by Casey Lane
The edge of the reservation came into sight, and the scent of blood on the air made his knees weaken for a moment before he pressed on.
A couple of creatures were toying with a handful of his pack in the wide yard in front of his sister’s home. The stink of vampire came to his nose and a hitherto unknown energy fueled him. He waded into the fight with a ferocity that lay at odds with his nature.
The vamps had learned to keep out of the wolves’ reach, hovering in the air beyond the leap of the wolves. Nevertheless, Raven jumped on powerful hind legs and snapped at their heels.
“Ooh, another puppy has come to play. Look, Erick.” The female vampire landed lightly on Raven’s back, cuffed him in the head and sent him tumbling.
“He’s not mated. He’s no one. Leave the boy alone, Debra. We have more important things to handle this time out.”
Raven rolled to a stop and rose, shook his head, his ears ringing. He glared at the two vampires above him, but they were watching the house. They dropped lower to the ground as they focused.
The male let out a whoop. “Veronique has the prizes! Let’s go, Deb. It’s a long way back to the Boss, and Los Angeles. These need to stay alive.” The vamp named Erick rose once more, as another one streaked out of the house, holding a bundle hard against its chest, and rose into the sky.
A cry of desperation straight from the heart rang out on the night air. Raven’s fur stood on end. In a rage, he leaped up and caught the female vampire’s foot in his massive jaws, clamped down and shook her, hard.
She screeched, kicked out with her other foot. Raven hung on, his vision blurring. His feet left the ground as she rose, higher. She shook and struggled against him, until finally she connected a vicious kick to his jaw and he was falling, falling. He tumbled and rolled through the air, landing with a thud.
All he could do was watch as the three vampires streaked through the air, vanishing into the darkness.
Bleeding from his nose and one ear, Raven struggled to his feet. No bones were broken that he could tell, but he would be damned sore when he changed back into his human body.
Limping slightly, he checked the other wolves. Their injuries were slight, as were his. They went to his sister’s house, alert for another raid.
Lisette lay in bed, her belly gaping open, blood everywhere, the pups she had been carrying gone.
Raven changed shape and knelt at her side, heart-stricken. Held her hand and blinked back tears.
She licked her lips. “My babies. Rave, my babies. Save them.”
“I…”
Her eyes glazed over and her body just…stopped.
Raven’s blood turned to ice. “I will exact revenge, I swear. Lisette.”
Andre, his Alpha, changed shape and knelt beside her. “We had no warning. Nothing.” The man glared at Raven. “Where the hell were you? Where is her mate, Joshua? Why weren’t you with her?”
I was running the hills…trying to escape my life…
Raven sat up in bed with a gasp, his heart racing as he relived the worst night of his life. Someone had been in his mind, watching his nightmare as he relived it.
A murmur at his side had him fully back in the present. He glanced down, and his imagination fired up at the sight of the pale, naked woman curled around him.
He feasted his eyes on her. Waist-long, pale blonde hair. Plump, kissable mouth, currently set in a bit of a pout. Sturdy hands that he recognized. Calmer, he lay down again. She moved back to him, her hand settling gently over his heart. She let out a faint sigh.
She was the one in his mind just now. She had kept him alive, for uncounted hours. When he had found himself weak and weary, from both poison and rage, she had slipped her hand into his, her mind into his, and brought him back. Again and again.
She’d left his side, but rarely and not for long. And when she wasn’t there physically, she had made an effort to keep in touch mentally, which had been absurdly reassuring.
He didn’t know how to react. He’d never shared his dreams before, and it pissed him off. Set him on edge. It felt like a violation, and yet she hadn’t done anything but witness the tragedy.
Raven knew when she woke. Her hand lifted to his forehead. He didn’t move, just lay there, though he was sure she knew he was awake.
She left the bed, left him alone. She made some rustling sounds, then the door opened and shut behind her.
He opened his eyes, surprised to find himself in a female’s bedroom, one of sumptuous fabrics and, he guessed, colors, though the room was dim. The bed was large, the room larger. A closet lined one wall, a cozy reading nook in a corner, but the main attraction was a wall full of windows, drapes hiding the city below, light seeping around the edges but leaving the room in shadow. So it was daylight.
How the hell did he arrive here, of all places? And where exactly was here?
He tucked his hands behind his head and concentrated on centering himself. Slow deep breaths brought her scent to him, one of flowers and sunshine and warmth. Clean and fresh.
His heart hitched, bringing a scowl to his face. Raven sat up and stretched, feeling a residual weakness still swimming in his body. Damn it; he needed answers.
As if on cue, the door opened, and the woman entered, bearing two cups. Her eyes widened when she saw him sitting up. The scent of coffee reached him.
“How are you?”
Her voice matched her mental voice, musical, soothing. “I’m alive. I assume that’s thanks to you.”
She set his cup on the side table. “Coffee.” She went to sit on the chair in the corner and cradled her cup. “My name is Megan Cavanaugh. You found your way up here three nights ago, shot full of wolfsbane. You should be dead.”
Her silver-gray eyes met his, her appraisal as much the doctor as the woman.
Raven piled the pillows behind him, leaned back, and sipped the coffee as he took in this new information. So he had found the right place. She didn’t look like a murderer. She didn’t smell like one, and the only wolf scent in the room was his. Which didn’t mean anything.
She sat back, crossed her legs, and sipped from her cup. “Do you remember why you came to me?”
“You haven’t already taken that information from my mind?” It came out sharper than he expected.
She flushed. “I apologize for my intrusion into your dream this morning. It was inadvertent, I can assure you.”
“But you don’t apologize for being curled up next to me?” He goaded.
Humor lit her eyes then, and her face changed, became open. “Yesterday, you shifted to wolf form in your sleep. You were brought up here to my apartments because it didn’t seem a good idea to keep a wolf in a people hospital.” She sent him a wide smile full of relief. “That’s when I knew you had turned the corner and would survive. When I came to bed last night, you were in here, as a wolf. When I woke, you were a man.”
Raven kept his gaze impassive, but internally he frowned. He sensed nothing but honesty from her. Honesty, and attraction.
An attraction he couldn’t afford, and wouldn’t be good for her.
“I don’t know why you came here, and I don’t know who wanted to kill you," she continued. "But I have reached out to my contacts, and the local pack here doesn’t recognize you. Please. How can we help you?”
His belly rumbled. “Food would be good. My clothes would also be good.”
“I can do food, and your clothes are in the dryer. They should be ready before breakfast. Our guests will be here in a couple of hours.”
His guard went up. “Guests?”
“A couple tribreds, and the local Alpha.”
He frowned. “Tribreds?”
“Demon, human, and Fae blood. They’re the good guys. There aren’t many of them, but the Caine clan are the guardians of the greater Los Angeles area.”
“I see.” He didn’t, but there was no need to tell her that. “What day is it?”
“A Saturday,” she said briskly. "I have the next couple of days off
, so can work with you to find out who would do this to you.”
“You don't mention what you saw in my dream.”
She held his gaze. “That is your story to tell, not mine. When you are ready, the right people will be here to help.” She got to her feet, and to his surprise, she was shorter than he thought. “I’ll go make you breakfast. Feel free to take a shower, through there,” and she indicated a doorway. “I’ll bring your clothes when they’re dry.”
Megan went about scrambling eggs and frying bacon with divided attention. She needed to ask the hard questions but had found herself drawn back again and again to his dream.
The field. The wolves, limping and snarling below the vampires, hanging just out of their reach. The scent of violence on the wind.
She shivered and barely saved the bacon from burning, moving it hastily to a paper towel-covered plate.
The rage and determination that had welled up in him as he ran the hills. If she’d come across him in the street, that rage would have slapped at her from a hundred yards away, which meant anyone with any sensitivity would have felt it, as well.
But who…
The toast popped up, and with an expert hand, she transferred eggs, toast, and bacon to two plates and put them on the bar. She poured juice and added silverware just as she heard her bedroom door open.
When he came around the corner, she took a swift breath.
He was gorgeous in person, more so than he had been in her dreams. Reddish-brown skin, those amazing teal-blue eyes, all that black hair, not to mention a body that filled out the jeans and white t-shirt to perfection.
She knew he was all muscle. She’d had those muscles under her hands, had been cuddled up next to that bare skin, the warmth and strength of those muscles, for hours. Fighting down a blush, she motioned. “Have a seat. Would you like more coffee?”
“No, thank you.”
His voice rumbled through her. She took a sharp breath and turned, needing the moment to get her face in order. She grabbed a couple of napkins and rounded the bar to the seat he’d left open for her and handed him a napkin.
They ate in silence, Megan unsure of what to say and the wolf apparently at ease enough to not need to chatter. Her hormones hungered for the man next to her.
By the time they finished eating, she’d almost regained control. She cleared their plates and waved him to the couch. Poured another cup of coffee before she joined him.
“Before we go further, may I have your name?”
“Raven Malick. I’m a doctor, from the Flagstaff area in Arizona.”
“A doctor.” She cradled her coffee cup. “I am sorry about your sister and her babies.”
“I need answers. I thought you had those answers.” His gaze was brutally direct, so she could not mistake his meaning.
Pain exploded in her chest, and she put her coffee down, breathed deeply. Absorbed the pain he shot at her, however inadvertently.
Aware of his puzzlement, she straightened. “You have power, Raven. It caught me off guard. You thought I…wanted your sister’s children. Why?”
He drew a hand across his face, and something like shame showed briefly in his eyes. “All I had was the location. Los Angeles. I didn’t want to come out here until I had a name.”
“And you got my name?” Illogically, the thought hurt, almost more than the power he’d shot at her. “I’ve helped the werewolves in this city. Not that they need me, not often. Wolves are fairly good at healing themselves. They have pack doctors.”
Raven lifted his head, sniffed. Frowned. “You keep company with a vampire. Don’t deny it. I can smell him. Maybe you should tell me about yourself.”
She understood that for the command it was. “I’m a full-blooded Fae. My father ran this hospital for those not entirely human for several decades. I…he gave it to me about a decade ago.”
“And the children’s clinic?”
Megan flinched at the hard edge of his voice. “I saw a need. Lots of immigrants are in Los Angeles. With the way things are going politically, I thought I should do what I could to help.” She shrugged. “The clinic has helped the community.”
“And the vampire?”
His anger slashed at her, and she curled in on the pain.
“Please. Guard your emotions.” She put her hands over her heart and straightened slowly. “I am too open to deal with your pain. Your anger.”
He frowned. “You’re an empath. A Fae empath doctor. Good gods.”
“My empathy is what makes me a good doctor.” She stopped, shook her head. “Let’s change the subject.” She took a shaky breath. “Regarding the vampire you scent, yes. He lives in the basement of this building, had been a friend of my father’s. He has been here as my security manager since I took over. This building is less than a year old.”
“You know what the vampires did to my sister.” His tone was just a shade off of accusing.
She lifted her chin and met his gaze head on. “Yes.”
Her cell phone rang, and she answered. “Hello? Okay. I’ll unlock the elevator.” After hanging up, she walked to the elevator, pressed a couple of buttons on a security panel. “They’re coming up,” she said over her shoulder.
She needed just a minute to regain her composure before facing him again. Maybe the empathic part of her was what her father disliked so much? But it made her a better doctor. Didn’t it?
The elevator dinged, and she took a breath. The doors opened, and Gregor walked through, with a man who had tawny eyes and a thick plait down his back.
“Gentlemen, welcome.” She put her hands together and gave a slight bow.
“Megan Cavanaugh, I’d like you to meet Danny Roush, the Alpha of the Santa Monica Mountains Preserve pack.”
Danny put his hands together and gave her a similar bow. “Thank you for welcoming me into your home.”
“Thank you for agreeing to talk to my patient.” She led the way into the living room. Raven stood, and she made the introductions.
“Would anyone like coffee? Water? No? Then please take a seat.”
Megan chose to sit next to Raven. The other two took chairs opposite them. “So, can you help?”
Danny’s eyes turned to molten gold as he took the other wolf’s measure. “I would like to know what brought you here.”
Megan was aware of Raven’s gaze on her, but she didn’t volunteer any information.
“I am looking for a pack of vampires. My sister had her cubs taken from her womb, just a couple weeks before she would have delivered. She died on our reservation in Arizona.” Raven laid out the information starkly.
The shock of his revelation showed in the faces of the other two.
“Why?” The word burst out of Gregor Caine.
“I’m afraid I know.” At Danny’s words, everyone focused on him.
“I don’t have concrete answers, but this year has been good to our pack. We had several women conceive.” He took a deep breath. “Unfortunately, two of our women have had their pups ripped from their womb, much like what happened to your sister.” He cast a quick glance at Megan. “They lived. Our doctors felt they could handle the healing.
Megan shielded herself as quickly as she possibly could, and felt his pain anyway. “I understand.”
Raven sat forward. “Why? You said you knew. But why? Why our children?”
Danny spread his hands wide. “We are not sure, but we have a guess. The vampires were overheard talking about taking DNA from wolf children. It didn’t make sense to us, though. What would vampires want with wolvenkind?”
“The ones I heard said the boss was in Los Angeles.” Raven crossed his arms. “Lots of medical institutions here.”
“You can’t honestly think that one of the prominent medical institutions in California would have anything to do with vampires. Can you?” Megan looked from one man to another, seeing only blank faces. “Oh, come on.”
“There’s a lot to research.” Gregor shrugged. “Not all humans are good. You
know this, Megan.”
“Yes, but not all humans are bad, either,” she protested.
“What about vampires? Are all vampires bad?”
At Raven’s question, they stopped and glanced her way.
“I don’t know how to begin to answer that question. Damn it,” she fumed. “I know one vampire. One. Okay? And I know nothing about his feeding habits, other than he likes wine.”
Gregor snorted.
“Maybe we should get answers from your one vampire.” Raven cocked his head in her direction. “Unless you have a problem with that.”
She sighed. “It’s daylight. Derek won’t be out until full dark. So yes, great idea, but not something we can do at this point.”
Gregor turned to Danny. “You didn’t tell us about your losses.”
A flush rose on his cheeks. “There are a few elders who were not happy when our pack joined forces with you Caines a couple of years ago. Keeping them happy while still reaching out is proving to be tricky.”
“I understand.” Gregor leaned back in his seat. “It’s especially difficult when the history of the clan gets lost. That’s what we’re facing, by the way,” he added.
Megan leaned forward. “I know we need to figure out what happened to Lisette’s babies. And to the ones lost from your pack,” she added, nodding to Danny. “But what concerns me is that Raven was attacked in my hospital. My territory. That is not normal.”
“Do you know when you were hit?” Danny glanced toward Raven.
Raven folded his arms. “No. I do know I felt fine when I left my car and went to the side door. Not the clinic door, that one was barred. The side door, however, was unlocked. It was a simple matter to walk in, go to the elevator, and punch the button for the fifth floor.”
Megan frowned. “But…that button doesn’t exist, not really. I mean of course it does, but there’s a spell on it. Most people don’t notice it, and if they do, they never question it. Or push it, for that matter.” She shook her head, convinced he couldn’t have seen the button. "You saw that I had to push buttons on the panel up here to allow them to take the elevator up."