by Terry Spear
His pungent cologne preceding him, Thompson moved closer to the bed. Why did human males wear such gaudy-smelling perfumes? Their own musky scent smelled so much more enticing.
Taking a deep breath, she was glad her kind’s unique DNA structure shifted with the change—perfectly normal wolf DNA when they wore the wolf coat, and human DNA when they turned back into their homo sapiens form. Thompson touched her hair, sending a curl of warmth through her. The toasty, thin blankets helped, but his touch caused a different kind of heat, the kind that stirred her longing to mate.
“Miss.” Thompson’s voice was deep, rugged, and concerned. He reminded her of a mountain man she’d once met, caring the same for nature’s habitat, the same aura of wildness surrounding him, except that the mountain man wanted to be left alone with no human contact. Thompson was different.
“Miss,” he said again.
She didn’t respond. This wasn’t the time or place to seduce him. Later she’d work her charms on him. He cared for Rosa. Wouldn’t he care for the human side of her, too? His fingers touched her cheek and she craved opening her eyes to see the expression in his gaze. Was it longing? Lustful? Did she intrigue him a little?
“Can you tell me what happened to you?” The sound of boots tromping toward the room
caught her attention. Two men entered. She concentrated on the smell of them, different colognes, just as heavy, just as nauseating.
“Officers,” Thompson said. Her heart rate shifted to higher gear.
“Mr. Thompson,” one of the policemen said. “Has she come to?”
“Not yet. The doctor said it might be awhile.” A chair slid over to the bed.
Great. She had a whole mess of observers, like at the zoo.
“What do you think happened?” one of the policemen asked.
“No telling, but I’m not leaving until I know. Thanks, by the way, for keeping the media out of it for the moment,” Thompson said.
“You’re welcome. We might have an attempted rape or even an attempted murder case here. Don’t need the media involved quite yet. On the other hand, she might be mentally ill.”
She fought making a face at them.
“I considered that.” Thompson grasped her wrist, the strength of his touch spiraling through her like a gigantic heated wave. “Pulse is ... well, a little rapid, but definitely better than nearly nonexistent. I thought she was too far gone there for a while.”
A cell phone jingled in close proximity to Thompson. She held her breath, fearful that his staff would inform him someone had stolen Rosa from the wolves’ pen.
“Thompson here,” he said.
Too much silence followed. The seconds lingered like minutes, yet Thompson didn’t speak a word. The suspense was killing her. When no one conversed further, she opened her eyes. Thompson stared at her with raw disbelief.
She swallowed hard, the moisture in her throat all but gone.
“Yeah,” he said into the phone. “The little lady just came to. I’ll ask her where Rosa is.”
The hardness in his face and the grim set of his mouth and jaw indicated losing Rosa had angered him. Good. Then if he wanted her back, he could promise his undying love to her and—
“Call you right back when I have some answers.” He snapped his phone shut and then furrowed his brow. “What were you doing in the wolves’ pen?”
Gone were the kid gloves.
What the hell was she supposed to say? Her mind was slightly muddled still and any fabrications she might have conjured up weren’t coming to her readily.
Wondering what the police officers’ take was on the situation and wanting to avoid Thompson’s steely-eyed glower, she glanced over at them. Both mid-thirties, one taller than the other with questioning green eyes, both dark brown-haired.
The green-eyed cop’s phone rang and he lifted it to his ear. “Sgt. Stevenson. What? Detain him. I’ll be right down.” He shoved his phone into the pouch attached to his belt. “Man at the front desk is asking about a woman brought in half frozen from hypothermia.”
“The media?” Thompson asked, steeling his back, his voice concerned.
“Yeah, suspect so. We don’t need a media circus here. I’ll head him off.” He turned to his partner. “You stay here. Call you in a minute.”
The other man nodded, and in five quick strides, Sgt. Stevenson disappeared from the room.
Thompson turned his attention back to Bella. More interrogation. Didn’t the doctor tell the zoo man to take it easy on her? At least that’s what she thought he’d said. She closed her eyes. How in the hell was she going to get herself out of this mess now?
Thompson cleared his throat. “Now listen, miss, if you’re some kind of animal rights activist and wanted to free the wolf ...” He paused and then continued. “Okay, let me tell you a little tale. Last year we had a similar scenario. The red wolf was someone’s pet, but the owner decided he couldn’t manage the animal when his wife had a new baby. So what did he do? Afraid the wolf might attack his child, he released the wolf into the wild. Sure, wolves are feral, but this one had been domesticated, too. She kept returning to Portland neighborhoods, looking for the home life she was used to, and finally killed someone’s toy poodle—not out of viciousness, but because she was starving. So the dog owner shot and killed her. If she’d been brought to the zoo, she would have been safe, protected, well fed, and content.”
And mated with Big Red.
Saddened that the dog owner had destroyed the red wolf and that his beloved pet had to die, Bella hid her feelings and still didn’t say anything.
“Several have asked to transfer Rosa to other zoos. It wouldn’t have been you and some of your cohorts, would it?” Thompson added.
The cop said, “If you suspect her of wrongdoing, she needs to be read her rights and—”
Thompson interrupted him and directed his comments to Bella. “Listen, we only want to protect Rosa. I know you and your friends do, too. If you hand her over to us, we’ll drop the charges.”
Was he bluffing to make her tell him the truth? No, she believed he’d honor his word.
“Okay, let’s start off all over again. My name is Henry Thompson, one of the biggest contributors to the zoo. I oversee some of the more endangered species, including red wolves. I’ve worked with other zoos for years, trying to return a select number to the wild, but we can’t set Rosa loose out here. No red wolves exist in the Cascades for her to mate. She’d end up mating with coyotes, and the result wouldn’t be pure red wolf, which is what has happened in Texas, nearly obliterating the original red wolf species until more recently.”
When she wouldn’t respond, the cop said, “We have to know what you were doing in the wolves’ pen, miss.”
She looked back at the blankets covering her, considered the I.V. attached to her arm, and wondered which floor of the hospital her room was located on.
Thompson sat in the chair beside her. “I’m not leaving until I have some answers.”
Maybe not, but perhaps he’d grow sleepy, or take a bathroom break, or ...
The cop’s phone rang. “Yeah? I’ll be right down.” He hung up and then said, “The media man vanished. I’m going to help my partner look for the news van. The lady at the front desk gave out the wrong room number for wolf lady here.”
She couldn’t help but cast him a sardonic smile at the name he called her.
“You won’t be smiling when we put you in jail for this little stunt you’ve just pulled,” Thompson said, his tone harsh.
Wouldn’t that be ironic? If she sat in jail long enough, she could turn back into the wolf. Then the charges would be dropped against Bella, and she’d be returned to the wolf pen as Rosa.
“You might want to stay with her in the event someone locates her anyway,” the cop said. “Be back in a little while.”
“I’ll be here.”
The cop hurried out of the room and shut the door behind him with a click.
Fleeing seemed much more plausible
now with Thompson all alone with her in the room. He leaned closer to the bed and tapped his fingers on the mattress, his eyes pinning her with authority. “We might not be able to make the charges of wolf-napping stick against you, but we can get you for trespassing.”
She closed her eyes.
He grunted. “You’re as stubborn as my ex-wife. When she’d made up her mind not to say something, there wasn’t anything I could do to convince her to open up.”
Bella wanted to ask why they were divorced, but she figured she was better off keeping quiet.
The door opened, and Bella opened her eyes. The nurse poked her head in. “The doctor said you have ten more minutes and then the patient needs to rest. Visitors aren’t normally allowed in the rooms at this hour.”
“But—”
The nurse raised her hand. “Doctor’s orders.” Before she shut the door, another scent filtered into the room—Devlyn’s aromatic male scent.
Hell, he was coming for her, the traitor, and he’d return her to Volan posthaste.
“Get me out of here now, and I’ll tell you where Rosa is.” Bella’s voice was still little more than a whisper, which probably saved her butt or Devlyn would have heard her.
Thompson folded his arms and leaned back in the chair. “No. You’re too weak. Not until the doctor says—”
She glanced at the I.V. in her arm and then yanked it out. To stop the bleeding, she clamped her hand over the tape that had held the I.V. in place.
“Wait, miss—”
Jerking her blankets to the floor, she stumbled out of bed. What she wouldn’t have given for some swift wolf’s legs about now. Although she could run long and hard as a human, too, a nice warm wolf pelt would have been preferable in the cold winter weather to a human’s naked body.
Thompson jumped up from the chair and headed for her.
Her head swam, and she grabbed the mattress. The idea that she had completely recovered was a delusion.
Thompson skirted around the bed to help her. “I’m— I’m sorry. You need to return to bed, miss. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She rushed past him into the bathroom. With only a flimsy hospital gown tied at the back and nothing else to clothe her body, she was out of luck. She locked the bathroom door and then looked at the window. No way to open it. No escape. She hurried out of the bathroom.
Thompson hit the nurse’s call button, his tanned face now pale. “I’ll get a nurse to put the I.V. back—”
Desperate to escape Devlyn, Bella ran out of the room. She dashed for the nearest exit sign down the long corridor.
“Miss!” Thompson shouted after her.
She slammed into the fire stairs door, glancing back to see Devlyn at the nurses’ station and Thompson tearing out of the room.
Thompson looked back at Devlyn, evidently to see what caught her eye. Both men stared at each other for a moment. She didn’t wait to see what happened next.
After charging down two flights of stairs, she bolted onto the first floor. One man’s boots tromped down the stairwell in hasty pursuit of her. She dove undetected into a hospital room. Thank God an elderly patient snored in his sleep in one of the beds. Heart pounding, she slid under the unoccupied bed.
The door to the room opened. She scarcely breathed. Boots stood in the doorway but then moved away and the door closed.
Hurrying out from underneath the bed, she searched through the man’s wall closet.
After tossing the hospital gown, she slipped on his large button-down, collared shirt that reached mid-thigh. She pulled a bulky sweater over this. His baggy trousers and canoe-sized shoes were way too big. Grabbing his corduroy jacket, she shoved her arms into the sleeves. Barefooted and barelegged, she ran to the door and peeked out.
The hallway remained empty, but Thompson, the police, and Devlyn had to be nearby. She leaned against the doorframe, dizzy—not yet herself. Her head fuzzed and her heart beat way out of control.
When her head cleared, she dashed for the front door that she envisioned lay beyond the bend in the hall, centered in the middle of the building.
Devlyn suddenly walked out of a room down the hall and into her path, his back to her. Her breath caught in her throat. Bolting, she tried to dash past him, but he jumped to block her. She slammed against his body instead, and he wrapped his arms around her in a secure vice.
Panic filled her. His touch forced her to want more from him—a searing embrace, another kiss, full of passion. Madness. He’d turn her over to the pack leader, damn him.
Devlyn pulled her into the room. To her horror, Thompson and the two cops lay still as death on the floor, forcing a gasp from her lips. “What—”
His eyes burning with anger, he held a finger to her lips. Then he took her hand and whispered harshly, “We’re leaving through the front door, quietly.” When she tried to jerk free, he gripped her hand tighter. “Quietly, damn it, Bella. Behave for once.”
Straightening her shoulders, she narrowed her eyes. She’d slipped away from the pack before. She could do it again. And, for now, Devlyn seemed her only chance to flee the hospital. Yet, God, how she hungered for more than his hand gripping hers. It was mating season, she reminded herself, nothing more, and she would lust after any male that ... hell, who was she trying to kid? The way he looked at her bare legs, even while they stood in imminent danger of being discovered, the way he touched her—he craved her as much as she did him.
He walked her back into the hall toward the center of the building, his stride long and indomitable, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. His touch should have warmed her ... well, hell, it did. But for all of the wrong reasons. She craved more of his touch, at the same time resenting the implication. He was her captor, her new zookeeper; her blood sizzled.
When they walked past the nurses’ station, a woman wearing polka-dot scrubs spoke on the phone, her eyes wide. “The patient is missing?”
His jaw tight, Devlyn hurried Bella toward the door past the station.
The woman said, “Wait! Sir! Miss!”
He hit the door with his shoulder and yanked Bella outside into the crisp, cold air. Grabbing her up in his arms, he ran for the black SUV parked curbside.
Gray-haired Argos tugged the door open. “Argos,” she said under her breath, the pleasure at seeing him overshadowed by the realization that the pack was returning her to Volan. She clenched her teeth.
He gave her a warm smile. “We’ve missed you.”
“Volan has missed me.” Argos’s smile faded.
“Hurry.” Tanner, Devlyn’s cousin, pointed out the window. “A security guard is headed this way.”
Devlyn jumped into the driver’s seat while Tanner and his brother Heath wedged Bella between them in the middle seat; then Devlyn gunned the engine. “We’ll split up. Give the police clues that Bella and I have headed in other directions.”
Bella was squished between Devlyn’s cousins, who sat too close for comfort. “Give me some more room,” she growled.
Tanner chuckled. “Spicy vinegar, just like the old days, eh, Bella?”
“Volan won’t like it if we split up,” Argos warned, glancing over the seat at her.
She shoved at Tanner to move his leg, uncomfortably wedged against her thigh, but he wouldn’t budge. His brother patted her bare thigh. “About time you returned to the pack. Sure missed having you around.”
She slapped his hand.
“They’ll catch all of us if we don’t split up,” Devlyn countered, shifting his attention from the road to his rearview mirror, and gave his cousins a dangerous glare. Murmured objections filtered forward, but by pack rules, Devlyn was older, and since Argos, though the eldest, had stepped down from pack leadership, Devlyn made the decisions.
“Bella stays with me. Everyone else takes whatever route they need to, to make it back to Colorado,” Devlyn clarified.
Argos took a deep breath. “And the two of you?”
“We’ll have a time with Thompson.” Devlyn shook
his head at Bella. “You sure have confused him.”
She jerked Tanner’s fingers free from a coil of her hair. “Touch me again and you’ll lose your fingers.”
The cousins all laughed, but Devlyn gave them a look like he’d be the one to follow through with Bella’s threat if they didn’t behave.
When they arrived at the hotel, the time approached one in the morning. With obvious disdain, Devlyn’s cousins reluctantly drove off into the dark in separate vehicles. Argos gave Bella a warm embrace in the parking area of the five-story hotel. He’d been the father she’d lost so long ago, and her heart sank with the knowledge that she might never see him again.
“Welcome back to the pack, Bella. We’ll see you soon.” Instantly, he stoked her ire. She was never returning to Volan, ever. “It’s good to see you again, Argos. You take care.”
He’d always been kind to her, protecting her when the overly rambunctious males had overextended their boundaries with her during her teens, keeping in touch with her all of these years. She loved seeing him again, even briefly. But she knew she’d never be able to correspond with him again for fear Volan would discover her.
Argos nodded as if he knew her thoughts and acknowledged she would make Devlyn’s life hell if he contemplated returning her home.
He shook Devlyn’s hand. “Keep her safe and bring her home.”
“Will do.”
Argos quickly disappeared into the blackness, too. Instantly, being alone with Devlyn sent a spark of concern through her. All male, he was the right age to crave mating with a female in heat. Would he make a move on her while Volan remained out of the way?
Secretly, the urge to mate with Devlyn wreaked havoc with her feelings. She couldn’t encourage his attentions, or both would suffer Volan’s wrath. But still the desire to have Devlyn’s kiss again—
Devlyn grabbed her arm and pulled her into the cement stairwell, their footsteps echoing all the way up to the second floor. Down a long, carpeted, dusty smelling hall, he hastened her to his room.
“You’re barely able to stay on your feet and your eyes look soggy, half-drugged. We’ll sleep here for a couple of hours and then move.” He shoved the keycard into the slot and then opened the door into a living area furnished with a sofa and a couple of chairs.
