Kerry chased after them. “Caleb, stop it. Stop it, let him go.”
Dick couldn’t gain purchase on his feet. Caleb kicked open the exit door and threw him against the wall in the alley. Dick moaned with the pain.
Kerry rounded on Caleb. “You can’t go throwing him around like this. He’s not as strong as you,” she said, trying to tell him with her eyes that using his wolf strength against a normal guy like Dick was unfair.
Dick got his second wind and launched himself at Caleb. He knocked Kerry to the ground as he tried to do what damage he could to the bigger man. Dick didn’t play fair when the odds were against him.
Kerry wiped her hands on her cutoffs, unsure exactly what it was she fell into. She didn’t want to examine it to closely; she just wanted up off the floor. Getting back to her feet was difficult with the two idiots scuffling in front of her but she did it. Then she dived in, determined to become a wedge between them and, push them apart.
“I have had about enough…”
The sound of a gunshot echoed through the alley. Kerry looked between them to see which one of them was stupid enough to introduce a gun to a fist fight. A hot punch was dealt to her side. Everything froze. She finally managed to push the two of them apart, just enough to look down at her body in the flickering of the alley light. Her top was turning a darker red. Her head spun and she dropped back down to the floor, cursing all the way.
* * * *
Kerry’s vision was fuzzy the first time she came to. She looked up at the two men from the flat of her back. Dick was shirtless and Caleb’s hands were pressed over her abdomen. The two of them were still arguing.
“We have to move her. She can’t stay here. Are you sure we shouldn’t just take her to a hospital?” Dick asked with panic in his voice.
“No. She can’t go to a hospital. I told you that. Susan’s gone to get my car. We’ll load her in the back and take her to her folk’s house. We’ll fix her there.”
“A hospital would be closer.”
“Dick…Caleb…” Kerry’s voice was weak but they heard her.
Both of them looked down as Kerry raised her hands, reaching to touch both of their heads. She slammed them forward, knocking them together. Then she was out again.
The next time she came to she was in more familiar surroundings. She lay on a bed, her body was cleaned and bandaged, and she was covered by just the sheet. Kerry tried to sit up but gentle hands pushed her back down. Dick leaned over her from one side and Caleb from the other.
“You need to rest,” said Dick softly. “You got shot.”
“Which one of you?”
They both looked confused and then shook their heads at the same time. The unison almost made Kerry want to giggle. She felt light-headed.
“Neither of us had a gun. The shot came out of the dark. The shooter was some distance away but we think it was a rifle,” said Caleb, stroking her hair back from her forehead.
Her eyes fluttered closed and then reopened with her eyes turned on Dick.
“You’re a dick,” she said and he smiled at her.
“That’s why Momma named me Richard.”
Kerry turned her eyes on Caleb who winced, waiting for his turn.
“You’re a possessive moron.”
“I won’t argue with you on that at the moment, honey.”
Kerry blinked slowly, looking from one face to the other. She noticed they had matching black eyes on the opposite sides to each other.
“How’d you both get shiners?” she asked curiously.
They gave her almost identical self-deprecating grins.
“Your daddy,” they said in scary unison again.
Kerry smiled softly. She pulled Dick close, pressing her lips to the shiner. Caleb growled slightly.
Dick smirked at him. “She’s a sick woman. Let her have whatever she wants.” Kerry let her lips slide down to press to his. She pulled back from him.
“I’m sorry I hurt you,” she said sadly.
Then she turned to Caleb, kissing his shiner and then his mouth too. “But I ache without you. I’m bound to you by our law.”
She fell silent and let out a deep sigh. She was very tired and sleep dragged at her, pulling her back down into some sort of deep abyss.
“I need to sleep. Why don’t you two try to be grown ups and work out your differences?”
Dick kissed her forehead, as did Caleb so as not to be outdone.
“We will. Rest. We’ll both be here…” Caleb started.
“…when you wake up again,” Dick said finishing the other man’s sentence but Kerry’s breathing went deep and even.
Chapter Seven
Caleb escorted Dick downstairs where Kerry’s parents sat up, waiting for them. Kerry’s mother wrung her hands while her father had his arm around her shoulders to comfort her.
“How’s she doing?”
Caleb looked over to Kerry’s mother and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “She’s in and out but she’s healing slowly. She should be fine in a couple of days.”
Standing, Kerry’s mother straightened her skirt and ran her nervous hands over the creases.
“I’m going up to take care of her. I’m her mother; it’s my right.”
Caleb nodded, moving aside to let her go up the stairs. He put his hand firmly on Dick’s shoulder.
“We need to talk,” he said with his voice full of meaning.
“There’s a wood shed out back,” said Kerry’s dad with a smirk before following after his wife.
She stopped in the middle of the stairs to give him a dark look. He shrugged his shoulders, waiting till she turned her back to go up again.
“If one of you kills the other, there is some tarp in the cupboard and…”
“James,” called his wife indignantly.
He quickly followed her up the stairs, disappearing from view.
Caleb started for the kitchen. From there he went out the back door, locating the wood shed at a glance. He didn’t need to check if Dick followed him. His keen hearing picked up his footfalls and the sounds of his breathing. Caleb held open the door for him and let the smaller man go ahead of him.
Dick flicked on the light, surprising Caleb that electricity ran all the way out as far as the end of the yard. Caleb let the door clang shut so they were guaranteed a little privacy. It was indeed a wood shed. Stacks of it were lined against one side of the wall. There as an axe resting in a corner by the door and, just as Kerry’s father had said, there was small cupboard at one end.
Dick stood against the logs with his arms crossed and stuck his chin out.
“Put your jaw down. I’m not going to punch you. I want you to explain what you did.”
Caleb’s mind left the dank little shed and wandered back to the alley. The gun shot had startled him and he was embarrassed that he’d checked himself for injury first, despite feeling no pain. When he looked, Dick had done the same. Their gazes at the same time turned to Kerry who was bleeding out on the floor. Dick rushed to her side, pushing Caleb out of the way. He placed his hands over the wound and chanted in a tongue Caleb didn’t know. Light burst under his hands and the bleeding stopped.
“I’ll answer your questions if you’ll answer mine,” snapped Dick, pulling Caleb back into the present.
Caleb stepped a little closer, leaning against the top of a lidded garbage can that was surrounded by sawdust.
“Okay,” he agreed. “What are you?”
“I’m a Wiccan,” Dick said. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a silver pentacle as if it were proof of his identity.
“I’ve never met one who heals before.”
“Different lines can do different things. I come from a line of healers. You are probably more familiar with those who work protection and concealment magic ,right? Because you’re a werewolf.”
Caleb smirked.
“That’s not a question.” Dick ground his teeth in irritation.
Caleb sighed. “Yes. I’m
a wolf. How did you know?”
It was Dick’s turn to look smug. “Well, Kerry’s one. With your weird, possessive glares, your pretty obvious.”
Caleb growled.
Dick pointed an imperious finger. “Real subtle that.”
Caleb clucked his tongue. He crossed his arms, balling his fists against his ribs.
“Let me rephrase then. How did you know about Kerry?”
“She used to snuffle me; her sense of smell is really keen; she gets places really fast always looking like she just threw clothes on; and she sheds. I worried about getting into a deep relationship with a werewolf but when I knew she was white, it went to the back of my mind.”
Dick played with his lip ring using the edge of his tongue. His eyes darted from side to side like he warred with himself not to ask Caleb something. In the end Dick caved in.
“I thought white wolves couldn’t mate. How the hell did this happen?” he roared with frustration.
“It was an accident,” Caleb said. He explained.
Dick Scoffed. “Oh yeah, you both fell and your penis just landed inside her—repeatedly.”
Caleb growled but tried to understand that Dick had every right to be pissed.
“To finish answering your question,” he replied through gritted teeth. “It’s not that white wolves can’t mate into a pack, it’s more along the lines that they are not allowed because they are cursed.”
Dick raised a brow.“You think Kerry is cursed?”
Caleb poked a finger harshly into Dick’s chest, making him wince.
“Don’t put words into my mouth. White wolves are supposed to be cursed. I didn’t say Kerry was. Kerry is sweet and kind and good. These laws have been in place so long there is no one alive who even knows why they are considered cursed anymore.”
“Because you were unhappy with whichever were-hottie they trotted out before you, you stole my girlfriend in the only way I can’t fight.”
Caleb threw his hands out to the sides. “You act as if I made a conscious choice. Avrilyne was pretty much perfect for me, rational, direct, and driven. We would have been a good pairing and I’m sure I would have developed affection for her eventually. There were two scents in the air that night and one far out-stripped the other for appeal. I was drawn. When you go through the ceremony you become your senses. My rational mind switched off.”
Caleb closed his eyes. Even now, his nostrils burned with her sweet, spicy scent like habanero peppers. The back of his throat began to burn until Dick punched him in the gut and he couldn’t breathe for a moment.
“I think I owe you that—you smug son of a bitch. Just making the best of a bad situation, bullshit. You’re so selfish and you’ve put Kerry in danger.”
Caleb recovered his breath enough to growl menacingly. He slammed Dick against the wall, making the shed rattle and shake.
“Hit me again and I will tear off your hand with my teeth. She is my mate and I will protect her.”
“You’re the reason she’s in bloody danger in the first place!” Dick fumed, pushing him back.
“How so?”
“You said it yourself; Kerry is sweet and kind and good. Do you imagine anyone would want to shoot her on a regular basis? This has got to be because of you. I imagine your family isn’t too happy about this situation. I doubt the girl you stiffed and her family are anymore pleased. If she dies…”
“…before the next full moon…” Caleb interrupted, “I could take a new mate.”
Dick was shocked at the revelation. “Don’t sound so pleased or I’ll think it was you who hired someone to off Kerry.”
“I did no such thing,” Caleb said, his anger quickly returning. He shoved Dick hard.
Dick shoved back, shouting right back at him, “Then find out who did because I can’t always be on hand with a healing mantra.”
“That’s fine because we don’t need you. I will make Kerry very happy. I can give her pups you never could.”
That was the last straw for Dick and punches started flying. They battled in the small confines of the shed, throwing each other back against the walls, which shook violently with the impact and fell away. Dick and Caleb fell with them, watching as the roof with its tiny electric bulb teetered on the end pieces and then collapsed against the ground with an echoing thud. The bulb exploded in glass and sparks.
Caleb and Dick stared at each other. They froze when they heard a back window of the house slide up.
“What the hell?” yelled Kerry’s father, blinking at them as he leaned out. “My shed!” He growled. “You two boys have ten minutes to get off my property before I strangle the pair of you.”
“Your shed nearly killed us,” said Caleb defensively.
Dick gave him a desperate “please shut the hell up” look but Caleb was on his feet. He kicked the roof and the light bulb exploded bursting into flames. Caleb went white as he heard a deeper, more base, growl.
“Oh, shit!”
“Want some advice?” Dick asked, already running for the side of the house and his car. “Run.”
* * * *
When Kerry awoke again she was completely alert. Neither Caleb or Dick were there. Kerry looked sadly around her bedroom, she wasn’t in a hospital. Surely Dick would take her to a hospital. How did Caleb convince him not to?
Her mother came bustling in with a bowl of water, a terry cloth, and some fresh bandages. She smiled at Kerry.
“Oh, honey, you’re awake. I’m so glad.” Her mother put everything down on the table by her bed and gave her a gentle hug. “How you feelin?”
“Alright. Where’s Daddy?”
Her mother turned to the bowl, dropped the cloth in it, and then wrung it back out.
“He’s digging a hole in the yard.”
“Why?”
“It gives him something to do with his anger. I figure if he actually does kill either of your young men, we’ll have a nice place to put them out of the way.”
“Momma!”
Her mother flashed Kerry a wicked grin. “I came up to put a fresh dressing on.”
Kerry shuffled closer to the edge of the bed to give her better access.
“You’re very lucky, sweetheart. It looks like the bullet just creased your side.”
Kerry gave a little grunt and then a hiss as air hit the wound. She’d been shot at but who would do such a thing and to her?
“Where are Caleb and Dick?” she asked, unable to let her mind wander over the darker questions, like who wanted her dead?
“They’ve both gone home for now. They made a little mess, fighting in the back yard. It was just safer if they left. Caleb says he’ll come by tomorrow…” her mother chuckled softly “Once your daddy goes to work.”
The cloth felt cool as it glided over Kerry’s skin. She felt the pain the second it touched the wound and had to look at the long gash in her side which ran from the front of her body to the back. It would heal but it would be a nasty pink scar—even her healing couldn’t prevent that.
“It’s not that bad so why did I pass out?”
“Shock and blood loss. I don’t know what they teach you nowadays but we are still mostly human.” Her mother re-covered the wound with fresh gauze and bandages, easing Kerry down onto her back so that she could see her face.
“You scared us, honey. You have to be really careful until the moon. We don’t want to lose you.”
Kerry closed her eyes. “I don’t remember much of what happened. Dick and Caleb were fighting. I broke them apart and then bam I was hit. How did I get home?”
The phone rang on her night stand. Kerry’s mother looked at the caller ID before picking it up.
“Hello Paulie. Yes, yes. She’s awake now. I’ll let you talk to her if she’s up to it.”
Kerry looked at her mother and gently nodded her head.
Her mother covered the mouthpiece with her palm. “He and Susan have been alternating calling every two hours since last night. Try to sit up and I will let you have the ph
one.”
Kerry pushed herself up, wincing a little. When she was up enough, her mother passed over the phone and gave her some privacy by taking the bloodied water to be drained.
“Kerry. O.M.G. Are you alright? Tell me you’re alright. Talk to me. Kerry?”
“Sorry. I was waiting for you to take a breath so I could get a word in,” she said with a smile.
He huffed. “Well, you sound just fine.”
“I’m doing alright. Momma says it’s not that bad, just creased my side. I’m so sorry to scare you guys. What happened after I passed out?”
“Susan and I came out to check on things and found Caleb and Dick leaning over you. We thought they’d killed you. Caleb lifted you up—all dashing prince style,” he said. There was a note of disdain in his voice. “Carried you to his car, and laid you out on the back seat. Susan went back to get Luka and we all followed him back to your house. Your daddy threw a shit fit when Caleb carried you in. Dick went running in after. Your Momma carried you upstairs and your daddy laid both of them out on the floor.”
Kerry placed a hand to her forehead and then shook her head back and forth. Her father needed to find better outlets for his anger.
“He yelled at them to get the hell out of his house and never come back but they both wouldn’t budge. We got to the door and it looked like Caleb and your daddy were going to go mano a mano, so we booked it out of there. No one messes with your old man when he’s got a head of steam on.”
“Did any of you see anything? Know who shot me?”
“No. I’d tear the son of bitch a new one. Susan was crying all over Luka. He had to drive in the end ‘cause she wouldn’t stop blubbering.”
Kerry smiled softly. Susan and she were very close and Susan often had her emotions in extremes.
“She was worried about me.”
“Still is. We’ve been callin’ and callin’ but you’ve been out of it. We promised whichever of us got through first would call the other. Susan says she’ll take your shift at Bart’s tomorrow.”
Kerry cut him off. “No. I’ll go to work tomorrow.”
Mistakenly Mated Page 6
