by Claire Adele
They all hit him at the same time. Knocked from his feet, he went down beneath their heavy weight. The press of their foul-smelling bodies threatened to crush his ribs. With his arms and legs pinned beneath their huge frames, he couldn’t fight them off or free himself. He protected his neck as best he could.
Their long-clawed fists pummeled him from all directions like clubs. The blows inflicted pain over every part of him. No place was left without a bruise. Still he struggled to push their weight off. Their human-like wolf bodies were so much larger than his wolf. Their weight overpowered him.
Darkness covered him like a blanket as one of them loomed over the pounding mass that battered him. Someone punched him in the groin. A howl was ripped from him. His stomach heaved from the unceasing agony. He had lost Darlene’s friendship and respect, and too late had come to believe she was his soul mate. Now he might lose his life and never have a chance to win her back.
“If you want to keep living, take your fuckin’ pack and get the hell out of my town,” rasped a voice near his ear. “If you don’t, Miss Lovejoy is next on my list. And I plan to play with her until I’m tired of our games before I give her to the pack and dispose of her.”
No!
A hard blow to his head sent him falling inexorably into a black pit. A blinding electrical current spiraled around his body like a golden lariat. Mercifully, it took away everything, the pain, and his terrifying fear for Darlene.
* * * *
Lucky heard the Hawks’ vehicle outside. Rafe had taken off alone earlier. Had the Hawks found him? God help him if they had. “Dallas! Something’s up!”
Lucky tore through the front door and saw the big form of Rafe, naked and unmoving in Darlene’s yard. He had a feeling they would need Darlene’s expert care again for Rafe. He hated to think what those damn Hawks had done to him. The Hawks were ruthless bastards.
Dallas joined him, and they set to checking Rafe over. Even in the faint light from the porch lamp, Lucky could see that Rafe had been beaten, badly. He was unconscious and covered in his own blood. “Good God.” Lucky’s voice choked with fear for his friend’s life.
“Don’t move him yet.” Dallas effectively stopped Lucky from turning Rafe over. “First, we need to make sure nothing is broken. Rafe, can you hear me? Rafe, wake up.”
Rafe moaned and lifted one swollen hand slightly.
“Rafe, is anything broken anywhere?” Lucky asked.
“I don’t…think so.” Rafe’s voice rasped, weak and faint.
Lucky searched for more wounds. “You’re pretty badly bruised and slashed, bud. Darlene’s got her work cut out for her this time.”
“We need to get you into Darlene’s house. Either you’ll have to stand up, or we’ll have to carry you,” Dallas explained.
“I can stand.” Rafe took a deep breath and rolled over. He groaned with the effort. “Is Darlene safe?”
“Yeah, she’s inside, and she’s just fine. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of the Hawks around here. Nice of you to keep them busy.”
“Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”
“Bet it does,” Lucky said softly.
Lucky and Dallas waited, and Rafe finally sat up.
They each placed their hands high under Rafe’s upper arms and lifted as Rafe slowly got his bare feet under him. Once he stood, they both moved close to his sides and wrapped an arm around his back as they each lifted one of his arms over a shoulder. They slowly walked him to the front porch and through the entry.
“Oh, God,” Darlene said with a moan when she met them at the door. “Let’s get him onto a bed.” She headed down the hall in front of them.
They followed her, haltingly, letting Rafe take careful steps at his own pace. Lucky could hear his soft grunts of pain every so often. Finally they got him into the bedroom where Darlene had the covers of the bed pulled aside.
Lucky and Dallas eased him onto the bed.
“Rafe, I need to know how badly you’re hurt. Do you think you have any broken bones?”
“No, just cuts and bruises.” His voice faint, he lowered his head to the pillow and closed his eyes.
Lucky noticed Rafe’s breath came hard from just walking inside.
“Dallas, stay with him while Lucky and I bring water and washcloths. We can’t see how badly he’s hurt with all the dust all over him.” Darlene looked horrified. “I noticed bits of gravel stuck to the blood over some of the cuts on his body. He may have to go to the hospital this time.”
“No!” Rafe protested. “No hospitals. I’ll be…fine.”
She looked at Lucky and Dallas. “I’m afraid he’s not fine. But what can we do? I don’t want to make him worse by upsetting him. After we bathe him, if I think he needs a doctor’s care, I will insist he go to the emergency room at the hospital. We can’t take a chance on losing him.”
She headed to the linen room, Lucky right behind her, and flung open the towel cabinet. She grabbed a stack of washcloths. “Lucky, would you take that stack of towels?”
“Sure. Don’t worry about Rafe. He heals fast. He’ll be fine with you looking after him.”
“I hope so, but I’m worried he could be injured internally.” She shook her head and frowned. Her hands shook as she took out a bottle of cleansing liquid.
Lucky remembered her using it after the previous gang fight with the Hawks. Thank goodness she knew what she was doing even as upset as she looked.
“Do you think the Hawks did this to him?” Her voice shook.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was them. I’m going to let Derek know about this in the morning. I know he wants to put all the Hawks behind bars. He and his friends will go after the Hawks and try to catch them and arrest all of them.”
“My main concern at this point is to make sure Rafe is all right.” Darlene met Lucky’s gaze with her no-nonsense look.
“He’s fortunate to have you look after him, darlin’.” Lucky piled up the towels in one arm. He was more comfortable around Darlene, and in her home, than he had ever been anywhere else. He’d hate to have to leave here.
She looked at Lucky, concern in her eyes. “Why? Doesn’t he have anyone to care about him? What about his family?” She turned away and grabbed a box of gauze pads and tape from another cabinet that held various medical care supplies.
Lucky thought about the tumultuous life he and his friends had led back in Hondo. “The care of our mothers was something we all cherished growing up. I’m not so sure that Rafe got his fair share of that. His father was tough on Rafe and his siblings, toughest on Rafe. He was the oldest, and his dad expected him to shoulder responsibilities that Ty and Dallas weren’t entrusted to handle.
“I know there were times when they were little that their dad beat Rafe bad for leaving something undone at the end of the day or during bad weather. One time, Rafe came to school hardly able to walk the day after his father beat him. Their mother always protected Ty, probably ’cause she didn’t think he was as strong as Rafe.”
Dallas joined them. He shook his head, and stared at the floor. “He never beat me, and I’ve never understood why he did that to Rafe.”
Lucky turned to Dallas. “Maybe your adoptive mom protected you, too. Or maybe he expected more from Rafe and thought the best way was to whollop him. Some parents are like that. It’s not right. I think it’s a stupid way to raise kids.”
Darlene shook her head as she stared at Lucky. “I do, too.”
He continued his explanation about Rafe. “As they got older, his dad decided it was time for himself to take it easy. He expected Rafe to take over and be the leader, make the right decisions about everything, and run the ranch.
“Rafe carries the responsibility of the success of the ranch on his shoulders. And he wants the others to carry their weight, too. But he always takes care of anyone in trouble. He’ll always stand by you in a fight. And he’ll celebrate with you when you have something to celebrate. He’s a good guy, but he expects the best from people because he
always tries his best, even if sometimes he comes up a little short.”
Darlene’s lips curved in a little smile. “I’m glad to know all this about him.”
Lucky swallowed hard, worried about Rafe this time. “I can’t imagine not having big, strong Rafe around even if he is cocky and rude. I’ve always looked up to him. Even if his words sometimes hurt, I know he doesn’t really mean it. Like today when he said some things he shouldn’t have to Colt and me, he said those things because he was hurt that everyone was leaving. I know he’ll apologize for that. Sometimes he speaks without taking time to think things through.”
Dallas nodded in agreement with Lucky.
Lucky took a deep breath. “Something else I think is important for you to know about Rafe and what drives him. One of his best friends, Dutch, fell from a cliff and died, and Rafe has never forgiven himself for letting that happen. He seriously believes he could have prevented it from happening, but I know he probably couldn’t have.”
Darlene frowned at him. “How do you know?”
“I know because it started years before when Dutch’s mom was divorced and remarried. When bills piled up and the man she married couldn’t pay the rent, he started taking out his frustrations by beating Dutch. Rafe and I were the only people Dutch told. We had also had similar problems with abuse, so we three guys understood what we were all up against. It helped for us to talk about it, too.
“Rafe had problems at home with his dad beating him, and I had been beaten up by bullies my whole life since I had always been the shortest guy in the area. I had also been overweight, and that encouraged bullies, until I’d started growing and maturing when I turned fifteen.
“Dutch started fighting back when he got old enough. One night, he’d been beaten badly by his stepfather when the bastard came home drunk. When Dutch fought back that night, the guy threatened Dutch’s mother. He fought with Dutch until he fell to the floor barely conscious, and started in beating Dutch’s mom. Dutch tried to stop him, but he couldn’t, and she ended up with bruises all over her.
“She kept it all secret and wouldn’t even tell her family. Dutch tried to talk his mom into leaving the guy, but she wouldn’t for whatever reason. The beatings got worse over the next year. She kept it secret from her family. I don’t know why. They could have helped her and Dutch if they’d known.”
Darlene winced and shook her head.
“Rafe didn’t know about Dutch’s mom being beaten because Dutch made me promise never to tell him. He knew Rafe would insist on helping him somehow. Dutch felt that Rafe had enough to handle with his own father and having to practically run their ranch. Dutch didn’t want to burden Rafe with his own problem with his stepfather. He wouldn’t tell the authorities or school officials because he feared the bastard would take it out on his mother. She wouldn’t tell the authorities either. Dutch made me promise to keep quiet about it or he would kill himself. That was when Dutch started taking chances.
“I was afraid he would do something drastic, and when he did, I couldn’t stop him. He drove too fast, dated girls that weren’t good for him, and took any dare, even if it was dangerous and foolhardy. One time on the ranch, we had brought in the horses from the range to get them ready for the round up and Dutch went into the corral, full of half-wild horses, on foot, to cut out the one he wanted. He was almost trampled before we got hold of him and pulled him up onto the fence railing. I finally realized how dangerous Dutch’s life had become the night he drove drunk to the bridge high over the river gorge and decided to climb it.
“I’ll never forget that night. It was pitch-dark. When we got to the bridge, the headlights of his pickup spooked some big, dark-feathered birds with huge wing spans. They flew down and circled the bridge and finally flew low only a few feet over the hood of the truck before they took off.
“Dutch got out of his truck to climb the bridge. With his dark hair, and dressed in dark clothes, I could hardly make him out after he climbed above the range of the headlights. He had gotten halfway to the top before I was able to talk him down off the bridge that night.
“I feared for his life after that incident. I think he took chances like that because he was in a terrible situation at home with his stepfather abusing him and his mother all the time, and he didn’t know now to handle the problems.
“When I heard that Dutch had been found by Rafe at the bottom of the cliff, and he was dead, I knew Dutch had finally taken one chance too many. It was a terrible thing for Rafe, too.
“I know that Rafe carries the responsibility for Dutch’s death on his shoulders, and that’s not right. What probably happened that night is what had been happening. Dutch purposely took a chance, pushing his luck to the limits, and he may have stepped off that cliff. Maybe he’d had something to drink.”
“Oh, dear.” Darlene’s hand went to her chest. “Do you really think he would go that far, or do something so drastic?”
“Maybe Dutch thought he could accomplish what he wanted to by taking himself out of the picture, and thought in that way he could make life easier for his mother. I don’t know for sure, but that’s what I suspect. He couldn’t see any way out, and he was desperate. If they would have let people help, things would have turned out differently for him and his mom.”
Darlene took hold of his arm. “You need to tell Rafe about this so he’ll understand it wasn’t his fault, if that’s what he believes.”
Lucky didn’t agree. “I’m afraid Rafe will go after Dutch’s stepfather.”
Darlene shook her head. “No, we won’t let Rafe do that. Promise me you’ll tell him what you’ve told me after we get him all healed. He needs to know to ease his mind. He needs to know it wasn’t his fault.”
Lucky sighed. Maybe she was right. “All right. I’ll give it a shot.”
Darlene stepped toward the hall. “We have to get him well again fast so you can do that. It should definitely ease his mind at least about his responsibility for Dutch’s death. And then we can work on getting Rafe to quit taking on everyone’s problems. He shouldn’t feel he’s responsible for protecting everyone from their foolish choices.”
They all three set to work to bathe and clean Rafe. When he fell sound asleep they continued to work over him, checking every bruise and covering every scrape. They moved his big body, turning him over and back. He never responded with even a moan. That was worrisome.
Dallas picked up Rafe’s right hand. It was bruised from the fight. “Dutch’s ring is missing.”
Lucky immediately looked, surprised. “I didn’t think he ever took it off.”
Dallas shook his head. “He doesn’t. I’ve never noticed that he went anywhere without it on his right hand. If those damn Hawks took it…”
Lucky left the room and hurried to Rafe’s bedroom. The ring was on the dresser. He returned to Darlene’s bedroom. “He left it on top of the dresser.”
“No wonder he’s so beat up.”
Lucky agreed with Dallas. “He would have gotten off easier if he had been wearing Dutch’s ring.”
Darlene stared at the ring. “Why?”
Lucky glanced at Dallas and smiled at Darlene. “This ring packs a punch in a fight.”
Lucky saw the tears gather in Darlene’s eyes as they neared the end of patching him up. “I’m not leaving his side tonight. I can’t. I shouldn’t have said those things to him. He took it too hard. He’s got a soft heart.”
“He’ll be all right, Darlene. He just needs your good care and attention.”
When they were finally finished, Lucky and Dallas left her alone to watch over Rafe with the excuse that they would bring her more washcloths. Lucky didn’t know what he’d do without Rafe or Darlene. He feared being without either of them.
Lucky cared for her and never wanted to leave her. He definitely couldn’t lose his big protective friend, Rafe.
* * * *
Darlene talked to Rafe about inconsequential things as she continued working to tend his wounds. Frustrated that
he did not respond, she grew agitated. Tears burned her eyes and trickled down her cheeks. Anger filled her.
“You know, even though you’re unconscious, I’m going to tell you something.” Her voice choked. She forced herself to become calmer. “You’re definitely not the sort of man I thought I’d ever fall for. But I have fallen for you in spite of my good sense, and you had better recover, and soon. I’m not at all interested in having you leave my home. I’ve come to like you too much.”
She thought of how she had felt when Lucky first called to Dallas for help. Her immediate thought was fear that something had happened to Rafe. Then she had pushed that thought aside and remembered his bad behavior earlier in the evening. Even so, she couldn’t change the way she felt about him. She cared for him, probably more than she should. She wanted to see him smile again. She wanted to have great sex with him again. She wanted him to stay with her and be safe. There was no going back. They could only go forward one careful step at a time. He had to get well first.
“Why did you have to go off and get in another fight with the Hawks?” She caught herself, feeling irritated with him, of all things. What good would that do? “I don’t want you to get hurt like this. I care about you, even though I had no intention of caring for you.”
“I didn’t know,” Rafe whispered, and cleared his throat.
Darlene stopped cooling his brow and looked at him, surprised and relieved he had spoken. He had been listening to her. Now he knew more than she wanted him to know about how she felt about him. “Rafe.” She couldn’t think what else to say to him at the moment. “I’m glad to see you awake and alert at last.”
“I’m sorry, Darlene. I’ll bring Colt back and make things right between him and Lucky and me.”
“I know you will.” Thank goodness he could think clearly and respond to her. “How did you let the Hawks attack you when you were unprotected by your family and all alone?”
* * * *
