“Franklin? I’m sorry I interrupted your night with Marcella. I know it’s your anniversary. Please extend my apologies to her as well.”
“It wasn’t a problem at all, Gareth. You know that.”
And he did. Gareth also knew he needed rest. He should have had someone take him, because the long drive to meet their new packmate, plus the return trip home and finding the wolf in the forest, had left him drained. But right now, he felt responsible for this pup, and he wouldn’t leave his side until he knew for certain he was in the clear.
After Franklin left, Lyram stepped closer to Gareth. “Alpha? I would be happy to stay. You’re dead on your feet. Shit, I can smell your exhaustion.”
“Not necessary. If you wouldn’t mind finding me a cot, I’ll sleep here.”
“But—”
Gareth pinched the bridge of his nose. “I acknowledge your concerns, and they are appreciated, but I will be staying tonight.” Knowing how his wolf surged to the fore when he discovered the sick shifter, Gareth wasn’t certain he could control himself if Lyram didn’t back down. “Please, don’t make this into a challenge.”
Lyram tilted his neck, offering his submission. “No, of course not, Alpha. Forgive my presumption.”
He hadn’t intended on coming down so hard. That wasn’t his style. Groaning, Gareth turned to Lyram and put a hand on his shoulder. He smiled when Lyram leaned into the touch, as all the wolves of Lydon would do. “No, it’s fine. Your job is to protect our people, and that includes me. I know I’m being a stubborn ass, so forgive me. You are correct—I am burned out. But I need to be sure he’s okay, and I won’t sleep if I’m at home. Maybe with a cot, I can get a few hours’ rest.”
Lyram snapped to attention, which made Gareth grin. Lyram was a good Beta, if not a little bit anal. He knew his position, and he served with distinction. There was no one he trusted more in the pack.
“I’ll see to getting you something to sleep on right away.” He turned on his heel and rushed out the door, letting it bang shut behind him.
As soon as he left, Gareth ran a hand over the wolf stretched out on the single bed. His breathing seemed less labored, but he still shivered. Opening the supply room, Gareth grabbed another blanket and laid it over the top of their new friend.
“We’ll figure this out. Tomorrow you will shift for me, so that it will speed your healing. Then we’re going to stuff you so full of food, you’ll complain you’re about to burst. And even after that, we’re going to keep you fed. Once you’re healthy, we’ll talk about your place in the pack.”
Gareth’s chest tightened. The wolf before him seemed so frail, and it tugged at his instincts to claim him as a wolf of Lydon. He wasn’t comfortable with these feelings. He’d always been so selective, taking only those who could provide something to the pack. He knew nothing about this wolf, but he still wanted to keep him.
The door burst open and Lyram came in, lugging a mattress behind him. He gave a sheepish grin when he saw the expression on Gareth’s face. It was a California king, like all the beds in Gareth’s home. Fortunately, as a wolf, Lyram was much stronger than a human and could easily lug the oversized bed, even if it was bulky.
“What the hell?” Gareth couldn’t contain a laugh.
The tips of Lyram’s ears went red and he dropped his gaze. “We couldn’t find a cot that I thought would be comfortable, and Dani insisted you would be able to sleep easier in your own bed. We went to your house and got the one from the guest room. I have the mattress, she’s bringing the frame, and Caleb has the sheets and a blanket. We’ll have it set up in about fifteen minutes.”
Gareth stepped back and let Lyram move some of Franklin’s tables around to make room for the bed. Though it seemed silly, he genuinely appreciated the thoughtful gesture of his housekeeper, her seventeen-year-old son, and his Beta.
As promised, fifteen minutes later, Lyram, Dani, and the cute little blond wolf cub, Caleb, had the bed set up next to the new wolf. Gareth lay down on the bed, and his wolf calmed for the first time since they’d found the strange shifter, but still Gareth could feel it on full alert, as if expecting something that was just out of the range of Gareth’s senses.
He closed his eyes, and after several hours, sleep finally came.
Chapter Two
THE ANTISEPTIC smell stung Sean’s nose. He knew immediately it meant he’d been captured again. His heart sank. He had no chance of escape this time. Whoever had him would force him to submit, and he no longer had the strength to resist. His life was over. Freedom had become a dream. Sean wished he could die, so no one could ever hurt him again.
“I know you’re awake,” said a deep voice to his right. It rolled over Sean like a caress. Soft, gentle, human. Not a wolf’s demand for him to obey.
Sean opened his eyes. A tall, beefy man stood before him. The power that radiated from him shook Sean to his core. There was no doubt in his mind that this man could force him to submit, and the thought terrified Sean. He’d tried so hard to stay away from other wolves since he’d fought off his parents when they tried to sell him into servitude to Ryker Desmond. The Alpha had fucking been drooling when he laid eyes on Sean. He’d dragged him into his home by the arm, then threw him on the bed. Never mind Sean had only been fourteen at the time.
“I told you before that one day you’d be mine,” he’d snarled. He tethered Sean to the bed by a collar wrapped so tight around his throat, Sean could scarcely draw a breath. “Such a pretty thing,” he murmured, and he walked around Sean, letting his fingers skim over Sean’s back.
“Please, let me go,” Sean had begged. Not that it mattered. He had nowhere to go. His parents had fucking given him up to this pervert in exchange for money and power. His father was now Ryker’s Beta.
“This is your home now, little pup, and I am your Alpha. Never forget that.”
Sean could feel the wash of power flow over him, and the urge to show his submission pressed down hard on him. Still, he had refused to be weak. Not to this pretender.
He hadn’t even seen the blow coming. It snapped his head back, forcing the collar to tighten even more.
He gripped Sean’s hair and yanked hard, forcing Sean to look him in the eyes. “When the full moon rises, I’m going to take you in front of the pack. They’re going to know that I am the ultimate Alpha and you’re my pet.”
Pet? Oh fuck no. Sean might have been the low man on the wolf totem pole, but that didn’t mean he was giving his life over to anyone. After Ryker left to ensure all was ready for their joining ceremony, Sean set to work, doing anything he could to loosen the collar. By the time he was able to slip it off, blood had caked around it, his neck rubbed raw.
Cautiously he made his way out of the camp. He glanced at his house, could hear his parents inside talking about what they’d gained, never once mentioning having given Sean up. Well fuck them.
Ryker’s voice from behind him caused Sean to sink to his knees. “Did you really think you could get away?” He wrapped his big hand around Sean’s neck and squeezed, the pain nearly overwhelming as sharp nails gouged the wounds that scarred Sean’s flesh. Ryker pulled his hand back and licked his fingers, which were coated in Sean’s blood.
“Even this taste has me hungry for more,” he growled. He reached for Sean again, but this time Sean did the only thing he could think of. He kicked Ryker, shocking him into dropping Sean. Then he ran, despite Ryker ordering him to stop. Though his wolf wanted to obey, Sean would have none of it.
“Are you hungry?” the man asked, pulling Sean’s thoughts back to the present. “I’ll have them prepare you something light so you don’t upset your stomach. After you get your strength back, we’ll give you some proper food. If you shift, you can tell me what your favorite thing to eat is. I’ll make sure you have an unlimited supply.”
There wasn’t a command there. Whoever this man was, he wasn’t trying to force Sean to shift. He… actually seemed to care.
“My name is Gareth Blackthorn,�
�� he continued as he reached out a hand to stroke Sean’s muzzle. “I brought you to the Lydon compound last night after I found you in our forest.”
Sean had to force himself not to cringe. He didn’t realize he’d wandered so close to someone’s territory. He hadn’t even noticed the signs through the haze of pain. Forget forcing him to submit, this Alpha was within his rights to kill Sean. He struggled to sit up. Maybe if he moved quickly enough, he’d be allowed to leave. Gareth stopped him with a firm but gentle hand to his shoulder.
“No one here is going to hurt you, I give you my word,” he said as he stepped back, apparently sensing Sean’s discomfort.
Sean had heard that before. More than one Alpha had tried to lull him in with false promises of safety, of protection, of family. It got to the point where Sean could smell a lie. But the Alpha who stood beside him with worry in his gaze? As far as Sean could tell, he wasn’t lying. When Gareth knelt down next to where Sean lay, the only thing Sean could see in those icy blue depths was concern.
“Can you shift? I know how badly you were hurt.” He continued to stroke a hand over Sean’s fur. “You have to be a very brave wolf to withstand such pain. Our doctor stitched your head and cleaned out your wolf’s pads. He was worried you might not make it. But he’s old and prone to exaggeration. Not a good combination.” Gareth winked. Actually winked! Did Alphas wink? Already Gareth was unlike anyone Sean had met before. “It would help if you could shift so he can check you out. You know, ease his mind. If you need help, you can draw on my power.”
No one ever offered to share their power with Sean. Everyone he’d ever met was about what Sean could do for them. They refused to give willingly of themselves, wanting only to take. Ryker had been the worst of the lot. What he couldn’t convince Sean to give him, he was determined to acquire by force. If Sean hadn’t—
Gareth placed a hand atop Sean’s head, pulling Sean away from the dark morass of thoughts. The slightest push of energy surged through him; it wound around his body, invigorating him. Sean had no doubt that as weak as he was, Gareth could have forced him to shift, then collared him, binding him to the Alpha. But this was different. It wasn’t like the others, who’d always attempted to force Sean to bend to their wills. There was a softness to the sharp edge of Gareth’s power. He didn’t force Sean to accept it—he just offered it. Tentatively, Sean’s wolf reached out for the energy, gratefully accepting whatever was offered.
The tiredness that had clung to Sean vanished, though it wouldn’t stay gone for long. Every last iota of energy was going to the parts of his body most in need of healing. He could feel strength returning to his aching limbs, the incessant headache he’d had since the beating by Ryker’s enforcer easing. He almost felt human again.
“That’s it,” Gareth encouraged. “Shift for me. You can do it.”
As his body began to morph, intense pain came with it. There hadn’t been agony like this since Sean’s first time. Even with Gareth passing still more energy to him, it hurt like hell. Broken bones had to reknit, bruised organs throbbed as they reformed, becoming human once again. Sean’s stomach lurched at the pain. He tried to sit up, determined to go in search of a bathroom where he’d expel all the nothing that was in his stomach, but Gareth held him in place with one hand on his chest.
“Relax. You’re almost there. Trust in me.”
Trust an Alpha? Ridiculous. But he had no real choice. He needed Gareth to help him or he’d die. He had a snowball’s chance in hell of completing this shift on his own. Already a crushing exhaustion sapped any energy he had felt earlier. Sean knew if not for Gareth, the transition would be unsuccessful, and it would kill him.
Gareth put his other hand atop Sean’s head and stroked his hair. He kept encouraging Sean, assuring him that he could do it. That they could do it together. It took several minutes of intense agony, but finally the nausea receded and Sean found himself being wrapped in a thick blanket. Wolves rarely slept with anything but the lightest of covers, even in human form, as their body temperature ran hot. Oddly, Sean found himself shivering.
“I know you’re probably wondering why you’re so cold,” Gareth said softly, as he tucked the ends under Sean. “You’re sick. A high fever, Franklin says. He’s never seen a wolf get ill before. That’s one of the reasons he’s so worried.”
Sean’s skin hurt, as though shards of glass were being dragged along it. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, at least part of this was Ryker’s work. He’d done something to weaken Sean, to make him more pliable. There were no depths he would not stoop to so he could possess—no, Sean needed to stop thinking like that. If Gareth found out the truth, then he would take Sean, lock him away, and never allow him to see the sun or Mother Moon again.
“Sleep,” Gareth said, his quiet voice a command Sean chose not to resist.
“I’VE NEVER seen anything like this,” Franklin said as he scratched his head, then tore off the white rubber gloves he had on, tossed them into a nearby container, and replaced them with a fresh pair.
“What’s wrong with him?” Gareth demanded.
Gareth’s wolf wanted to cover the boy… young man. Initially, given the poor shape the wolf was in, Gareth thought maybe he was eighteen and had just gone through his first shift. Now? The best guess Gareth had was that he was in his twenties. That made things even worse, because he should be healthy and vibrant.
Franklin had been examining Sean for nearly three hours. He poked, prodded, jabbed, and still he seemed to have no clue what the hell was going on.
“He has almost no immunity.” Franklin blew out a breath, his frustration obvious. “What wolf doesn’t have his natural shield against disease?”
“What does this mean?”
Franklin turned, weariness evident in his slumped posture. He pulled off another set of gloves and tossed them into the wastebasket. “This is uncharted territory, Gareth. If he were human, I would say any illness could kill him. As a wolf, it’s still possible, I imagine. I just don’t have any answers for you, Alpha. I’m sorry.”
Gareth forced himself to speak in a calm voice, despite the fact that he had so much rage inside of him. “Give me your best guess.”
A nervous laugh bubbled out of Franklin. “I don’t even have one of those. There is just so much going on in his body. I’ve taken blood to do some tests, but I won’t have those results for a while. But there’s something even more peculiar, and I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to bring it up.”
“Tell me,” Gareth demanded, his wolf so close to the surface that he could scent the doctor’s fear.
Another pair of gloves were pulled from the box and slid over Franklin’s wrinkled hands. He approached the sleeping man, put a hand on his right shoulder, and rolled him slightly.
Gareth’s eyes narrowed and he leaned in closer to peer at the dark spot on the man’s shoulder. It was a perfect wolf, baying at Mother Moon. “What the hell is that?”
“Would you believe me if I told you I thought it was a tattoo?”
That would be impossible. Wolves couldn’t get tattoos. The ink never survived the shift. Then again, with this wolf, who the hell knew what was and wasn’t possible?
“It looks like a wolf.”
“It is,” Franklin assured him. “I looked it up after I found it. Have you ever heard of the night wolf?”
“Myth and legend,” Gareth scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. “No one has believed those tales for over a hundred years.”
“No one believes in shifters either, but here we are. Just because no one has seen the night wolf before now doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
Gareth pinned the doctor with a glare. “So you’re telling me you believe this man is the dreaded night wolf? The one capable of giving whoever controls it near limitless power? Who can turn humans to stone with a gaze, run faster than a cheetah, is stronger than the rhinoceros, more feared than a bull elephant? Seriously? You? You’re a man of science.”
“It’s because of s
cience I entertain the thought,” Franklin protested. “There are so many things that were dismissed out of hand years ago but now are commonplace. I don’t know for a fact that he is the night wolf, but I can’t come up with any other explanation. Not that I’m going to stop looking, mind you.”
Franklin dipped his chin and went back to his examination. Gareth turned and strode across the room, his thoughts a chaotic jumble. The night wolf. It seemed so impossible. Gareth had heard the tales when he was a child. That if you misbehaved, your Alpha would summon the night wolf to come claim your soul. He’d scoffed at them then, but….
“No,” Gareth snarled as he turned back to Franklin, his voice hard and brittle. “There is no such thing as the night wolf. I don’t know what that is, but look at him. He’s been abused, starved, broken. Don’t you think if he were this mythical creature, he would have saved himself?”
A deep sigh. “Alpha, I don’t know what to think.” Franklin pushed back the gray hair that flowed over his shoulder, then tore off the gloves and put on a fresh set. He went back to his patient and once again began probing. “I’m going through possibilities, and every one of them leads to a brick wall. Nothing about this boy is normal. The only things I am certain of are, A, he’s a wolf, but not healing as he should. B, he’s sick and ticks were feeding from him. And C, he was nearly starved to death. If he was the night wolf, I wouldn’t expect any of those either. But then again, I don’t know anything about them, so even if he was one, I wouldn’t know how to treat him.”
“What about the antibiotics?”
“They got here first thing this morning. I’ve given him a mild dose so his system doesn’t go into shock. Thus far, nothing has changed.” Franklin turned his gaze toward Gareth. “I wish I had something to tell you. Maybe I’m going about it all wrong. For all I know, this is normal for him. He could have a genetic abnormality, or perhaps be a different breed of wolf. There are far too many variables for me to give you an answer.”
The Night Wolf Page 2
