“It was Luc! She jumped out at me.” They found Hope several yards into the thicket. Jolie gathered her into her arms, sniffing her tenderly to make sure she was unhurt. “She came up on my blindside. I didn’t see her until the last minute and then she just vanished.” Hope was part apologizing and part fighting back tears.
Around them, the forest seethed as the Garouls on this side of the riverbank moved in on the fracas.
“I’m all right,” Hope reassured them. She grasped Emily’s hand. “Look at you. You’re as white as a sheet.”
“We thought you’d been hurt—” Emily’s sentence was never finished. From the boughs above, Luc reached down yanking her off her feet and up into the tree in a split second. Emily screamed in fright. She was tossed over Luc’s wide shoulder and the world spun crazily. Branches, leaves, sky, and then the ground below whirled around her. She saw the shocked gaze of Hope looking up at her; she heard Jolie bellowing, and the distant howls of the other Garouls. Luc had her in the trees, and everyone else was all over the place on the ground, running toward screams, running toward broken RV windows, running in circles. Luc had won. Luc had stolen her, and Emily knew she was lost.
*
Jolie couldn’t believe it. One moment, Emily had been standing right in front of her, the next, she took off skyward like a rocket.
“Go get her.” Hope was poking her in the back, herding her toward the tree. Jolie bellowed with anger and annoyance. She hated trees! Now she had to climb another freakin’ one because Luc Garoul would not play fair. Jolie was outraged. Nevertheless, she succumbed to Hope’s prodding and began to lurch up the tree trunk, grabbing for handholds and praying the damned tree could take her weight. Luc may be part ape, but she was also a lighter build than Jolie, and when Jolie got her claws on her, there’d be a whole lot less.
Through the branches she could see Emily fighting. Luc had her over her shoulder and that was a mistake. It left Emily’s hands and arms free, and she was making good use of them by clinging on to everything within reach and slowing Luc down. Unless Luc wanted to hurt her, there was no way she was going anywhere fast. Luc would learn soon enough that human mates were the most frustrating, obstinate creatures on the planet. They never made things easy.
Jolie’s ears twitched as she judged her advantage. If she could just make up these last few yards, she’d be on top of Luc before she knew it. Hopefully, Emily would see her coming and manage not to get in the way.
She was close enough to see Luc snarl in frustration and give Emily a nip on the buttock to still her. Big mistake there, buster. Emily yelled in outrage and flew into an even greater fury. She began to pull on Luc’s ears, twisting them viciously. Luc howled in protest and almost let Emily go. Emily slipped off Luc’s shoulder to the side and tried to lever herself further away using all her body weight. Luc paused to push her back into position, so distracted with her squirming captive she did not see Jolie leap.
Luc took the full force square on her back. The thump knocked the air out of her and Emily jarred free. Jolie grabbed her by the arm and shoved her toward the lower branches and safety as she and Luc began to kick out at each other. Luc roared at the loss of her mate and swung a vicious roundhouse at Jolie that caught her on the left temple. Her vision blurred in that eye and Luc delivered another series of blows to her blindside, sensing the weakness.
Luc was smaller, but she was fast. Jolie lashed out with her left claw. She was hanging on to the tree like grim death with her right. Several swipes missed Luc completely, and Jolie was becoming desperate Luc would slip away from her. Below, she could hear Marie and Ren arriving and hoped they could get up here quick. She was unsure how long she could stand and swap blows. Luc was merciless on attacking her left side and her kidney was already hurting.
To handicap her more, she was wobbling all over the place, her head swimming from the blow and from an all-invasive rush of vertigo she could not ignore. If Luc decided to turn tail and run, Jolie knew she couldn’t go after her. She gave up on punching back and let loose with a swift kick to Luc’s knee. It was a good strategy; it took the leg out from under Luc. She lost her footing and fell face-first onto the bough she was perched on. Jolie heard the crack of her face hitting the wood and without hesitation stomped hard on Luc’s shoulder, rolling her out of the tree.
*
The pain shooting through Luc’s face was all-encompassing. Time became disjointed and she wondered if she’d passed out for a second. And then another vicious kick had her crashing through the tree boughs to the ground below. Everything was cedar scented. She had splintered half the tree to pieces in her fall and the sharp scent exploded into the night air. Several Garouls surrounded her and moved as if to help. She struggled to her feet, roaring, slashing wildly at the air, spittle foaming on her muzzle. They pulled back and gave her room to vent.
Behind them, she saw Marie watching her with calm, calculating eyes, beside her stood Emily, and Luc faltered. Her gaze flickered from one to the other. She had lost Emily. What would Marie do next, have her killed? Surely she would not kill Emily for knowing their secret?
“Luc, nobody wants to hurt you.” Emily took a hesitant step forward. Luc snorted. It wasn’t Emily’s snout that had just been stomped on, or Emily’s ears that had been practically ripped off her head.
“Sweetheart,” Emily continued to entreaty, and Luc’s sore ears twitched at the unaccustomed endearment. Luc heard her heart thump. Her muscles ached so much they felt as if they were sliding off her bones. Her hearing was fuzzy, her sight blurred. She was exhausted. The madness of the past few hours had spun out. Her moon goddess had abandoned her under a dark and cloud filled sky without even a star to guide her. Luc’s ear’s drooped. She had lost her mate. Life could not get any worse.
“Mom!” Mouse appeared at the edge of the crowd, pushing her way through, the stupid dog at her feet. Luc whined in despair.
“Taddy wanted to see why Aunt Hope wanted his collar,” Mouse explained her misdemeanor to anyone who would listen. She looked at Luc with such pride and delight that Luc was certain she heard her own heart break. It cracked like an egg. A huge splintering sound…followed by a bellow? Luc looked up in time to see Jolie Garoul fall on her.
And then there was nothing but Emily, her sweet, warm scent suffusing everything. Her cool hands soothing her. It had to be a dream. But it wasn’t, and then her muscles began to cramp and reshape, and her skin bubbled and boiled over her useless, broken, human bones.
Luc could hear Marie talking, though the pain in her head made her sound tinny and toy-like. “…too weak to stay in wolven form. Turning back to human is her body’s way of conserving energy.” And her fur retreated, leaving her naked and shivering with cold and prickled by the forest floor.
“But she’ll be okay?” Emily asked. Luc’s eyes opened on hearing her voice. She was crouching next to her, gazing at her anxiously, stroking her bruised and swollen hand.
“Look, she’s conscious already,” Marie said. “Werewolves are strong, Emily.”
“Luc?” Emily leaned in close to her. “Luc, there’s something I have to do. Stay still a moment, sweetheart, please?” She picked up a dog collar and Luc stiffened.
“I’m NOT wearing that.”
Emily tsked. “It’s the key for the collar, idiot. Keep still.”
But Marie stilled her hand. “There’s not as much urgency now,” she said. “Why don’t we get your almanac and see what it says about using the key?”
Emily nodded. “Ren?” she called, and Luc’s sister came into the periphery of her blurred vision. She peered down at Luc, as if she wanted to peel everybody away and examine her for herself. Damn vet. Luc would never forgive her for siding with the Garouls, two-faced, underhanded, smart-assed…twin.
“…you’ll see the stash in a net hanging from the cottonwood. The almanac is in an oilskin wrapper,” Emily was giving Ren directions to collect the stupid book that started all this mess in the first place. Luc was be
coming crankier by the minute. Why couldn’t they all fuck off and leave her alone?
“Hey, Ren,” she called after her sister. Ren came back at once, her face full of concern. “If you find a ham sandwich, eat it.”
“This is all nonsense,” Emily said. “If I put the collar on you, I can take it off.” With a twist of the key, the collar split open and slid from Luc’s neck.
“That thing weighs a ton,” she groused and laid her head on the ground, exhausted. She sniffed. She sniffed again. And then she coughed, a big, wet, guttural hacking cough that made her shoulders heave.
“Looks like the virus is still present,” Marie said. “Interesting that the collar suppressed it. Now we’ll have samples for the lab.”
“So glad to help,” Luc growled. She grappled weakly at the collar lying at her side. “Put it on,” she said between coughs. Emily removed it from her hands.
“No. Marie has medicines.” She brushed the hair back from Luc’s damp brow. “You’re home now, and you’re safe. And I think it’s time you allowed your pack to look after you.”
Chapter Thirty-one
Luc was sitting up in bed, her leg cast resting on a pillow. Mouse played with a jigsaw on the floor, hammering pieces that could not possibly fit into place with her fist.
Emily frowned at Mouse’s banging, her concern deepening when she saw the tiredness in Luc’s eyes.
“Here,” she said, “I thought you’d prefer this to more grapes.” She handed over the paper bag she was carrying.
“I ate the fruit you brought yesterday, didn’t I?” Luc pulled out the dead mouse by its tail. “Gee, thanks.”
“I’m getting criticism from a woman who leaves dead squirrels in my bed?” Emily laughed.
“Cool.” Mouse stopped banging and came over to look. “Did you kill it?” she asked.
“No.” Emily shook her head. “I found it out front, stone-cold dead. Why don’t you go see if you can catch some live ones?” Mouse took the dead rodent with eager fingers and ran for the door.
“Catch an army of them,” Luc shouted after her. “And make sure you take them to your Aunt Marie’s cabin and set ’em all loose.”
“Is Marie still torturing you?” Emily settled on the side of the bed and brushed the dark strands of hair away from Luc’s face. Her eyes were still puffy and discolored, and her nose was swollen under its bandage.
“That woman has filled every orifice with any old muck she can lay her hands on. And then she gives me injections to make even more holes.”
“You’re such a wonderful patient. I bet she loves working with you.” Emily couldn’t keep the smile from her face.
“I’m a lab rat. I bet if you left that critter you found on this pillow instead of me she would barely notice.”
“Except it was a dormouse and they’re quiet, timid creatures.” Emily’s fingers had now begun a light massage of Luc’s tense neck and shoulders. “But you’re feeling better?”
“Oh yeah. I’m healing so fast this cast can come off by Friday. Jolie has to wait another week to get hers off.” This seemed to cheer Luc up. “And the gloop in my lungs is nearly gone. Marie thinks the silver did its job.”
“It did,” Emily said. “Your relapse was slight. Most likely the shock to your system when the collar came away.” She was currently assisting Marie. It was impressive to see the working lab Marie kept in the valley. She had not neglected her studies when she became Alpha. If anything, it gave her more resources to pour into her research. She knew Marie enjoyed her company in the lab. They had many overlapping areas of interest.
“You smell different,” Luc announced. “Sweeter.”
“I’m not taking the Lexotanil anymore. Marie gave me an herbal remedy for when I feel an attack coming on. But I haven’t really needed it these past few days.” Which surprised her. This week had been fraught with worry over Luc’s health, and massive upheaval in her own life, a perfect time for a panic attack.
“Oh?” Luc said. “What hole does she shove it in?” Underneath the general grumpiness, she sounded pleased at this news.
“You are so bitter,” Emily said. “I never noticed before as you were so busy being insane. She gave me a tea. I have the luxury of drinking my medicine along with a nice cookie. No injections for me.”
Luc’s head nodded sleepily. “And you’re massaging me,” she said.
“So? I like massaging you.”
“What’s up? People are only nice when they want something,” Luc said.
“People are nice when other people deserve it.”
“Do you have another injection hidden down there?” Luc indicated Emily’s pockets.
“No, silly. But let’s talk.” Emily pushed further onto the bed until they sat hip to hip. “Marie has asked if I can stick around awhile and help her out with this research. It doesn’t stop because you have no more gloop to give. Ren’s pack is arriving from Singing Valley soon and some of them are in a bad way.”
“What’s that got to do with me?” Luc asked a little sulkily, and began plucking at her bedclothes.
“You know Ren’s pack.” Emily saw she’d have to spell this out. “You taught them how to hunt and to survive?”
No answer.
Emily pushed on. “Ren says you turned most of them yourself. They were runaway kids and you thought you could give them a new start?” Emily wasn’t so sure about the ethics of this, and Ren assured her that she and Luc had many fur-flying arguments over it. But she was not here to drag up old fights. She was trying to forge a new way forward for the two of them.
“It’s not called Lonesome Lake for nothing,” Luc grudgingly answered. “Those kids were destitute when I found them.”
But Emily did not need Luc to qualify what she had done.
“Those same kids trust you and they’ll need your help settling in here,” she said.
“They’ll have Ren and Isabelle.” Emily could sense Luc grubbing around in her head, putting up imaginary barriers.
“Ren is busy in the lab. And Isabelle is new to this, too.” Emily was losing patience. “Will you do it?” she said. “Stay here?”
No answer.
“With me?” Emily asked.
“With you?” Luc looked at her; her bruised, blackened eyes were guarded.
“I’m trying to be nice here,” Emily said, “but now you’ve gone and made me pull rank. I claimed you, Luc Garoul. Everyone knows it. I claimed you first so I’m the boss.”
“What!” Luc all but squawked.
“You can’t deny it. I made the collar; I made the first claim in the RV. I’ve been talking to Ren about it, and I have it on the utmost authority that I’m the boss of you.”
“What does that big blowhard know about anything? If Isabelle hadn’t come along, she’d never have found her love teeth. She’s clueless!”
“She’s been very kind and helpful to me. She knows a lot about everything,” Emily said.
Luc snorted at this.
“It’s all in the almanacs,” Emily continued. “But there probably weren’t enough pictures for you to bother reading about it.”
Luc blinked at her, for once keeping quiet at the appropriate moment.
“Luc, will you help those kids?” Emily asked again, the answer was important to her.
“Course I will. Someone has to warn them about Marie and her orifice fixation.”
Emily suspected she was being played with, so she moved straight to the heart of her argument.
“Luc, I’m moving back to Lost Creek to help Uncle Norm with the shop. He needs me around. This visit showed me that. He’s been an anchor to me all my life and now it’s my turn to look after him. And on my days off, I’ll be helping Marie in the lab. It’s a done deal,” Emily said. “I just need to know where you’ll be.”
“I’ll be in the county jail doing time for sororicide. How dare she say you made the first claim?” Luc found her voice. Her cranky one. “You didn’t even know what you were doing. It was jus
t a lucky chomp.”
“Luc. I want to be with you, but I need to be here. Will you help me out? Will you stay here with me?” Emily asked.
“I’m going nowhere without you. But you’re not the boss. It was just a lucky chomp,” Luc said. “Now rub lower, more to the right.”
“You were going to stay all along, weren’t you?” The truth dawned on Emily. Luc’s sly smile corroborated it. “When did you decide that? When were you going to tell me?” Emily demanded. “I’ve been working up to this all week.”
“I was talking to Marie. We do speak when she’s digging holes in me with a needle. She wants me to be with Mouse. Seems Mouse wants that, too.” She smiled shyly, looking very pleased, as if this was something she had never expected for herself. Emily squeezed her hand, delighted for her.
“But…” Luc’s voice trailed off and she shot Emily a sideways glance. “But we agreed that Mouse needs a proper family den. When I left her with Ren, her pack was a lot older than Mouse. It was more of a community than a real family. Ren did her best, but Mouse missed out on a lot of things.”
“I think it’s wonderful news,” Emily said.
“Wonderful enough to want to be part of it?”
“It’s more than I’d hoped for.” Her lips grazed the bruises along Luc’s jawline. “Seems Marie has set us both up.”
Luc turned her head and captured Emily’s lips. “We never kiss enough,” she murmured.
“Then we’ll start to,” Emily whispered. “We’ve got to start all over again, this time with no silver coming between us.” She broke the kiss. “Luc? Tell me about Mouse’s father?” She held Luc’s dark gaze trying to surmise if she had crossed a line. Luc stiffened then relaxed against her, and Emily realized they were sitting in that close way she had noticed all the other Garoul couples doing and she had secretly been envious of.
Silver Collar Page 21
