"Yeah, well, it was contained to a few rooms on the second floor. Couldn't see any sign of her on the first or second floor so we hurried up to the third. Nicole was sprawled awkwardly on the floor. Her head was bruised which was obviously the reason she was passed out. Next to her, Joe had left an empty gas can and a lighter. It was obviously a pathetic attempt to frame her. But anyone with a brain could see it was set up, well, that is before all of the real evidence got burned up."
Byron spoke as Hugh's voice broke and a coughing fit racked him speechless for a minute. "Hugh lifted her up and carried her down the stairs. When we tried to leave, the front door was shut. I tried to open it, rattled the doorknob a few times, but it wouldn't open. I kicked the bottom of the door, and it shook and I knew that someone was behind it because of the pressure that was holding the door closed and how it shifted when I kicked it. I shouldered the door down, and Joe, who'd been pulling it closed from the other side, flew back in the air and landed on the ground hard.
"Rather than concede defeat, obviously not content with the mischief he'd already done tonight, he came at me with a part of the door that had splintered off." Byron shook his head in amazement as he recalled every vivid detail. "The bastard wouldn't stop, and then you arrived."
"We'll have to ask around the neighborhood to see if anyone can corroborate your story. You'll have to remain here for further questioning."
"Dammit, can't we wait at the hospital?" Hugh growled.
"I'm afraid not. We need you on site to answer any questions that are raised from what the neighbors might say."
Hugh nodded, totally annoyed with the situation. "We'll be in our truck," he said.
"Mr. Jakman, I need your word that you'll remain on site until I let you go. Not only that, but I think you should go see one of the E.M.Ts and have them check you out."
"We'll be fine and you have my word we'll be right here," Hugh bit off. "Just hurry the fuck up. Durst is the criminal here, not us."
The cop nodded and walked off to do his duty, leaving Byron and Hugh to glare at his back.
"Dammit, I can't believe we have to cool our heels here while Nicole is lying in some fucking hospital bed without us, her mates."
"I know. Bastards. The culprit is right in this goddamned yard. How much easier can it be for them?" Hugh growled.
"How long do you reckon they'll need us here?"
"Hell if I know, but it better not be for too long. I won't wait here for hours when Nicole needs us. I can't believe how close we came to losing her, Byron. Fuck, if we hadn't thought Durst capable of this kind of shit, been suspecting him for the last few weeks, then we might have discounted what she'd said today. We wouldn't have been on our guard. Hell, we might not have thought anything of a 'funny smell'. Dammit, we could have lost her!"
"I know, Hugh. But thankfully we didn't," Byron said soothingly. It was hard to act calm for his brother when all he wanted to do was rage, as well. But one of them had to stay calm. It was either that or run out of the truck and rush over to the ambulance where the E.M.Ts were taking caring of Durst and start to beat the crap out of the bastard again!
"It was so close, Byron. Too close."
"Hugh, we managed to get her out of there in time. Obviously Durst has never set a house on fire before. Thankfully, he fucked up. Like the E.M.T said, she'll probably have some lung damage, but that's all. Lungs heal, and she'll heal fast with some of our hormones pumping through her system. Her heartbeat and blood pressure were fine. There were no burns. We got there in time, and she'll be fine."
"What if there's a baby? Will the smoke have hurt it? Fuck, I can't believe we didn't think about protection."
"I did, I just didn't mention it," Byron said sheepishly.
"Byron! You can't trap a mate into wanting to be with you!"
Byron scowled. "I know that. But I couldn't help it. Anyway, we'd already claimed her before the thought even registered in my mind! In fact, both Nicole and I realized we hadn't been using anything. It was when Milston came in and you were dealing with him while we were in the back office."
"If you'd said something, we could have prevented this!"
"Maybe. But I doubt it."
"Don't sound so damned pleased with yourself. Who knows what smoke inhalation does to a baby! It could be hurt! Hell, it could be deformed or who knows what now!"
"Dammit, Hugh, don't you think I know that? But I wasn't thinking that that was a possibility at the time. I was just thinking of her big and round with our baby. I'm sorry if my cock was doing the thinking, but I'm sure that's happened many a time with you, too!"
"Fuck," Hugh murmured in disgust, obviously unable to refute Byron's claims.
"See," Byron said slyly. "You've thought about it, too."
"Of course I have! She's our mate, for fuck's sake."
"Exactly! So I can be forgiven, too. Hell, she went all crazy on us, anyway. There's no way either of us could think of something like condoms. You said that she needed our cum anyway, otherwise lust would drive her up the fuckin' wall!"
"Dammit, you're right."
Byron laughed. "See I'm not such a big bad wolf, am I?"
"Jackass."
"Jerk."
Hugh flipped Byron the bird. "She's pregnant, I can feel it in my bones. I'm sure dad said that I was conceived during mom's claiming."
"You're not upset that she could be, are you?" Byron asked, sounding shocked.
"Not exactly. How can I be? But I'd have liked having her to ourselves for a bit longer, wouldn't you?"
"Of course, but this is a natural progression. Just think of it, her breasts will be huge. Fuck, I'm getting hard just thinking about it."
"Jerk. You wait until she's awake. I'll tell her you said that."
"You do that," Byron retorted. "Hell, she'll just blush and get wet! That's her usual response to our teasing!"
Hugh laughed. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"
"You okay now?"
"Yeah. I just wish we could be there. I know she'll be fine. She has to be."
"Course, you wish you were there. Think I don't? But this is important, as well. We have to be here to make sure that bastard doesn't get away with this. He has to be put away. I won't have our family jeopardized because these jerk-off cops like him!" Byron muttered in discontent.
"You don't think he has friends in the police department, do you?"
"Hell, why not? Nicole said he had friends everywhere, that he was into everything and anything. Why not with the police, too?" Byron asked with a shrug. "Surely someone saw something. Hell, I know the houses are far apart, but they can't be so far that no one heard a sound."
"No, of course not. Someone will have seen something."
"Let's hope so and, if they did, let's hope they come forward and don't wait to be questioned."
"If there's a baby, it will be okay, won't it Byron?"
This was the first time in their lives that Hugh had ever asked for repeated reassurance from Byron. Raising an arm, Byron clapped Hugh on the shoulder comfortingly. "Of course, bro. Nicole's tough. She's been claimed, so her defenses will be stronger, too. She'll be fine and so will the baby."
"Good," Hugh said as he cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable with the emotions coursing through him.
Silence reigned for a little while in the truck as both men watched the cops at work. The fire was contained and was eventually put out about an hour later, but the shell of the house was so damaged that even as they sat there, it crumbled in on itself and collapsed entirely.
It was a damned shame to see all their hard work literally go up in smoke. Jakman Construction had spent a lot of hours bringing the house back to its former glory and to see it all just crumble was a sad sight to see.
All Hugh could think was that the insurance claim must have been huge for Durst to even consider burning the place down rather than putting it on the market. Sighing in his seat, he watched the emergency services work together to wind up the sorry state of affair
s.
Finally the two detectives who had spoken to them both earlier walked up to their truck.
"You arrested Durst yet?" Hugh asked sourly.
"Yeah, neighbor confirmed Durst was pulling the door shut rather than attempting to help rescue you. He's been charged with arson and attempted manslaughter."
"Should be attempted murder. He tried to kill Nicole," Byron spat angrily.
"There's only circumstantial evidence to support that theory, Mr. Jakman. Well," he conceded, "that is until Mrs. Durst wakes up and can give us her statement. He may eventually be charged with attempted murder. If you could please follow us down to the station and give us your official statements, I'd appreciate it. It's best to do it now while it's still fresh in your minds rather than waiting until the morning. I understand you want to go to Mrs. Durst, but there's nothing you can do for her that already isn't being done, and this will only take an hour of your time, tops."
Hugh nodded his assent with a jerk of his head.
Byron settled back in his seat, seething in silence.
They watched the cops retreat to their car before Hugh started the ignition to follow them to the police station.
The detective was right. It was better to get it all over and done with now, but still, it was difficult to not go to Nicole when every single ounce of them longed and needed to be with her.
With a sigh, Byron resigned himself to wait.
Hugh switched on the radio to distract himself, his patience levels already tested to the max.
Chapter Eight
Hugh and Byron rushed into the ER unit.
The receptionist informed them of the room number in which Nicole was being observed.
Upon entering Nicole's room, Hugh's heart began to beat furiously in his chest as he searched for his mate. When his gaze finally touched upon Nicole's still figure, he thought his heart would actually stop beating altogether. Unbearably silent and ghostly pale, she looked almost dead. He barely registered the few beeps that resonated around the small curtained area, he was so focused on how she was hooked up to an IV. He didn't have a fucking clue as to her condition and that made him all the more anxious.
Inside he was at war, battling between the need to go off and search for a nurse to ask about Nicole's health and staying with her and making sure she was safe and cared for. He felt torn in two and, for the first time in his life, uncertain.
His gaze lit over every part of her, and he didn't like what he saw. The bruise he'd only seen in the smoky dark of her burning house was now a livid blotch on her beautiful face. Her features and porcelain cream skin were drowned out by the bilious greens that blended hideously with ruddy reds and nasty purples. The mark seemed to take up almost the entire left side of her forehead. Fortunately that seemed to be her only visible injury, but the thought of any internal injuries made his heart pound uncomfortably. Her nose and mouth had been washed and were now clean, but in his mind's eye, he could still see the ring of black that indicated smoke inhalation and he knew that what could be easily washed away from the face wasn't so easily purged from the body.
Especially a weak and vulnerable human female body!
Most humans associated scents of disinfectant with hospitals. For weres, they associated the scents of death, fear, and sadness with the human's place of healing. For weres, they were places to be avoided because the scents were all encompassing and difficult to stomach. At that moment, he knew that he positively reeked of fear. His muscles felt rigid and strained from containing his emotions, and he knew it wouldn't be long before he exploded.
Hugh closed his eyes as the wolf took control for a moment, his blue eyes shifting to an almost icy, piercing light blue. He had a feeling Byron's wolf was doing the same. A fiery rage spread through him, and he wished fervently that he'd left Durst for dead, wished he'd killed the bastard that had dared to harm their mate. It was like a never ending burning flame in his gut. The need to avenge Nicole's injuries was a force too powerful to try to contain. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to go off and storm the police station they'd just left and find that bastard and rip him to shreds.
Only the clap of Byron's hand on his shoulder kept him grounded, kept him from losing it entirely. No doubt Byron was feeling as bloodthirsty, but they had a mate to take care of, to protect. Durst was where he belonged and that was all that counted.
Taking a deep breath, Hugh tried to absorb the signs that Nicole was alive. He tried to process the fact that she wasn't dead, just extremely still. He watched her chest gently rise and fall as she breathed, watched her eyelids flutter slightly as though she were deep in REM sleep. These small signs played a huge part in calming him down and literally keeping him sane. He felt out of control and, because of that, totally awkward with himself. Control had always been his watchword, but, now that that was gone, he had no idea how to act, how to behave.
He felt lost.
He now understood why his mother would rather have died than pair herself off with the area Alpha after her mate had just been killed. Until now, he'd never really understood that aspect of his mother's life, that decision. A part of him had always resented the fact that she hadn't just mated with the area Alpha to protect him and his brother. But now that he had Nicole, he understood entirely and silently begged his mother's forgiveness. The thought of touching another woman made him feel sick and seeing his mate hurt and injured, because he hadn't been there to protect her, made him feel like death warmed up.
The cop had promised that taking statements at the station would take an hour at the maximum. Three hours later, they'd still been stuck there, and it killed him that Nicole could have potentially already woken up to see that they weren't there by her side. It intensified the self-disgust he felt at leaving her in the first place. He couldn't believe that he'd let her talk them out of staying when she herself had said that Joe had behaved badly before. Combining that with his suspicions about Joe's desire to burn the house down, he should never have let that bastard come within an inch of her.
As they were standing beside her hospital bed, a nurse walked in. "We're moving Mrs. Durst to a different ward. She needs to stay overnight for observations. Is one of you the father of the baby? If so, we need you to fill out her insurance forms," she said.
Feeling his heart drop down to his stomach, he saw that the nurse's words had had a similar affect on Byron. He murmured gutturally, "She's pregnant?"
The woman cocked a brow. "Uh huh. Which one of you is the daddy?" she asked.
"Me," they answered in unison.
The black woman grinned and slapped her thigh in amusement. "Lord have mercy, I don't even want to know! Oh hell, that's a lie, shame on me. I really, really do, but I can't spare the time. Look, while you two decide who the father is, I need to move this little lady to a different ward. Come on in Derrick," she instructed an attendant as she started preparing the hospital bed and IV for movement.
"Is she okay?" Byron asked hoarsely as they walked down the long corridors to one of the elevators.
The nurse nodded reassuringly. "This is only a precaution. She's fine. She has a mild concussion so we're going to have to keep on waking her up every couple of hours to make sure she's sleeping and hasn't passed out," she said.
"You mean she's already woken up once?" Hugh interrupted gruffly.
"Yeah, she asked after two guys named Hugh and Byron. They wouldn't happen to be you or does this lucky lady have a harem of guys that look like you two?"
Byron's ears turned pink.
The woman laughed when she saw it.
"No, that's us."
"How disappointing. I was hoping more hotties were going to turn up at the hospital!"
Hugh cleared his throat. "Is the baby okay?"
"The tests show that no damage has been done. As she gets further along, her prenatal exams will help to fully establish that the baby came to no harm from the fire. Although she seemed to have breathed in a lot of smoke, it didn't actually ap
pear to affect her lungs that badly. Her x-rays showed that they were clear and practically damage free. It's pretty miraculous, actually. I suppose she was breathing through a wet towel or something."
"Yeah, something like that," Hugh answered blithely.
Byron looked down at his feet and Hugh looked straight ahead, neither one making eye contact with anyone in the elevator. Both knew that her lungs had been damaged, but claiming her only the day before had protected her and helped to heal her faster.
It relieved some of Hugh's guilt that they'd managed to do at least one thing right where Nicole was concerned.
The baby would already be growing faster than an ordinary human child. They'd have to find an open-minded were doctor to examine her, one that didn't treat them like dirt because of their past. The average were pregnancy lasted four to five months, so even though she was only a few days pregnant to a human doctor, she would probably be around two to three weeks with child.
"She's going to have a killer headache when she wakes up and she'll probably feel queasy. That on top of morning sickness won't be nice for the mama to be, alright? So you'd better take care of her!"
Little was said as they strolled out of the elevator and wheeled Nicole to another ward. As the nurse settled her in, she said quietly, "Can I leave the insurance forms with you?"
"Yeah, of course," Hugh answered and took the sheaf of papers she handed him.
"We don't have her details," Byron pointed out as Hugh looked through the sheets.
"No, but we do have her bag. Remember? She left it at the office. I'll get one of the crew to go for it. I'm sure all her details will be in there. We'll need to get her on our insurance soon, plus we're going to have to find her an obstetrician, a were one. Damn, this is more complicated than I expected."
"Do we even know of a were obstetrician?"
"What do you think?" Hugh retorted sarcastically.
"Then how the hell will we find one?"
"Fuck knows. We'll manage. Somehow!"
Hungry Like the Wolf Page 18
