by Dena Christy
“I don’t suggest you take another step,” Dany growled from behind her. “Not unless you want to watch me gut her.”
* * *
A sinking, sour feeling spread through Rowan’s stomach as he watched the small trickle of blood start at the tip of Dany’s stiletto and roll down Kate’s throat like a lone tear. Lee and Eric came in to flank him, and he could see shock widening Dany’s eyes as he stared at his son.
“You don’t want to do this, Dad.” Lee spoke in a soft ton of voice as he approached Kate and his father, his arms held open and loose at his sides. “You don’t want to hurt her. I think this has gone far enough, don’t you?”
“I haven’t gone nearly as far as I intend to.” Dany took a step back, pulling Kate with him.
Rowan kept pace with him, taking a step forward as Dany took a step back. Eric and Lee maintained the same distance. Rowan’s mind raced. They had to do something to get her away from him before he could take her out of the house.
“There is no where to go Dad,” Lee said. “The Order knows you’re behind the Dark Wolf formula, and I’m sure they have gotten to your warehouse in Ottawa.”
“Oh they have, and it’s your fault. I don’t know where I went wrong but obviously I failed to install a sense of loyalty in you boy.”
“You did, unfortunately the loyalty I have is not for you. Now let her go,” Lee demanded, taking an aggressive step toward his father. Dany’s focus was solely on his son. Rowan took another cautious step forward and he noticed that Eric had edged away from him. He guessed his brother’s intention was to find someway to get behind Dany.
“I know. It’s all the fault of that human,” Dany said, his disdain for the human race palpable in the tone of his voice. “If it hadn’t been for her, you wouldn’t be with the Order and you would be working by my side.”
“And what you never realized Dad, is that she was never the problem. You were. Now why don’t you let Kate go, and we’ll sort this out if you really want to talk. And don’t think to run with her. We called for backup when we got here. It won’t take them long.”
Dany’s eyes narrowed as he stared at his son. Rowan took another small step forward, and Dany’s head jerked so he looked directly at him.
“You should be thanking me,” Dany said as he pulled Kate tighter to him. She flinched, and Rowan’s gut tightened when another trickle of blood ran down her neck. They had to stop this bullshit and get her the hell away from him. He could see that Eric was in a good position to get Kate away from Dany, and Rowan gave a slight not of his head.
Dany must have caught Eric’s movements at his side because he quickly turned so he was facing Eric. Rowan walked toward him as did Lee, and Rowan recognized the panic on Dany’s face.
Rowan lunged forward but he was too late to stop what he realized Dany would do now that he was cornered. In one fluid movement Dany drew the blade away from Kate’s throat and drove it into her side, pulling it back to tear open the flesh in her torso. Kate screamed as Dany flung her away and bolted for the back door.
Rowan caught Kate in his arms and bore her down to the floor. Her skin was pale and waxy, and he could see the tremendous pain in her eyes.
“Rowan,” her voice sounded weak to his ears, and his heart pounded in his chest at the thought of losing her. He pressed his hands to her wound, willing the blood to stop pouring from her.
“Rowan, you need to let me see her,” Lee said softly as he knelt beside them. Rowan hesitated, not wanting to let her go. It was his father who did this to her. As if reading his mind, Lee spoke. “I’m not my father. I can help her.”
“Listen to him man,” Eric said as he put a hand on his shoulder.
Rowan moved his hand back, and let Lee access her wound.
“She’s going to need more help than I can give her. Eric can you call headquarters and tell them we needs medics out here immediately to take her back,” Lee said as he peeled back the edge of Kate’s shirt to probe her wound. She moaned in pain, and her face grew paler. Rowan fought down the urge to lash out at the other man, knowing he was the only person in this cabin who could save her life.
“It’s okay sweetheart, we’re going to get you help,” he whispered as he continued to hold her. He ignored Lee, ignored his brother, focusing all his attention on her. “Look at me Kate.”
Her eyes drifted open and she gazed up at his face. Her eyes were glazed with pain and had an unfocused quality to them. He swallowed hard, but didn’t let her see his fear for her. She needed him to be strong.
“You’re going to be okay baby. Help is on the way,” Rowan said as he stroked her hair back from her face. Her eyes slid closed and her body grew limp. “Kate!”
“She’s unconscious,” Lee said quietly, and Rowan told himself to get in control. Kate needed him to be strong, and he wasn’t going to fall apart.
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I love you,” he whispered, realizing that he’d never said it to her. And he promised himself that if she made it through this he would spend the rest of his life telling her how much he loved her.
Chapter 16
Rowan paced the waiting room in the Order’s infirmary. What was taking so long? It felt like forever ago when Kate had been brought in. He was thankful that Nick was in there working on her, there was no other doctor he trusted with her. But his brother needed to hurry up before he lost his mind.
“She’ll be fine,” Lee advised as he handed Rowan a cup of coffee. Rowan took it so he would have something to do with his hands. “Your brother is the best doctor we have here. There isn’t anyone else I’d want looking after someone I love.”
Rowan nodded, but was unable to say anything. His jaw clenched, and he walked over to one of the chairs on the other side of the room. Eric, Samara and Hadria were all seated there, and when he took his seat Samara clasped his hand.
They sat in silence for several minutes. Cadric came into the room, and walked over to them.
“How’s she doing?” he asked and looked over at Lee. Rowan glanced at Lee and nodded slightly. He didn’t feel like talking to anyone, let alone Cadric.
“We haven’t heard yet. We managed to slow the bleeding on the scene, and I’m sure Nick is looking to see if there was any internal damage. The fact that Dany used a silver blade is worrying, but I’m sure every precaution will be taken to ensure she doesn’t develop septicemia.”
“That’s good. Now can we meet to discuss what happened out there and why you three went off half cocked. Dany Cavanaugh is in the wind and we have no way of knowing where to find him.” Cadric’s voice had risen, and Rowan’s head came up. His body grew hot and his heart pounded in his chest as he stood up.
“Rowan,” Eric said in a low warning voice as he stood as well.
“No Eric. He needs to hear this,” Rowan said as he strode over to Cadric.
“What is it that I need to hear?” Cadric said, his voice smooth as he turned to face Rowan with a blank expression on his face.
“You want to know why the Order wasn’t invited? Because if your team had blundered in there she’d be dead. Eric and I don’t work for you and we don’t have to answer to you. My only concern was to save Kate, and frankly I don’t give a shit about Dany Cavanaugh. I’m glad he’s gone, and if he comes near Kate again, I’ll kill him.”
“You may not work for me, but Lee does,” Cadric said as a dull flush came over his cheeks.
“We forced Lee to come with us, and didn’t give him any time to contact anyone. He was our best lead as to where his father was and fortunately his intel panned out.”
Rowan caught Lee’s look of surprise. Rowan wasn’t about to throw the other wolf on Cadric’s mercy, especially since his intervention at the scene may very well have saved Kate’s life.
“That’s right,” Eric piped up as he came to stand beside Rowan. They presented a united front, and although Cadric’s face registered his disbelief, he said nothing more as he turned on his heel and left the ro
om.
“You didn’t have to do that you know. I was prepared to face the consequences of taking off with you guys,” Lee said quietly.
“No way were we going to drop you in the shit. You saved my woman, and were willing to go against your old man to do it. I owe you more than I can say, and if you ever need anything from me you just let me know.” Rowan stuck out his hand, and Lee grasped it to give him a firm shake. Lee turned his head to look toward the door to the infirmary and Rowan did the same.
Nick stood in the doorway of the waiting room with his scrubs on, and his surgical mask hanging from his neck. Rowan’s heart pounded in his chest when he saw the serious look on his brother’s face.
“How is she?” he asked, his voice shaking. He’d been in this situation before with Chelsea, and his go to response was to fear the worst.
“We’ve managed to stabilize her. Fortunately the knife missed her vital organs, and we are going to keep her here for a while and closely monitor her to see if there are any adverse effects to the silver in the blade.”
Rowan’s knees weakened for a moment as relief poured through his body. He heard the chorus of relief coming from everyone in the room, and that made it seem real to him. She really was going to be okay. He strode over to his brother and hugged him hard. “Thank you.”
Nick chuckled as he returned Rowan’s embrace and clapped him on the back. “She’s recovering from the anesthetic, so you’ll have to wait to see her. Why don’t you go home and get some rest.”
Even though Rowan understood when his brother said she would be fine, he wouldn’t believe it until he saw her. He wouldn’t leave her until he was assured that she would pull through.
“I’m not going home until she can come with me,” Rowan said firmly. Nick opened his mouth to say something but must have thought better of it. He nodded his head instead. “Would it be okay if I sat with her? I just want to see her and know she’s going to be alright.”
“I’ll take you to her,” Nick said as he turned and led Rowan from the room.
Rowan followed his brother into the room where Kate lay on a bed, the only sounds inside were the beeping and soft whooshing of the various machines she was hooked up to. He collapsed in the chair beside her, as his legs could no longer support his weight. He vaguely felt his brother’s hand patting his shoulder, but his sole focus was on her as he took her hand in his.
“Is she really going to be okay?” Rowan whispered as he laid her hand against his cheek.
“She’s stable and we will monitor her closely. Trust me, I will do everything in my power to make sure she pulls through this.”
Rowan nodded as he swallowed past the lump in his throat. He didn’t turn to look at Nick, and eventually his brother quietly left the room.
He hated seeing her like this, and he kicked himself for allowing it to happen. He should never have let her out of his sight, should never have let her away from his protection.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” he whispered to her. She didn’t move, didn’t stir at his words. He leaned forward and put his head on the bed, and prayed that she would recover and that she would forgive him for failing to protect her.
* * *
Kate fought through a thick fog as awareness slowly crept over her. Her eyelids felt like they were made of lead, and she forced them open. The room swam in and out of focus. She blinked hard several times until she could see properly. She looked over to see Rowan sleeping in the chair beside her. His head was tilted to the side, and she smiled slightly when she thought about how sore his neck would be when he woke up. He really should be at home in bed. She opened her mouth to tell him, but no sound issued forth when the door to her room opened.
She blinked rapidly several times, because the person standing in the doorway was dead. She could swear she was looking at herself, only slightly younger, and knew instinctively that she was looking at Lizzy.
“Lizzy,” she croaked as she held out her hand and just as quickly as she’d seen her, the woman in the doorway turned and left.
“Don’t leave, Lizzy.” she whispered as the room went dim again and she slipped back to sleep.
The next time she woke up, things were clearer and the pain in her side more insistent. Rowan no longer slept by her side, he was fully alert with a look she could only describe as joy on his face.
“Hey sweetheart,” he said softly as he brought her hand up to his mouth. “How are you feeling?”
“Thirsty,” she said as she licked her dry lips. Rowan brought a glass of water to her and helped her drink through the straw sticking out of the glass. The water flooded her mouth, cool and sweet and she didn’t think she’d ever tasted anything better. “What happened?”
She was pretty fuzzy on the details, she only remembered being taken to the old farm house by that nut and she knew Rowan, Eric and Lee were there, but other than that she was drawing a blank.
“Dany Cavanaugh stabbed you. You’re at the Order’s headquarters, and Nick patched you up.” Rowan said as he brushed the hair away from her face. “I’m so sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” Kate asked. Was she missing something? She didn’t remember all of it but she did remember Rowan coming to help her.
“It’s my fault you were vulnerable, my fault that he took you. I didn’t protect you like I promised I would.”
“Rowan, I’m too tired and in too much pain to go into this right now. Once I’m on the mend we are going to talk about this because I have a few things I want to say to you, but I don’t have the energy right now.”
Rowan’s face paled, and she could see how tired he was.
“When was the last time you slept? You look so tired,” she said as she put her hand up to his cheek. The movement pulled at her side and she winced.
“Don’t strain yourself,” he said as he gently lowered her hand to the bed. “I’m fine. I want to be here with you, so you aren’t alone.”
“Rowan, sleeping in a chair isn’t good for you and I will recover a lot better if I don’t have to worry about you. Please, go home and get some sleep.”
“They didn’t catch him, he’s still out there. I’m not leaving you alone,” he insisted.
“Rowan, I’m surrounded by the Order, and nothing is going to happen to me in the time it will take you to go home, get some rest and come back. If you are that worried about me, get someone to sit with me, but I want you to go home.”
“I’ll sit with her,” Lee said from the doorway. “I’m finished my shift anyway, so it won’t be any trouble. Go home and rest. Nick is already threatening to drag you out of here himself, so why don’t you listen to your woman.”
Rowan looked back and forth between her and Lee, and his shoulders sagged. Kate knew he’d finally seen reason. She smiled at him and held out her hand despite the pain.
“I’ll be fine,” she said as he clasped her hand and she weakly tugged him toward her. “Now kiss me before you go.”
Rowan leaned forward and brought his lips to hers. He cradled her face with his free hand and kissed her with a gentleness that brought a lump to her throat.
“I’ll be back later,” he whispered as he rested his forehead against hers.
“You better be,” she said as she smiled back at him. She watched his every move as he left the room, and wondered if there would ever come a time when she tired of looking at him.
Lee settled in the chair beside her, and now that Rowan was out of the room she had the chance to really look at him. Dark circles hung under his eyes, his face looked pinched and the shadow of a two day beard darkened his jaw. He wore a pensive look and she wondered about it.
“Was it hard seeing your father again?” she asked.
“It was difficult to see just how far the madness in him had taken him, but I can’t really say I was surprised by it. I let go of the man who raised me a long time ago, and the man who held you at that cabin wasn’t the man I knew when I was a boy. I’m sorry, by the way, that he put you through that.
”
“We aren’t responsible for what other people do, so there is nothing for you to be sorry about. Do you want to hear something weird? I don’t know if you guys had me on some heavy drugs, or if it was the talk about Lizzy we had but I swear I saw her in the doorway when I woke up the first time. Isn’t that strange?” Lee showed no surprise, and he looked at her silently for a moment. A sinking feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. “Lee, is there something I haven’t been told?”
“The Order raided my father’s warehouse in Ottawa and rounded up everyone there who worked for my father. One woman by the name of Alicia was taken into custody.”
“I think I stole her clothes and her car,” Kate said as the worry still gnawed at her gut. What wasn’t he telling her.
“That would make sense since she was the one who allowed you to escape. Alicia isn’t her real name. I saw her and knew her immediately. It’s your sister. She was working at the warehouse, and she’s in custody here now. She must have slipped away to look in on you.”
“But how is that possible? I thought you said she was dead? Unless she wasn’t the same woman as your Simone?”
Lee laughed, but it was a hollow bitter sound, and Kate hurt to hear it. She reached out to grasp his hand and he clung to it. “Tell me.”
“It’s Simone, only she’s not the woman I knew. She’s a werewolf, for one. I don’t know the whole story but from what Cadric has told me, my father sent David O’Connell to kill her and he turned her instead. I don’t know why she was working at the warehouse, and I don't know if I want to. She’s not the woman I was in love with.”
