by Bru Baker
Nick opened his mouth, but Drew held up a hand. This was the kind of pushback he’d expected from the wolflings. These kids had grown up in insular Packs that all had their own doctors, like his Pack did. And those doctors, with the notable exception of himself, were all Weres.
“I know you chose to smoke the pot instead of taking it as an edible because it’s the only way to get your bodies to simulate any kind of high with it. I know what you are experiencing with it right now is exhilarating because it’s different, but it’s not the high you were seeking. You probably feel a bit dizzy, maybe sweaty and a bit out of it, but not high. If you tried any kind of drugs or alcohol before your Turn, which again, I’m betting you did, you know exactly what feeling you’re going for, and you know I’m right about this not getting you there. Your bodies have changed. Your metabolism is different now. You can’t get drunk off alcohol, no matter how hard you try. You won’t get any kind of mellow high from pot. And if you move on to harder drugs, which a lot of wolflings who experiment with pot do, you’ll be putting everyone around you in danger because as soon as those drugs cross the blood-brain barrier, you’ll be out of control. Not in a fun, party-all-night kind of way, but in a shift-against-your-will kind of way.”
Grayson didn’t look impressed. “You’re just guessing.”
“I’m not.”
The kid’s dismissiveness stung his ego, but Drew kept the urge to give in to the goading and prove himself. He didn’t need to go through all his schooling and residencies—both in human hospitals and in a Were Pack under the supervision of a werewolf doctor—to prove anything to some entitled little pissant.
Drew looked at Nick, who was still seething with quiet fury. Funny, coming from someone who didn’t react well to a human doctor himself.
“My stepbrother is a drug task force officer for the Lexington police and a Tribunal Enforcer. This isn’t his territory, but he’d be happy to come tell you exactly what path you’re heading down if you like.”
Grayson grimaced, which meant he was probably from a larger Pack that had regular contact with the Enforcers. Jackson traveled around to area Packs giving talks to kids about the dangers of drugs—odds were good Grayson had been the recipient of a similar talk. It certainly hadn’t seemed to stick.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Nick said, giving the wolflings a severe look that dared them to disobey. “You’re going to apologize to Dr. Welch. Then we’re going to take a trip to the director’s office, and you’re going to give her an unedited and unembellished report of what happened here this morning.”
Grayson opened his mouth, but snapped it shut when Nick scowled at him. “Keep in mind that you don’t know how long I was standing behind you, Mr. Lethane. So honesty is the best policy because if I catch you in a lie, things are going to be much, much worse for you.”
Rebecca looked like she was about to cry. She turned toward Drew, clearly marking him as the easier one to appeal to. “Are we going to be sent home?”
Drew very much doubted it, but that was up to Nick and Anne Marie. As they’d pointed out earlier, he wasn’t a counselor. “I can’t answer that. But I hope not. Smoking pot was stupid, but that’s why you’re here. We want to provide you with all the tools you need to be safe. One of those tools is knowing the limitations of your body and realizing when you’re making a decision or taking a chance that isn’t worth the risk.”
“Whether or not you go home will very much depend on how you choose to conduct yourselves from here on out,” Nick said. He met Drew’s gaze. “Dr. Welch is a forgiving man. More so than he probably should be. If you’re sincere in your apology, I’m sure he’ll put in a good word for you. I’m glad he’s here—it’s good for you to see that humans can be an important part of a Pack.”
Warmth grew in Drew’s chest. This was better than the actual apology Nick had given him after the staff meeting. Maybe there was some hope for a friendship between them after all.
Chapter Five
“I CAN’T believe that kid’s dad pulled him out.”
Scott’s arms faltered, and Nick reached forward to grab the bar before he strangled himself with the weight, pulling it up and resting it on the catch.
“Take sixty before you go again,” Nick told him when Scott reached for it. “And if you’d been on the call, you’d know exactly why that dickweed is gone. I figured he was part of a Pack that doesn’t associate with humans, but it turns out he’s got an adopted sister who’s human and a human aunt. So they didn’t take his whole ‘I don’t have to listen to a human’ thing well.”
Scott stretched, wincing when he lifted his arms above his head. “So they made him come home? That’s kind of harsh. He still needs to learn how to control his shift and everything.”
Nick lifted the bar and handed it back to Scott. “Apparently he’s going to be on house arrest with the Pack until he gets his shit together.”
Scott let out a whistle and started his reps again. “That could take a while.”
“I believe that was the idea. The family fell all over themselves apologizing to Drew.”
“As they should. The other three are still here, though, yeah?”
They’d all gotten off pretty easy with Anne Marie, which was a sore spot with Nick. He thought they should make an example out of them—show the wolflings Drew wasn’t to be messed with. Nick had nearly swallowed his tongue when he’d heard Drew’s erratic heartbeat and happened upon him being threatened by that pair of numbskulls. Maybe he ought to suggest Drew carry pepper spray. That would at least give him a chance to get away if a wolfling was out of control.
“Once we got them separated from Grayson, they were totally different kids. Anne Marie has them doing chores around the camp as punishment. I think George was annoyed—he had to come up with things for them to do.”
The facilities manager had bitched about the extra work, but he’d found each kid something to do they’d excel at. Rebecca was reorganizing the library right now, and the other two, Rory and Jefferson, were helping repair the concrete supports under one of the boat launches.
“Anne Marie’s pretty diabolical about punishments,” Scott agreed as he strained to finish his reps. His sigh of relief was louder than the sound of the bar clanking back into place. “I mean, sticking us together, for instance.”
Nick faltered, holding the weight he’d just taken off the bar. “What do you mean?”
Scott sat up and ran a towel over his face. “Come on. Assigning the guy who slept with Drew and freaked out to the last guy here who’d slept with Drew? It wasn’t an accident.”
Nick’s stomach dropped. “What?”
Scott slapped him on the back as he stood. “Buddy, you weren’t subtle. And everyone heard your argument out back, even if we hadn’t been able to smell him on you. Anne Marie was worried you might hassle him, which is why she assigned me to be your staff mentor. But things seem cool between you two, right?”
Fucking hell. So much for being professional.
And did Scott say he was the last guy at camp to have slept with Drew? Did that mean there were more? He’d thought Drew had been riling him up that night, but had he actually been serious when he’d talked about being attracted to other men in the room?
“Yeah, no,” Nick said when he realized Scott was waiting for a response. “I mean—yes. We’re fine.”
“I figured when I heard Rebecca talking about how you chewed them up one side and down the other for belittling him for being human. I was a little worried because it seemed like maybe you weren’t happy he was here because he’s not a Were, but you slept with him, so surely you don’t hate humans. Right?”
Nick wished the floor would open up and swallow him. “No, I don’t hate humans. But I didn’t realize we were going to be working together when we hooked up. It just took me by surprise is all.”
Scott gave him an appraising look. “So you don’t date coworkers?”
Nick could just say yes, but that was disingen
uous. In for a penny, in for a pound. “I don’t date humans. Not long-term, anyway. I just can’t see it working.”
Scott hopped on a treadmill and fiddled with the settings, raising the incline and setting off at a slow jog. Nick mirrored his actions on the treadmill next to his. Part of their mentoring experience was getting together to talk every few days, and they’d agreed multitasking would be the best approach. It also saved a lot of awkward eye contact, which Nick was especially grateful for right now.
“That’s kind of fucked, man. Not gonna lie,” Scott finally said.
“It isn’t, though. I mean, I don’t think we’re better than humans. We’re not. But we’re different enough that there are things a human partner could never understand about us. That kind of thing puts an enormous strain on relationships. I saw it all the time in my counseling practice.”
“You did relationship counseling for Were-human couples?”
Nick didn’t blame Scott for sounding skeptical. There were only a handful of those around. Certainly not enough to build a practice around.
“No, but it’s not any different than two humans in a relationship keeping secrets from each other. How can a relationship work when one partner has to hide half of who they are from the other?”
Scott shot him an incredulous look. “You don’t have to hide anything from Drew. He’s aware you’re a wolf.”
“Yeah, he knows I’m a Were. But he doesn’t know know. He can’t understand what that means, or how much of who I am is tied up in my wolf. It’s like keeping secrets, and no matter how open and honest you try to be, at some point that disconnect is going to cause a rift in the relationship.”
When Scott didn’t respond, Nick risked a glance over at him, cursing as he tripped and nearly went flying. Scott laughed.
“I don’t get it. But it’s not my business. As long as you two can work together civilly and you’re not an asshole to him as a person, we’re cool. But Drew has a lot of friends here, and we’re protective of him. I’m not going to let anyone give him shit for being human, and that includes you.”
Damnit, this was exactly what he’d been trying to avoid. “I don’t think less of him for being human. I think he’s a great doctor and a huge asset to the camp. As a coworker, he’s everything I could want. And that’s all he’ll be, because I’m not looking for that kind of complication.”
Scott grunted and turned the speed up on his treadmill. “Whatever. Fine. Race?”
NICK was trying not to let Scott’s ambush during their workout this morning get to him, but he was doing a pretty poor job of it. The staff meeting had been over two weeks ago, and he and Drew had gotten along fine since then.
And what business was it of anyone else’s if they’d hooked up? Or even if they were continuing to hook up?
Not that he would. Maybe, if Drew was a wolf. But being a coworker and human? There were so many red flags he couldn’t even see the course.
No, Scott was wrong. And Nick wasn’t going to dwell on what his coworkers thought of his one-night stand with Drew. All that mattered was he and Drew were square, and they were. He’d wanted to tear those wolflings apart when he’d come upon them threatening Drew, but that had more to do with Drew being vulnerable than Nick’s ongoing attraction to him.
He’d learned long ago not to let himself be led around by his dick, and this was another of those times. Drew was funny, smart, and hot as hell, but there wasn’t a future with him, and in the situation they were in, being friends with benefits didn’t make any sense.
Drew might be the frequent star of his wank fantasies, but his libido was going to have to be satisfied with that alone.
He was startled out of his brooding by shouting. Nick took off at a run toward the lake, struggling to make out what was happening from the panicked voices. When he got closer, he realized a group of wolflings was standing on the boat launch, half of them crying and the other half yelling at the water.
“Rory’s down there!” someone screamed when they saw him. “He’s stuck, and he can’t breathe. Oh my God, you have to help him!”
Nick didn’t even think—he just took a running leap off the pier and dove into the water. The icy cold was a shock, but he ignored the bite as he swam down. The water was murky with sediment, making it hard for him to see. He stopped when his fingers brushed over something soft, searching until he wrapped his hand around what he realized was a sock-clad ankle. He tugged, and the owner of the ankle whirled around, coming face-to-face with him under the water. It was Jefferson, not Rory. He tried to get away from Nick, but Nick tightened his grip and pointed up. Jefferson must have been the one the wolflings up there had been yelling at.
“Go,” he mouthed. “I’ll get him.”
Jefferson nodded and started to kick toward the surface. Nick’s lungs were already burning, but he swam farther down, using the post from the pier as a guide. Rory was lying limp at the bottom, the arm of his wetsuit snagged on a piece of rebar.
Nick surged forward and wrapped his fingers around the stretchy fabric, pulling as hard as he could. It didn’t budge. Someone had tried to pry the suit off Rory, but that would be just about impossible. Nick used both hands to hold the fabric and tugged on it in a sawing motion, relieved when the fabric started to rip. He worked on it until it was loose enough to free the sleeve and then gathered Rory’s limp body as best he could and pushed off the bottom, kicking hard toward the surface. His vision was starting to gray, and it was taking all his focus not to give in to the temptation to take a breath in the water. His chest ached and his arms and legs felt like lead, but he managed to bring both of them to the top.
Rory was still lolling lifelessly against him as Nick struggled to heave him up onto the pier. He heard splashes, and a moment later someone was taking Rory from his arms. He protested, so focused on getting Rory out of the water he didn’t realize they were helping.
“Nick, we’ve got him. Let go and let us help you out of the water.”
He zeroed in on the familiar voice, all the fight and panic leaching out of his body at once. Drew was here, and everything would be fine.
Nick let Rory go and floated for a moment before reaching up to grasp the hands that reached down from the pier to grab him. Once he was out of the water, the rescuers retreated, and Nick curled up into a tight ball, coughing and gasping for breath. His lungs seemed so greedy for oxygen that they couldn’t process the breaths he was taking, and he found himself on the edge of hyperventilating.
He focused on how calm and sure Drew’s voice had been, and how relieved he’d been to hear it. That helped calm his heart rate and steady his gasps for air.
It took a few moments for him to orient himself before he could sit up, light-headed but okay. His heart caught in his throat when he saw Drew performing CPR on Rory at the end of the pier. A group of wolflings formed a loose circle around them, all of them crying.
Had someone run to get Drew, or had he happened by at exactly the right moment? Nick didn’t see any other counselors. He rolled to his knees and pushed up, every muscle in his body protesting as he stood and staggered over to the group.
“Has someone called 911?”
Rebecca nodded and pointed to Drew. A phone was resting on the ground next to Rory’s head. Thank God.
“Okay. Back up, everyone, and give Dr. Welch some space. Rebecca, go and get some blankets for Rory and Jefferson. There should be some in the infirmary. Gus, go get Anne Marie. Charlie, find a staff member and tell them to wait at the gates to let the ambulance in.”
The kids shot off, leaving four wolflings remaining. They had clustered together, and two of them were hiding their faces. He needed to get them out of here. There was a very real possibility Drew wouldn’t be able to revive Rory, and he didn’t want the wolflings there if that happened.
“Can the four of you figure out the best path for the ambulance to take to get here? Do that and form a human chain, okay? Each of you take a position on the route you choose to direc
t the ambulance. That will get help here faster.”
They scrambled up the shore toward camp, one looking back tearfully at Drew performing compressions on a shockingly pale and unmoving Rory.
Looking closer, Nick could see Drew was soaked too. He must have been the one to jump in and haul Rory out. Worried as he was, Nick couldn’t help but feel hopeful because Drew looked so competent. He never faltered or seemed unsure—he just continued his compressions and rescue breaths, steady and rhythmic.
Nick heard the sirens long before he saw the flashing lights. The ambulance had arrived, and seconds later EMTs were running down the embankment, stretcher in tow. Right before they reached the pier, Rory started to cough.
Tears pricked at Nick’s eyes as he watched Drew roll Rory to the side, one hand against his back and one on his forehead as he leaned in and murmured quietly to him, reassuring him everything was okay and he was going to be fine.
The EMTs made fast work of getting Rory onto the stretcher and up the hill, and he saw Anne Marie climb in with them to ride to the hospital.
Nick crumpled when the doors slammed shut. It was like his strings had been cut—all of his energy disappeared, and he found himself in a shivering heap on the rough planks of the pier.
“Shit. Rebecca, give me that blanket. Take the other one to Jefferson. Get him to the infirmary, and I’ll be there soon to check him out, okay?”
A moment later Nick was enveloped in a warm, Drew-scented cocoon. Nick buried his nose in it, unashamed to take whatever comfort he could right now.
“Adrenaline crash,” Drew said, a bit breathless. “You’re probably in mild shock. I want to have you and Jefferson come up and spend a few hours in the infirmary where I can keep an eye on you.”
Nick wanted nothing more than to be right here with a warm blanket and Drew wrapped around him. Drew’s arms felt like the only thing holding him together right now. “Aren’t you crashing too? Who will keep an eye on you?”