the bed and waited for River to open her eyes, studying her bruised face and slender body. She’d be weak too, though that would pass. If only she could remember…
“Is it morning?”
“Late afternoon. You needed the sleep.”
She blinked at him, chocolate-brown eyes surrounded by multicolored contusions, and gave him a small smile. “Who are you, Jett?”
“Your mate.”
A tiny furrow appeared between her brows and he saw her breathing speed up, though she visibly tried to control it. “Shifters. That’s right. I might not have my memory, but I recognized them like I knew what a nurse looked like. She’s a shifter too. And the doctor.”
“We’re a talented community. You’re an accountant.”
“Really? Maybe that’s why I think in numbers, like how far you’re sitting from me, and how many windows in this room… What do you do in this pack?”
“I’m the Alpha.”
A quick inhale of air and she was back to breathing too hard.
“Don’t feel surprised. You’re a special she-wolf, River. I knew it the moment I laid eyes on you, and why I claimed you.”
“I don’t remember.”
“It was an unorthodox claim. I’ve thought about it and it was like something in medieval times.” He explained how the claiming had come about, lowering his voice as he mentioned her use of supplements.
“I did that? To avoid being claimed? Wow. There’s gotta be some history there for us to talk about. If you know it.”
“I do. You shared it with me and we laid it to rest. I swear.”
“That’s good then.” She asked, “What’s the penalty for contravening pack law?”
“It varies from pack to pack,” he said, evasively.
Tilting her head, he saw a faint wince, but she put her hand up when he moved to press the call button. “It’s okay. I have to remember not to move too quickly.” She closed her eyes for a second and frowned, and then focused on him. “Did you … did you spank me?”
“Something I regretted later, honestly. I’ve learned a lot of things and do things differently since we met. Damn it, River. I hadn’t counted on that being your first memory.”
“It must have ma
de an impression.”
“I’d hoped other things would have made a better impression.”
“Maybe they did and I haven’t gotten there yet.”
“Oh, we got there before.” He wanted to call the words back but it was too late.
River laughed and winced. “Oh, jeez. No laughing either. But, your face…” She giggled weakly and then sobered. “Did we talk like this? Before?”
“A lot of the time. Once you loosened up.”
“And accepted my fate?”
“It took a while,” he admitted. “You were dead set against claiming.”
“You are very persuasive. My wolf knows you and is champing to get to you.”
His damn cock perked up and he moved to hide it. “You haven’t shifted.”
“No? Is that usual? Wait, it is. I remember learning about it at home. Females don’t shift unless under extreme duress. My mother talked to me…”
“Cass, your little sister, is waiting, and your dad. Did you want them to come in? They’ll want to tell you about your mom.”
“Later, though I think Cass shouldn’t wait too long. But I want to know more about you. About us.”
“It might be too much to handle, but I believe we are fated mates. Our connection is eerie. There were other instances, but the night you were … hurt, I was on my way to you because I felt your terror. I heard you in my head and in my heart.”
“That doesn’t happen often.” She closed her eyes and rested for a while. He waited patiently for her to process and gain some strength.
“So you and I are right for one another, despite a less than auspicious start. Things were going well, I take it?”
“Yes. You’ve been through your first heat, and were settling in very well. Helping out and most welcome in the pack. We’ve had you working. My mother loves you and so does my sister.”
“Desi? Tall and dark like you?”
“She is. How much do you recall?”
“Impressions. I think I like her, though she’s sad.” She stared at him. “I’m sad. Or I was.”
Bound by Destiny (Blue Star Shifters Book 1) Page 17
