She nodded. “I’ll go with him.”
Vahl shook his head, “There won’t be enough room with him and Sebastian plus the medics. I’ll drive you there myself. We can leave right now if you want.”
Tara gripped handfuls of her father’s shirt. “Promise me he won’t die, Dad. Please! Promise me!”
He looked deep into her eyes, eyes so like her own and said, “I promise that he will get the best care possible, Tara.”
Tara closed hers and whispered. “I won’t leave him. I can’t”
Her father nodded and wrapped his arms around her. “I understand. We’ll stay right here with him, baby girl, until he’s in the air, you can protect him.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Tara sat in the waiting room at a trauma center in New Hampshire. She had ridden here with her father, but she didn’t remember a single mile. As soon as they had airlifted Riley out of the woods it was like her mind had clicked off and her body was functioning on auto-pilot. With her cell phone on her lap she stared at the picture she had taken with Riley just the night before, both of them smiling and happy and excited about the future they were planning. She remained unmoving except for her teeth chattering. Someone had cleaned Riley’s blood off her hands with a wet wipe and had wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, she didn’t know who. Someone else, also unknown, had pressed a cup of something warm – probably coffee – into her hands. The warmth felt nice, but she didn’t drink it. Someone had tried to clean the scratches on her face from her mad dash through the woods but she had snarled and swatted the hands away. No one had approached her since.
Conversation buzzed around her like the drone of bees, but she had no idea what was being said. She recognized shapes moving around her as people, but she had no idea which shape belonged to who. Right now, her entire universe centered on Riley who was in surgery. She had no concept of the hours passing, just the need to be with Riley again, to feel his warmth, to hear his heartbeat, to see his smile; that was the only cure for what was wrong with her right now. It felt like a vital part of her had been amputated and she wouldn’t move from this spot until it was restored.
She kept recalling sitting in another waiting room waiting for the doctor to give her word of her mother. Not once had she imagined that her mother would die, but she had. The doctor had come in and she had stood up to meet him. He started shaking his head and explaining what happened and the next thing she knew she had found herself on the floor, a nurse waving something white – probably smelling salts – under her nose. They’d helped her up to a chair and asked her if there was anyone they could call for her. Her response had been automatic when she had said “My mother”. She had watched the faces turn to pity and ask if there was anyone else. Sadly, there really hadn’t been. No one that could actually drop everything and come sit with her. No one close enough to really understand. Matty would have, but he was too far away, and her friends were more acquaintances rather than anyone she’d really shared confidences with. There was no one she’d be willing to share her grief with or accept comfort from. They’d taken her to a room to say her goodbyes to her mother and allowed her to sit with her and hold her cold hand as grief rolled over her. She’d clipped a lock of her mother’s hair and put it in her purse and then she’d sung one of her mother’s favorite songs before she’d drifted into silent tears. When she had finally left the room, they called her a cab to take her home. Even on the ride home she kept thinking, I need to call mom and tell her about this, but her mom had died – she had to repeat it to herself over and over. Riley could die too. That thought sent her insides into a tumult of rolling and squeezing pain. She felt dizzy, like she needed to vomit. Sweat broke out all over her body despite the chills and she thought for sure she was going to pass out.
The next thing she knew, her father was in her face and giving her a shake. “Come on, Tara, snap out of it. Riley’s out of surgery and he came through just fine, baby girl.” He pried the cup that had long gone cold out of her fingers, picked up her cell phone, and pulled her out of her seat. His arm under hers was welcome since her knees were wobbling. “Did you hear me? Riley’s going to be okay.”
His words finally registered and that switch in her head flipped back on. “I need to see him, Dad. You need to take me to him.” She said almost frantically.
She finally took note of her surroundings as her father ushered her down a carpeted hallway and then through a set of double doors that led to a circular area with tile floors. A nurse’s station was set up in the middle, while patients’ rooms surrounded. He led her into a room and a sob burst from her chest as she saw Riley lain out on the bed with a stark white bandage around his chest. He had tubes and wires attached to him, all leading to machines that beeped and hummed. She kneeled at his bedside, not bothering to wait to pull up a chair and took Riley’s hand in hers. His skin was warm and she could feel his pulse and see his chest rise with each breath. Tears of relief flooded her eyes.
“He’s still under anesthesia, so it’ll be awhile before he wakes up, but he’s going to be fine, honey.” Her father said with a hand on her shoulder.
Tara nodded, afraid she wouldn’t be able utter anything coherent around the lump in her throat. Riley was alive. She kissed the knuckles of the hand she held.
Riley came awake to an unfamiliar room, but the smells and sounds made him realize he was in a hospital; he remembered then that he had been shot and he looked down at his bandage wrapped chest and caught sight of bright red hair laying on his right side by his hip. She was sitting in a chair beside his bed, her hand clasping his and she was completely slumped over fast asleep.
“She’s been out now for about forty-five minutes or so; probably the best thing for her considering how upset she was.” Riley heard and turned his head to see Vahl sitting by the window. Judging by the darkness outside, it was the middle of the night.
“What happened?” He asked, careful to keep his voice down to not wake Tara.
“You killed that one hunter, but not before he got a piece of you.” Vahl motioned with his head toward Tara. “She shot the other hunter in the hand to disarm him and then knocked him unconscious. He’ll have a lovely hole in his hand to remind him not to come back but he’ll probably only receive a fine and a slap on the wrist for poaching. He’s damn lucky, Black Bastard was too weak to get up and rip his head off.”
“Sebastian’s alive?” Riley was amazed, he thought for sure the hunters had killed him.
“Those hunters thought they were better shots than they actually were. He’s here too, Jacob’s sitting with him and I’ll probably go over there in a little bit. As soon as you both are well enough to move we’ll get you transferred home. No need to push our luck by staying in a hospital any longer than absolutely necessary.”
Riley nodded, lifting his free hand to gently caress Tara’s hair. “I can’t believe she shot someone.” He murmured.
Vahl chuckled. “She sure did, nailed him right dead center in the hand. I also thought she was going to take a chunk out of Tim’s hide when he tried to get to you to check your wound. She went into full protection mode and she was damn fierce let me tell you; made me even more proud.”
Riley shook his head. “I wish she hadn’t seen me like that.”
“If she hadn’t, you would have bled to death before we found you. She’s the one who called it in on Black’s radio. She saved your life; probably Black’s too, though you were worse off. It was touch and go for a while. They almost lost you on the flight here. She’s not aware of that, she was too stressed to handle the details so I kept it from her.”
Riley nodded and frowned.
Tara suddenly jerked awake and Riley moved his hand off her head. She looked at him and he smiled. The smile she gave in return could have lit the room it was so bright with happiness. “You’re awake.” She said, “How are you feeling? Do you need a doctor? Are you in pain?”
Vahl stood up and chuckled. “I’ll go check on Black and leave yo
u two to talk.” And he left the room.
“Has anyone been in to see you? I should call a nurse to check on you.” Tara made to get up and Riley stayed her with a hand.
“I’m fine, sweetheart. I may not be quite ready to get out of this bed, but I don’t need anyone in here except you.” Riley assured her.
“I thought I was going to lose you.” Tara whispered with tears in her eyes and it about broke his heart.
He cupped the side of her face and rubbed her cheek with his thumb. “We still have too much to do, sweetheart, for me to check out yet. We have a wedding to plan.”
She gave him a watery smile. “That’s right. And I never would have forgiven you if you died on me.”
Riley smiled tightly as he adjusted himself slightly in the bed, not wanting Tara to see him grimace. When he’d made a bit more room on her side, he patted the bed. “Come up here and lay with me.”
Tara bit her lip in indecision. “What if I hurt you?”
“You won’t, sweetheart; in fact, I’ll heal faster with you by my side.”
She raised a brow and smirked. “Well, who am I to disagree with facts?” she carefully crawled in beside him and laid her head on his shoulder. “Better?” She asked.
Riley sighed. “Much. I can’t wait to get home so you can play nurse.” He said waggling his eyebrows.
Tara laughed and caressed her fingers over his arm. Quietly she said “I love you, Riley. When I thought I lost you today, I wanted to die with you. I can’t be without you.”
Riley kissed the top of her head. “If I get my way, sweetheart, you never will be.”
Chapter Thirty
Three weeks after Riley left the hospital he deemed himself healed enough to participate in a town wide deer run to officially welcome Tara to the pack. As was traditional, she’d be allowed to take down the first deer they targeted. Riley assured her that it wasn’t mandatory should she decide she didn’t want to do it when Tara expressed to him her aversion to killing a cute little deer.
“Just have fun.” He told her when he saw her distracted look. “No one will think less of you if you decide to let one of the males take it down.”
Tara was to learn that despite the title of “town wide”, the entire town did not participate. Many of the elders no longer ran in the hunt due to poor eye sight and some hip problems. Constance would not be running because she was still being punished, while some of the men wouldn’t be shifting because they would be in charge of patrols to keep the runners safe and keep an eye on the town. Sebastian Black was also deemed well enough to participate but he was absent. Riley had said he usually volunteered to help the patrols during runs. Still, it was a large assembly that included all of her family, and surprisingly the two felines.
Tara was red-cheeked as she avoided looking as everyone stripped down without modesty and Riley gave her a nudge and a wink. “You weren’t raised like all of us were so it’s not surprising you’d be a little embarrassed, but everyone here is use to the nudity that the shift requires. There’s nothing sexual about it. You’ll get used to it too, and before you know it, you won’t even bat an eye.”
“I sure hope so,” she said quietly, “because seeing my father and brothers’ bare-assed is kind of disturbing.”
Riley laughed and kissed her hard. “Come on, sweetheart, let’s run.”
The run was exhilarating as the pack made its way through the forest. Her father and brothers took the lead while Riley stayed at Tara’s side. It wasn’t long before the scent of a deer had them picking up speed, and something strange happened inside of Tara. Instinct completely took over as she caught the scent of the deer. The pack members ahead of her quickly gained ground on the animal and began to flank it and box it in. As soon as the deer was in optimal position, Tara leapt, her teeth bared; before she even knew what she had done, her wolf had taken the deer to the ground.
Riley had told her before the run that unlike full wolves, they wouldn’t be eating the deer where it lay, but would signal the patrol who would come and collect the kill so that it could be butchered and distributed throughout the town. Tara heard her father howl and knew he had just alerted the patrol. Once they arrived, the pack would move on to another scent and another kill. The entire town would benefit from this hunt.
Riley rubbed against her and nuzzled her face before allowing other pack members to approach her and give her a nudge of congratulations. She’d done well.
That evening at The Stag the entire town raised their glass to toast her on her first successful hunt and share stories of past runs.
“Are you okay, sweetheart, you look deep in thought. In fact, you’ve kind of been distracted all day.” Riley said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “How about we trade in that bottle of water for a beer?”
Tara just shook her head so Riley continued. “You did an amazing job today. You should be celebrating. The way you took that deer down, it was incredible. You’re incredible.”
Tara gave him a small smile of thanks for the compliment. “It was surprising, the way the wolf took over. I was running on pure instinct. It was somewhat disconcerting.”
Riley nodded. “Instinct is a big part of what we are. But sweetheart, if this bothers you, you don’t need to go on another hunt. Many of the women will join the runs but not the hunt. It’s perfectly acceptable.”
Tara shook her head, picking at the corner of the label on her bottle of water. “It wasn’t that so much as I felt like I wasn’t the one in control.”
Riley squeezed her a bit tighter. “That’s normal, you’re newly transitioned, barely a month has passed; you haven’t gotten used to it. I promise you that you will get control.”
Tara just nodded and Riley hesitated a moment. “Is something else bothering you?”
“I was going to wait until we got home, but” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ve been thinking about our wedding and how I promised Addie I’d let her help us plan something fancy.” She began.
Riley swallowed hard. “You haven’t changed your mind have you?”
“About us? Absolutely not, I’m just wondering if we should just do something quick instead, but that would break her heart. You know?” Tara said, still peeling at the label.
“We chose mid-November as a date, but I’m all for moving it up if you want, I’m just not sure where this is coming from, sweetheart. Talk to me, please.”
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes but a smile on her lips. “I’m late, Riley and I’m never late.”
He looked confused for a moment before his expression cleared and he grinned. “You’re…?”
Tara nodded. “I’m a week late and I’ve never been late a day in my life. I wondered at first if it may have been from all of the changes with the transition, but considering the lack of protection, I took a test this morning and…”
She hadn’t even finished when Riley yelled loud enough for the entire town to hear “I’m going to be a father!”
The entire bar set to howling and drinks were on the house. Tara laughed but stuck with water.
Two months later Tara was facing her own reflection from a chair at Flora’s Hair Design while Constance stood behind her with the curling iron; a wide barreled thing that was forcefully manipulating her hair into large spirals that Constance was pinning torturously into place with rhinestone studded pins. She had so much product in her hair it would probably take multiple washings to remove it all, but she had to admit she did look fabulous.
“I still can’t believe Coop talked Black Bastard into coming to the wedding.” Constance said as she held the hair wrapped iron in place and Tara watched steam rise above her head from the hot iron. “He never goes anywhere. I’d love to get hold of that man and introduce him to my clippers.” She said with an evil laugh as she pinned the last curl in place and sprayed the entire thing with a cloud of hairspray that should have choked the entire town.
“Now for make-up,” she said, and turned Tara’s c
hair away from the mirror. “Let me just get my case.”
Tara watched as Constance went through a door that led to what she assumed was a supply area. Constance was wearing ratty sweatpants and an enormous T-shirt with multiple stains and her canvas sneakers, her hair pulled into a sloppy ponytail, but she would be doing her own hair and make-up after Tara’s.
Constance had come a long way in the last few months; she’d apologized to the felines and had even become friends with them, especially the younger one, Daisy. They were often seen chatting and laughing together at the diner. She’d also given up the homicidal heels as everyday footwear and dressed more comfortably. Her make-up was minimalistic and she kept her hair simple when she wasn’t at work. But most importantly, she didn’t tag along behind Conner anymore. In fact, she tended to avoid him completely. Tara didn’t know if she was over him, but it certainly looked like she was making progress. She had gone out a few times with some other men – one of those was even for a fishing trip which she had admitted to Tara was great fun.
With that thought in mind Tara asked “Any more days of fishing planned?”
Constance smiled and blushed becomingly as she looked through her tubes and jars of cosmetics. “I went just the other day,” she said, “It was kind of cold, but he had a blanket in his truck and we sat close so we could share. We didn’t catch anything, but we talked for hours.” She sighed, “It was great.”
“Who was this chivalrous gentleman?” Tara asked with a grin.
Constance shook her head. “I don’t want to jinx it, so I’m going to keep it to myself for a while.” She said but she was still blushing and smiling shyly.
Constance Tully was keeping a secret? Oh, yes, how far she has come, Tara thought.
Tara didn’t say anything more as Constance began working on her make-up, though she did laugh a few times at the faces Constance made that she wanted Tara to mimic. When she was finished Constance turned the chair back to the mirror with a “Voila! Magnifique!” She kissed her bunched fingertips and then spread them open like a starfish.
Malsum Pass Page 20
