by Kym Grosso
“It’s one thing to lie to me, but don’t lie to yourself. You aren’t human, no matter how much you want it or how many of these pills you take,” he spat at her. “I can’t talk to you right now. Fine, you want to go; then just go. Get out of my sight. I can’t even look at you. Logan, take her to your condo. Move her things.”
“I’ll just go to a hotel…”
“The hell you will. Listen to me, Doctor, like it or not, I may need you to find the sons of bitches who did this…the fire…Toby’s murder,” he choked out, trying not to scream. “You’re not safe. If anything, you’re in even more danger. They know where you live; where you work…I will not lose you.” Tristan shook with passion, well aware that he still wanted her badly. Conflicted, he needed space. As much as he hated the idea of her staying with another man, he knew he could trust Logan with his life.
As she realized that Tristan no longer wanted her, Kalli’s heart felt like it was breaking into a million pieces. Filled with shame and disappointment, she deserved it, she thought. But, still, how could he send her off to live with another wolf? Logically, she shouldn’t have been surprised given how she was raised, and the way the males treated the females. It was just that with Tristan, he seemed so progressive, kind…loving, even. Feeling downcast, she silently accepted that she’d have to move. Why bother arguing? He needed her to help him find the killers. She needed his protection. So she had to stay with Logan. Who else would she stay with anyway?
Raking her fingers through her long hair, she looked at Logan. “I’ve gotta get out of here. I’ll be in the waiting room. Come get me when you’re ready.” Casting Tristan a sorrowful look, she walked out of the room, fairly certain that he and Logan wouldn’t try to stop her. It would cause a scene and she was pretty sure they didn’t want that.
Tristan considered going after her, but the doctor entered the room at the same time. Concerned that they already had too many people in the room, he looked to Julie to leave. With a nod, she understood, and left.
The doctor looked to be about forty years old with short, thick curly hair, wearing a traditional white coat with her name embroidered on it. Regarding the two males, she extended a hand to Tristan. “Hello, I’m Dr. Shay. The nurse said she’d filled you in on Ryan’s injuries. He’s a lucky kid,” she commented, looking down at her patient. “Almost bled out, but we got to him before he hit hypovolemic shock, so he’s going to make it. Both shots were fairly clean, in and out, but apparently he sat in the alley for quite a bit before someone found him. So we’re going to keep him here for a few more hours just as a precaution, then he’ll be transferred down to the fourth floor. Once he’s released, he’ll have to come back for follow-up to have the stitches removed. My biggest concern right now is the risk of wound infection. Even though we cleaned it out, bacterial infections still occur. Do you have any questions?”
“Yes, it is my understanding that anything we discuss needs to be kept in confidence, is this correct?” Tristan asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes, that’s right,” she replied.
“I’m going to tell you something, and I don’t want you to repeat it, not even to the nurse. Nor do I want it entered into his record,” Tristan explained. “I’m not sure how much experience you have with supernaturals, but I’m Tristan Livingston, Alpha of Lyceum Wolves. And this boy, he’s mine.”
The doctor flushed at the revelation. “Why yes, of course I’m aware that there’s others. Those who aren’t human. But sir….well, there’s no way he’s wolf. I just operated on him, so I think I’d know if he weren’t human. No, this can’t be,” she protested.
“Well, Doc. Sometimes things aren’t always as they appear.” He shot a look at Logan who knew he meant Kalli. “And when that happens, it truly is a bitter pill to swallow. Let’s just say that I’ve come into knowledge that Ryan, here, was exposed to something very dangerous that thwarted both his shifting and his natural healing abilities. Both of which would have prevented him from visiting your fine establishment. We think he’s going to shift in a few hours, and we’d like to stay with him until he does. Afterwards, we’re going to walk out the front door.”
“Well, I don’t know. But I guess if he shifts, then I can’t really oppose his release, but I’ll need to examine him first,” she insisted.
“Thank you for your cooperation. But there’s one more thing. That dangerous thing Ryan was exposed to…I need you to keep a tight lid on it until we find out who gave it to him. Tony…Detective Bianchi. We’re going to have to meet with him too. He’ll back up what I’m telling you. We’re looking at a murder.”
The doctor nodded solemnly. “Yes, I just spoke with the detective, but as I told him, I didn’t see the other boy. He was found dead on the scene. The paramedics said he’d been shot and stabbed quite badly. I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” Tristan said quietly. The meeting with Jax Chandler couldn’t come soon enough. When he found the wolves Kalli had helped to sketch, they’d die a slow death at his hand.
The doctor exited the room, leaving Tristan and Logan. No words could describe the loss of Toby. All that was left to do was to wait until Ryan shifted so they could find out what had happened. How did he even get the drug? He knew Ryan and Toby partied hard, but nothing that most college students didn’t do. They never took drugs; he’d scent in a minute if they’d tried. No, someone gave this to them without them knowing, perhaps as Kalli had suggested in a drink or maybe even food.
The vigil was broken as Ryan stirred in his bed. Slowly opening his eyes, he licked his dry lips.
Logan rushed to hold his hand, while Tristan stood on the other side of the bed. He rubbed his hand over Ryan’s matted hair, and leaned in to talk to him.
“Take it easy, Ryan. You’re safe. We’re all here with you,” Tristan comforted him.
Tears filled Ryan’s eyes. “Toby…he didn’t make it,” he whispered, weeping silently. “We couldn’t shift.”
“We know, Ry, we know. Trust me, we’ll grieve. And we’ll avenge his death. I promise you. But right now, I need to know what happened. Who drugged you?”
“We were at a party. Nothing big. A girl. Lindsey. She asked us if we wanted to take something. You know us, we said no. I swear it,” Ryan asserted. His eyes locked on Tristan’s. “We stayed for another beer, and left to go home. We walked. We always walk. Two men. Wolves. They had a gun and backed us into an alley. We knew we could’ve taken them, Tristan. But then we couldn’t shift. We tried to run, but our wolves wouldn’t come. I hid in a dumpster after I got hit, but Toby…” his voice trailed off as he looked away and closed his eyes.
“You listen to me, Ryan. This wasn’t your fault. Someone drugged you. There’s no way you could have known. You need to rest now. Kalli said you’d be able to shift in a few hours. Afterward, we’ll get out of here. See…Julie’s here. Logan’s here. We’re all here for you. And when we get home, you know you’ll be pawing off the pack mothers; they’re never going to let you out of their sight. We’ll make it through this.”
Lindsay? Wasn’t that the name of the girl from Kalli’s office? He planned asking Tony to send someone over to UVH to find her. Tristan stood and turned toward the door in an attempt to hide the pain that threatened to rip him in half. Listening to Ryan recount what had happened through guilt-tinged tears killed him. It shouldn’t be this way for them. They were only kids, yet someone deliberately went after his pups. Killed Toby. One thing was certain, blood was about to rain down in his city and it would be Lyceum Wolves who shed it this time. There’d be nothing sweet about this revenge, but it would happen.
“Logan, keep an eye on Ryan. I’ve gotta find Tony,” Tristan grunted. He needed to tell him everything he knew about what had happened. There was no way in hell he’d let P-CAP take over the investigation. For all they knew, a human had been shot and killed. But on the off chance they decided to become involved, he’d call Léopold and seek his assistance. As much as he despised Alex
andra, he knew he could count on her as an ally.
As he rounded the corner, he caught sight of Tony engaged in an intimate conversation with Kalli. What the hell? She nodded her head in agreement to whatever he’d just said to her. Her baby blue eyes, rimmed in red from crying, were focused on the detective.
Without a doubt, Detective Tony Bianchi, Sydney’s former homicide partner, was one of the best cops in the city. Tenacious but good natured, the good-looking Italian detective never left a clue unturned. But Tristan could tell by the looks of him, that tonight he’d seen Toby’s body. His dark, olive-skinned face appeared to be drawn and his cropped raven hair was no longer carefully coiffed. Like a bloodhound knowing where to find his bone buried deep in the yard, Tony was busy digging for his next lead.
Tristan ground his teeth as Tony put a comforting hand on Kalli’s shoulder. She began to cry once again, and he could see that she was hurting too. Tristan wanted to be the man holding her, telling her everything would be all right. Deep down, he also knew that part of the reason she was coming unglued was because of him. Instead of mauling her on the balcony like a sex-starved maniac, he should have let her finish telling him the truth. He’d told her she could trust him, but the minute she’d confessed, he’d laid into her and ordered her to stay with another man. He felt like an asshole, but he could only deal with so many things at once. Coughing loudly, Tristan cautiously approached them.
Kalli scowled at Tristan before turning her back. She couldn’t look at him without hysterically crying, and she hated being that woman. The woman who was so weak, she’d put all her trust and feelings into a man and now couldn’t control her own emotion. She hated being a woman who a man would use sexually and then toss to one of his friends. She hated that she was the woman who’d created the drug that had eventually got Toby killed. Kalli refused to let him see how badly she hurt inside. If he didn’t want her, she had to at least salvage what was left of her dignity.
“Kalli,” Tristan offered, unsure of what to say to her. He wasn’t ready to apologize but at the same time, he needed her. He needed her comfort as much as she needed his.
“I’m getting coffee,” she snapped, unable to take another tongue-lashing. She’d spent the last hour telling the detective everything she knew about her past, the people who she worked with, every detail about CLI and how it worked and the names of every wolf she could recall. She didn’t know the full names of the wolves she’d helped the artist sketch. She guessed the one was Sato and the other Morris, but wasn’t sure. She could, however, remember the name of her old Alpha, Gerald. She’d even told him about everything that had happened to her including the fire, the kidnapping, and her rescue. She’d described in detail what she’d been doing at Tristan’s, which involved a brief mention of what had happened on the balcony. Of course she left out the play by play, but she wanted to make sure he understood how she lamented her decision to trust Tristan enough.
Oddly, the detective empathized with her decision, given her past history of abuse. He said he’d too often seen battered women and children and could understand the deep-seeded fear that had been planted in her psyche long ago. Simply telling her to share information that could expose her to her abusers again was not enough to get her to open up about her past. She found it ironic that the one person who seemed to understand her plight was human.
Seeing Tristan as he rounded the corner, she fought back her first instinct which was to run into his arms. Despite his angry words, she didn’t want to give up on their budding relationship, which definitely was well rooted into the ‘it’s complicated’ category. At the same time, her healthy sense of self-preservation overrode the need to pursue a man who clearly didn’t want her, no matter how incredible he was.
Tony nodded at Tristan. The pain rolled off him like an overflowing river. Even though Tony wasn’t wolf, he swore he could feel it. He’d known Tristan for a long time, having been introduced to him by Sydney. Tony regarded him with admiration, as a leader who cared about his wolves and what happened in his city.
“Sorry for your loss, Alpha.”
“Thanks Tony. You talk to Kalli?” Tristan inquired, already knowing he had. He just wasn’t sure of the extent of their conversation.
“Yeah, she filled me in on everything. It’s amazing given all the trauma she’s been through,” Tony remarked.
“Yeah, I guess she mentioned that Alexandra took her.”
“Yeah, she mentioned that, but when I say trauma, I guess I’m referring to the abuse she suffered growing up. She’s terrified, but she comes off so composed.”
“Detached?” Tristan countered.
“In a sense. If you’d been beat down, told you were going to be tortured for the rest of your natural life, you’d build some walls too. We’re talking about survival. Anyway, from her childhood to Ryan’s examination, I feel confident that she’s told me everything. You, uh, might want to go easy on her.” Tony gave Tristan a concerned look.
Tristan inwardly cringed. Just how much had she told him? About what happened between them on the balcony? How he’d yelled at her? How he’d sent her to stay at Logan’s?
“Anyway, it’s a good thing she’s still under your protection. She’s sure gonna need it. I understand she was staying with you but now she’s staying with Logan?” Tony questioned him, reading between the lines.
Yes, it appeared that she had, indeed, told him everything. Damn.
“Yeah, she’s stayin’ with Logan tonight.” He tried to sound indifferent, but the words tasted like poison as he spoke them aloud. “My entire pack has moved into the new building except for a few wolves. Some have moved to the mountains.”
“All right then. Well, I’ve got some names of males from her old pack. I’ll run them tonight. A bulletin was issued of the sketches you sent me. The priority will be upped now that we’re looking at murder. Anything else you want to tell me?” He gave him a small smile. “You know, while bearing in mind that I’m an officer of the law.”
“Ryan mentioned that he was at a party with a girl named, Lindsay. Could be a coincidence, but Kalli’s got an assistant by the same name. She works over at UVH, and she’s a college student. Can you check her out?”
“Sure, I mean, we don’t know how they even knew she had the CLI. Best guess is that someone at the hospital found out about her research. It’s possible the wolves went there looking for Kalli and somehow got mixed up with this, Lindsay. If Lindsay knew about the drug’s existence, she could have spilled.”
“Yeah, I don’t know. It’s a long shot but I agree, someone at the hospital must have found out about her research. According to Kalli, she doesn’t have much of a social life outside of the hospital and her shelter.”
“Anything else?”
“Tomorrow night is the mayor’s ball. The following evening we have a summit with Jax Chandler, the New York Alpha. Hoping that it’ll be a fruitful meeting. Other than that, there’s nothing more I can tell you…officer of the law and all that.”
A silent understanding settled between the two men. Tristan was lethal when crossed, as were most supernaturals. Whatever their brand of justice, Tony didn’t want to know the details. It wasn’t his place to judge their ways; his purpose was to find a murderer. And if Tristan just happened to find the guy before he did, well, then that was all the better in his book.
“Listen, man, we’ll do our best to find these sons of bitches. I’ve made Toby’s autopsy a priority. The coroner will start tomorrow morning. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what else she’ll find, but the killers may have left a trace. Unofficially, exsanguination from gunshot and stab wounds is listed as COD,” Tony speculated.
“I’d like to get his body as soon as possible. Can you text me when he’s done? We’ll be taking him home. The burial needs to occur as soon as possible,” Tristan told him quietly. Home referenced to their mountain compound. While it wasn’t often they were forced to bury one of their own, Lyceum Wolves adhered to their own funeral ritu
als.
“Sure. It’ll probably be a couple of days before they’ll release the body. Again, I’m real sorry about your wolf. I understand he was in college.” Tony extended a hand to Tristan in condolence.
Tristan nodded sadly, shaking his hand. He didn’t want to reveal the explosive rage that begged for deliverance. Its time would come, though. Vengeance was coming, and he planned to ride it hard, until every last wolf involved in Toby’s death was nothing more than fur and bones.
Chapter Fourteen
After finally getting Ryan settled in Julie’s condo, it was nearly three in the morning. Even though shifting had healed Ryan’s wounds, it did little to help the emotional scars that cut deep. Instead of having Ryan return to the small apartment he’d set up for the boys, Julie and he agreed that he should stay with her. Despite the fact that she had two younger sisters, it seemed the extra female attention would go a long way toward aiding his recovery.
Tristan had slept in until eleven in the morning; tossing and turning as he tried to resolve his feelings for Kalli and the fact he’d sent her away to spend the night at Logan’s. As he sat at the dining room table, drinking coffee and doing work, he couldn’t help but notice the emptiness around him. Within a day of her being in his home, he’d grown unusually accustomed to having her around. He smiled, thinking that it didn’t hurt that she had a penchant for walking around in her underwear.
Of course, now that he knew her true nature, it didn’t surprise him as much. It wasn’t as if wolves were exactly known for their modesty. Even if that medicine suppressed her shifting, it couldn’t erase the telltale signs that she was wolf. It also now made perfect sense why his wolf wanted her so badly. It was as if he’d been looking at an image, thinking he saw only a woman. But if one looked closer, the wolf was revealed, exposing the optical illusion. Aware of the mirage, he could now see both the woman and the wolf; never again would he be fooled by the trick of the eye.