by Tasha Black
With that she whisked Julian into the room. Grace caught one last glimpse of his panicked face as he disappeared.
Ainsley looked at Grace and shrugged.
Shit.
Julian couldn’t handle himself in there, Grace was kidding herself if she thought he could. She parked Sadie carefully next to the door and headed into the room, Ainsley trailing close behind.
Inside, the screen for the patient in the hall-side bed was flat-lining. A large woman in a pink hospital gown was reclined on the bed, eyes closed.
“It’s going to be fine,” Julian was saying to the roommate. His hands were on the prone woman’s chest and he was compressing lightly.
Grace was ready to throw in the towel and dash back to the nurse’s station to get a professional when the monitor lit up and the regular blip of a heartbeat reappeared on the screen.
“See? No muss, no fuss?” Julian said to the awestruck roommate. He turned on his heel and strode out of the room with Grace and Ainsley following like ducklings.
Grace was floored.
Magic could do many things, but it couldn’t bring back a life, or start a heart that was stopped. If that were the case no witch would ever die. Julian must be very powerful to have performed such magic.
“How did you do that?” Ainsley half-whispered.
“Oh, her oximeter fell off,” Julian explained. “You know, the thingee on her finger that tracks her heart rate? Happens all the time. I slipped it back on between fake compressions.”
Oh. Smart.
“Are you a real nurse?” Ainsley asked.
“No, no, but I assisted in a hospital many years ago. I’ll tell you about it some other time.”
Grace suddenly took in the empty hallway they were standing in.
The completely empty hallway.
Oh no. Oh god, no.
“Uh, guys,” Grace said, her heart in her mouth. “Guys?”
They turned to her.
“Where’s Sadie?”
The trio looked up and down the corridor, but the gurney was nowhere to be found. A grinning skeleton decoration on the door across the hall mocked them.
Ainsley lifted her nose toward the ceiling, then took off toward the elevator at a run. Grace followed, Julian’s footsteps just behind hers. They rounded the corner to the elevators and came face to face with a male nurse, pushing their gurney.
“Hey, whoa,” the nurse said. “You guys looked like you had your hands full back there, so I thought I’d do you a favor and take this one down to the morgue.”
“Thanks.” Grace grabbed the gurney from him. “But we’ve got it.”
“No skin off my back.” The nurse shrugged. “I’m headed down there anyway, but suit yourself.”
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Geriatric Rehab was on the top floor of the hospital, putting them ten stories up.
The elevator was one of the few luxury additions to the sensible 1950’s building. It’s all glass exterior walls gave a spectacular view of Springton Falls. After all the stark lighting and antiseptic tile floors, Grace found the peaceful glimpse of nature soothing.
The nurse squeezed onto the elevator with them and pushed the B button for the Basement. Perfect, but they would have to find a way to ditch him before they snuck out the back door of the morgue.
That shouldn’t be a problem.
Behind Grace, Ainsley sucked in a breath, hard. With so many riders plus the gurney on the elevator, she was pinned against the glass wall of the elevator. Outside, the clouds parted slightly, revealing a sliver of the full moon.
Crap.
Ainsley moaned a little and curled her body away from the glass.
“Are you okay?” the nurse asked.
“Lady troubles,” Grace interjected quickly.
“Oh, er...” the nurse replied.
Thank goodness those two words could shut down any man, even a medical professional. They only needed to make it down ten floors. Ainsley could do this.
A ding announced that the elevator would be making another stop on the 8th floor. Ainsley drew in a slow breath that Grace was sure was meant to be calming. It actually sounded kind of like air being let out of a tire.
Some of that meditation Julian was always pushing would have been a great idea right then.
The doors slid open and a doctor with a neatly trimmed salt and pepper beard entered. He leaned across the gurney and pressed 3.
“Some night,” he said by way of greeting. “Just delivered an eleven-pounder.”
Grace nodded with eyebrows slightly raised to indicate her respect for the gargantuan baby he had brought into the world, then returned her gaze to the view from the elevator. Ainsley breathed slowly, while Julian kneaded her pinky between his thumb and forefinger just below the level of the gurney, so no one could see it but Grace.
A sudden flame of jealousy licked at Grace. She pushed it aside in frustration. Ainsley loved Erik. And Grace did not love Julian.
Just then, the clouds parted to reveal half of the harvest moon. It was so large it seemed to pulse, its radiance bleeding out to color the sky.
Ainsley’s legs buckled and Julian caught her deftly in his arms. She made a sound that was half cry, half growl.
“Good god,” the doctor said.
“Lady troubles,” the nurse replied.
“Cafeteria food,” Julian said at the same time.
“We think it’s a little of each,” Grace laughed awkwardly.
“Yeah, that would do it,” the doctor said, shaking his head. “Poor kid.”
The ding of the elevator told them they were on the third floor.
“Feel better,” the doctor said as he stepped off.
Just as the doors were sliding shut again, a hand shot between them.
“Hold it for me!” a deep voice said.
Grace took a deep breath and tried not to panic. She knew who it was by the voice. She had worked with him many times.
The doors opened and Dr. Adam Wilson, the lead coroner, stepped on.
“Adam, hey!” She greeted him in her best impression of a relaxed voice as the doors slid closed once more.
A quick glance told her that Ainsley was barely holding it together. Julian had released his hold on her. She was staring blankly into the interior wall of the elevator and trembling lightly. She would be no help to Grace in getting out of this mess.
“I see you have something for me,” Adam joked. His tanned cheeks dimpled and he took a sip from his styrofoam coffee cup.
Grace glanced down at the gurney.
No. No, no, no, no, no.
Near the bottom end of the gurney, a furry gray tail peeked out.
“How are you?” Grace chirped, trying to keep his attention on herself and off the gurney. “Are you getting any time off for the holidays this year?”
Adam looked pleased to be asked such a personal question. Grace usually kept things very professional with him. He was known to be a bit of a ladies’ man and she didn’t want him getting the wrong impression.
Oh well.
“I’ve got a bit of time off here and there. What are your plans?” he asked with a wolfish grin.
The elevator brightened as the clouds revealed the rest of the moon.
Ainsley moaned loudly, causing the coroner to look away from Grace.
Time slowed to a crawl. Grace’s heart constricted as she prepared for him to see the tail and rip the sheet off the gurney.
She could kiss any hope of ever becoming sheriff goodbye.
Julian reached out his hand and jostled Adam’s coffee cup.
The steaming black liquid splashed all over the coroner’s white lab coat. Adam cursed and tried to wipe it off himself.
“What’s going on?” the nurse asked.
Grace almost jumped out of her skin, she had nearly forgotten he was still standing beside her.
“Oh, wow, sorry, man,” Julian said in an innocent voice.
She quickly pressed 1. There was a ding
and the doors slid open.
“I thought you said this patient was going to the morgue,” the nurse said as Grace, Julian, Ainsley, and the gurney raced out into the main lobby of the hospital.
“Her prognosis has improved,” Julian called back.
Grace had her eyes on the front door. Twenty paces. They could make it. They would make it.
“What’s going on with this patient?” the blonde at the front desk asked, pushing her pink glasses up the bridge of her nose.
“Police business,” Grace flashed her badge.
“What do you mean-” the blonde began.
Julian raised one hand in the air and waved to her.
“Ignosce,” he murmured.
The pink glasses dropped down the bridge of the blonde’s nose again but this time she didn’t bother to push them up. Instead she turned back to her computer monitor with a confused expression.
Grace pushed and ran. The automatic glass doors opened before them and the cold night air washed over her skin.
Ainsley pounded past them toward the trees that separated the parking lot from the open space beyond, bordering the falls. Well, good for her, she’d made it. She’d get back to Tarker’s Hollow on foot. Or on paw, or whatever.
Grace turned the gurney toward the rear lot where her car was parked and took off as quickly as she could without endangering the furry body on the gurney. Julian jogged alongside in companionable silence.
Grace had to ask.
“Did you Jedi mind trick that receptionist?” She couldn’t help but grin. Really, in spite of the circumstances, it was hard not to geek out. Julian was amazing. Really, really amazing.
“Sorry, I don’t really get the reference. I’m not a Star Trek fan,” he replied.
A squirrel raced up one of the weeping cherries that lined the parking lot and Sadie’s tail moved slightly with what Grace prayed was just a breeze.
“We have some movies to catch up on,” Grace said as they took off to her car at a run. She tried not to think about what it would be like to have the elderly wolf wake up in her Civic.
Chapter 12
Ainsley crashed through the college woods in the form of a large red wolf, taking the long way home to end up behind Princeton Ave so she could sneak in her own back door.
She hadn’t anticipated shifting, and now she had no clothes waiting at the edge of the woods. She figured a wolf sneaking into her yard would raise fewer eyebrows than her naked human form.
Erik would have known that she would need to shift and would have helped her plan better. She tried not to think about how many things would be different if Erik were here.
The kids next door were inside, but crowing so loudly she could hear them from the other side of the picket fence where she was crouched. The fact that they were awake was a good thing - it meant the parents weren’t sitting around staring out the window.
Quick as a thought, she leapt over the fence, landed in the middle of the backyard and sailed from the foot of the porch stairs to the backdoor in one bound.
The neighbors’ German Shepherd exploded in a hurricane of rapid fire barks.
Crap.
Ainsley instinctively growled back.
Immediately the pet silenced itself. At least someone thought Ainsley was in control.
Before anything else bad could happen, she slid upward into her human form. The instant she had a thumb again she grasped the knob, twisted, and slipped into the kitchen. She wondered if there were some sort of door opening system her wolf could use. The accessibility feature at the mall was just a big button that made the door slide open - surely there was a residential application?
Ainsley tabled that idea and dashed up the stairs. She probably had about five minutes to get dressed before Grace and Julian arrived with Sadie. The car ride was a longer distance since they had to drive around the falls and woods.
Ainsley had just reached her room and pulled on a bra and panties when there was a knock on the door.
“Hang on!” she yelled, stepping into a pair of yoga pants.
The banging sounded again, more urgently.
Something must be wrong.
Ainsley shook her head and grabbed her old Timberwolves hoodie off its hanger. She slid it over her head as she traversed the narrow hallway and pushed her arms through the sleeves as she flew down the stairs.
She pulled the door wide open, then staggered backward a step when she saw Justin, one of ex-sheriff Clive Warren’s old sidekicks framed in the threshold.
“Justin,” she heard herself say.
Ainsley knew that Justin’s loyalty was all hers now. But something about the way he was looking at her made her distinctly uncomfortable.
“Hey, Ainsley, how’s it going?” he said.
Ainsley studied him carefully. He didn’t seem to be drunk.
“I’m fine, Justin. What’s wrong?”
“Oh nothing. I just...felt like I should come right away. Do you need anything?”
“No, I’m fine,” she said, realizing that there was something odd about his behavior after all. He kept licking his lips and unconsciously running his hands across his abs.
“Oh,” he said, and tugged at the bottom of his t-shirt, pulling it tight around his muscled chest. “Do you mind if I stay? I just have this feeling that I’m supposed to be here, to protect you.”
“Sure,” Ainsley said, “you can stay until Grace gets here.”
Justin smiled and sauntered inside. He was only inches away from her.
“Please sit down,” Ainsley gestured to her father’s reading chair. “Have you ever had this feeling before?”
Justin shook his head and gave her puppy dog eyes.
“Okay, well just stay there,” Ainsley said. “I have stuff to do upstairs.”
She headed back up. Something was off, but there was no time to worry about it. Grace and Julian were coming and she had to make up a bedroom for Sadie since Javier had the guest room.
Before she reached the top of the stairs, there was another knock on the door. Too late, they were here already.
She made it to the living room just as the knocks on the door turned into pounding. She swung the door open again.
Justin’s best friend, Will, was there. That made sense, since Justin was there.
But Stan Snyder, a low-ranking middle-aged pack member from all the way across town with whom Ainsley had never exchanged more than a few words, was standing beside him. He seemed an unlikely companion to the other two.
“Ainsley,” Will said. Before he could say more, Stan shoved him unceremoniously to the side.
“My alpha, you needed my help?” Stan asked.
In the street behind them, Ainsley make out four or five more shadowy figures making their way down Princeton Avenue toward her. Her nose told her they were packmates.
“I’m fine. What is with everyone tonight?” Ainsley asked.
Will had approached the door again. His gaze locked onto hers intensely. “I thought you called me,” he said. “You need me. I- I’m supposed to be here.”
“No you’re not, pipsqueak!” Stan admonished. “Go home! I’m protecting Ainsley tonight.”
Just as they began to argue in earnest another figure dashed up the porch stairs. It was MacGregor.
“Ainsley!” he called.
“Let me guess, you’re wondering if I need help?” Ainsley asked as politely as she could. MacGregor was a friend.
“Gentlemen, may I have Ainsley’s ear for a moment?” he asked Will and Stan. They looked like they were ready to fight him just for asking.
“Yes,” Ainsley said.
Will and Stan shuffled slowly to the front lawn where they glared at each other.
“What’s going on, Mac?” Ainsley asked, realizing too late that she had used Erik’s nickname for him.
MacGregor gave himself a slight shake.
“Ainsley, you’re the alpha and...you don’t have a mate. Every male wolf in town is probably going to come to
you if you don’t drive them away. Not that you should. You should pick one, quickly, and do what needs to be done.”
Ainsley stared at him, horrified. She could smell the arousal of the men. The air was choked with it. How had she not noticed that?
“You won’t be choosing a mate for life!” he said quickly. “But you probably need to obey the moon. The desire will weaken you if you don’t feed it.”
As Ainsley tried to take in this information, she noticed that MacGregor was gazing raptly at her lips. The moon pulled at her then. She hadn’t realized it in her panic, but it had been pulling at her all along.
“Ainsley, I’m sorry,” he said with a pained look. “But I’m compelled to ask. I cherish and respect you. Will you allow me to give you solace in your time of need?”
Just then, there was a pounding on the back door and Ainsley was shaken out of her reverie.
“Go away!” she said in her deepest alpha voice. “All of you, go home. I do not need your protection.”
She closed her eyes and sent out the message to each of the throbbing green points of light from her pack that reached to her, submissively, longingly.
No. Enough.
“So sorry, Ainsley,” MacGregor whispered to her as he turned to leave.
“What about me?” Justin asked from the living room.
“Yes, you too,” she said. “Out!”
He slunk out the door and joined the others on the front lawn. Though they had left the house, none of them seemed to be leaving the yard.
“What are you doing?” Ainsley asked.
“I don’t know. But I don’t want to leave,” Will said helplessly. “Please, don’t make me.”
“Fine. You can all stay in the yard, but you can’t come in,” she said, wondering if it was the right answer.
A good alpha has to understand what her pack can and can’t do, and be sure not to ask more of them than they can give.
Erik’s words rang in her head and she felt a degree of peace.
Just then, her cell phone buzzed in her pocket.
Cressida.
We did our best. Ophelia wants you, she’s heading your way.
Crap.
She had almost forgotten that she had to deal with Ophelia in all of this. It just wasn’t fair.
