He stayed there howling, moaning, and rocking Zoey in his arms not knowing what to do to save her and fearing she was gone.
Looking up the cement road, Thorn saw lights. He just sat there. Nothing was going to make him leave Zoey. As the car came close, he stared blankly into the lights. The lights blinded him. Here he was a naked man sitting with a dead girl and a house full of dead men. He didn’t have the strength to do anything. He wasn’t going to leave Zoey. He didn’t care what happened to him, if she died.
The car stopped. The doors opened to the Ford truck and Damon emerged from the driver’s side and Saadia and Tracker came out on the passenger side.
“Thorn?” He didn’t look up. Saadia moved to him and Thorn made a growl at her.
“It’s me, Saadia.” Her voice soft and calm. She stood looking down at him with Zoey cradled in his arms.
“Thorn. Let Saadia help Zoey,” Tracker said. Thorn looked up and recognized Tracker and he released her and lay her down on the leaves that had fallen. Saadia checked her pulse.
When Thorn stood, Tracker said, “Let me get you some clothes.” He took a dazed Thorn by the hand and led him to the truck. He turned to see Damon kneeling with Saadia.
“Get my bag, Damon, she has a pulse,” Saadia said looking to Damon.
“Don’t tell me you have the power to heal?”
“No, I don’t, and that’s just silly. But I was going to become a doctor like my father. That stupid brother of yours don’t know what he’s done by throwing me away. Go get my bag. Now.”
“I’ll take you if he doesn’t want you,” Damon admitted before turning and heading for the truck.
Saadia glanced up at him thinking it was just a joke, “You’re not my type. You’ve wasted enough time, the bag is in my knapsack.” Damon smiled and ran to the truck and found the bag and got it back to her. He stood and opened it and handed it to Saadia. She pulled out a needle and a bottle, and gave Zoey a shot.
“Come here, Thorn. You need a shot, too. It will help until we get you home.” Thorn button the last button on his shirt with Tracker’s help.
“No. I’ll wait until Robert can take care of my wound. It’s nothing.”
“We have a twelve hour drive, maybe more. Stop being such a big baby,” Saadia said not knowing Thorn didn’t like needles or medicine. Maybe he had enough of needles and medicine in the basement.
“Go ahead Thorn do as Saadia says. We have to leave this place and soon,” Tracker said glancing over his shoulder at Damon then saying to him, “I heard what you said to Saadia. She’s mine.”
“Ok. Tracker but you said...”
“Don’t worry about what I said. I’m saying now she’s mine.” He turned to see Thorn picking up Zoey. Zoey was knocked out with whatever Saadia gave her.
“She will be alright if we get that bullet out of her soon. We need to get back to Samsaville quick. I hope she survives the ride,” Saadia whispered to Tracker.
“Can you do it? Take the bullet out?” Tracker said.
“Not without killing her, and she may die anyway,” Saadia said to Tracker.
Damon had the motor on and ready to leave, “Let’s go,” Damon said. Saadia ran to the truck to get in front with him, and Tracker opened the door to the back. He glanced at Damon and then Saadia. “Sit near Zoey and Thorn,” Tracker said.
Saadia glanced up at Tracker and said, “What’s this?”
“You’re riding in the back.”
“I don’t take orders from you.”
“You are today,” Tracker said lifting her up into the truck as if she was a baby.
“Now let’s get out of here,” Damon said.
Chapter 14
After Damon backed out from the long blacktop road which led to the two story house, a place Thorn and Zoey won’t soon forget, and after Tracker and Thorn agreed to let the bodies lay as they were, the only one to disagree was Damon. His gaze turned to Tracker sitting beside him. There wasn’t an expression on Tracker’s face Damon could read. Tracker stared ahead and intermittently looked back at Thorn who held Zoey close to him keeping her warm.
“This is not good. It looks like some animal did this carnage,” Damon said.
“It’s exactly what we want them to think,” Tracker said.
“What happens when Zoey’s blood shows up and they do some kind of DNA testing and discover that the blood belongs to her or some animal they can’t identify? There are too many unanswered questions if someone goes around probing for answers. They’re still searching for her from your last bloodbath, Tracker,” Damon said with a disapproving tone.
“Let me and Thorn worry about that.” It was something neither Thorn nor Tracker thought about. Not the blood or DNA. There wasn’t any time. All they thought about was Zoey was hurt and they had to get Zoey some help. They didn’t have time to clean up and bury anything. The best answer was to let the authorities think what they wanted—that there was a large lone wolf rampaging through their small towns attacking at will.
“Wolves eat their prey not kill them like that,” Damon said, his voice high with a nervous tone.
But the common denominator in both incidence had been Zoey. Will someone connect the two, is the question Damon is asking, and if he’s right then what next? Thorn didn’t want to think about it as he held her close to him with his fingers frequently checking for a pulse. Then feeling she was still alive, he gave out a satisfied breath and closed his eyes for a second.
Damon drove backwards until he saw a sign, then he entered into the highway turning north, and then he would go east to Samsaville. But as they neared the area of Lycell’s cabin, Zoey began bleeding on her side. When Thorn passed his hands to pull Zoey closer, he felt a warm large amount of liquid drip on his hand, and he smelled her blood. It had seeped through the bandages.
Thorn’s eyes shot to Saadia and he said, “This isn’t good.” He raised his hand and showed Saadia.
“I know,” Saadia said to Thorn. She leaned forward, “How much further?”
“We have seven more hours to Samsaville,” Tracker said.
“She won’t make it,” Saadia said with a grim look at Thorn. “Maybe if we take her to the hospital. There’s a small town ahead. There must be a hospital. There are some lights. See.” Thorn’s voice frantic. His breathing heavy.
“I know I see the lights and the sign, but we can’t take her there,” Damon said his voice raising. “What are we going to tell the people at the hospital; that she’s been shot? They’re going to call the police,” Damon said gazing at Thorn in the rearview mirror.
“I don’t care. I don’t want to lose her,” Thorn said staring down at Zoey and brushing his hand across her face. “I love her.”
“You won’t just lose her, you’ll put the pack at risk, and our entire family. You can find another female like her. She fucked Tracker and then you,” Damon said out of desperation.
Saadia glared at Tracker when he turned to watch at Thorn, after scowling at Damon. Thorn leaned forward reaching for Damon’s headrest with his large hands, and pulling at it to shut Damon up.
“Stop it, Damon. And sit back, Thorn. Control yourself,” Tracker said hard and gruff.
Thorn weak and downhearted could only growl at Damon. Tracker knew if Thorn had his strength, and wasn’t holding Zoey, he would have attacked Damon.
Tracker saw it. Thorn’s experience in that house had changed him. Before this, he had a quiet nature, an even temperament, but after this, Tracker didn’t know what Thorn had become. He had seen Hunter change after his time in the Alaskan wilderness, but that would be expected.
“I was just saying, Tracker, Zoey would...” Tracker didn’t give Damon a chance to apologize and he suspected that none was coming. All Damon would do would escalate the matter further with his one sided views.
Saadia had already told Damon that he had the wrong opinion of females and he didn’t understand how a male feels when he’s in love. And it became obvious that he was lacking in the
area of peacekeeping as well.
“Stop it, Damon. Shut the fuck up,” Tracker said glancing behind him to see how Thorn was handling everything. He looked at Thorn and said, “We’re not taking Zoey to the hospital, and she’s not going to die.”
Tracker turned around, his sharp eyes searching for a landmark. “I remember this town,” Tracker said looking out the window at the few businesses they passed. A service station, a restaurant, and a small downtown area. He looked at the signs and there it was.
“Turn off and drive down that road. It will lead to a business area. Turn right on Main. I was here before. A veterinarian helped me when I was shot.”
“Ok,” Damon said. He did a quick right around the curve. He drove slow twenty miles an hour waiting for Tracker to tell him to stop. “But that vet is not a human doctor and she didn’t know what you were,” Damon said.
“Damon, why do you have to be such a dick? And why are you so negative?” Saadia said. “Now I know why no female would date you. You need to calm down.” Saadia glanced in the mirror and Damon looked straight ahead with his eyebrows turned inward making a V in the center of his forehead.
Tracker smiled. “I think she knew what I was, but she didn’t want to believe it.”
“But she’s a vet and Zoey is human,” Damon said ignoring Saadia’s plea to stop the negativity. Saadia glared at Damon from the backseat. He caught her eyes bearing down on him.
Damon never would let a matter die. That was his problem. Too persistent and ready to prove a point. Even when Damon was a child he would go after the largest male deer with antlers and would cling on to the legs even though the antlers were deadly to a small pup werewolf. When Lycell would tell him to let go, he wouldn’t.
“Girls like me,” Damon protested. He smiled watching at Saadia. “If you give me a try, I’ll show you what you’re missing,” Damon said.
“Not this werefemale. There’s only one werewolf for me. Or man.” Saadia wanted to let Tracker know that she wasn’t going to waste any more time with him. She was looking.
Damon knew his failings with females, but he wouldn’t argue the point with Saadia. And Tracker had enough of the flirtation going on between Damon and Saadia. She had been promised to him, and after the sex, he wasn’t going to let her go anywhere. She couldn’t leave until he told her to go, and he wasn’t ready to release her to Damon or anyone.
The only problem was that Saadia didn’t know that.
Tracker turned to Saadia and said, “All we need is for the vet to take out the bullet and stitch her up.” Tracker looked to Saadia. “You know something about this. Can she do it?”
“I think she can. She did it for you. It’s worth the try. But then your anatomy had changed because of your shift into a wolf.”
Tracker turned to see Damon passing the street. “Damon, make a quick right turn by the Burger King. Go two miles into town and on your right is an animal hospital.”
“It’s six a.m. in the morning,” Saadia said.
“The animal hospital is open twenty four hours. She lives above it. There are stairs to her apartment on the left. When I tell you to stop then stop.
Damon slowed when he saw a sign:
Pacific Veterinary Hospital
24 hour emergency care
Dr. Lilian Houston
“Stop. Park near that sign that says parking only.” When the white Ford truck came to a stop at an angle, Tracker jumped out, and hurried up the stairs. When he reached her door he stood a second wondering what to say to her. He wanted to head back down the stairs. But he had to see this through. If anything went wrong he couldn’t leave the woman to tell anyone about them.
Tracker had made a promise to Zoey that he would help protect her, and he had let her down but he would try to make that up by convincing Lilian to help them. But he had questions in his mind.
What would happen once the doctor understood what he was, and she wasn’t willing to keep their secret? He didn’t want to think about that. Take her with them?
How long could he hold her against her will and what would his father and uncle say. He knew. He knew it couldn’t come to this, at least he hoped it wouldn’t come to kidnapping her, because he couldn’t kill her to hide their werewolf secrets.
Raising his hand, he knocked instead of ringing the doorbell. Tracker thought she would think it was an emergency if he knocked. He could see a light on in the small apartment. “Who is it?” the woman said.
She walked slowly to the door. She was fully dressed.
“I need help. It’s an emergency,” Tracker said. He heard the door open and standing in front of him was the woman who he will never forget. She had her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. Gray showed around the edges, her eyes still soft and warm. She wore a blue polo with a logo of a dog and cat that said: we keep your pets happy and safe. Underneath the logo, her name, Lillian. Her blue pants had an emblem stitched on the pocket—flowers. And her shoes soft clogs with pictures of flowers.
Lilian was the one who had taken care of him when he was in shifter form as a large white wolf. She had nursed him and then set him free in the woods. He will never forget her kindness.
“Where is your pet? Bring it in.” She stepped aside and when he stepped in her apartment not carrying a dog or animal of any kind, she peered at him. They locked eyes and she knew.
“What is your name?” She wasn’t afraid of him. She had no reason to be. Lilian had seen too many eyes of rabid animals to be afraid.
“Tracker Samsa.” He had made a mistake and given his last name.
“Tracker. Mr. Samsa, What can I do for you this time?”
“What do you mean this time?”
“I know who and what you are.” Tracker didn’t have time to ask how or why.
“I have a problem. My brother’s girl is a human, and she has been shot.” Her hand rose to her mouth and she gasped.
“What do you want me to do; bring her to a hospital?” she turned away to pick up her coffee cup.
“You know I can’t, and I think you know why. Can you help me?” The woman stood looking at Tracker.
“I knew there was something different about you the day I looked into your eyes. I had never seen a wolf your size before. I had heard talk of werewolves but wasn’t sure. I thought it was a fairytale. Not the good ones, but a fairytale where the animals are hideous creatures. I didn’t realize that it was just that. A fairytale. And there are beings that are men and can shift into animal form, but they’re not animals in their behaviors. Not like some men.”
“It’s an emergency. Will you help me?” he said pleading. He grabbed her wrist and she dropped her coffee. She didn’t feel threaten. She dropped her cup because she felt his life force surge through her. A powerful calm and caring force.
“Yes. If I can. I’ll be down shortly. Let me turn off the lights.”
Tracker said thankyou with his eyes and she understood. He turned and walked down the stairs. When he reached the truck, he watched as a large burst of color of orange and red from the sun rising on the horizon from the east.
They had to hurry and get Zoey out of the truck. She had awaken and her eyes searched around for Thorn. She looked up at him and made a small moan looking at the blood stain on her dress. The medication Saadia administered was wearing off. Her eyes didn’t leave Thorn’s until she heard Tracker’s voice.
“Take her out of the truck and bring her to the door. Lilian will open up in a minute.” When he turned, Lilian was standing near the door to her hospital. Damon and Saadia spilled out of the Ford behind Thorn and Zoey.
Walking behind Lilian, Thorn glanced over at the woman with the kind face. “Put her here,” she directed Thorn. He walked into a room that resembled a hospital room. “I sleep here when I have very sick animals,” she said glancing up at Tracker. In the back room he heard the sound of dogs barking. “I need everyone out except the one who stopped the bleeding.”
“That will be me,” Saadia said glancing at
Tracker and Thorn with Damon standing in the doorway.
“I need to stay,” Thorn said. “I’m her husband.”
“That’s precisely why you can’t stay. You don’t look well yourself,” Lilian said making a professional observation, which had become obvious to everyone, but not Thorn.
When the group had filed out of the room, Lilian said to Saadia, “You did a good job. You must want to be a doctor.” I had thoughts of it. But my mate, I mean Tracker has other plans for us so I gave up on the notion.”
“I let a man prevent me from my calling to become a doctor, and I regretted it. Not that I don’t find pleasure in helping animals, but I had no thought that my life would turn out this way. I have no children and no husband just my animals.” She worked on Zoey after she cut her dress apart and was able to look at her wound.
“Great job. She has you to thank for saving her life.”
Saadia glanced up at the woman, “Can she travel. We have to get her out of the area and to the Samsa ranch.”
“She has to see a doctor for after care. You can’t do it.”
“My father is a doctor, and he will take care of her.”
“I don’t recommend you moving her just yet. But if you do, I can’t be responsible. I’ll tell that to her husband.” Saadia glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. She knew that Zoey could start bleeding all over again, and this time it would be fatal.
Saadia and the doctor walked out of the room after hours of working on Zoey. “Is she... will she be alright?” an anxious Thorn said sitting in a corner looking lost.
“Only if she gets some rest for a few days. Not in that truck, but here.”
“We have to get to Samsaville,” Tracker said. He knew he couldn’t risk being on the road when the bodies were found. Even the doctor might turn them in if it came across the news. She didn’t do it before, but then she wasn’t sure. Now her suspicions were confirmed that they were werewolves and shifters, and the only human was Zoey, and she wasn’t talking.
She could have been kidnapped for all Lilian knew. And that could be a part of the news’ reports, too.
Thorn in Moonscape #9 Page 10
