“Where’s the other one?” Bram asked.
Jeffrey looked over the undercarriage of the upside down vehicle. “He ran off into the woods. I doubt he made it too far. Probably passed out. There’s still a kid inside.”
“I’ll see if I can find him. Where are the cops?” he asked as he rose.
“They’re on their way.” Jeffrey finished the splint as Selene began to check inside the vehicle for the child.
He clutched his bag, keeping it secure as he searched the tree line. He spotted a sapling broken in half and started his search. He wasn’t an expert tracker, but even a blind man could follow the trail this guy had left behind. There were broken branches and overturned limbs and debris baring recessed craters of age.
Bram was glad he’d left such a good trail, because the missing person hadn’t passed out nearby. It took over ten minutes to find the splayed body of a thirty-something male face down in the leaves.
“Okay, big guy, let’s have a look at you,” he said as he started to turn him over.
“Get your hands off my brother!” The hair on the back of his neck rose at the ominous threat from the voice behind him.
He slowly raised his hands, slowing his actions. “I’m a doctor. I’m here to help.”
“I know what you are, but no man is going to touch my brother. Never again.” Bram swallowed. Whoever was behind him was so drugged up, his words were slurring.
“Look, I can’t help him if I can’t touch him.”
“And I have a gun. So just back off and leave him alone!” came the panicked command. He started to stand with calculated slowness. When his captor didn’t protest he turned around, and faced the biggest nightmare of his life.
A young man with a laceration down the side of his face and eyes so dilated his irises were completely hidden, held a .44 pointed square enough to make a hole the size of New York in his chest.
“I can help him,” Bram said evenly. “He’s been hurt.” Bram had seen the sizeable gash across the other man’s head before he’d been stopped.
The younger man sneered, waving the gun, keeping Bram immobile. “Ronny is not having another man touch him.” Bram watched as tears tracked down the other man’s face. “He’s not gay! I don’t care what he says. He can’t be gay! He’s my brother!” he shouted as his face scrunched tight with amplified agony.
“Look, I’m not going to hurt him. And believe me I’m not gay,” he offered. “I’m a doctor. I can—”
He froze in shocked disbelief as a streak of pale white shot from the bushes, a low growl deep in its chest as the animal lunged for the arm holding the gun. Bram dropped to the ground as a shot and a sharp cry of fear echoed through the trees.
Bram shook his head, alleviating the ringing in his ears and heard the moaning cries of the youth a few feet away. He was curled up, cradling his arm and sobbing into the dirt. “Ronny!” he shrieked endlessly as Bram lifted himself cautiously to his feet.
He spotted the gun and kicked it further away. He searched in all directions for a sign of the attacking animal but saw nothing, not even a flicker of fur. He glanced at the gunman’s held arm and couldn’t find a single mark of broken skin. Shaking his head, he opened his bag and withdrew a syringe for a sedative shot. His patient didn’t even flinch as he plunged it into his arm. A minute later he was breathing evenly.
“Bram!” His heart leapt when he heard her searching shout.
“Selene! Be careful. There’s an animal—”
“I saw it. It’s gone,” she said in a matter of fact voice.
He looked up from his position over the prone, injured man. Her hair was tousled and her lab coat was gone. His eyes widened as she turned to check on the sedated body and he saw her shirt. It was buttoned wrong and the last pale pink button was missing.
“What happened to your shirt?”
She glanced down. “Snagged it,” she said after a thick second, but she avoided his gaze for several heartbeats. His mind was brought back to the present as the body at his feet moaned.
“Easy there. We need to get you guys to the hospital,” he soothed. His fingers were sure as he worked over the man’s body.
“Concussion likely, a dislocated shoulder,” he said as he searched.
“Selene, Bram! You guys okay? We heard a gun,” Jeffrey said as he barreled through the trees followed by others carrying litters.
“Yeah,” Bram offered as he pointed in the gun’s direction. “That one’s sedated, this one’s out.” He turned back to Selene. “What happened to the child?”
“She didn’t make it. She wasn’t wearing a belt or in a booster.” Her voice cracked and he wanted to reach out, to soothe, but with four others as witness, the most he could do was nod. Her expression said it all. Sometimes being a doctor sucked. He helped strap the injured men down then followed as the procession started back toward the roadside. The sound of sirens and metal being moved was still wafting down the embankment into the trees. Sounded like more crews had reached the accident site. He looked back over his shoulder and found Selene standing with her head bowed, taking deep breaths. Walking up to her he stopped in front of her again. “You all right?”
She nodded slowly. “You could have been shot. I wasn’t thinking.”
Suddenly concerned for her, he folded her into his arms. “Shh. I’m fine. You weren’t even here.”
She pulled her shoulders up. “You’re right.” She looked at him, a hollow stare surrounded by her pale features. “I better get back. We’re not done.”
He let her go as she started to walk away. He stopped in his tracks as a flash of sunlight arched through the trees and landed in her hair.
It glowed a pale white blonde with dark yellow streaks. His heart stilled for what felt like an eternity as he made the unbelievable connection. His brain wanted to deny it, but…
“Selene!” Her name came out in a dry croak. She turned to look at him, composed once more. Her face was unreadable in the shadows and playing light. When her look became questioning, he simply shook his head. “Nothing. Never mind.” But his heart was pounding like a drum against his chest and his tongue suddenly felt too large for his mouth.
It wasn’t possible, was it? How was the wolf always around when Selene was just a few minutes behind? His mind told him it couldn’t be, it just wasn’t possible. As he worked in one observation room back at the hospital, prepping a broken leg for a cast, Selene was in surgery stitching a woman up who had suffered glass lacerations. He knew where she was constantly now. It was unnerving. Gradually as he worked, he convinced himself it was just a freak accident, a chance of nature. Maybe he had a guardian angel now, an angel in the shape of a pale wolf. There was no logical way it could be her, or her being it.
“Doctor?”
“Yes?”
“Are we finished?”
He looked up from his stool where he sat examining a patient’s legs. “Yes, sorry.” He gave his best doctor smile. “You’re all done.” He stood, pushing the simple black padded stool into the corner. “Let me go get you some crutches and you’ll be free to go.”
The young man gave him a grateful smile. With a bandaged ankle and some raw marks on his shoulder, he had gotten out of the pile-up relatively unscathed. This was his last patient from the accident victims needing more than a band-aid.
Fifteen minutes later, he was sitting in his office, his door partially closed, but it didn’t take long for it to open again. “Bram? Can I talk to you?”
He gazed up at her, her hair straightened once more, her blouse returned to normal under a clean lab coat. “Sure.” He waved to one of the chairs in front of him.
He was surprised to see so much in her expression. He’d never witnessed her being less than professional at the hospital. He didn’t want to think about how she was away from work. It made her too accessible, too human.
“What can I do for you?”
She gave him a concerned smile. “I was going to ask you the same thing.” Her gaze
was dark, unreadable with her thoughts as he patiently waited. He leaned back a little. In his office, so close, she was tempting.
“I was concerned you might have suffered a shock from having that gun pulled on you. If you want to take a few minutes or even longer, it’s perfectly acceptable.”
He steepled his fingers as he contemplated her. “You know, I could almost say the same thing.”
But her gaze remained expressionless. He knew the idea was preposterous, and she showed no emotion to his words. When she remained impassive, he said, “I’m fine. You’ve had more recent experiences, far more dangerous.”
She had the decency to lower her gaze. “I know,” she said in a small voice. “But that was my fault.”
Her gaze was tormented when she lifted it again, staring right into him. “If anything had happened to you…” He watched as she pulled herself back in, tightening her control.
“But it didn’t. I guess he had a hallucination or something. He was so loaded, it’s a surprise he was even standing.”
She nodded once, her expressive features once more guarded. She stood with a sure grace. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said quietly as she started for the door.
“Selene?” He didn’t move, could hardly breathe.
“Yes?” Her hand rested on the door, ready to flee was what came to his mind. He stood with an entranced slowness, the ache of wanting her right under his skin. “Thank you.”
She nodded once and then like a wraith, disappeared from sight.
***
Selene ran for miles that night. Today had been too close, and she still felt on edge. When she’d neared the frozen tableau and had seen the gun, she’d lost all reason. She was too slight to even think of overpowering a full grown male stoned out of his mind on drugs. It was the only conclusion she could come to on a split second decision.
She didn’t regret it. How could she? But it only marked the widening gulf that had begun to build between her and Bram. She knew he wanted her. God, she wanted him so bad it was worse than a constant heat in her. A persistent need that hummed in her blood, like the simmering of a volcano. She realized he would never accept it after that afternoon. He’d come up with more excuses than a tardy school boy, not that she could blame him. She wasn’t normal. She wasn’t typical. She wasn’t human.
She snorted as she flopped down in the still warm grass, watching the moon make its traversed path. Well, she was human. She was just different. She closed her eyes as her breathing lightened, listening to the night owl screech overhead. Different was a mild way of putting it, she told herself sarcastically.
She’d been swamped with an intense fear that afternoon. One she didn’t know how to define, or how to make it go away. If Bram had been hurt… She couldn’t even think about it, and he’d already done so much for her. She just lay there, unable to make a single muscle move, weary with the constant emotional battle.
Much later, she rolled over and lifted herself to her feet. Maybe she should call Roman. She was lost, confused, scared. He’d already lived through all of these emotions, all of the trials of making a life with a mate. With his love.
She stopped mid-stride. Love? Was she in love with Bram? Oh, hell, she thought. It just made her want to cry more. She didn’t know what love was supposed to be like when it came to a lifemate. Her head and tail drooped by the time she reached the clearing. She sniffed the air and the earth and she froze, stock still.
Her head rose slowly and there he stood, his brown hair tousled like he’d raked his hand through it, his gaze intense as it landed on her.
She started to back up, to hide in the woods until he left. She couldn’t do this. A friendship would have to be enough.
“Wait!” His soft shout reached her like so many years before, and now as then, she stilled, unable to ignore the plea. She watched him as he pushed from his Explorer, taking a few tentative steps in her direction. The questions flitted over his face, the doubts, the disbelief.
“This isn’t possible.” His voice wavered as he continued to stare. She felt a flare of hope as he stood, watching her and her head lifted higher. She hadn’t moved closer. What was the point? His throat worked as his chest heaved, a harsh sound in the still night surrounding them with a surreal silence. The quiet was sliced to shreds in the next instant as his gaze hardened. He frowned at her, his fists clenched at his sides. His voice was thick but sure. “No. This isn’t possible.” Anger began to brighten his gaze. Anger at allowing his imagination to try to lead him to what she needed him to believe was possible. “You’re her dog, just a dog,” he snapped, his eyes flashing with pulsating mistrust.
She didn’t wait for his next outburst but fled into the trees, running as fast as her heartbroken legs would take her.
***
“What do you mean?” Bram stared at Priss in disbelieving shock at what he’d just heard.
“She called this morning and said she’d be gone for a few days.” Priss tamped down the pages she held, preparing a patient file.
“Just like that?” He practically snarled it, and couldn’t understand why it mattered so much. It was just not like her to disappear with such little notice.
She didn’t even blink an eye. “We have back up if we need it. She wouldn’t have left without ensuring that. She knows how to run this place,” she purposely reminded him. After a heartbeat, she offered in a softer tone, “She sounded stressed and extremely upset on the phone.”
Bram leaned in a little, trying to keep his voice lowered. “Did she say anything else? I know they’re having problems with a poacher out near her cabin.”
Priss shook her head. “Even if she were, she wouldn’t say anything about it. She handles her problems.” She finally looked up at him. “Doctor, I’ve been here as long as she has. I’ve never heard her sound like this.” The only hint that she was as surprised by Selene’s vanishing act as he was. He offered an optimistic smile, camouflaging his own concerns. “I’m sure she’ll be fine. If she calls back, let me know. I’d like to know if she’s okay.”
She nodded, once again the calm and collected duty nurse who held the floors together. She was as strong as Selene. No wonder they worked well together. With that thought, he left to make his rounds. Two days later he got a call, but it wasn’t from Selene.
“Just a minute, Morgan. He’s right here.” Priss put the call on hold. “Doctor Benedetti, Morgan Aiza is on the phone.”
“Tell him Selene is at home,” he said without looking up.
“I did, but he wants to talk to you. He can’t find her.”
His head snapped up from his pages but he didn’t have a reply. Where was she if she wasn’t at home? “Transfer it to my office, please.” He flipped through the pages then with a nod, left the board on her desk and left for his office.
He picked up the phone as he pushed the door closed, an eerie feeling settling over him. “Hi, Doc. Morgan here. I know you’re busy, but I need a favor.”
“Yes?” he answered cautiously. That eerie feeling turned to dread.
“I’m at the Washington state line checking on logging infractions or I would do this myself, but I can’t reach Selene.”
He let out a small sigh of relief. “I’m sure she’s nearby. She took some time off,” he informed Morgan, ready to dismiss the whole conversation.
Morgan was silent for several stretched out seconds. “Doctor Benedetti, I’ve talked with her. You were at her cabin on Tuesday night and she told me she saw you. I haven’t been able to reach her since then.” His voice dripped with brotherly concern. “Look, she was hurt. She felt rejected.”
“Wait! What the hell are you talking about?” He pushed on his door, ensuring it was firmly closed.
“I didn’t see her, I just saw her dog. This huge wolf looking dog.”
Morgan’s laugh was biting. “Bram, you’re an idiot. That was no dog. She’s tried more times than I can say to show you, to tell you.” Morgan took a deep breath. “I’m making it wors
e. Look, just see if she’s still there. I told her to try to be more impulsive and I think she may have taken it too literally. I’ve never lost track of either of the girls and now I can’t find Selene.”
Bram lifted his gaze heavenward. “It’s only Thursday, she’s due back on Saturday.”
“Doctor Benedetti,” Morgan paused as a large vehicle passed in the background. “Damn semis,”
he muttered. “Look, all I’m asking is check to see if she’s still there. The phone is ringing off the hook and I’m too far away.”
“What do you mean still there? Why would she leave?” He leaned against his desk completely confused.
“You don’t really want me to answer that, do you?” Morgan asked, a silken threat right under his words.
“Morgan, I don’t know what you are talking about,” he replied in an exasperated tone. “There is nothing going on between us and I know I haven’t seen her since her last day here.”
Bram frowned deeply as Morgan cursed into the ear piece. “You’re a piece of work, doctor. She’s never been wrong, until now.” He cursed again, an angry barb that was a direct hit. Bram flinched at the cold tone on the phone. “Never mind. I’ll find her when I get home on Sunday.” And the phone went dead in his hand.
He dropped his own phone with stiff fingers as he rounded his desk. Without thinking about why he was doing it, he flipped through his card holder and found her home number. He punched the buttons and waited for the expected answer, but after ten rings had to agree she wasn’t there. He set the phone back down a second time. Where was she? What was going on? And just what the hell was Morgan so mad about? He stripped out of his lab coat and laid it over the back of his chair. He could at least go look. Now he was feeling concerned. Disappearing was not Selene’s style. He stopped at the counter briefly. “Priss, Doctor Dave is on duty tonight. If you need me or have any problems, call me. I have an errand to run then I’ll be home this evening.”
She looked up at him, blinking those blue eyes of hers like it was not unusual for him to just leave during the middle of the day. “Sure. I’ll have Kimberly do a walk through if she hasn’t already started.”
A Trust Earned Page 9
