Her gaze rolled to mine as if his movement ordered the shift of attention.
For one minute, she watched me. Studied me even though Augustus spoke. His words lost to the room's deepening shadow. To Josie's gaze.
A chill crept down my spine.
Mine, Wolf snarled.
"Don't snarl at me," Augustus warned quietly.
What? I flicked my gaze to his stare of disbelief. I must have looked odd by the way his graying brown eyebrows arched.
He snorted with a budding smile. "Let's go out to the table. The youths cooked a big dinner. I'd hate for them to think I'm unappreciative." He pivoted to the gaping doorway.
Josie blinked slowly.
As if she fought a battle with sleep.
Her eyelids finally refused to open.
Sleep won like a wicked drug. Hopefully, it would heal her quickly. And I can speak with Augustus alone now. She'd never know I'm gone, if she even cared at all. I stepped through the doorway to find Augustus seated near my chair.
As if he didn't mind I took the seat at the head of the table. For whatever reason, the clan leader chose to allow me to keep my rank. Arguing would be foolish. I sat in the hard seat and leaned into the hard unyielding crook of the chair.
Augustus's unyielding steady gaze refused to release mine. "She'll come out of it. Josie's not one to throw in the towel."
His intense scrutiny demanded I believe him.
Augustus lifted his fork from where it rested at the side of his plate and eyed the steaming pile of sausage links heaped upon a serving tray. "Haddie's sausage is my favorite." He stabbed a link.
Augustus had a special way about him that put the whole room on edge or at ease. That's a skill to master given I put everyone on edge. This isn't the time to ponder the truth though because Josie needs to know I care about her. I stabbed my own sausage and passed the tray down one side of the table.
"I'll stay until the fever passes." Augustus heaped wild asparagus onto his plate and passed the bowl to me. "She'll worry less with me around." He winked. "Like I can stop the inevitable she expects. What wasted worry. The poor thing."
Maybe so. I'd rather her think of me that way. I nodded and shoveled some of the bright green milkweed stems onto the silver plate beside my sausage. "What's happening back at the outpost?"
"Lucius departed with his mate for the gathering of the Elders four days ago. Otherwise, we're all working hard toward preserving food for winter. Josie brought quite a load of weapons down from her sire's outpost. But left the maple syrup and food. I'm planning to send a group of Shifters up to collect anything if it's still there. Although, I doubt Normals have found that hidden Shifter outpost." He grabbed a basket of biscuits and extracted two golden lumps.
Josie brought gear from her sire's outpost? Loaded down. Just how many horses did she have to lead to carry so many supplies? "Josie traveled alone?"
Augustus shot me a curious smile. "That one's as good as any Shifter in the lot." He passed the basket of biscuits to me.
Something about his glinting half-smile told me to choke down my Josie questions.
Then he suddenly didn't seem to care because he started yammering about her. "She led a string of horses packed to the gills down from the Big Woods. Ammo. Guns. Arrows. Furs. Every last damned boot that outpost had to have." He shook his head and chuckled, looking at his plate. "Some man's going to get him one hell of a mate with that one."
A chill took hold of my arms and made my skin hum.
So, Augustus was here matchmaking again. The last three times he approached me about mating had nothing to do with Josie. This time, he wore an invisible warning sign. For some reason, he pushed me toward her. Why? And does it even matter?
Augustus turned his attention to his sons Trajan and Ortho. "How's the wheat coming along?"
****
I'd never been so glad to close my door and block out another adult Shifter who didn't mind talking. Augustus had that gleam in those eyes of his--the one that could turn a man's soul into ice. How a spark noting warmth could do the opposite of heat resulting in an inner chill, I could never explain. But today I'd never been more uncomfortable in my life. Or I imagined all of it. Why would Augustus put me on edge? He couldn't be trying to. I'd seen what I wanted to see. Or thought I saw. The clan leader had better things to do than jack with my existence. Hell, I lived out here away from every curve of mate-able female and camaraderie of my fellow brethren I'd spent a lifetime bonding with through sweat and strained muscles. Augustus isn't going to punish me when I kept the wheels of progress rolling forward. No. I'd just imagined all that crap at dinner. Like a weak woman. Now, I'd go sit with Josie. I carried a chair to the side of the bed and made myself as comfortable as a man could with the sharp edge of honed wood gnawing into his shoulders.
She'd rolled onto her side, facing the fire.
And me in the process. Those eyelids of hers shut as she slept. Her palms together and tucked beneath her cheek like the pictures of angels the Christians left blanketing the United States Territories. Literally littering the continent.
Josie, the angel? More like a wild cat. Since I had an inner Wolf, I'd prefer wild cat. I can't vouch for having a Cougar for a mate because female Shifters came beyond fewer and far between. But Josie isn't a Cougar. No. She just packs the heart of one. My little kitten.
Her eyelids fluttered.
Cracking enough to reveal the dark dots of her pupils lining up with my body. As if it pained her to roll her head or open her eyelids more to see my face. Or as if she heard me think of her affectionately. Not a bad thing. I suppose.
Her tongue swept out to wet her lips.
They had to be parched. I hopped up and fetched a cup of water.
She pressed a palm into the mattress.
Futilely attempting to raise her shoulders from the bedding. I wormed an arm beneath her, rolled her onto her back, and sat her upright, propping her back against my arm where I became the solid force behind her frail form. "Drink this." I presented her with the cup.
"Where's Augustus?" she rasped.
We don't need to have him here now. "Keeping an eye on the youths." Gods, I just wanted to snake my arms around her slim waist and pull her into my lap. Hold her until she argued with the strength of a warrior. I'd let her challenge me now after seeing her so frail like this.
She drank deeply from the cup. "It's hot." Her words were solid this time she spoke.
Or is she the one that's hot? I pressed a palm against her forehead.
Warm. Not hot like before. Maybe her inner furnace worked toward melting germ ore. I could remedy that. "Do you want another shower?" She'd feel better.
She snorted a weak laugh. "You just want to take my clothes off again."
Not a bad idea. Even better if she's willing. But her little comment about the shower proved she isn't in the mood for a little friskiness in the bubbles and spray of water. I'd teach her to crack jokes about such things. I leaned my temple down to press the hardness to hers. "When you're well, I'll be more than happy to peel your clothes off again. With my fangs."
Mine, Wolf growled deep inside my chest.
She twisted her profile enough to lock one pale eye on my raised brow. "I'm dying and you're thinking about sex?"
Not a raunchy fuck fest. "Mating," I corrected her sharp gaze.
"Any talk of sex when one of the parties is barely capable of keeping her eyes open from illness is sex, Hostillian." Her scowl slackened as if she'd lost the jolt of energy I'd imbued her with from my implication of mating. She turned back to where she could lean the hard upper curve of the back of her head against my upper arm.
She'd differentiated between sex and mating in her little declaration. I supposed I should feel duly corrected. Time to show I seriously cared even though I'm the one who mentioned mating when she'd turned the thought i
nto physical sex. Only what animals shared. I'd just remain the civilized man with Wolf barred to his crypt and prove I spoke only of mating. Not fucking. "Tired?" She had to be.
She sighed weakly.
Just enough of a soft rush of air that I knew she didn't want to talk.
"Yes," she whispered. "But I feel a little strange. Off. I wanted to tell Augustus."
Why can't she tell me? I'm the one who's taken care of her. Augustus just talked her to death. But if she has a new symptom, Augustus needs to know. "I'll get him." I slid out from behind her, supporting her back with my forearm, and eased her stiff shoulders to the bed.
She studied me through those half-shuttered eyelids.
Sexy, that gaze.
My cock when rock hard.
Gods-damn the woman. Even that meek stare made my whole body throb with need. I pivoted to the door.
****
Where's my useless cousin when a girl needs some help? It's bad enough Hostillian hovers like an old hen. But I've got to be starting my period because I feel the cramps heralding that lovely monthly sojourn my body takes without my permission. Can we note nature's onslaught of unshakable woes anything less than convenient? Or I had other problems. Things Augustus needs to know about. But just having to tell my cousin would be bad enough. Tell Hostillian? Out of the question. He's probably the reason Ausgustus is here. I was sent here. Delayed by Hostillian. I can put two and two together…
The floor's planks creaked.
Announcing someone's arrival.
Augustus stepped through the doorframe. "You called?" he chimed almost smugly en route to the bed.
But he'd closed the door at his heels. I can't bitch about privacy. How he had the wherewithal to know to do so is amazing.
He rocked the mattress, sitting where he'd sat the last time he was here. "Hostillian says you feel new symptoms."
Gods. To have to admit such a thing. But it was a meddlesome cousin or Hostillian. I was stuck with one and didn't have to respond to the other. I waved Augustus closer.
He had the sense to lean.
"I'm cramping. I think starting my menses," I whispered. "Too early."
He scowled a smidge. "You don't want Hostillian to know?" He straightened his shoulders back into a normal sitting position. "Josie, I don't understand."
The bastard and his games. "Please, I will need something absorbent," I whispered.
He rolled his eyes.
Once a jerk, always a jerk. What was I thinking insisting on my cousin's help. After all, I'm here because he sent me. August had probably planned to get me impregnated so I'd have a reason to live. Or something equally stupid.
"I'll see what I can do." He departed, leaving the door gaping wide.
Invitingly. For Hostillian who sauntered into the room. His room. I can't bar him from his personal quarters I suppose. Especially when he'd cared for me. He just doesn't need to know about my dilemma.
Hostillian assumed a watchful stance in front of the fireplace.
Watching me. Could this detour to deliver ammunition get any worse? Sex with the Shifter who despised me. Then the fever. And now, premature menstruation. Oh. Dear. Gods. That means my ovulation cycle could be off. And upredictable. Hell, I'd had sex! I don't know what I'll do if there's a baby between Hostillian and I. Not with the way he's acting.
Augustus plowed back through the doorway, glancing between me and Hostillian, carrying gray towels draped over his arm.
Is Hostillian going to just stand here? He needs to leave so I can discuss things with Augustus.
Augustus dumped the towels on the bed by my knees and shot me a forceful stare.
For what? I can't do a Gods-be-damned thing to make a difference because I can barely move. And what can I do with the two men who had plotted against me?
He sighed, his smile stretching into a flat line.
Realizing something. I don't want to know what.
"Can you bring me some fresh water, Hostillian?" He thrust his chin over his shoulder toward the big Shifter.
"Of course." Hostillian departed in one fluid motion.
Before Hostillian could return, Augustus astonishingly rolled me aside, placed a doubled-over towel beneath my hips, and positioned me back where I'd been under the blanket. Nobody would be the wiser. Hopefully. And, on top of that, he'd helped me instead of arguing.
"There you go. We can't have your sister chewing me out because I failed to assist you." He winked.
Hostillian strode through the doorway with a dripping metal bucket and placed it beside the bed.
How would Augustus play off his need of this fresh water after sending Hostillian away to help me with my little problem? But my eyelids suddenly felt heavy. I closed them.
****
"She's out again," Augustus cooed from where he leaned over Josie.
How long do fevers last? "When do you think she'll beat the fever off?"
He rose to his full height and strode toward me, firelight gilding the concern in his features. "I don't know. Hopefully soon."
And just what was so secret between them that I wasn't allowed to hear? Well, at least the pack leader isn't brushing past my shoulder as if I didn't exist.
"You look like you're gnawing on a nasty root," Augustus poked.
His concerned mask had shifted with curiosity. What did it matter that I was offended by being ignored? Hell, I'd been the Gods-be-damned nurse until he arrived. "What's she hiding from me?"
A flicker of amused firelight danced in the clan leader's eyes. "You probably don't want to know. It's a female thing. And I'm her sire's second cousin."
Female? How sweet.
"But," Augustus cleared his throat and lifted a graying eyebrow my direction, "she's hauling a lot of guilt on those little shoulders. You can allow her a bit of privacy. Can't you?"
Well, there's no mystery left after Augustus's arrival. "So she blames herself for her sire and brothers dying?"
His eyes twisted with confusion as he nodded slowly twice. "Damnedest thing," he whispered. "I can't make sense out of it. She couldn't have saved them if she cut off an arm and placed it on a sacrificial fire." He shot her sleeping form a surly glance and locked it back upon me. "I've never seen anyone fight the truth more than that little female. Always fighting her way upstream. Always crawling out of the river dog-tired." He blinked with exasperation and scrubbed across his forehead to rake the fingers through his loose hair. "Guess I'll have to tie her to that horse of hers and drag her bitching tail all the way back to her sister." He scoffed with his typical snort. "Wouldn't you know her sire would leave her here for me to contend with."
Mine, Wolf snapped.
She isn't really ours. Well, I'd just keep her with me. But he doesn't need to hear that. "Oh, think of her as infusing your life with intrigue, Augustus. You can send the others to track her down every time she runs off. That's got to keep everyone busy." I shot him a wink.
He just chuckled. "Sounds like she's made her stay here interesting." He studied me with glinting eyes.
Eyes that obviously searched for something, sparked with their own questions, assessing me for answers. "Well, you know Josie. She's a wild cat." Hopefully, she's sound asleep.
He turned those eyes just enough to one side where he glanced at me sideways with both.
Suspiciously.
"Maybe I'll leave her here. You sound like you could use the entertainment."
Something about his tone let on he had another reason for using the word entertainment. And I didn't want Augustus tugging on his matchmaking boots again. Not when I had Josie in my bed, purring whenever I wanted her to. She fights one man enough. Two would be all out war. Better send his thoughts off elsewhere. "Can she cook?"
He burst into a chuckle. "We can always leave her here for you to find out."
Evil bastard. Besides, I already know she can literally and metaphorically. "Well, if she's going to bitch about scrubbing the floorboards, don't bother."
"Now you're talking." He patted my shoulder. "There's nothing like having a female on her hands and knees." Augustus winked.
Sinisterly. I'd walked into his trap. If he pulled his Wolf into his ears, my pounding heart would surely give me away. "Are you trying to make my life miserable?"
He quieted, leaned close, and smiled. "It'll only get worse if you have a thing for the youths. And nothing you've ever done has made me suspect you dislike females." He backed away.
Back to where he'd stood next to the fireplace, panned a contemplative glance around the empty room until it landed on her sleeping form, then he walked toward the door.
Good. I'm into females. He needs to think about other things instead of accusing me of chasing male tail. I slid my gaze to the gentle rise of the blanket covering Josie.
Oh, she'd stay. How could she leave after the way I'd made love to her last night? She'd be insane to leave. And where in the Hell would she go? Why is she going? Augustus had to know more. Has to be hiding something. And he'd cough up the information. He'd explain. I stepped off to find him.
Chapter Six
The creak of floorboards noted Hostillian followed Augustus from the room.
Left me here to think about how I'm going to live with myself if worst came to worst. But Augustus insists I don't carry a germ from his outpost. I have to believe him and just stop fighting the fear of the whole damned fever thing happening again. I couldn't handle holding them all as an invisible foe picked them off one by one. Couldn't live with myself for surviving the carnage again. And if Hostillian died…His blood would be on my hands. Did that matter? Hostillian wanted a cook and someone to scrub his floorboards. Someone to spread her legs on command. Not the flesh and blood a Wolf marked. Just someone to do hard labor and provide entertainment. And I worry about him? Speak of irony…
Hopefully Augustus is lying to spare my self-inflicted torturous worry. He'd do that. The ass. And he's here. Exposing himself to the microbe every time he hovers, feeling my forehead. He'd die as well. Leave my sister a widow.
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