Gareth could feel his wolf pacing. It had calmed somewhat after the young man shifted, but it was still wary and on full alert.
“I’d like to call in some experts, see if maybe they can—”
“No!” Gareth snarled. “No one else touches him. Do you understand me?”
Franklin stumbled back, only able to keep from falling by putting a hand on the nearby table. “Of course, Alpha,” he whimpered as he tilted his head. “I meant no disrespect.”
“Goddamn it,” Gareth berated himself. He rushed to Franklin and stroked the side of his face. “I am so very sorry, Frank. My wolf is riding me hard lately whenever it comes to our guest. He’s apparently a lot closer to the surface than I thought. I hope you can forgive me.”
Franklin’s eyes narrowed. “Your wolf is…. But you never lose control.”
“It seems to be the time for surprises, huh?” Gareth said with a chuckle. “Since my wolf sensed him in the woods, he’s been very proprietary. When you touched him, the wolf went nuts and clawed to get to you. I had to explain to him repeatedly that you were a doctor and that you were helping. He settled, but not as much as I’d hoped.”
“Intriguing,” Franklin muttered as he stared at Gareth. “Would you mind if I examined you?”
“Me? I’m not the one you should be worried about,” Gareth reminded him.
“No, of course not. But your wolf is reacting to my patient for a reason, and I’m curious to know what it is. Tell me, did you help him shift?”
Gareth gave a sharp nod. “I passed some of my energy to him. He soaked it up like a sponge. When I touched him, I could tell his reserves were drained. It seemed as though he was a dried-out husk.”
“I need to see your eyes. Is it okay if I look at them?”
Gareth nodded. To look into the eyes of an Alpha could be considered a challenge to his authority, but he was aware Franklin was no threat. Franklin led him to a chair and bade him to sit, then pulled out a light he shined into Gareth’s eyes.
“Amazing,” Franklin whispered as he flicked the light back and forth.
“What?” Gareth demanded, struggling to tamp down the annoyance.
“The iris of your eye has changed,” the doctor said. “It’s tinged with violet now, just like our friend.”
“Impossible!” Gareth snorted, pushing up and out of the chair. He stalked to the mirror and pulled his eyelid up. His eyes were different. The blue had become deeper, almost a violet. He turned back to Franklin.
“What the hell is going on?” The words came out raw, angry.
Franklin held up his hands. “I’m only telling you what I saw. When you gave him energy, did you feel weakened at all?”
“No,” Gareth answered honestly. Considering how much he’d given, it should have left him nearly drained. He would have needed a lot of food and sleep to get it back.
“Simply fascinating.” Franklin scribbled down notes on a pad of paper that lay on the counter nearby. He kept glancing at Gareth, muttering a few words, and adding to his growing list.
“If you don’t stop talking to yourself, I may be forced to kill you,” Gareth growled.
“My apologies. Can you do me a favor?” Franklin held out his hand. “Take my hand and give me some of your energy.”
“Franklin, what is this about?”
“I’m not sure yet. Just a theory I want to test.”
Gareth gripped the doctor’s hand and let a fraction of his energy slide along their joined hands.
“Fuck!” Franklin shouted, pulling away.
“What happened?”
“You didn’t feel that?” Franklin asked.
“I didn’t feel anything. Why? What was it?”
Franklin went to the sink and scrubbed his hands before he pulled on yet another set of the limitless supply of gloves the clinic seemed to have. He returned to Gareth, reached out, and gently probed his fingertips. “When you gave me your energy, it felt like I’d stuck my hand into a socket. It was all I could do to pull away. I honestly was surprised by the fact that it didn’t knock me across the room.”
“What would do that?” Gareth asked, pulling away from his friend and staring at his hand.
“It never happened before,” Franklin muttered as he jotted down more notes. “It’s like you’ve been supercharged. Did you notice anything unusual when you touched—did he say what his name was?”
Gareth shook his head. “We never got to that point. I told him to sleep, and he did.”
Franklin sighed. “We need something to call him.”
“My name is Sean,” said a soft voice. “What’s going on?”
SEAN HATED the fact that they were discussing him like he was some sort of lab project. He’d lain awake, listening to the two men bicker for the last thirty minutes. He was surprised the Alpha didn’t notice, but he was otherwise occupied.
“How are you feeling?” the gray-haired man asked.
“Like I’ve been put through a meat grinder,” Sean said, pushing his way to a sitting position. “Where am I?”
“You’re on the Lydon pack grounds,” Gareth replied, his voice smooth as silk.
Sean groaned. It hadn’t been a dream. He really had crossed onto another pack’s area. Shit, he had to get out before they found out who he was. Last thing he wanted was for Gareth to find out the truth and report him to Ryker. “I apologize for intruding. I didn’t realize I’d wandered so close to someone’s territory. I’ll be on my way.”
“Naked?” Gareth asked, with a shit-eating grin.
Sean looked down, then pulled the blanket Gareth had wrapped around him up to his neck. “Fuck. Oh God. I’m sorry. I… I…. Fuck.”
When Gareth laughed, Sean felt his cheeks warm. “It’s fine. We’re shifters. It isn’t like we’re offended by nudity. Besides, from what I saw, you don’t have anything to worry about.”
“Oh God,” Sean groaned. “You should have just let me die.”
Gareth’s expression morphed into one of anger, and Sean trembled.
“Don’t you ever say something so stupid,” he snapped. “Dying is not a laughing matter.”
“I’m sorry,” Sean replied, fighting the urge to bare his neck. He refused to show any submission to the Alpha.
Gareth’s eyebrows lifted. “No, it’s me who should be sorry. I’m all out of sorts. I believe I made you a promise. What’s your favorite food in the whole world?”
That question didn’t even require any thought. “Spaghetti with meat sauce, loads of vegetables, and lots of Parmesan cheese.”
Taking out a phone, Gareth punched in a couple of numbers, repeated the order, said thank you, and hung up. “Dani said she’ll whip up a batch, with enough left over to keep you fed for a week.”
So after a week, he’d be back to hiding in the woods. That would be okay. At least he’d have a chance to regain his strength. He couldn’t stay, though. He’d seen more than one Alpha change when they discovered what Sean was, and that never ended well.
Sean swallowed hard. Even though he hadn’t intended on staying, it still hurt to be dismissed that way. “Thank you. I don’t mean to be any bother. I’ll take the food and go, if that’s okay with you.”
“Wait. What are you talking about? Where will you go?”
Anger surged to the fore. “What do you care? You want me to go, so I’ll go.”
Gareth rushed to Sean’s side and gripped his hand. “What did I say that made you think I wanted you to leave?”
“You said she’d make enough to feed me for a week. I assumed….” Sean’s chin dropped to his chest. “That’s not what you meant, was it?”
The gray-haired man laughed. When Gareth gave him an annoyed look, he shrugged. “What? It’s funny.”
“No, it really isn’t,” Gareth growled.
“Lighten up, Alpha.” He turned to Sean. “I’m Dr. Franklin. You can call me Frank, if you’d like. What our beloved leader is trying to say is that he’s going to make sure you have enough of you
r favorite food to last several meals if you want it. He’d—well, we’d—prefer if you stay here. You definitely aren’t in any shape to be going out.”
Gareth dropped his gaze. “Yes, what he said. You’re welcome to stay here, Sean.”
Holy shit. Someone actually wanted Sean to stay. Would that offer still be extended if they knew the truth?
Chapter Three
GARETH PACED in his room. He couldn’t believe he’d gotten tongue-tied around Sean. He was a fucking Alpha, for God’s sake. Even more amazing, Sean hadn’t submitted to him, and his wolf didn’t go berserk. In fact, Gareth’s wolf calmed at the display. It chuffed, then curled up in the dark recesses of Gareth’s mind, completely content.
“Traitor,” Gareth muttered.
For all the years that Gareth had been Alpha of the Lydon pack, he’d never brooked anyone challenging his leadership. But instead of fighting, he removed them from the pack. Most people would kill—not literally, though there had been a few close calls—to be a part of Lydon. They were one of the two richest packs in the country, with lands blessed by Mother Moon to be fertile and rich in resources. And Gareth took the challenge of maintaining them very seriously.
He deliberately kept the pack small, figuring that although the pack didn’t have many members, it was still strong. Gareth accepted people who had a talent the pack needed, a skill that would be useful. And there was never a shortage of people who wanted to be part of Lydon. Gareth’s wolf had already decided it was going to keep Sean, and Gareth was almost in agreement, but what could he bring to the pack? His wolf didn’t like that line of questioning and made its annoyance known by doing a little pacing of its own.
“You do know I get the final say, right?” Gareth muttered.
His wolf snarled at him. Him of all people! He wondered, not for the first time, at Mother Moon’s sense of humor. Taking two creatures, man and wolf, and merging them into one body, each with their own wants and desires. Usually they reached an agreement, and the man held sway. Sometimes, though, a wolf could become the dominant force in the body. Those people became vicious, preferring to conquer rather than negotiate. He’d run into many of those types, the ones who thought might made right. Fortunately he’d found the best way to deal with a situation was to simply buy the pack out, remove the Alpha, then put someone in charge that he could trust, who would then be a powerful ally.
“I wish you would tell me what you want. It would be much easier for me to understand.”
Images flashed through Gareth’s mind. All of them Sean. He could feel the wolf’s need to have the man close by, but beyond the pictures, he had no idea why. Perhaps if he meditated, he could commune with his animal and figure it out from there.
A light rap at the door, followed by a whispered “Alpha?” caught Gareth’s attention.
Gareth sighed at the sound of Caleb’s voice. It wasn’t as though he didn’t like the boy, but Caleb was… persistent in trying to curry his favor. More than once, Lyram had said he thought the pup had a crush on Gareth, but he knew better. “Yes, Caleb?”
The door opened and in walked his housekeeper’s son. At seventeen, he was small for his age. His birthday would be just before the next full moon, and the change would soon be upon him. Gareth made a mental note that he needed to be there for the boy’s first shift, because it wasn’t something to be faced alone.
Caleb favored his mother, and Daniella was a beautiful woman. She had startling deep brown eyes and long dark hair that she kept pinned back with a brooch given to her by her late husband three weeks before he died. Micah had gone snowboarding after the first snowfall six years ago. His body had been discovered at the bottom of a ravine, half-shifted. Gareth had found him when he sensed the intense pain. He rushed to the spot, but he was too late to help. Micah was already dead. Gareth hadn’t let Dani see her husband’s body, instead telling her that he’d been buried in accordance with their laws. No one should have to see the horrifying tableau Gareth had come across.
Caleb entered hesitantly, as he always did when he approached Gareth. He should have felt bad that any of his pack should be nervous around him, but he was pleased that it kept the boy from asking too many questions.
“That man you brought here. Is he… dangerous? You know, the guy in Dr. Frank’s infirmary.”
Gareth sat, then motioned to Caleb to take the other chair. “Why do you ask?”
The soft whoosh of the wheels across the hardwood floor of the Alpha’s home was the only sound. Caleb kept his gaze lowered, his breathing slow and steady. Though he tried to hide his nervousness, Gareth could hear the boy’s heart hammering.
“Is something bothering you, Caleb? Has someone said something?”
He glanced up quickly. “No, it’s not that. Just….” His gaze slipped toward the floor again. “I got a weird feeling when I was in the clinic. It’s dark and angry, but I don’t know if it’s coming from him or his wolf. I didn’t want to say anything to my mom because she worries when I get these… flashes, I guess.”
It was understandable that Dani worried. Raising a pup alone was hard, even though everyone in the pack stood ready to help. The thing of it was, Caleb’s father had been a seer. He got visions, usually at night while asleep. Everything he ever shared with Gareth came true with unerring accuracy. Dani worried that her son would never live a normal life if he’d received his father’s gift. Still, Micah hadn’t come into his abilities until he was well into his late twenties. Caleb had begun having visions the day his father died. Where most seers had no problems controlling their premonitions, Caleb’s manifested in nightmares. He woke up screaming, and more than once he’d had to be given a sedative by Franklin.
“Tell me what you saw.”
Caleb closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I saw fire erupting from the ground, and he was walking out of it. Or maybe the fire was coming from him. His mouth dripped with blood.” Caleb scratched the back of his neck. “Well, I’m not really sure it was him. I couldn’t see his face because it was pitch-black. He stepped out, cinders and ash swirling around him. The sounds—shrieks and pleading—were so loud, I had to cover my ears, but then he roared and everything else was drowned out. I’ve never been so scared, Alpha.”
Caleb whimpered when Gareth pulled him close. Wolves, by nature, were social animals. As a pup, Caleb needed more socialization than adults, but he also had to be shown his Alpha cared about him.
Gareth touched foreheads with Caleb. “Shh. It’s all right. Everything will be fine. I promise.” They sat there, Gareth holding Caleb, until his packmate’s heart rate returned to normal. He stood and held out a hand. “What say we head over to the house and I’ll make us a sandwich?”
Gareth couldn’t help but chuckle as Caleb’s jaw dropped.
“But, Alpha… if you’re hungry, I can wake Mom. She’ll be happy to cook for you, and I—”
Gareth squinted at Caleb. “I’m not completely helpless, you know. Before I became Alpha, I learned to cook from two generations of my family. My mother and grandmother taught me how to make plenty of things, including Gran’s famous grilled ham and cheese. Thick slices of ham oozing with melted cheddar on toasted sourdough bread. As for the rest?” Gareth shrugged. “I’m pretty sure I’m capable of opening a can of tomato soup.” When he saw the dubious expression on Caleb’s face, Gareth clapped him on the shoulder. “I promise not to poison you.” He grinned. “Well, even if I do, you’ll heal.”
He wrapped an arm around Caleb’s shoulder and guided him to the kitchen. He did his best to keep his tone light, but worry plagued him. Caleb’s predictions had been mostly accurate. Was Sean, the man Gareth had told he could stay, a threat to the pack? And when Caleb had described what he’d seen, it triggered a memory for Gareth. One night, not long before his ascension to Alpha, his mother had sat him down and told him a tale of the night wolf. What she described—fangs larger than a man’s arm, with a face hidden beneath a dark shroud and a roar that would send any wolf’s he
art skittering in fear—were very similar to what Caleb had seen.
He shook his head and tightened his grip a little. There was no such thing as the night wolf, and Gareth was letting his imagination run away with him.
SEAN LAY in the clinic, staring up at the ceiling. As beds went, the one he found himself in wasn’t the most comfortable, but it was a damned sight better than sleeping under a tree during a thunderstorm, or when the ice and sleet left him shivering.
He tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea rolled over him. He couldn’t recall ever feeling so weak. If Gareth hadn’t shared his energy, Sean had little doubt that he wouldn’t have survived his injuries. The question on his mind was, why had Gareth done it? Alphas didn’t help—they only took. Sean had seen enough of them to know the truth. They fucked females who were meant to be mated, claiming it to be their right to take the woman’s virginity. They hoarded the choicest of foods, ensuring they remained fat and healthy, even if their pack had next to nothing.
Gareth hadn’t seemed like that at all. His energy had been warm, joining with Sean’s own, enabling him to finally begin to heal. There’d been no force on Gareth’s part. He offered; Sean took. There wasn’t an effort to overwhelm him, but to work in cooperation. Sean had never experienced that before. What surprised him the most, though, was the power Gareth held. With as much as he gave Sean, there was still more—a deep wellspring that Sean could feel was untapped.
There was no doubt in Sean’s mind that if Gareth had meant to hurt him, he could have easily done so. Sean hadn’t the strength to defend himself against any Alpha, let alone one as powerful as Gareth. Now? The spaghetti had left him with a full stomach for the first time in months, Gareth’s energy was allowing Sean to heal wounds that were at least that old, and most surprising to Sean, he wasn’t afraid. In fact, he was grateful to Gareth for all he’d done.
Still, he wouldn’t be lulled into a false sense of security. He’d been wrong before, and he had learned the hard way that it was best to be wary. He would give Gareth and the doctor the benefit of the doubt, but he wouldn’t give them his trust.
The Night Wolf Page 3
