by Terry Spear
Lelandi.
Jake studied him, then frowned. “Another bad night?”
Darien gave him a look like he’d better not go there.
Jake shook his head. “I’ll get on with the business at the silver mine.” He muttered under his breath as he stalked off, “Better there than here. Got to find another mate, brother, and give up the ghost. She’s gone. You have to own up to it sometime.”
Gone.
Would finding another mate stop the dreams?
He snorted. Even when he’d been with Lelandi, the dreams had continued. The fantasy, so much better than the real thing.
He glanced at Deputy Peter Jorgenson sitting on a chair, pulling guard duty. “Need a break?”
“Thanks, boss. Trevor just relieved me. I’ll be here for another two hours.”
Time to go home and try to get some much needed sleep. But if Darien could find Lelandi in the woods, even if it was only in his dreams…he’d forgo sleep for an eternity.
The next morning, Lelandi sat up in bed, her head partially cleared, no restraints, although the medication still dulled her senses. Otherwise, she would have sensed the brooding man sitting in the room. Jake’s eyes opened wider when it registered she was awake. Darien must have given up and gone home.
Jake stroked his whiskered chin for a minute. Finally he spoke, his voice condemning. “He doesn’t want you. He sees you as her.”
Nobody had to tell her Darien saw her as Larissa. Swallowing hard, Lelandi hoped at least her vocal cords had returned to normal after the snake had strangled them. She still didn’t feel she had any energy, but at least she felt no pain. Her throat dry, she noticed her water cup was empty. The water pitcher was too far away to reach, but she wasn’t asking grumpy to get it for her. The other solution was to hit the nurse call button. If Ritka was manning the desk, she might dump the water on Lelandi, or ignore her completely. Besides, Lelandi was used to fending for herself.
“He’s already been through the wringer enough over your sister without having to go through the same thing with you. Damn it, woman, he needs to heal.”
Like she didn’t? Jake was talking about her sister! She’d loved her just as much as Darien had. Why else did they think she was here? To avenge her sister’s death, damn it!
Lelandi twisted her mouth, her throat feeling drier by the second, probably because of the medication she was taking. Indecision caught hold. Should she try to go back to sleep, or get the water herself?
“He should have mated Trevor’s sister. Hell, none of this would have happened if he had.”
She ground her teeth. Trevor’s sister? No wonder the guy didn’t like her. But she would not give in to Jake’s challenging her. Jake knew she wanted some water, but he made it clear he wasn’t about to help her. Fine, she didn’t need a gray’s help anyway.
“I told him to leave her alone. That she wasn’t right for him. He doesn’t need you messing with his head, too.”
Lelandi glowered at Jake. She had no intention of “messing” with Darien’s head. Leaning over, she reached for the water pitcher. A cold draft sent shivers down her back where her gown opened up. Her head filled with fog, and she paused, nausea filling her belly, dizziness washing over her. Slow. Take it nice and slow.
The chair scooted back across the industrial-strength carpeting covering the floor and footsteps hurried in the direction of the hall.
She closed her eyes to shut out the dizziness when Jake said, “Get Ritka. The woman passed out.”
What woman?
Lelandi opened her eyes, her thoughts still fuzzy. She had to get off this blasted medicine that made her feel so out of control.
Jake stalked back into the room. “Lie still. Go back to sleep.”
Ignoring him, she tried for the water again. As soon as she leaned over the bed railing, her stomach and head started dog paddling, and she felt herself quickly going under.
“Damn it, woman.” Jake laid his hand on her shoulder and pushed her back, his touch gentle, his stern face anxious.
Nurse Grey stalked into the room. “What’s the matter?”
“She needs those restraints back on.”
Lelandi glowered at him. “Water.” She limply lifted her hand and pointed to the container.
“She passed out twice and was about to do the same again.”
“Trying to get the water herself?” Nurse Grey asked, her tone annoyed while she took Lelandi’s temperature.
He shrugged. “She didn’t ask.”
“And you weren’t going to offer. Take a seat, and roll up your sleeve.”
“What…?”
“Come on, tough guy. The little lady needs more of your blood. That’s why she’s passing out.”
“Hell, I already gave her a river’s worth.”
The nurse tsked. “A big alpha male like you can give a little more.”
Lelandi wished she were feeling more with it, able to respond, as she dearly would love to laugh out loud at the look on Jake’s face. More than disgruntled. Every bit of blood she’d get from him was spitting fire.
Good. Maybe it would give her some energy.
After getting some sleep and feeling somewhat better, Darien walked into Larissa’s room, saw his brother giving her blood again, and came to a dead stop. “What the hell’s going on?”
Jake scowled at him. “You could have given her blood when you were here last. This is the second go around for me.”
Larissa’s face was still ghostly pale. “Feeling any better?” He sure as hell hoped so or he’d never get the truth out of her.
She nodded, but she seemed to be nearly as out of it as the night before. He guessed he shouldn’t have insisted she got more pain medicine when she’d objected so strenuously. Still, hearing her groaning in the middle of the night…
“I gave her some more pain medication about an hour ago. It seems to be kicking in,” Nurse Grey warned.
“Can I ask you a question?” he asked Larissa in the most sweet-mannered way he could manage.
Jake raised a brow.
Larissa headed off Darien’s question. “Room broken into.”
Her voice was clearer, not as raspy, but she sounded weary. “So Uncle Sheridan came by already and talked to you about it.”
“An hour ago,” Jake said as Nurse Grey released him.
Now he looked a little peaked.
“Come on, Jake. You can lie down in room five until you feel more yourself.” Nurse Grey helped him up.
“Good thing we can manufacture blood more quickly than humans.” Jake gave Darien another dirty look. “Next time, it’s your turn.”
“Wrong blood type.” The nurse held Jake’s arm as they walked out of the room.
“Good excuse,” Jake said. “Hey, we’re triplets. He’s got the same blood…” His voice trailed off down the hall.
Darien pulled the chair closer to the bed. “The guy who broke into your place must have stolen your bag. Did Uncle Sheridan tell you that?”
She took slow, shallow breaths. “Gun.”
“I found your gun. What had you planned to do? Shoot someone you thought killed your sister? You can’t take matters into your own hands, damn it.”
She stared at the ceiling for a minute as if trying to remember what had happened. Her eyes drifted to the bed, then she closed them.
“What’s your family’s name? Where are your parents?”
She stared straight through him. “Lelandi. Parents…” She swallowed hard. “Killed, accident.”
“I’m sorry to hear it.” But he hadn’t even known his mate had a family, and he still wasn’t sure Larissa had been telling the truth so he was having a tough time feeling any sympathy. “What did the letter say?”
“Lupus blackmailing her.”
Darien’s heart nearly stopped. “What, who—”
She studied the blanket, her fingers twisting the thin fabric.
“Yours or mine?”
Larissa looked up at him, her eyes r
evealing confusion.
“Do you think it was one of my grays or one of your reds?”
She didn’t answer, which made him suspicious. “Why would anyone blackmail her?” Darien considered Lelandi’s nightmares, her reluctance to discuss her past with him. It fit. When he opened his mouth to question Larissa, she had shut her eyes again. “Larissa?”
She didn’t respond and appeared to be sleeping. He growled under his breath, swore he would not tell anyone to give her any more pain medication if she needed it, and took his seat again.
Two painfully long hours later, Larissa opened her eyes, and immediately Darien launched in with his questioning, determined to get the truth out of her this time. “What about the man who accosted you outside of Hastings?”
“Gunman?”
Being evasive on purpose? Or confused again? “No, the hooded man in the copper coat.”
Instantly, her already pale face turned whiter.
“Larissa?”
She scowled. “No one.”
He clenched his fists. “If he’s from your pack and he followed you here, angered you’d be investigating this, it might be something.”
Closing her eyes, she shook her head.
“Fine, when we catch the bastard, we’ll find out all we want to know.” He paused, waiting for her to give in. When she didn’t, he started in on her again. “He broke into your room, got physical with you—”
“I…I don’t think he broke into my room.”
“How do you know?”
She didn’t respond.
“Got physical with you then.” Darien barely curbed his rage. Why did she protect the bastard?
“Little angry.”
Darien paced across the floor. “He was a little angry? I’m a little angry. Who the hell is he? And where is that damned letter? In your bag? Did you even have a bag?”
Deputy Peter knocked on the door and poked his face in. “A deputy sheriff’s here who picked up a red lupus garou matching the little lady’s description, hitchhiking. He’s from Green Valley. Want to talk to him?” Peter’s expression said there was lots more, but he didn’t want to say in front of the patient.
Darien cast Larissa a smug smile. “Yeah, I sure do.”
Silva sneaked a peek in the room, waving a bag from Chipper’s Donuts like a white flag, the aroma of glazed icing, chocolate, and pastries filling the air. Silva smiled at Lelandi. “I brought some chocolate iced donuts. Sounds like we need some cheering-up food in here.”
“Ask her who the guy was who accosted her behind Hastings before she came chasing after me at the tavern.” He smiled at Larissa when her face reddened, then stalked toward the door. “Where’s this witness at, Peter?”
“Doc’s office. He said you could question him there.”
“Good. Now maybe we’ll get some answers.” Darien left the room and headed down the hall.
“You know, sugar, you sure have him wrapped around your little finger. I’ve never seen him so out of control when he’s around you. I’d say he can’t decide whether to strangle you or kiss you.” Silva set a donut on Lelandi’s tray. “Coffee?”
Definitely he wanted to strangle her. And the feeling was mutual. “Milk?” Lelandi asked.
“Sure, darlin.’ Be right back.” Silva walked outside the room. “Want some donuts, Trevor?”
“What’s she done to rile Darien this time?” Trevor grumbled.
Jeez, couldn’t the guy ever say something nice to Silva?
“You know him when he hasn’t had enough sleep. He’s always a bear.”
When wasn’t he a bear?
Silva waved at Lelandi. “Off to get your milk.”
Lelandi took a deep breath and allowed herself a self-satisfied smile. Darien could question the deputy sheriff from Green Valley all he wanted, but she didn’t tell him a thing about herself that he could trace back to the pack.
She lifted her donut off the tray when Ritka walked in, her bruised and swollen eye back to normal—too bad.
“You’re supposed to be eating the breakfast Doc ordered for you.” She jerked the donut out of Lelandi’s hand and dumped it in the trash.
Stunned into inaction, Lelandi’s mouth gaped, and she stared at the wastepaper basket.
Ritka took her temperature. “Ninety-nine, point nine. Heard you had a break-in at your room last night. No suitcase. Just a gun—with silver bullets. But the most interesting news? That deputy sheriff who picked you up and gave you a ride here? He took your picture on his cell phone and scanned it through his database. Seems one pissed-off pack leader is looking for you and has offered a reward for your immediate return. A big reward.” Ritka sneered at her. “Guess you won’t be staying here long.”
Lelandi’s heart skipped several beats. If that bastard Crassus got hold of her, she’d have to kill him because he wasn’t beating on her again. Ever.
Ritka got into her face. “What do you think about that?” She straightened and plastered a faux sympathetic expression on her face. “You look a little pale. Don’t want to go back? Too bad. Now you can’t have Darien, bitch.”
Silva walked into the room with a glass of milk, her face scowling. “Finished with nursing business, Ritka?”
“You’re a visitor, so stuff it. I can have your butt kicked out of here just like that.” Ritka snapped her fingers.
“Larissa, you okay, honey? You don’t look too well.” Silva hurried over to the bed.
Tears rolled down Lelandi’s cheeks. She couldn’t help it. Probably was the pain medication. Maybe it was the fact she didn’t have the strength to fight or flee. This was so not like her!
“What did you say to upset Larissa?” Silva accused Ritka, her voice angry.
“Lelandi,” she sobbed. At least they could get her name right!
“You’re just a dumb barmaid who reads literary books to try to make yourself feel smarter. Probably don’t understand most of what you read. But you’re a—”
Lelandi yanked the IV out of her arm and gritted her teeth against the pain. The medication had to go. It was making her say things she was sure she shouldn’t. It was making her lethargic, dopey, and now weepy. It was keeping her in bed when she had to run. But most of all she wanted her damned chocolate donut back.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Ritka screamed, grabbing Lelandi’s arm.
Pain stabbed through Lelandi’s arm and chest. She swung her free arm and poked her fist into Ritka’s other eye, then everything faded to black.
Darien walked into Doc’s office and found Deputy Sheriff Smith, a tall, lean, uniformed man, sitting on the leather love seat, reshaping the brim of his Stetson. He quickly rose and crossed the floor to shake Darien’s hand.
He motioned for the deputy to take a seat, although Darien remained standing. “Tell me what you know.”
Smith explained how he’d run a trace on her, worried she might be in trouble. Being that she was a pretty red loner lupus garou, he was afraid someone might grab her. “Before I knew it, here comes this frantic request for any information on the missing girl. The pack leader said his name was Leidolf.”
Darien should have been pleased to hear that Leidolf was her pack leader and wanted her returned at once. So why the hell did Darien want to dismiss it as a case of mistaken identity?
“Did Deputy Peter Jorgenson tell you anything about what’s going on here with Larissa?”
Smith bowed his head once. “I understand one of her own people, or one of yours, might have shot the woman. The assistant mayor of Green Valley, Chester McKinley, was here at the time of the shootings and being that he is also a licensed P.I. and concerned for the lady’s welfare, he asked I keep this just between you and me. By the way, the name the leader gave for her was Lelandi.”
Darien’s stomach clenched into knots, and he looked at the floor as the feelings of desolation swamped him again. “He doesn’t know she’s dead.”
“Apparently not. But I didn’t find a similar request for a
girl who looked identical to her. Probably misplaced.”
“Where’s he from?”
“Portland, Oregon.”
In astonishment, Darien raised his brows. Why in the world had the two women come all the way to Colorado?
“Surprised me, too. I got the impression she was a local girl. I was trying to find out where she was from and started mentioning some of the wildflowers native to Colorado. She offered me the names of others she’d seen. I asked if she was from down South, but she said, ‘No, Denver.’ So when I got the notice some guy in Oregon is claiming she’s missing from his pack, I was pretty darned surprised. What do you want me to do?”
“Sit on it. I need to find out what’s going on before she goes home.” Darien couldn’t believe he said it. But something didn’t ring true about this Leidolf character. And Darien wasn’t letting her out of his sight until he found the shooter. “If you hear anything more, let me know.”
“Sure will.” The deputy gave him a sly smile. “I wouldn’t let her go either, if I were in your shoes.”
Darien let the comment slide, figuring the deputy didn’t know the situation well enough to understand. As soon as Smith left, Darien called Peter in. “I know how difficult it is to locate packs or anything about them as secretive as we need to be, but I’ve got a lead. See if you can find a Leidolf out of Portland, Oregon. I want to know everything about him and his pack.”
“Yes, sir, will do.”
Intent on learning what Doc needed to speak to him about, Darien headed to the lounge where three of his cousins were talking to the doctor. As soon as his cousins spied him, everyone stopped speaking.
“Every time I walk into a room it gets awfully damned quiet. Someone planning a hostile takeover?” Darien only half-joked. If enough of his members got fed up with his leadership, one of the bolder males might just feel the need to end his role.
