“She’s not right. She owes me.”
A low growl ripped through the night. Both men whirled toward the sound with their rifles raised. Sue caught a glimpse of man jumping through the air. Gunfire ripped the silence of the night.
Elias cleared the porch railing and landed in front of her on his haunches. He reached out and grabbed the barrel of Connor’s rifle and ripped it out of his hands. He flipped it around and aimed it at the man. “Don’t move. I’m in a killing mood right now.”
His words unfroze her feet. “Ohmygod. Elias, you’ve been shot.” Blood seeped from a wound on his arm. She moved closer, unable to see if that was his only injury.
“Stay back, Sue.” He unloaded the weapon and then tossed it aside. In a show of strength, he wrapped his hand around Connor’s throat and lifted him right off his feet, leaving them to dangle in the air. If Elias didn’t release him, Connor would choke to death.
“Elias.” Sue went to him and pulled at his arm. “You have to let him go.”
“He hurt you. I couldn’t get here in time to stop him.” There was a note in Elias’s voice that warned her that he was more than capable of killing Connor if she didn’t stop him.
“You’re here now.” She had to calm him down before he did something he’d regret. “You don’t want to do this. Think of Sage.”
“Drop him,” someone shouted. Sue had forgotten all about Angus. He had his rifle aimed at Elias.
Elias started to tighten his grip, but Sue wasn’t about to let him kill a man in anger. “Please. Let him go.”
Elias tossed Connor down the steps. The man rolled around on the ground, coughing and sputtering.
“Get out of here before I change my mind.”
Angus grabbed his brother’s arm, dragged him to his feet and hauled him into the woods. Sue’s head was spinning. She felt lightheaded and her knees were weak. She shook herself and focused on Elias. “Come inside. You’re hurt.” She pushed him toward the door. “I should call an ambulance. And the sheriff.”
“No. I’m not hurt that badly.” He went into the kitchen, and she closed and locked the door behind her.
She’d be the judge of just how badly injured he was. He’d been shot. She turned on the light and almost fainted. Blood covered his left arm and the left side of his abdomen around his waist.
She yanked open a kitchen drawer and pulled out every clean tea towel she had. The injury on his abdomen looked to be the most serious. She dumped the towels on the table and grabbed two to press against the wound.
“You need to go to the doctor.” They didn’t have a medical clinic in town, but either one of the two town doctors would be able to help him. “I’ll call Doc Jones.” The doctor knew her well and would probably come out to the house if she asked.
Elias covered her hand with his. He’d held Connor McLennan aloft with that one hand. She’d known Elias was strong, but that had been an incredible feat of strength. Connor was six feet tall and weighed at least one-eighty.
“I’m fine, Sue. You should sit down. You’re shaking.”
It was only when he mentioned it she noticed her entire body was trembling. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head and pushed her into a kitchen chair. “It’s the adrenaline. You’re not used to violence.”
“And you are?” She hated the weakness permeating her body but couldn’t seem to stop shaking.
He brushed her hair out of her eyes. “More than you are.” He crouched down in front of her. “Breathe.”
“Are you out of your mind?” She grabbed another towel and pressed it against his arm. “You’re bleeding.”
“Not for long.” He gently moved her hand away from his arm. He grunted and his mouth tightened. Those were the only indications he gave that he was hurt in any way. As she watched, something protruded from the arm wound. He caught it before it hit the floor.
“What’s that?” She blinked, sure she must be seeing things.
“Bullet.” He dropped the piece of metal on the table. Elias stood and motioned to the wound on his lower abdomen. “That one only grazed me.”
“I don’t understand.” The bleeding was slowing. Were the wounds smaller? One minute ago, she’d been certain he’d need stitches, if not surgery. Now he looked as though a couple of butterfly bandages would handle the problem.
“I know you don’t.” He used one of the towels to swipe at the blood.
Sue jumped out of her chair. “I’ll get the first aid kit.”
Elias caught her before she could leave the room. “There’s another way for me to speed up my healing.”
“I don’t understand.” She was beginning to feel like a parrot, but she really didn’t understand any of this. It seemed like a bad dream that Connor had turned up at her home and threatened and attacked her. All he’d had to do was stop trespassing and shooting at family pets and everything would have gone back to normal. Instead, he’d come out here with intent to do her harm. Then there was Elias. He’d come out of nowhere like an avenging angel to protect her. And he’d been shot. Why wasn’t he passed out due to pain and blood loss? Nothing about this night made sense.
“You wanted to know my secret.” He rubbed his thumb over her cheek. “You deserve to know it. You were hurt because of it.”
Suddenly, Sue didn’t want to know. Whatever it was, she knew it would change her life forever. She shook her head. “No.”
Hurt flashed in his eyes, followed by resignation. “Okay. You better get the kit then.”
She bit her bottom lip and then winced at the pain that exploded on the side of her face. She’d forgotten the minor injury in her concern about Elias’s gunshot wounds. “You say you can heal yourself faster?” That was counter to everything she knew and believed. Were the people living at the compound where Elias was staying part of some strange cult? It was the only reasonable explanation she could come up with.
Leave it to her to fall for a man who was part of a wacky cult. Because her life was already so easy as it was.
Elias nodded. “Only if you’re ready to know my secret. I trust you.” He took a step away from her. “I’m trusting you with Sage and Reece too.” Elias kicked off his sneakers and unzipped his jeans.
It was hard to concentrate with him stripping in front of her. Maybe he was removing his clothes so she could treat his wounds more easily. “What do they have to do with this?”
“Everything.” He tossed his jeans aside and took a deep breath. He looked way too alert and strong for a man with two gunshot wounds.
The air around Elias seemed to shimmer and snap with energy. He bent at the waist and his bones began to crack. Sue slapped her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. Her back hit the wall and she slowly slid down to the floor, her legs unable to hold her upright any longer.
Fur pushed out from beneath his skin. His jaw elongated and his head flattened. His ears grew until they were standing upright on either side of his head. He was totally changed. Elias was no longer here. In his place was a massive brown wolf staring at her. She recognized the eyes. They were the same ones she’d gazed into while Elias made love to her. This really was Elias.
“I have to sit down,” she muttered. Too bad her ass was already on the floor. Sue felt as though she was freefalling with nowhere to land.
Elias took a step toward her and lowered his head. She reached a trembling hand out to touch him.
“Doggy.” Billy stumbled into the room, his eyes wide open, his hair tousled.
Sue jumped to her feet and grabbed her son before he could touch Elias. Her first instinct was to protect her son but, the truth was, she trusted Elias.
“He’s been hurt.” Her son’s eyes widened at the sight of all the blood. “Go and get me the first aid kit from the bathroom,” she told him.
“Will he be okay?” Tears welled in her son’s eyes.
<
br /> She gave him a comforting hug. “He’ll be fine. We’ll fix him up.”
“Can we keep him?” Billy asked.
Elias went completely still. She could sense the tension rolling off him, see it in the bunching of his muscles.
“We’ll see. Now go.” When Billy scampered off to do her bidding, she gave Elias all her attention. “I have no idea what I’m going to do.”
Elias wanted to curse Billy’s timing. Still, it could have been worse. He could have heard the shooting and come out onto the porch. It was bad enough that Sue had been in danger. If Billy had been there too, nothing would have been able to stop him from killing both men to protect them. Whether they accepted it or not, they were part of his family, his to protect.
Billy came running back to the kitchen with a white box in his hands. “Here, Mom.”
“Thanks, buddy.” She took the box and set it on the table. “You need to put on a pair of pajamas.”
Elias noted the boy was wearing only his underwear.
“Go on,” she told him. “The doggy will be here when you get back.”
Elias winced but sucked it up. She could call him whatever she wanted as long as he could stay with her.
Sue filled a large plastic bowl with water and brought it back to the table. She dipped one of the tea towels into it, squeezed out the excess water and began cleaning the dried blood from his fur. Both wounds were still oozing blood but weren’t too bad. Rest and food would have him back on his feet in no time.
Once she was finished cleaning and disinfecting both wounds, she spread antibacterial ointment over them and covered them. Her hands were gentle, her concentration absolute. He could have told her she was wasting her time but he figured this was something she needed to do. Plus, he liked the attention and fussing.
When she heard her son returning, she kicked his discarded jeans and sneakers into a corner by the back door. They weren’t exactly hidden, but Billy probably wouldn’t notice.
Billy hurried back in wearing a lightweight pair of superhero pajamas. He clutched a small teddy bear in his arms. He stopped a few feet away and watched his mother apply several bandages. “What happened?”
Sue gathered the bloody towels and dumped them in the garbage. “He had an accident, honey. In the woods. He’ll be fine.”
The less Billy knew about the situation, the better off. He was only a kid.
Sue dumped the dirty water and put the bowl in the sink to soak. Then she scrubbed her hands clean. She dried her hands on a fresh towel, repacked the first aid kit and set it aside. Elias watched her, amazed by her composure. Or maybe she was in shock.
Billy sidled closer and put one small finger on the bandage on Elias’s shoulder. Sue crouched next to her son and gently removed his hand. “You can’t poke at his injury. It might hurt him.”
Billy nodded and then turned to his mother. He patted her cheek and frowned. “You’re hurt.” His voice wobbled and his lower lip quivered.
“I’m fine. I just accidentally hit my face on the door. I was in such a hurry to get inside.” Elias knew she hated lying, but he was too young to understand the truth.
Sue picked up her son and held him in her arms while she opened the freezer and pulled out a bag of peas. She sat Billy on the counter long enough to wrap the peas in the last clean tea towel. She pressed the makeshift cold pack against her cheek.
Billy kicked his feet against the bottom cupboards. She tousled his hair with her free hand. “You never wake up at night, buddy. What happened?”
He rubbed his stomach. “Hungry.”
“You never did have any supper. I figured the snack Mrs. Beecham gave you and the cake you had would keep you filled until tomorrow morning.” She poked his belly, making him giggle. “How about some cheese and crackers.”
When Billy nodded, Sue set about getting his meal for him. The cold pack was quickly forgotten on the counter.
Elias lay on the floor watching the two of them interact. He tried not to notice how the light reflected through the thin fabric of her gown or the way her breasts swayed when she moved. He really did try, but he was hurt, not dead.
Her hair tumbled around her slender shoulders. She was so strong, so brave.
He’d never forget the sound of flesh meeting flesh as she was smacked or her gasp of pain. When he smelled the other men near her, he’d almost lost him mind. It had taken everything in him not to shift. He’d still used his preternatural strength to leap across the yard and land in front of her.
He hadn’t been there to stop her from being hurt, but he’d protect her with his life.
He closed his eyes and listened to mother and son talk, soothed by the sound. His last coherent thought was that Sue was one hell of a woman and she was all his.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sue sat at her kitchen table and nursed a cup of coffee as she watched the sky lighten over the mountains in the distance. It wasn’t quite dawn yet. Billy was tucked back in bed and Elias was still sleeping on her floor. That seemed wrong somehow, but there was nothing she could do about it.
As tired as she was, there was no way she could sleep. Not with all the thoughts running around in her mind. There was a huge wolf curled up on her floor. One that could also turn into a man. If she hadn’t seen it with her own two eyes, she never would have believed it.
A werewolf. Only this wasn’t a movie or one of the occasional romance novels she borrowed from the library. They weren’t characters. They were real people. This was Elias.
She sensed someone watching her and knew he was awake before she turned away from the window. Sure enough, the wolf was staring up at her through very familiar eyes.
“How do you feel?” She was quite proud of how level her voice was. The shaking had finally stopped after she’d put Billy back to bed. She definitely hadn’t needed the caffeine. She was jittery enough as it was.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this exhausted. Maybe after giving birth to Billy, but that would be about it. Even a double shift at the diner didn’t leave her feeling this wrung out.
Elias pushed to his feet. God, he was huge. Much larger than she’d imagined a wolf to be. He was larger than Reece. Sue stilled as a wild thought occurred to her. “Is Reece like you?” Was the animal really a man? She remembered his almost human-like intelligence. Now it made a strange kind of sense.
Elias continued to look at her and his body seemed to shimmer around him. Her hands clamped down hard on her mug as he began to change. Fur receded and his limbs once again cracked and reformed. His jaw shortened and his familiar features emerged. Her heart raced and her breathing quickened. She’d seen him change into a wolf last night but she’d been tired and scared. Now she was calmer. Still scared but more aware of what was actually happening.
And what he was doing was incredible. When he was done, a naked man stood in her kitchen.
Elias calmly peeled away the gauze and padding she’d wrapped around both gunshot wounds. Both injuries looked as though they were days old, maybe weeks. There were scars but they were faint. He walked to the garbage can and dropped the bloody bandages in the trash.
Sue set her mug down on the table. Better safe than sorry. She was feeling none too steady again. Part of it was exhaustion and the other was the rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins. “It’s true. You’re a werewolf.” It felt stupid to say it out loud, but that didn’t stop it from being true.
“I am.” His deep voice sank into her bones, comforting her. This was the man she’d made love with, the same man who’d given up his former life to care for his nephews.
“Sage really is your nephew? He’s like you?”
Elias raked his fingers through his hair. “Yeah. Listen, I need a shower before we get into this.”
“Of course.” She pushed away from the table and led him to the bathroom. “You
know where everything is.”
Elias leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers. “Go climb in bed and wait for me. You’re exhausted.”
Her body quivered at his suggestion. Just being around him aroused her. That hadn’t changed one bit, not even knowing what he was. “All right.” She turned and walked away, leaving him to clean up. She’d showered after she’d put Billy back to bed last night. She’d needed to wash away the sweat, blood and fear. It had also given her something to do while Elias had slept.
Her bed beckoned and she crawled into it, pulling a single sheet over her. It was too hot for anything more. She had so many questions she wanted to ask Elias. Maybe she shouldn’t be handling this situation quite so well, but she was too darn tired to scream and shout about it. She sighed and stared out the window. When the water came on, she tried her best not to imagine Elias standing beneath the spray, all soapy and wet.
She moaned and wrapped her arms around herself. It was easy to picture thick lather sliding over his broad chest and muscled abs. God, she had it bad. She forced herself to think of other things like work and bills and her ex. Anything to take her mind off what Elias was currently doing.
Elias wasted no time soaping his body from head to toe. The quicker he could finish and get back to Sue the better. In spite of being shot last night, he felt great. Starving and a little tired, but all things considered, it could have been much worse.
It would take more than a few bullets to bring down a full-blooded werewolf unless one of them got lucky and hit him straight in the heart or the brain. Werewolves were extremely hard to kill and it took something drastic to bring them down.
His erection was a sure sign he was back to normal. The darn thing was wide awake and ready to go. Elias didn’t think Sue would appreciate his dick poking at her this early in the morning, not after everything she’d been through.
Swearing under his breath, he grabbed his shaft in his hand and pumped. Protecting her last night and then having her tend to him had brought out all his primitive instincts. He wanted to mark her as his own, claim her so other male werewolves would know who she belonged to.
Wolf on a Mission: Salvation Pack, Book 6 Page 21
