Dark Vengeance (Dark Wolf Series Book 4)

by Dena Christy

  “Would you say that she is more aggressive than a born wolf though?” Lee asked, his concern over Simone’s behavior growing. He hoped that Rowan would tell him that Kate, as a bitten werewolf, acted with more hostility than a born one.

  “No, I wouldn’t say she’s any more aggressive than any of us,” Rowan said as he frowned at him.

  Nick’s brows drew together, and he looked at Lee. “What’s going on?” he asked. He was much more perceptive than his brother, and he comprehended that Lee’s interest was more than just idle curiosity.

  “It’s Simone, she is belligerent when she gets agitated,” Lee said as he shoved aside the remains of his lunch.

  “Everyone is different. I’m sure bitten wolves that were aggressive humans, would be antagonistic wolves. Just like there are some born wolves who are the same,” Nick said reasonably.

  Lee shook his head because Simone hadn’t been like that. “I knew her as a human, and aggression was not her problem. She wasn’t a doormat, but now she’s violent.”

  “How violent are we talking,” Nick asked as his brows drew together and his face grew serious.

  “She was very agitated this morning, and she reacted out of proportion with what we were discussing. She smashed a mug against the wall. If that was the only incident I wouldn’t worry about it, but something happened while she was being housed here that concerns me,” Lee said and the other men leaned forward. “During her interrogation with Cadric she threw a chair at him, and one leg cut open his cheek.”

  Rowan let out a low whistle, and Nick’s eyebrows climbed upwards as he sat back in his chair. Rowan turned to Lee with admiration clear on his face.

  “Wow, your woman has a massive set of balls. I don’t think anyone here would have the nerve to do the same. I wonder what Cadric did to set her off,” Rowan said.

  “I think you're missing the point here Rowan. I think Lee’s big concern here is that that level of aggression is not normal, especially in light of what Simone was like before she’d turned into a werewolf.”

  “That’s it in a nutshell. The coffee mug I could ignore, but throwing a chair at someone, especially someone as intimidating as Cadric takes hardcore combativeness. I’d been hoping that it was just something that was more common among bitten wolves, but you’re saying that Kate’s not like that,” Lee asked as he looked over at Rowan, who shook his head.

  “No man, she was never like that. After her first transition, like I said, she settled right down. Before it, she would have bouts of what she called Turbo PMS, and would take offence at little things that weren’t worth worrying about, but she never flipped out.”

  “Well, Simone is new to the werewolf thing,” Nick said as his brows drew together in thought. “Maybe she hasn’t gone through her first transition yet? Kate was three months making hers.”

  “Kate was heavily sedated for those three months. Simone’s been a werewolf for a year, Nick, and was not sedated during that time,” Lee said as he raked his hand through his hair. “There is no way she would have been a werewolf for a year and not gone through the transition. It would be impossible for her body to fight it.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you. Perhaps you’re worrying over nothing. She has been through a lot in the past year, especially lately.” Nick said in a tone meant to assure Lee, but unfortunately it didn’t. “She was part of a raid that killed everyone else, she was cooped up in a cell for the better part of a week, and she was interrogated by Cadric. That’s more than enough to stress anyone out. She’ll settle soon.”

  Lee nodded, hoping he was right.

  “We’re all having a run out at my place tonight, do you and Simone want to join us?” Nick offered as he stood.

  “I think we’ll give it a miss. We’ll come another time. I think Simone might be more comfortable if it’s just us. I don’t want to overwhelm her too much, and there’s a nice spot to run not too far from my place,” Lee said as he gathered up the remains of his lunch. He looked over at Rowan. “Let Kate know that Simone is at my place. I think they should reconnect with each other. Simone’s adopted family is gone, and I’m sure she could use a little family right now.”

  “Will do, I’ll let her know,” Rowan said as he stood and shook Lee’s hand. He clapped his brother on the back and left the lunchroom

  Nick and Lee walked back to the infirmary and got back to work. The full moon always brought out the crazy in everyone, and their clientele was no different.

  The entire medical staff was run off its feet in the hours leading to dark, and Lee wasn’t able to get away until well after the sun had set and the moon had risen. He drove faster than he normally did since the urge to change was getting stronger and he wanted to get home before Simone took off without him. He pulled into his driveway and grabbed his medical bag from the passenger’s seat. He usually carried it with him in case he needed it when he was outside the house and didn’t like leaving in the car overnight.

  He walked into the house and set his bag on the hall table.

  “Simone, you here?” he called. “Sorry I’m late but work was crazy today.”

  Silence greeted him, and disappointment flashed through him. She must have tired of waiting for him and had gone for a run on her own. He unbuttoned his dress shirt as he walked down the hall. He heard a sound as he walked past the guest room and wondered for a moment if he’d imagined it. He paused, cocking his head as he listened closely. The sound came again, and it sounded like a whimper, and it was definitely coming from the guest room.

  His pulse picked up speed as he went over to Simone’s room and pushed the door open. His heart stuttered to a stop when he took in the scene in the bedroom.

  Simone lay on the floor, curled in the fetal position. She had a leather belt clamped in her mouth and sweat covered her face.

  “Simone,” Lee said as he raced to her side. “What is it? Tell me what’s going on.”

  He tried to pull the belt out of her mouth, but her jaw clenched so tight around it that it wouldn’t budge.

  “Honey, you need to let go of the belt so I can help you,” he said as he put his hand on her shoulder. The belt dropped out of her mouth as she opened it and let out a scream that Lee usual only heard from those in extreme distress. “Simone, tell me what’s going on.”

  “Need drugs—” she said. Her body shuddered so hard that she couldn’t finish speaking. She looked up at him, and her eyes had turned from their usual soft blue to an angry amber, and Lee realized what was going on. She was fighting the change.

  “Simone, you have to go through your transition. Once you do your pain will be over,” he said calmly as he pushed her hair away from her sweat soaked forehead.

  “No,” she said before her back arched so hard that it looked like it would snap in half. She screamed and then fell silent as she curled herself into a ball.

  Lee growled, his own need to change rising inside him. He didn’t know how much longer he could keep it from happening. He couldn’t understand how she’d fought her own urge to change this long.

  “Simone, I don’t have a lot of time left here. I need to go for my run. Please baby, stop fighting it and go through the change. The pain will be over, I promise,” he said.

  To his horror, she shook her head, and as he watched, a trickle of blood came out of her nostril. She looked at him and her body shook so hard that he was surprised her bones didn’t rattle.

  “Please…” she said. “Make it stop. Can’t… change.”

  He turned away, unable to look at what she was doing to herself. He raced down the hall and grabbed his medical bag. His body would force the change on him soon, and it was much stronger because he was a born wolf. Once he was back to the guest room, he rifled through the contents of his bag until he found the powerful sedative he kept in there. He filled the syringe with the correct dosage. He set it aside as he quickly prepared an alcohol swab.

  “I need you to be as still as you can,” he said as he pushed her sleeve up
. Her shaking stopped, and he could see what it cost her to be still, so he quickly swabbed her arm and injected her with the drugs. Doing so left a sour taste in his mouth. He put his things back in his bag.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, and he couldn’t look at her. He scooped her up in his arms and put her on the bed. After a few minutes the sedation kicked in and her eyes closed. He covered her with a blanket and turned away.

  He went down the hall and left his house. He jogged to the secluded woodlot where he liked to take his runs. There wasn’t anyone there at this time of night, and he quickly stripped off his clothes. With the moon shining overhead he went through his transformation. Once he changed, he tilted his head towards the moon and let out a long mournful howl.

  He took off running through the trees, more aware of his own solitude than he’d ever been before. His paws hit the ground faster and faster as he tried to outrun the anger festering inside him. He ran until he’d exhausted himself.

  Looking up at the moon, he let out one last howl and made his way back to his clothes. He changed back into his human form and dressed. He lowered himself to the ground and sat staring at the moon. At least he had his answer about her levels of aggression.

  “Damn you, Simone,” he whispered to the wind as he stared up at the moon.

  * * *

  Simone stirred on the bed the following morning and sat up. Her body ached, and her head was heavy and full of cotton. Moving to the edge of the bed, she cradled her head in her hands, and focused on breathing.

  It was always like this, the morning after the full moon. Her body felt like she’d gone fifteen rounds with a prize fighter, and her head like it was her first day sober after a three day bender.

  She wore the same clothes she’d been in the day before, and she could see fragments of memory in her mind through the haze of pain she’d been in last night. There was nothing coherent about last night, and most of the events were shrouded in pain and darkness, but one thing stood out. Lee’s concerned face came back to her again and again as she made her way to the bathroom.

  Her face in the mirror told her it was possible to look worse than she felt. Her skin was so pale that the dark circles stood out, like giant purple bruises hanging under her eyes. Crusty, dried blood lay in a smeared path from her nose to her jaw line.

  She turned away, unwilling to see what her refusal to change was costing her. She wouldn’t become the creature that David turned her into, she couldn’t.

  She turned on the shower and stepped in. The water hit her in hot, stinging needles and she stood there, resting her head against the tiled wall, trying to bring herself back to the Simone she’d been before, back to feeling human again. Last night was the worst it had ever been, the most painful, and if Lee hadn’t come home when he had, she didn’t know what would have happened to her.

  The water cooled, and she had no idea how long she’d rested there, but she straightened and quickly washed. She shut off the water and reached for a towel. She wrapped the bath sheet around herself like a warm cocoon, and she didn’t bother looking in the mirror to see if the shower had wrought any changes. Her hair went up in a towel and she walked back into her room.

  She drew up to an abrupt halt when she saw Lee go by her slightly ajar bedroom door on his way out of his room. Her heart pounded in her chest at the sight of him in low-slung pyjama bottoms and nothing else. His hair stood in haphazard dark spikes, and when he glanced toward her room, she could see the beard roughened shadows on the lower half of his face. She swallowed hard when he pushed the door open a little more and rested his meaty, muscular shoulder against the jam.

  “How are you?” he asked, his voice a rough, husky growl.

  She licked her lips, trying to find the words to say, but her brain refused to work. It was too busy appreciating his hard, muscular beauty. Her right arm pressed against her breasts on the outside of the towel as her nipples tightened and her mouth went dry. She’d always liked him best in the mornings, when he looked rough and unkempt, when the civilized facade he cultivated fell away and what she was left with was the wild lover who’d made her cry out in passion again and again.

  “Simone?”

  She jumped, his voice bringing her out of her revery, and she cleared her throat.

  “I’m okay,” she croaked out as she turned toward her dresser to get out the clothes she intended to wear. Looking at him only made her want him, and she didn’t know if he would welcome the overture, considering the baggage they both seemed to carry from the last time they’d been lovers.

  “I’ll make us some coffee, and I think we should talk,” he said, and she glanced over at him as he turned and walked down the hall.

  He looked just as good from the back as he did from the front, and she turned back to what she was doing. She needed to keep her wits about her if she wanted to get through the conversation he seemed to want to have. It wouldn’t be a comfortable conversation for either of them.

  She dressed in her most comfortable clothes, threw her damp hair into a messy bun and walked down the hall to the kitchen where he was sitting at the table. He was still in what he’d slept in, and she averted her eyes from the sight of his bare, broad chest. At her place at the table was a cup of coffee and a tall glass of water. She picked up the water, and downed the contents, which helped ease the dryness in her mouth. It would have been further alleviated if he’d thought to put a shirt on, but she couldn’t have everything.

  “I’m assuming last night was not a one off? You go through that every full moon?” he asked, his voice rumbling, and she looked up at him. His face was set in a neutral expression, and she wondered how long it would last once she told him.

  “It’s never been that bad, usually I can…” she searched for the right word to use for what she did every full moon, a word that wouldn’t invite judgement from him.

  “Sedate yourself,” he supplied, and already she could see his disapproval in the tightening of his jaw muscles.

  “Yes. I usually take one of my pills at dusk, well before the pain starts. And I go to sleep and wake up the next morning.”

  “And what pills exactly are you taking,” he asked. He picked up his coffee and took a sip, setting his mug down with a hard thunk. She bit her lip, knowing an explosion would ensue once he found out what she was taking. “Simone?”

  “Methaqualone,” she said as she looked down at her hands resting on the table. She heard the loud scrape of his chair as his shadow loomed over her.

  “Quaaludes? You’re taking Quaaludes? Where did you get them, in some back alley?” he said, his voice hard and her head shot up.

  Tight white lines bracketed his mouth, and his hands were in fists at his side. She could see his pulse beating in the side of his neck, and his brows drew together and down over his eyes. This was the angriest she’d ever seen him, and if she hadn’t known him so well, she would have honestly been frightened of him. She took umbrage, however, to his implying she was some junkie looking to score in a seedy part of town.

  “I didn’t get them from a back alley. I have a script for them, given by a doctor,” she said, knowing that as far as he was concerned it wouldn’t make it any better.

  “Who? What doctor in their right mind would give you a prescription for those?”

  Simone hesitated and took a sip of her coffee to buy time before she revealed the name of the doctor who’d prescribed the pills. Lee knew him, since they were both doctors, werewolves and had David as a mutual friend. “Dr. Granger.”

  “Granger?” he exclaimed as he took a step closer to loom over her. She glanced up at him and saw his face had turned a dull red. “For Christ’s sake Simone, you may as well have gone to a back alley drug pusher. His medical license isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.”

  “But he has a medical license,” she pointed out, and he let out a low growl as he spun away and went back to his chair. He sat in it and folded his hands together on the table. His knuckles were white and his ches
t rose slowly in and out with every breath.

  “He should have known better than to give them to you. And you should know better than to take them. You’re a nurse, and you know well what that shit can do to you.”

  “I’ve been very careful with them,” she said, knowing that wouldn’t alleviate his mind.

  “Your body will get used to them, and you will have to increase the dose in order for them to have the same effect,” he said, and she looked away from him, not wanting to admit that the previous full moon she’d had to increase the dose. He must have read her thoughts in her face. “You’ve already increased it, haven’t you?”

  She nodded and he swore under his breath.

  “Why? Why would you do that to yourself?”

  Simone clamped her lips together. He should know why she did this, that she didn’t want to get any closer to becoming a monster, and this was one way of keeping it at bay. Besides, her one and only experience with going through the change had frightened her so badly that she didn’t think she could do it again, even if she wanted to.

  “Have you ever gone through a transition?” he asked. She made a circle pattern on the top of the table with her index finger, and his large hand came to rest on top of hers, stopping her movements. “Please talk Simone.”

  She looked up at him and took a deep breath.

  “My first full moon, I tried and I never want to experience something like that again.”

  She stood and walked away from the kitchen, seeking the sanctuary of her room. She thought she could talk about this, but it was too much for her. The angry disapproval of her in his face made her heart ache. To see how far away from the woman he’d once loved she’d become caused a lump to prickle in the back of her throat. She didn’t want to think about how much she’d lost, and although she’d been the one to leave him, it still hurt to be less than what he wanted in his eyes.