“Where the hell did you take her?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sam instinctively stepped in front of Glenna, blocking her from entering the kitchen. The atmosphere was almost sparking from Lana’s anger, and his wolf rose, ready to defend.
“You!” Lana came towards him, shaking her finger like it was a weapon. “I leave you with one job. Take care of a woman who almost died. An invalid. Feed her, talk to her. Let her sleep. That’s all you had to do. And what do I come home to find?”
This was doing nothing to calm his wolf, but Lana was the leader here. She was small, and not a shifter, but she was in charge. He had to maintain his cool. “Lana, I—”
“I come home from staying up practically two days with no sleep to find my patient gone. No note. No idea where she went, or if she was okay.”
“She’s fine.”
“And how would you know? Are you a doctor?” Lana had reached him. He pressed back against the door, away from the threatening finger just below his nose.
A growl rose in the back of his throat and he choked it down. “No, I—”
“No, you’re not.”
Glenna poked her head around his shoulder. “I’m fine, Lana, just tired.”
“There’s my patient. Finally.” She glared at Sam, and then switched her focus to Glenna. Her frown grew fiercer as she fussed at Glenna. “You need rest, not to be out all night.” She turned back to Sam. “You know better. I get home after spending all night delivering babies...baby.” She stopped. Tension suddenly drained from her body and she wavered on her feet.
“Lana, you’re shaking.” He stretched out his hand, but Glenna had already pulled the petite doctor into a chair.
“Was it bad?” she asked.
“Yes.” Lana’s skin seemed stretched over her face. “It was twins, and one didn’t live long. I’m not a pediatrician, I’m a GP. There’s a lot I can do, but someone else should have been there.” Slow tears began to slide down her cheek and she sank her face into her hands. Her next words were muffled. “She should have been in a hospital.”
“Where was her doctor? Why did they call you in the first place?” He took off his jacket and hung it up on a hook.
“They’re at Windy Gap.” Ian came into the kitchen from the back hall. He lifted his face, sniffing at the air and swiveling his head around to stare at Glenna. Sam’s wolf rose. His first instinct was to get between Glenna and his partner and drive the other man away. Then Ian seemed to shake himself off. He spoke, his face grim. “Sam, there’s a fire.”
Fire.
The acid taste of bile rose into his throat, followed fast by panic. Gabe, Serena, his folks, everyone he loved was at Windy Gap.
“How bad is it? Are they—” He couldn’t finish.
“They’ve evacuated the ranch, but the fire’s still moving in their direction.”
He went for his jacket. “Why, the fuck did no one call?”
“It happened fast, and we’re on quiet mode with her here.” Ian gestured to Glenna, hovering next to Lana’s chair. “I guess they thought we knew.”
“Damn it! We were at Ridge School tonight and no one said a fucking word. They must have known.”
“They knew.” Ian gave him a sympathetic look. “Alastair should have told you.”
“He would have told me if I hadn’t....”
If he hadn’t been growling at the spelltalker from the moment he’d stepped into the school. If he hadn’t been so riled up by Glenna. If he’d had his head in the game, Alastair would have had no choice but to fill him in. Instead he’d kept it all to himself, making sure Sam would stay on task. The manipulative son of a bitch.
And why had Alastair set him off so completely anyway? He wasn’t a shifter. He couldn’t have smelled Glenna’s sexy change scent. He shook his head. None of this mattered now—he had to get to his pack.
“Hadn’t what, Sam?” Lana frowned. She was too sensitive by far for someone who was a dormant. If he wasn’t careful she’d pick up on how thin his control actually was.
He pulled his coat on. “I didn’t hang around for small talk after we found the kid.” He’d wanted to get back to Glenna and it had blinded him to everything else. She was screwing up his life, screwing up his head. But now he had a job to do. “Ian, you’re on point.” He headed for the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Lana’s sharp question stopped him before he’d taken more than a step.
“Windy Gap will need every hand they can get. You’ve got Ian.” He gestured at his partner.
“They’ve got every doctor and medic from Ram’s Haven, and damn near every enforcer in the state. You’re staying here.”
The raw tension singing in his veins throbbed. “I’m needed there.” It came out as a guttural growl and he moved fast across the kitchen, using his bulk and muscle to loom over Lana. Ian moved towards him, almost but not quite challenging him, but Sam didn’t budge.
“You’re needed here. It’s not your decision.” Lana stayed in her chair, her eyes flashing authority.
“It’s my home.”
“Not any longer.”
The hairs on Sam’s skin lifted. He ruthlessly pushed the shift down deep. He was not going to lose control in front of Lana or Ian. They’d have him locked up in a second if they thought he was a threat.
“Sam, they don’t want you there. You’re a loose cannon.” He could hear the stress in the beta’s voice, the underlying entreaty not to do something stupid.
The only sound in the quiet room became his harsh, panting breaths and the tick of the clock as he struggled to for control. “But they’re my pack.” His pack, his family, his twin.
“No. They’re not. Not anymore.” Lana stood up, easing around to get out from under his still aggressive stance next to her chair. “We are. And we need you here.”
His aggression died so suddenly his knees went weak.
His pack didn’t want him. Of course they didn’t. He’d nearly killed Gabe, forced a mating bond, and gone crazy with the grief. Who would want him? He stumbled into the chair Lana had vacated.
He’d stay here. He’d stay with his new pack. Even though his wolf’s heart was still with the old one, he had nowhere else to go.
“You’re right.”
There was an almost palpable rush of relief in the kitchen.
“Why did you take her with you?” Lana’s voice was soft now, as if she didn’t want to wake his slumbering wolf. “What went down at Ridge School?”
He swallowed hard. “I took her because you said not to leave her alone and I had to go. School was in an uproar and Alastair called here for help. Said no one else was available but he didn’t explain why. Shit!” He slammed his hands on the table, not even feeling the sting. This time the anger shot through him fast and hard. His wolf responded, pushing to get out and take out the enemy. “Alastair had to have known Windy Gap was on fire when he called and he didn’t even tell me then. Fucker is smooth.”
Lana flinched. Damn, he’d forgotten Alastair was her cousin, but right now, he didn’t care. “He lied to me, Lana, told me he didn’t know what was up. I should have smelled the lie on him.”
If Alastair hadn’t honed in on Glenna like she was a bottle of fine scotch and he was thirsty, he wouldn’t have noticed. His wolf had wanted to take Alastair on. Over a too-skinny woman he’d just met, who hadn’t even gone through her first change and wasn’t committed to the pack. Christ. His wolf sure could pick ‘em. Thank God he wasn’t too far gone and this time he could see the danger.
He growled.
“Work it off, Sam.” Lana stared him down. “You do a quick patrol of the perimeter. I’m headed to bed. Anything strange, wake me up.”
Sam smothered his rage. He had to. This was his last shot at a pack. Without Ram’s Haven taking him in and giving him a chance, he’d be running wild, lost.
“Yes, ma’am.” He walked past Glenna without looking at her, and went out on to the porch. He had to keep
his cool before he did anything reckless.
Chapter Twenty-three
Sam worked the perimeter, letting the rhythm of the job calm him down. He stayed out much longer than he had to, double and triple checking the boundaries. Making sure he was back in control.
Afterwards, he grabbed some coffee and took it out on the deck. He scanned the horizon in the direction of Windy Gap. There was a slight odor of smoke on the air, working its way across the mountains despite the more than one hundred and fifty miles between the two. He wanted to howl his misery to the sky—Windy Gap was on fire and he was held here, useless.
The door behind him creaked open. He smelled sex and citrus and knew who it was without even turning around. “Can’t sleep?”
“I got a few in while you were gone last night.” She took up a spot leaning on the rail next to him. “Besides, my sleep patterns are all off. I appear to be a cat-napper now.” She grinned at him, but he didn’t see much humor in her face.
“It’s the change. You’ll be back to normal once your body’s figured out what you’re doing.”
They stood and stared at the view. He wanted her to go away, leave him and his wolf in peace, but he couldn’t open his mouth to tell her.
She’d started the change. They’d know soon where she’d fit in the Packs. He knew it was stupid to wish she’d be a shifter and that she’d give him a chance. He didn’t have good luck with women. His luck sucked, period.
“I guess we’re in the same boat.” Glenna’s voice was low.
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t go to my family either.” She stared out past the mountain view as if seeing something else. “They think I’m dead. I know I’m not.”
He looked at her face. She looked better today, stronger. Something had changed between last night and this morning. Maybe, she was accepting the truth—that she could never go home. That her life had changed forever. She even looked like she’d put on a few pounds, despite the fact that she continued to resist eating what he knew she needed. The bones in her face were still prominent, but today he could see the beauty that lay along them. A few weeks more of rest, completing the change, and he and Alastair wouldn’t be the only ones sniffing around.
“Did you get any food?” He knew his voice was rough, but she didn’t seem to mind.
“No. If you want, I’ll cook some breakfast. I think it’s my turn.” Her smile this time was legit, and it warmed him like the sun, breaking loose something inside of him.
He smiled back. “That sounds good.”
“Okay.” She nodded and went back inside.
He took a deep breath. He could do this. He’d keep his wolf exhausted with running and he’d be able to stay in control. He’d been lucky. If Lana knew how close he’d been to the edge earlier, she’d have them lock him away.
Glenna brought out a full tray of breakfast and pointed to the picnic table under the giant pine tree. “I thought we’d eat out there.” She cast a furtive look over her shoulder at the house and lowered her voice. “It’s a nice morning, and this way we can talk without waking up Ian and Lana.”
“Lana driving you crazy?” He took the tray from her and carried it down the steps and over to the table.
“She acts like I can’t do anything. I’m a little tired, a little weak, but I feel fine.”
“You’re her only patient right now.” He set the tray down. “Usually she has two or three to fuss over.”
He helped her empty the tray of plates of bacon and eggs and thick slices of sourdough toast lavished with fresh butter, and they sat down on opposite sides of the wide planked picnic table. She’d also brought out a carafe of fresh coffee, and the smell of breakfast had his stomach rumbling.
“Well, I’m not a patient any more. Or at least I shouldn’t be.” She poured herself a cup. “How long do I stay here? What comes next?”
“I don’t know. We’ve never had someone like you before.”
“Never? Isn’t the virus contagious? I mean, the government says it’s out there.”
“It’s not. The feds are incompetent.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but the CDC’s mission is to protect us.”
“From what? We control the virus. There hasn’t been a case like yours for hundreds of years, maybe longer.”
“Well, apparently you aren’t doing a good enough job.” She took a bite of bacon and chewed for a while before asking, “How the hell did I get infected anyway?”
“I don’t know.” He took a moment to think. “The virus is passed from the bite of someone who has the fever. Only mating males and adolescents have active fevers and we keep the adolescents tightly controlled.”
“So some rabid guy ready to mate is running around infecting people?”
“No.” He put his fork down. “Only shifters get the fever, and it’s focused on their potential mates.” But his wolf riled up under the idea that someone else had a prior claim. “Unless you were dating a shifter?”
She snorted, choking on her coffee. “Um, no. Roger is anything but a wolf.” She wiped her face with a napkin and got the coughing under control. “You insist that the kids in the school are under wraps, despite last night’s adventure. Now you say it isn’t the only other option—a randy man running around biting strange women.”
“You don’t understand. The mating fever is different than the one you get when you change. It has to be stimulated by lying with a breeding mate, someone pack, who the male can bond with. It takes time.” He looked her right in the eye. “It takes sex.”
“I didn’t have sex with anyone other than Roger.”
He didn’t know who Roger was, but his wolf was ready to take the man down. He focused on breathing in the smell of his coffee. “No,” he said, a little calmer. “I don’t think he’s one of us. I know every wolf within a thousand miles, and I would have remembered a Roger. We keep track of our own.”
“Well, someone infected me. Unless I’m not infected?” Sudden hope lifted her voice. “I don’t have any symptoms. Maybe I never had it.”
“You had it. You were very sick for two weeks when we first brought you here.”
“But I’m feeling much better.”
“You’re showing symptoms of the change. Your appetite is up, you’re moody. You aren’t sleeping, yet you’re tired. And most of all—I can smell you, sugar, every delicious sexy drop.” He grinned at her sudden expression of horror and leaned over the table. He shouldn’t do this, shouldn’t push her buttons, but he couldn’t resist the temptation. “I told you last night, you smell of sex to my wolf, and that means you are racing with the change. I have no idea how long it will take, but it’s happening. And it’s happening fast.” With any luck it would be over and done with and he’d be moved on to another assignment. He could leave Glenna and her temptation behind, and focus on his new role in his new pack.
“But I don’t feel any different.”
“You have it. Trust me.”
She stiffened. “You said not everyone changes.”
“No.” He didn’t want to tell her this. She’d hang on to it, throw it back in their faces and then when the change came, she’d be crushed. “Not everyone changes, but with the way you’re pushing out pheromones, you will.”
She kept accusing eyes on him. She wasn’t going to let him off. “So what do the ones who don’t change do?”
“They’re our secret link to humanity,” he said. “They go out into society and blend in. They become doctors, lawyers, scientists. Like Lana.” He reached out across the table and stroked the bare skin of her arm. She flinched back. He resisted the urge to chase. “But, Glenna, they’re always denied the joy of running in the woods. And they don’t have the consolation prize of a dream wolf or special talents.”
“Maybe I won’t change. Maybe I can go home.” She began to eat again, hand moving faster to mouth. He stared at her cleaning her plate. For the first time since he’d met her she was gorging on her food, and she didn’t even
seem to notice. “Maybe that’s why I don’t feel any different.”
“Don’t lie to yourself. You were just telling me last night how different you feel.”
“But I don’t feel like a wolf, or anything more magical than that tree.” She pointed at a sturdy pine reaching its fat branches to the sky. “Look, I can wait a few weeks and see if I change, then I can go back. Tell everyone it was a mistake. I’m not dead, not sick.” A huge wide smile stretched across her face. “You said the dormants fit into society.”
“Glenna, you’re changing. Accept it.”
“I’m not one of you.” Desperation edged her voice. “I’m different, you said yourself. There’s never been a case like mine.”
“Even if you don’t change, the government knows who you are. They’re looking for you right now.”
“So?”
“Glenna, they’ll take you into captivity, they’ll run experiments on you. If it weren’t us holding you here, it would be the CDC keeping you in a locked room. I’m sorry, you’ll never be allowed home.”
She stood up and started viciously stacking dishes back on the tray. “Once they see I’m not contagious, they’ll let me go home. You’ll see.”
She picked up the loaded tray and walked back up the hill.
“Glenna,” he called, but she didn’t turn around.
She wasn’t listening. She had her own idea of what was about to happen. Thing was, while he felt sorry for her disappointment, he’d be disappointed if she were right. He shouldn’t want her, knew it was going to end badly for him. But as he watched the sway of her hips heading back to the cabin he knew he and his wolf agreed on one thing—she was damned sexy.
Chapter Twenty-four
Glenna left the dishes on the counter and ran down into her basement room, fighting tears of anger. She’d been so grateful to leave here last night. Now it was her only safe haven. She landed hard on the bed and curled up in a tight, hot ball.
She would not cry.
Blood Enforcer (Wolf Enforcers Book 2) Page 12