She managed to mumble, “How long have I been out?”
Sy ran another cool cloth over her cheek and neck. The motion helped to soothe her wolf, who was weak and angry at not being able to move, let alone run through the clan’s den to assess the situation.
His voice was rough when he finally spoke. “About three hours. One inside the car, and two here.”
She licked her dry lips and Sy noticed. He put down the cloth and picked up a small cup of water. He raised her head and she took a few sips before closing her eyes. If taking a drink of water was a chore, Kaya knew it wouldn’t be long before she was unconscious again. She needed to make sure things were in place.
She opened her eyes and said, “Sy. Give me a report.”
The corner of his mouth ticked up. “Even with a raging fever and lethargy, you’re still bossy.” Before she could muster the strength for a reply, he leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss. Kaya sighed, the warm touch of his lips making her feel a little better.
Sy took one of her hands in his and started talking again. “After two hours of questioning and some light ‘persuasion’, Kevin Howard is still resisting. The only thing Matt and Ginnie found out so far is how the threat of locking him up with infected wolf-shifters didn’t make him bat an eye. He quite proudly said he was immune. So a team of your researchers went to draw blood and various samples for their work.”
At least they knew there was a vaccine or cure of some sort. Since speaking took a lot of energy, she kept her response short. “Progress on research?”
He squeezed her hand. “One of the wolves from the first round of cougar-shifter blood transfusions appears to be getting better. The other three in the group are still inconclusive. As for a vaccine or cure, no nothing yet.”
Then Kaya knew what she needed to do. “If they don’t find anything within the next day, I want the transfusion.”
Sy’s eyes turned fierce. “You should wait at least three days. There’s a high chance the transfusion will kill you. I’d rather give your medical team more time to find a safer approach.”
“Three might be too late. Two.”
He shook his head. “Fine. Two. Why I love your stubbornness, I’ll never understand. It makes my life difficult.”
She smiled, and without thinking, she said, “You know you love me.”
He stilled a second and Kaya wondered if she’d just made a mistake. After all, who wanted to be saddled with a dying girlfriend?
Then he moved his free hand to her cheek and hope started to gather in her chest. His voice was fierce yet tender when he said, “Damn straight I love you. So get your sexy ass well so I can show you how much.”
Chapter Sixteen
Sy hadn’t planned to tell Kaya that he loved her yet, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself.
The few seconds between getting the words out and waiting for Kaya’s response were some of the longest seconds of his life. Then Kaya let out a sigh and said, “Sy. Kiss me.”
He hated how weak she sounded. Again, his inner cougar wanted to do something, anything, to save her and he had to stroke his cat to calm him down. Then Sy leaned down and stopped a hairbreadth from her lips. “Tell me, Kaya-love. I want to hear it.”
He stared into her eyes, but she never looked away. No, his wolf-shifter would never shy away from him, which was another reason he loved her.
The heat of her breath danced along his lips as she whispered, “I love you, Sylas.”
He growled and kissed her. He should be gentle, but the instant his lips touched hers, something snapped inside of him.
Not that Kaya minded as she opened her mouth and let his tongue stroke hers. Distracted by the silky heat of her mouth, it took him a second to realize her mouth was too hot, way too hot.
Because she had a fever.
No. You need to take care of her. He reluctantly retreated, kissed her lips, and then laid his forehead against hers. “What can I do to help you, love?”
In a second, he felt a hand in his hair. Sy rubbed a hand up and down Kaya’s arm and she said, “Visit Kevin Howard and see what you can find out.”
His hand stilled on her arm and he gave her a light squeeze. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“You must, for our clan.”
For our clan. Her words sent a thrill through his body. Kaya already believed he was part of GreyFire now.
He lifted his head so he could look into her beautiful brown eyes. “Only if you promise me you’ll try your damnedest to stay alive. I don’t want to come back and find you gone.”
She gave a weak smile. “Are you really going to question my stubbornness?”
He chuckled. “Of course not.” He kissed her nose. “And I promise if there’s no progress on a cure in two days, I’ll see you get the transfusion. Provided our blood types are compatible, I’ll give you my own. Then you’ll always have my blood running through your veins.”
Kaya blinked her eyes and then cleared her throat. “Sylas Murray, you can be romantic when you try.”
He grinned. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
She laughed and a rush of happiness shot through his body. How had he ever left this female in the first place? He’d been a fucking idiot, that’s for sure.
This time he wasn’t letting her go. He very much looked forward to her being whole and healthy again so he could show her how much she meant to him with his lips, his hands, and his cock. While he’d like a week, he’d have to make do with less until GreyFire was back on its feet again.
Sy gave her one last quick kiss and then forced himself to stand up. Brushing a few strands of hair off Kaya’s forehead, he said, “I love you, Kaya Alexie, and you’d better fucking be alive when I come back.”
She never broke eye contact. “And you’d better be ready for a mate when you get back, because I’m not letting you go.”
Sy’s heart skipped a beat. “A mate?”
A bit of her confidence faltered. “Unless you don’t want me.”
So Kaya was initiating the mate claim. His inner cat rumbled in approval. “Of course I want you.” He cupped her cheek. “And this time, I’m here for the long haul.”
The happiness in her eyes reached all the ways to his heart. “Good. Now kiss me and get the fuck out of here.”
He laughed. Then he leaned over, gave her a slow, lingering kiss, and stood up. “I’ll be back, Kaya-love. But if you need something to think about while you’re stuck in bed, then try to imagine the roughest, hardest sex of your life because that’s what I plan to do to you once you’re well.”
She blinked. “Okay.”
He grinned, gave her hand a squeeze, and with great effort, forced himself to turn and walk out the door. Don’t worry. Her stubborn ass will stay alive for you, Murray. He sure as hell hoped so.
Once in the hall, he switched his mind into work mode and double-checked that it was just Erika and the two doctors before he said, “I’m going to pay Kevin Howard a visit. Can you arrange for someone to meet me outside the hidden entrance to take me to his location?”
Erika nodded. “Sure. But technically, with Kaya ill, you’re in charge. We really should make an announcement.”
Sy shook his head. “Not yet. Kaya is still able to make decisions if need be and the transfer of power might cause more problems than the clan can handle right now.”
Erika studied him for a second and then said, “I may have been wrong about you.”
“So we can quit all this questioning me bullshit from now on?”
“I’ll try, but if it’s something I think could harm Kaya, I may call you out on it.”
His cougar growled at the idea of hurting Kaya. “Since hurting her is the last thing I ever want to do, I don’t think it’s necessary. But if I slip, then by all means, call me out on it.”
Erika put out a hand and Sy took it. After shaking, he released her hand and tapped his cell phone in his pocket. “Keep me in contact. If anything, and I mean anything, goes wrong wi
th Kaya, call me so I can come straight back.”
The female wolf-shifter nodded. “And let me know if you get anything new out of the traitor.”
Sy’s cougar approved of the venom in Erika’s voice. “Oh, I’ll get him to talk. Any man who hurts the woman I love will damn well learn his lesson.”
With that, he turned and headed toward the secret entrance.
~~~
An hour later, after driving to the edge of GreyFire’s land, Sy entered the sentry shelter serving as a holding pen. The two DarkStalker cougars, Ginnie and Matt, nodded to him in greeting, and then Sy looked into the blue eyes of the wolf-shifter who had turned traitor.
The wolf had a bruise on one of his cheeks, and despite Sy’s intentions to remain calm, his cougar chirped in approval. The bastard deserved so much more.
He was careful to keep his expression neutral. For now, he needed to observe and assess Howard before he could decide how to interrogate him. His time in the army had taught him there were many techniques he could employ from the Army Field Manual without committing torture.
While he knew Matt had slugged Howard in self-defense earlier, it would be too easy for Sy to release his anger by beating the shit of the male who’d hurt Kaya.
Still, he was better than that. No matter how much he hated the wolf for his role in making Kaya sick, he wouldn’t torture him.
He kept his voice level as he said to Howard, “You and I are about to have a conversation.” He glanced at his—now former?—clan members and said, “Join the two wolves outside and wait for me.”
Used to taking orders from him, they nodded. Once the door clicked closed behind them, Sy trained his green-eyed gaze on Howard and decided to start with attacking the wolf-shifter’s ego and pride to see how he reacted. “I’ve never met a shifter with such self-hatred of being a shifter that he’d try to eradicate an entire clan just to gain some human’s acceptance.”
Howard growled. “I don’t care about any human’s acceptance.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Then you seriously need to let your loss of the clan leader position to Kaya go. It’s been three years, buddy.”
Howard’s eyes widened just a fraction, but Sy had been paying close enough attention to catch it. Howard’s voice remained calm when he answered, “I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
Sy took the wooden chair from the nearby desk, turned it around, and sat in it backwards. “So if I brought in the two GreyFire wolves who accompanied me here, they would say you never wanted to be clan leader?”
Howard stared at him, and Sy stared back. Not saying anything was an effective strategy.
After about a minute, Howard finally said, “What do you want?”
“Well, for starters, where to find the cure. Threats about bringing in sick wolves doesn’t seem to faze you, so somehow you’re immune and I’d like to know how.”
“Sure. And then you’d magically let me go.” He gave a strangled laugh. “No, I want a guarantee for my safety and an assurance of escape before I even consider helping you.”
Sy raised an eyebrow. “And where would you run to? My brother is all set to release your name, photograph, and a summary of your betrayal to every clan on the planet; no clan will take you in. If anything, they might kill you for betraying your kind. Add that to the human enforcers from the Shifter Department of Justice being on the lookout for you, and face it, Howard, you’re fucked.”
“Then why help you at all?”
Sy leaned forward. “Because there is a whole pack of wolves ready to mete out the old brand of shifter-style justice; I can at least guarantee you’ll live long enough to be handed over to the human authorities.”
“And why would you do that? You don’t seem like the compassionate type.”
“Because, wolf, I’d much rather have you rot in jail for the next five or six decades. Death is too easy an out.”
Howard fell quiet for a minute to consider his words. Sy recognized the instant when the man realized his circumstances and what his chances were at escaping a brutal shifter-style death. Shifters may be civilized now, but it hadn’t always been that way. Old-style justice meant slowly being torn to pieces.
Finally, Howard said, “I’m supposed to take a cougar’s word because why?”
Sy relaxed his forearms on the chair’s back and fought the urge to throw the wolf-shifter across the room. “Kaya declared a power share with me. I’m your new clan leader, asshole, so my word is the only one that matters right now.”
To the wolf’s credit, Howard didn’t just take him at his word and he actually looked rather unconvinced. But Howard was teetering, and with a little more proof of Sy’s position and words, the wolf-shifter might just accept his fate and cooperate.
He might be able to save Kaya.
Sy whipped out his cell phone and dialed Erika. When she picked up, he said, “Are you alone?”
“For now, yes. I’m in the hallway. Did you find out anything?”
He switched his cell to speakerphone even though Howard could probably hear the conversation anyway and said, “Erika, tell Howard here who is technically in charge of GreyFire now.”
Erika paused a beat, but thankfully her mind was quick and she trusted him enough to answer, “You are. Kaya declared a power share with you.”
“Thanks, that’s all I need to know.”
He clicked off the phone and looked Howard right in the eye. “Your fate is in my hands, Kevin Howard. So how about we try this again?”
Howard remained silent. Sy extend his claws on one hand and said, “Or, as clan leader, I might take up my right to challenge you to a fight in shifter form.” He extended his claws on his other hand. “And a single wolf against a cougar doesn’t stand a chance.”
Howard said, “Killing me won’t help you.”
“I said nothing about killing. But you can A) cooperate and go to jail, B) I can humiliate your ass first, and then you can go to jail, or C) I just say fuck it and let the wolves have you. Which will it be?”
“And how is jail supposed to protect me from Markgen? You have no idea what you’re meddling with, cougar.”
Sy’s patience was getting short. He stood up and stared down at the wolf, letting his cougar show in his eyes. “You do realize that unless we find a cure, Markgen can blackmail any canine-shifter pack in the world, right? Is your bruised ego really worth it? You can either be the traitor who eventually helped protect the world’s canine-shifters, or you can be the traitor who threatened, and possibly killed, them all. That’s quite a legacy to leave behind for you and any family you have.”
Sy hoped his tactic paid off. Playing to the wolf-shifter’s ego seemed to be the only thing that worked with him, at least, so far.
He never broke Howard’s blue-eyed gaze. The instant Sy saw a flash of defeat he knew he had him.
Howard said, “I have a condition first.”
Sy raised an eyebrow. “Are you really in a position to make demands?”
Narrowing his eyes, Howard spat out, “Even if you toss me to the wolves and they rip me to pieces, if I don’t talk first, most everyone here will die without a cure. I’d say it’s fair to give me something in return.”
The wolf didn’t deserve shit, but Sy could at least humor the male. If he lied, Sy would talk with the Shifter Department of Justice about a harsher punishment. “I can’t promise anything, but what do you want?”
Howard sat up as straight as he could with his hands tied behind his back. “I want to be imprisoned with the DarkStalker cougars rather than a human-run shifter jail.”
He could see why the man would ask for that. As soon as word got out about why Howard was in prison, he was as good as dead. Nothing the humans did to ensure his safety would be enough for any pissed off shifter hell-bent on revenge. Even if no one in his future jail had relations in the Cascade Mountains, canine-shifters tended to look out for one another.
A very small part of him liked that idea, but he pushed it as
ide. Sy meant what he had said earlier about death being too easy a sentence for the wolf-shifter who had put Kaya’s life in danger.
Besides, agreeing might give Howard more of an incentive to tell the truth. “Provided both DarkStalker and the Shifter Department of Justice agree, then it may be possible.”
Howard said, “I want you to call your brother now and find out.”
The urge to punch the wolf-shifter in the face grew stronger. “Not until you give me something first, as a down payment of good faith.”
The wolf-shifter shook his head. “No. I give you anything, and you’ll just keep at me until I give it all up. Now, call your brother.”
Sy studied the man for a second and decided he was done with the negotiating bullshit. He stood up and said, “I’ve been patient, but I no longer have time for your shit.” He made his way to the door and placed his hand on the doorknob. “Previously, the wolves had their orders not to harm you, but I’m going to rescind that order and let them back in here. I’m sure they can think of ways to make you talk, especially since their wolves are probably itching to draw blood.”
Sy turned the doorknob, opened the door, and shouted, “Any shifters out here want to take their turn with the traitor, with no rules or restrictions on how you extract information?”
All four shifters outside, two cougars and two wolves, shouted, “Yes,” before they rushed inside the shelter.
As they surrounded Howard, Sy said, “Let me know when he talks.”
The instant he stepped a foot outside the shelter, Howard screamed and then said, “Wait.”
He resisted a smile and turned back toward the wolf-shifter, who now had a red claw mark across his cheek. “Yes?”
“If you took my briefcase from the apartment, there’s a hidden pouch with a tiny vial of clear liquid. That was my back-up vial in case the one I received didn’t work.”
He raised an eyebrow and kept his feelings tightly in control. He didn’t want to get his hopes up too early. “You just happen to have an extra vial of the cure laying around?”
Reclaiming the Wolf (Cascade Shifters Book 1) Page 14