by D. M. Turner
The impact sent pain through his entire body from so many points that his brain could hardly register them. He hung in the air for an eternity. Just when he thought he’d been knocked straight to Heaven, he slammed into the asphalt and lay there, watching brake lights flash as the truck turned the next corner and shot out of sight.
“Jeremy!”
Darkness threatened, but he willed himself to stay awake. If he lost consciousness, the world would find out what he was. He was in the middle of a city street, and Annie was close enough that she’d call 9-1-1. Once he was in a hospital, the whole pack would be in danger.
Annie dropped to her knees at his side, already pulling out her cell phone. “Jeremy?”
“No.” He grimaced against pain the single word sent across his chest. Broken ribs for sure, and if difficulty breathing was any indication, probably a punctured lung.
“What?” She leaned down and gently touched his face.
“No… hospital.”
“But you need to go. You’ll die without medical attention.”
“No… hospital. … Call… Max.” He coughed, sending pain through his whole body and blood onto Annie’s arm. He clung to consciousness by a shred of pure will.
Her eyes widened in horror. “I have to call an ambulance.”
“No!” Oh, God, help me. If she does that…. “No. … Call… Max.”
“I don’t know who that is.”
He slowly, painfully recited the local phone number. Of the pack members, Max lived closest. He could get there faster than anyone else and alert Ian.
Annie punched in the number he provided (he hoped) then hit SEND. After a couple of rings, it picked up.
“Hello?”
Jeremy closed his eyes, content that she’d called who he’d requested. Max would know what to do.
“Is this Max?”
“Yes. Who’s this?”
“My name’s Annie. I’m a friend of Jeremy’s.”
“Oh, yeah, he’s mentioned you. What’s up?”
“He was just hit by a truck and told me to call you, not an ambulance.”
“How bad is it?”
Bad. Jeremy mentally catalogued the injuries he could feel far too clearly. Both legs broken, one possibly in multiple places. Right arm broken above and below the elbow. Broken ribs, mostly on the right. Right lung punctured. No doubt multiple internal injuries that would probably kill a human, even with emergency surgery.
“Bad. It’s really bad.”
“Where are you?”
She gave their location.
“I’ll be right there.”
Jeremy breathed shallow in hopes of lessening the pain. It helped somewhat. Unconsciousness hovered close, a welcoming escape.
“Jeremy? Please, stay awake.”
He opened his eyes and reached up with his left hand to wipe tears from her face. A gash from his wrist to his elbow had already stopped bleeding. He was healing. “I’ll be alright.” Hopefully the internal injuries were healing as well as the external ones and that wouldn’t be a lie.
“You need to be in the ER.” She gripped her phone hard enough that her knuckles turned white.
“No. … Trust me,” he whispered. “No doctors.” He closed the fingers of his unbroken hand around the hand clenching her phone. “I know… you don’t… understand. I know… you’re scared. Trust… me. No ER.”
Annie nodded and covered his hand with her free one.
His compromised lung rebelled against the need for air required to talk and went into spasm, causing another coughing fit. Stars danced through his vision, and they weren’t the ones in the sky. If the blood loss didn’t kill him, the pain might. Even his first Shift hadn’t been so agonizing.
The gentle purr of a vehicle engine approached.
He flinched. Oh, no. I should’ve had Annie help me out of the street. We’re bound to attract attention in the middle of the road like this.
A van slowed.
Recognition crept through the pain fogging his mind, and he relaxed. Max.
The other man pulled up alongside where Jeremy lay on the asphalt. A door slammed, and he appeared around the front end of the vehicle. After sliding open the side door, Max knelt next to him. A worried frown created lines around his eyes and mouth. “I got hold of Ian. I’m taking you to your house.”
Jeremy gave a slight, jerky nod.
“This will hurt like the Dickens.”
“I know.” He mentally braced himself for a whole new level of agony but still had to bite back a yell when Max picked him up to put him in the van. Good thing wolves were strong, or he would’ve had to drag him, which would’ve been even more unpleasant than being carried.
Lightning and stars flashed through his vision, threatening to rip awareness from him.
Annie jumped into the back of the van and knelt at his side without waiting for an invitation from Max. The other wolf stood back and stared at her for a moment. “Uh, he’ll be okay now. We appreciate you looking after him, but you can go home.”
She glared at him. “If you think for a second that I’m leaving him, you better think again.”
Max shifted his weight from one foot to the other and glanced away, meeting Jeremy’s gaze with a helpless look.
“Let her come,” he whispered, knowing Max would hear every word.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Alright.” Max slammed the sliding side door and ran around to get in the driver’s seat. The door banged shut, and the engine turned over.
The drive to Jeremy’s house took no more than five minutes, but it might as well have been an eternity. He felt every bump, turn, stop, and acceleration in ways he’d never been aware of before. The final bump from the street onto his driveway triggered a new wave of pain. He gritted his teeth to keep from crying out.
The engine fell quiet, the front door slammed, and the side door ground open. “Where are your keys?”
“Front right… pants pocket.” He had no prayer of retrieving them.
Max dug them out, making him aware of pain in the hip joint, and handed them to Annie, who climbed out and ran for the front door. The wolf met his gaze with a grimace. “I’m sorry to have to move you again.”
“Just get it over with.”
“Ian will be here soon,” Max said as he carried Jeremy to the house.
Annie held the front door open then slammed it closed after they passed through.
Max carried him straight to the bedroom and lowered him gingerly to the bed.
Careful or not, man, that hurt! Jeremy closed his eyes and willed his body to relax. Just like a Shift. Handle the pain like a Shift. Relax into it. Don’t fight it.
As muscles softened, the pain eased.
“Jeremy?” The tremor in Annie’s voice forced him to open his eyes. The scent of her fear threatened to send new tension through his body.
“I’ll be alright,” he whispered.
She met his gaze and gasped. “Jeremy, your eyes.”
“What about them?”
“They’re… they’ve changed color,” she whispered.
He bit back a curse.
The wolf had reared up because of the pain.
Jeremy closed his eyes and willed the wolf to subside. When he felt sure he had the inner monster back under control, he opened his eyes again.
She studied him for a moment, shook her head as though confused, and then eased onto the bed beside him, gripping his hand. “I should’ve called an ambulance. You need medical attention. I’m sure you have internal injuries. The way that truck hit….”
He tried to squeeze her hand but lacked the strength. “You did the right thing…. Ian and Max can… tend to me far better… without risk to me… or anyone else.”
“Risk? I don’t understand.”
“I know, but you will. Do you remember… what I said… about my life… being complicated?”
Annie nodded and smiled through tears. “How can I forget? You
said you wouldn’t have dinner with me because of it.”
“I should’ve stood by that.” He locked his gaze on hers. “Your life… is about to get… a lot more… complicated… than you… could’ve ever… imagined. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t care.” She brushed hair away from his forehead with the gentle touch of a finger. “You’re worth it.”
“You may change your mind… after you learn the truth.”
To his surprise, Annie chuckled. “You’re determined to make me run away, aren’t you? Well, suck it up, Dr. Richardson. I’m not running. If you want distance between us, you’ll have to be the one to run.”
“We’ll see.” He smiled and closed his eyes. Humor fled. She’d rethink that claim. Reality was far harsher than she could even begin to fathom at the moment.
The familiar rumble of an SUV engine penetrated the outside wall of his bedroom. Ian had arrived. Now the real agony would begin. Ian and Max would have to set bones and bandage him up.
Chapter 6
Jeremy’s residence
Saturday, June 3, 2017
A sniffle stirred Jeremy’s senses, pulling him awake. He shifted to roll onto his side then froze. Oh, man. Why did his body hurt? Oh, yeah. Truck. How could he have forgotten?
“Jeremy?”
Annie? He pried his eyes open and looked in the direction her voice had come from.
She slipped her glasses on, pushed out of the chair in the corner by the front window, and sat on the bed with great care. Her tear-stained face, puffy eyes, and red nose sending a pang through his chest, she smiled. “How do you feel?”
“Like I was run over by a truck.” He tried to grin. “Max? Ian?”
“Ian’s in the living room, I think. He sent Max home a couple of hours ago, after they patched you up.” Her lower lip quivered, and her gaze dropped to his right side. “It was so brutal.”
“I know.” Werewolf medicine, on those rare occasions it was actually needed, wasn’t pretty or elegant.
“Ian cut you open to get the slab of rib out of your lung, but he couldn’t reach it. He had me pull it out.”
“I’m sorry.” He grimaced. “I’m sorry you had to see that, much less participate.”
“I don’t understand any of what’s happened. How are you still alive? You should be dead. I mean, I’m glad you’re alive, but I’m really confused.”
“I know. I’m glad to be alive.” A genuine smile softened the muscles in his face. “For the first time in a while, actually.” He shifted then winced. “Well, it’s not as bad as when Max carried me into the house, but I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere for a few more hours.”
“Try a few weeks.”
She still didn’t know. “Can you get Ian?”
“Do I have to? He kinda scares me.”
Jeremy chuckled then froze. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Maybe if he kept repeating that to himself, he wouldn’t let fly with a cuss word that shouldn’t cross his mind, much less leave his lips. “He scares anyone with half a brain. I need him right now, though.”
Annie nodded and jogged out of the room, returning in moments with Ian close behind. She returned to her spot on the bed.
Ian half-grinned. “Well, I think you’ll live.”
“I hope so.” Maybe. Depending on how Annie took what she was about to learn. “Annie needs to know the truth. Before… things get more complicated than they already are.”
“If you’re sure she’s the right one….” The alpha cocked his head.
Jeremy nodded. “I believe she is.”
“The right one what?” Annie asked.
Ian leaned his back against the doorframe and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “What you’re about to learn must not leave this room. Only a select group of people know our secret, and it has to stay that way. If not, you’ll put a number of us at risk, including Jeremy.”
“At risk for what?”
“I believe that will be clearer when you hear what Jeremy wants you to know.” He motioned toward Jeremy. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, he’s healing at a very rapid rate.”
“Yes.” She straightened and laid a hand on Jeremy’s arm. “Every bit of training and experience I’ve had tell me he should be dead after the injuries he sustained last night. He’s in pain and still pretty much immobile, but awake and talking.”
“By tomorrow, he’ll be fully healed. Probably won’t even have a limp as long as Max and I set the breaks in that right leg properly.”
“How is this possible?”
“We’re not entirely human.”
A long silence fell that made Jeremy uneasy. What thoughts were going through her head? He inhaled to catch her scent, but it gave away nothing of her thoughts. At least she wasn’t afraid. Yet.
Then she blinked rapidly a couple of times.
“Excuse me?” She frowned and glanced at Jeremy then at Ian. “You look human to me. What else could you be?” She barked a short, soft laugh. “You’re not about to tell me you’re aliens, are you?”
“No.” Ian chuckled. “Once upon a time, we were as human as you. As far as I know, there are no little green, gray, or any other forms of alien life in my pedigree or Jeremy’s.”
Jeremy took a slow, deep breath. “We’re werewolves, Annie.”
She sat back a bit, mouth falling open and brows rising up. “Werewolves?” Her eyes narrowed. “Is this some sort of joke?”
“I wish it was.” Jeremy met her gaze with solemn seriousness. If she only knew how much he wanted it all to be a joke. Then again, if it was, he really would be dead after the run-in with the truck the night before.
“Werewolves.” She frowned and looked down at her hands. After a few moments, she looked up and shook her head. “I’m sorry, that’s just too… weird to believe.”
Ian sighed and stripped off his t-shirt, squatting down with one hand on the floor. The Shift moved over him with the speed and ease that comes with many years as a wolf.
Annie gasped.
Jeremy grabbed her hand and kept her from jumping away. “Don’t run. He won’t harm you.”
As big and wide in wolf form as he was in human form, Ian’s mere presence intimidated others. He backed it up with the confidence and boldness of an alpha male. His gray human eyes gave way to the pale green of the wolf, and human skin and hair became the thick coat of a gray timber wolf.
Jeremy had always found it fascinating that some wolves retained the hair color and some shade of eye color of the human, while others were completely different. Some were American timber wolves, while others had the coloring and physical characteristics of European, Mexican, or Arctic wolves. No rhyme or reason to the variation.
Ian was Scottish, through and through, yet his wolf was clearly an American gray wolf. His son Colin was a dark brown American timber wolf. Colin’s mate, Tanya, was of European descent, yet her wolf was readily identifiable as Arctic.
If wolves had kept records over the centuries, perhaps that would have revealed a pattern.
Ian shook when the transformation was complete, looking almost comical in jeans.
Jeremy pressed his lips together to keep from grinning and shifted his focus to Annie, whose eyes had gotten as big as they could possibly be.
The scent of fear rolled off of her.
“He won’t hurt you. Not unless you threaten him or me.”
“What exactly constitutes a threat?”
“Anything you would consider a threat against yourself, pretty much. Even in wolf form, he’s still Ian.”
Ian held his head high, ears pricked, then stepped forward, shaking free of the rest of his clothes. He moved slowly around the foot of the bed until he was within easy reach of Annie, who drew closer to Jeremy.
Fear permeated the air around her.
Ian’s tail waved slowly back and forth.
The stench of fear decreased.
“Can I….” She met Jeremy’s gaze. “Can I touch him?”
He glanced at Ian, who dippe
d his chin once in a nod. “Sure, go ahead. He doesn’t mind.”
Slowly, as though she expected Ian to bite any second, Annie extended her hand to touch the side of Ian’s muzzle.
Jeremy found it very interesting that she chose not to reach to the top of Ian’s head, which would be perceived as a dominant gesture. Instinct?
Ian took half a step closer, allowing her fingers to slide into the ruff around his neck.
“He’s beautiful.” The faint tremor in her voice carried both fear and fascination.
Jeremy took the latter as a positive sign.
She turned her gaze back to him. “Do you look like him?”
“Similar in color and conformation. My wolf form isn’t as tall or broad through the chest, and my eyes are pale amber, I’m told, instead of light green like Ian’s. When I’ve healed some, I can show you, if you want.”
She nodded and turned back to Ian. “You don’t… kill people, do you?” The fear was back.
“Not unless they ask for it.”
Ian gave him a disapproving glare.
“Well, it’s true.” Jeremy shrugged. “I’m not going to lie to her.”
Annie shot him an appalled look. “What do you mean?”
He didn’t question which statement she meant. “We only kill to defend ourselves or to protect others. It’s not like in the movies. That usually means we’re fighting other wolves rather than humans, though.” He cocked his head. “Come to think of it, all the fights I’ve been in since my Turning have been with other werewolves. Not a one with humans.”
“Your… Turning?”
“That’s what we call the time of our change.” He frowned. “Not a pleasant memory for any of us, I don’t think.”
Ian backed away, trotted around the bed to gather clothes in his mouth, and headed for the bathroom.
The door clicked behind him.
“This is… unbelievable.” Annie shook her head.
