by Terry Spear
"The dog looked more like a--"
"Rottweiler," Hunter said. "Ready to release me, Doc?"
"Where's the man who was bitten by a wild dog?" Sheriff Wellington asked down the hall.
Hunter's expression darkened. Tessa took a deep breath. Now what story would Hunter tell?
The sheriff stalked into the room like he owned it, glanced at the doctor, and then at Tessa. His eyes widened. He whipped his head around and stared at Hunter.
Hunter gave him an arrogant smirk.
"You were the one bitten?"
"It's me."
"Where's my son? He said he was coming to see you. If anything happened to him--"
"He went into town to get some supplies for Tessa's house. Doc's releasing me and we're returning to her place."
The doctor cleared his throat. Good, he would set Hunter straight. Even if he did look like he'd just graduated high school. The doctor took a look at Hunter's injury. "Hmm, looking better, Mr. Grey, but you'll be here for a couple of more days as bad as the wound is."
Tessa smiled at Hunter. She was glad at least the doctor had enough sense.
He wrote something in his chart. "I'll be back later to check on you."
The doctor walked out and the sheriff folded his arms. "I don't want you filling my son's head with glorified stories of how wonderful serving in the Navy SEALs is."
"Wouldn't think of it. The notion of joining them is all his idea, not mine."
"You could have told him why you quit. The downside of being in the Navy." The sheriff shook his head. "So what's the story about this wild dog? Are you sure it's dead?"
Hunter repeated the farfetched tale that Rourke had made up. Tessa couldn't believe it. Was he trying to protect the vicious animal? Or was it like Ashton had said? Hunter wanted to take care of the menace personally?
She watched his facial expression--the amusement in his lips and eyes--even though he was trying to keep a straight face while he told the story. What did she really know about him? Nothing. Except that he was super-protective of her, dependable when it came to survival instincts, a great handyman, a born leader, a damned good cook, and the greatest lover she'd ever had. But she still didn't know who he was, where he had come from, or how he had gotten there. What if he was a bad guy, but didn't remember being one? Could a person forget a past life of crime and become someone new? But when the memories returned, then what?
"Is that what happened?" the sheriff asked Tessa.
"What?"
He frowned at her. "Did it happen like Mr. Grey said?"
"Sure." She gave Hunter a scathing look. She didn't lie, normally, and she didn't appreciate being forced into one when she didn't have a clue as to the reason.
"We got the..." Ashton said, walking into the room, but quit speaking and stopped dead when he saw his father. "Hey, Dad."
"What did you see concerning this dog incident?"
"Nothing. When I arrived, the damage was already done. I just drove Hunter and the others here so he and Rourke could get medical treatment."
"When are you coming home?"
"We've got a job to do. Rourke and I are replacing Tessa's broken window and door locks. Then we'll scout around for that thief."
The sheriff grunted. But Tessa could see a hint of admiration in his face. He cast Hunter an ill-boding look, but again, it was more like it was to cover his true feelings. "You keep my son safe. He's a good shot with a rifle, but he's no ex-Navy SEAL."
"We picked up enough provisions to last a week," Rourke said. "When are we leaving? Some of the stuff needs refrigeration, although for now it's in cold storage in the truck."
"The doctor said a couple of days at least," Tessa said with great satisfaction.
"Call me and let me know what's going on with this intruder," the sheriff said to Ashton. "With car accidents and cases of asphyxiation due to the misuse of generators during the power outage, my investigators are spread pretty thin. But if you need anything, call me." He looked at Tessa. "And file the report on the gun as soon as you can."
"How about now, Tessa?" Hunter asked. "We're here, I'm stuck at the hospital for now. Ashton can run you in and bring you back. By then, we could share lunch." He smiled. The look was totally faked.
"I will, only because I'm afraid the thief might use my gun to commit a crime, and I don't want to be in trouble for it."
"What about the food?" Ashton asked.
"You can pick up Rourke in a little while and take it to--"
"Drop by my place after Tessa files the complaint. We can store the food there. No sense in driving the two hours to her place and back here again." Rourke looked at Hunter for approval.
He nodded.
"Good, let's get this done." Tessa figured when they were at Rourke's place, she would question him about this new dog story. Hell, the animal had knocked him unconscious. How would he have known what it was?
When she started to leave with the sheriff and Ashton, Hunter smiled. "No good-bye kiss?"
She gave him an annoyed look. He grinned. Stalking across the floor, she meant to give him a peck on the cheek--show him. He grabbed her with his good arm, kissed her thoroughly--mouth to mouth, tongue to tongue--which melted her insides, and she wanted a hell of a lot more. Her face suffused with heat, she pulled away.
He gave her a sly smile. He knew what he did to her, damn it! "Don't be gone too long."
"I won't be," she whispered, "because I don't trust you."
He laughed. "Good. Best to be alert always."
Ashton grinned, but Rourke looked annoyed. The sheriff had already left.
"Watch him," she said to Rourke. "Don't let him sneak out of the hospital." Then she thought about the food incident and added, "And don't you help him do that either."
Then she left, but she had a very bad feeling about the situation.
For a human, Tessa had pretty good wolf instincts. As soon as she was a little way down the hall with Ashton, Rourke got Hunter's clothes for him. Hunter pulled out the I.V. and then hurried to dress. "I take it you have a way to get us to your place until we rendezvous with Ashton and Tessa and head to her house."
"Taxi." Rourke got on the phone and called for one. He took the knife from one of the breakfast dishes and sawed through the hospital tag around Hunter's wrist.
"Can you occupy the nurse while I go to the lobby and wait for the taxi?"
"Got it." Rourke left the room.
Hunter waited until Rourke asked the nurse when the doctor was releasing Mr. Grey. Then Hunter stalked down the hall, found the stairs, and bolted down them. When he reached the lobby, he paced. Rourke soon joined him.
"It won't take long for them to realize you're gone."
"They can't hold patients against their will." Hunter glanced out the window. "Taxi's here."
"That was sure quick." Rourke raced after Hunter.
"Mr. Holloway?" the driver said.
"Yes." Hunter climbed in and Rourke shut his door and then ran around to the other side.
"Five-twenty-two Sycamore, right?" the taxi driver asked.
Rourke smiled as he entered the cab. "Take us to 1032 Redwood."
"You got it."
"I hadn't thought of giving an alias," Hunter said to Rourke.
Rourke motioned to an old guy standing in front of the hospital, leaning on a cane. "I told you I thought it was awfully quick for the cab's arrival. I think we took his."
Another cab pulled up.
Hunter watched out the back window. "Good. He took ours then."
"Hope he tells him a different address than my place."
When they arrived at the brick apartment complex, Rourke paid the driver and Hunter headed toward the front door.
"You've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do." Rourke fumbled for his keys as he joined Hunter. "Like why I can see in the damned dark? And why I can see things in the distance when I used to have to wear glasses. And hell, why that nurse smelled like a gray wolf--you, too. But also wh
y I knew what a wolf smells like in the first place."
"Yeah, well, you shouldn't have stuck your finger down my throat."
"You tried to spit the pills out. I was trying to push them down farther so you'd swallow them. Wish I hadn't. Well in a way. I mean, I like some of these abilities, but I want to know what I've gotten myself into." Rourke shut the door behind them and turned on the heat. "Here, I'll make the couch into a bed, and you can lie down before Ashton and Tessa show up."
"The couch is fine. I'm feeling better already."
Rourke removed the bandage from his finger. No sign of a bite. "Okay, start talking."
Hunter meant to sit on the couch, but he was wearier than he thought. He reclined instead.
Rourke frowned. "Hell, I thought you were nearly healed."
"Not for a few more days. But I'm healing too fast to stay at a hospital any longer."
Rourke got him a pillow and blanket. "Need any pain medication?"
"Yeah, but this time, keep your fingers to yourself."
"Deed's already done, but believe me, I'll be careful when I'm around you from now on." He left and then returned with a glass of water and two white pills. "Start talking."
"We're lupus garou. Werewolves."
Rourke collapsed on the leather chair in front of the coffee table. "Holy crap. You can't be serious. But damn, you can't be making it up either."
"It's true. When we shapeshift we're like real wolves, except we still have our human reasoning. When we're humans--"
"We have the increased senses of the wolf. I already got that part since I smelled women's scents, pine needles, the shift in the weather from snow to drier conditions." Rourke rubbed the newly sprouted whiskers on his chin. "The antiseptics in the hospital were nearly killing me, they were so strong. And I heard people talking way down the hall--not just talking, but heard what they were saying when I shouldn't have been able to discern a thing. Then my finger began tingling like crazy, and it felt like it was healing at the speed of light. But I couldn't figure out what had happened to me--only that it had to do with you. You really don't remember who you are?"
"No. Only that I have a sister. I'm sure I lead a pack. And three grays pushed me off a cliff north of Tessa's place."
"Because?"
Hunter shrugged. "I might have deserved it. I don't know."
"So," Rourke said, easing back in the chair, "if we bite someone, we turn them?"
"Not always. And we can't when we're human. It would put a damper on our sexual relations with human women if we had to worry about changing them by accident."
"But you bit me! And gave me your condition."
"I bit you, yes. But I'd tangled with the stalker before that. Our mouths clashed a couple of times and I tore his ear. I bit the other two wolves also. Either it was their blood or the stalker's blood or saliva that transferred the genes. We'll never know."
"So you're saying, technically, one of them changed me."
"Technically yes. Because as a human, I couldn't bite you and transfer the condition, but since my teeth opened your skin, it helped the transmission."
Rourke relaxed. "Good, because I thought... well, I worried about Tessa."
"I won't turn her."
"But the stalker--he's a gray and he plans to, don't you think?"
"That's what Yoloff plans. I'm not giving him the chance."
"Yoloff?"
"Yeah, and he has two brothers. The one paid me a visit in the middle of the night, figuring he could slip Tessa out from under my nose. I broke the one's leg. He'll probably heal in about the same amount of time it takes me to get back to normal."
"Shit. They're not going to give up." Rourke combed his fingers through his hair. "So what are the negative aspects of being a lupus garou?"
"Having the uncontrollable urge to become a wolf when the moon is out, particularly strongest when it's the full moon, although it's not a constant craving. Once we fulfill the urge to hunt, we can manage several weeks without changing again. On the other hand, I've never personally known anyone who was changed by a bite, so it might be a little different for you."
"What do you mean?"
"Most of us were born lupus garou."
Rourke's eyes widened. "How many of you are there? I had the impression that a wild wolf had some kind of a weird virus and infected a few people."
"We have no idea how many there truly are of us. Since we live in secret, most of us only know about our local packs. Sometimes we learn of others while we're searching for a mate."
"A mate." Rourke perked up.
"Yeah, and that's one of the more important rules we have to live by. We don't turn humans."
Rourke made a disagreeable face. "Right. Very important to remember that."
"Yeah, otherwise we have to deal with the consequences." Hunter raised a brow.
"Like me."
"Exactly. That's another thing. You're part of my pack now."
"Just curious, but why wouldn't I be part of the pack of the ones who actually turned me?"
"Just a gut feeling, Rourke, but I don't think they're soliciting newly changed lupus garou pack members. I doubt another male would be accepted."
"Okay, not that I was interested since they'd tried to murder you, but I just wondered."
"Another thing--when we take a female for our mate, it's for life. We don't have marriage rituals, wear wedding rings--or any other jewelry for that matter--too hard to change into our wolf form quickly. We don't believe in divorce. It's for life. And we live very long lives."
Rourke's expression brightened. "For how long?"
"After we reach eighteen, our aging metabolism slows down. We age one year for every thirty we live."
Rourke whistled. "Man, oh man, what a deal."
"We can die early."
"Silver bullets?"
"Supposedly, if they're in the heart or brain and not extracted quickly enough. But we can drown, die in a fire, a snapped spinal cord at the base of the neck will do it. Probably other ways. Old age eventually, too. Although our bodies have an unusual capability to heal quickly, as we grow old, the ability wanes. So we're not completely invincible."
"Good enough for me. So what are you going to do about Tessa?"
Chapter 9
ASHTON RANG THE DOORBELL AT ROURKE'S APARTMENT and although Tessa worried Hunter would try to steal away earlier than the hospital staff recommended, she never expected him to leave this soon or be resting on Rourke's couch.
"I can't believe this! What did the doctor say, Hunter? That you needed to be at the hospital for at least a couple of more days. At least! Didn't he? What happened to sharing lunch with you? What happened to..." She growled, whipped around, and stalked out of the apartment.
Outside, she shivered and rubbed her arms, her frosty breath filling the air. How could Hunter be so damned stubborn and illogical about this? What if he got sick again?
Rourke joined her outside. "He's got a horrible phobia about hospitals, Tessa."
In disbelief, she stared at him. Was he telling the truth or making up another Rottweiler tale? "Why?"
Rourke shoved his hands in his pants pockets. "I don't know. Maybe somebody special died in one. I don't think he remembers. He's doing really well physically. Psychologically, he couldn't handle the hospital stay any longer. If he starts running a fever, we can bring him back here. All right?"
"No, it's not all right. You didn't get the doctor's permission, did you?"
"I talked to the nurse."
"She doesn't sign the release forms."
"He can't go back, Tessa. Trust me on this."
"If he gets worse..."
"If he gets worse, I promise we'll return him to the hospital and chain him there."
"I don't like it."
"I think he's afraid of Nurse Godzilla's return also."
Rourke winked.
Tessa frowned. "Not Hunter. I don't see him being afraid of anyone or anything."
"Maybe not, b
ut that woman was scary. She'd definitely wear the pants in the family."
"Is Hunter well enough to travel?"
"Yes, Hunter is well enough to travel!" he roared from the couch. "And I want to arrive at your place before lunch."
Despite how annoyed she was with him, she smiled to hear his gruff voice. "Hmm, he's sounding better already. Grouchy and hungry." She returned to the apartment and glowered at him. "If you get sick again, we're bringing you back and chaining you to the hospital bed. Phobia or no phobia."
"Hell, Rourke, you didn't tell her about my phobia, did you?"
The devil shined in Hunter's amber eyes, and Tessa had the feeling he and Rourke were bamboozling her.
When they arrived at Tessa's house, she wanted Hunter to return to the couch, but he organized a search of the place to ensure the stalker wasn't there first. Always business first, although she felt Rourke and Ashton could have done the deed so Hunter could rest.
After Rourke and Hunter checked the rooms while Ashton stayed with Tessa, she made Hunter lie down on the couch and covered him with blankets. Rourke and Ashton hauled in the groceries and Rourke's bags. Ashton had brought his own. One big happy family. If only her brother were here. And here she thought she would be alone until she could obtain her brother's release.
What else could go wrong? If it hadn't been for her stalker and the wolf attack, Hunter might have made some headway into investigating Bethany's murder.
Disheartened at the turn of events, Tessa started putting away the groceries: meat, and lots of it.
"Rourke and I are going to replace the window now," Ashton said. "If you need anything, just holler."
"Thanks. I should have gone grocery shopping with you. Don't you guys believe in eating vegetables?"
They laughed and headed outside. When they began pulling the boards off the house over Michael's broken window, it sounded like a tornado was ripping the place apart. She hoped they didn't do more damage than the thief had done.
"I'll fix lunch if you don't need anything else," Tessa said to Hunter.
"I'm fine."
"Good. Just yell if you need anything."
