To Tempt the Wolf hotw-3

by Terry Spear

  He considered the picture of the lupus garou again. "Where did you get this photo?"

  "I took it in California. Right before he lunged at me."

  "When you were on that photo shoot for the magazine?" Rourke asked. "Hell, Tessa, I told you not to take the job, but--"

  "He looks just like the one that knocked Rourke out,"

  Tessa continued, ignoring Rourke's scolding. "But he couldn't be."

  Hunter lied, "They can all look the same." Well, to an untrained eye, they could. He and his kind easily distinguished the differences. A change in the colors of the masks, or the patterns of coloration on the body and head. Sometimes subtle between wolf siblings, but still anyone who observed them closely enough could see the difference. Personality-wise, they'd be totally dissimilar.

  "That's what I thought." Yet something in the way Tessa looked at him and her tone of voice, indicated she wasn't being totally honest with him either.

  He wanted to know what made her suspect he wasn't speaking the truth, or that he at least didn't understand the truth. She couldn't know this wolf was the same as the one she'd seen in California.

  But that he had followed her from California showed how determined he was to have her.

  "Have you seen the wolf that attacked us here before?" he asked.

  "In La Grande. I'm pretty sure. I took a photo of him, but he was turned sideways, and I didn't get a good shot of his face."

  "Has to be another wolf," Rourke said. "Don't you think, Hunter? That's a long ways for one to travel."

  "Yeah." Hunter knew better. When looking for mates, they'd travel for miles. "Do you have the photo?"

  She sighed. "Sure, but we need to take you to the doctor to see about your wound. The animal was probably rabid." She looked up at him, her eyes shimmering like emeralds awash in tears.

  Her upset cut straight into his soul. He didn't think a human had ever touched him the way she did. Although if he had much to do with them, he probably wasn't usually this beat up around them. He touched her face and would have leaned down to kiss her as she crouched in front of him, but his shoulder hurt so much, he couldn't bend if his life depended on it. She stood and helped him into the flannel shirt.

  Then she kissed his lips, her touch velvety soft, heating his chilled blood. "I'll find some blankets for you, but we need to make plans to get you to the clinic."

  He grasped her hand and squeezed tight. "I won't deny I'm bone weary, Tessa, but the animal didn't have a case of rabies. I'll be fine in a day or two."

  She glanced at Rourke as if looking for his support.

  "She's right, Hunter. That wound's pretty nasty. It's going to need some sutures."

  Hunter released Tessa's hand. "No." He closed his eyes and groaned as he tried to get comfortable. She hurried to help him stretch out on the sofa in front of the blazing fire. "Just make sure everything's locked up," he said. "If we drove in this icy snowstorm, we could run off a cliff."

  "We have to get to a doctor," Tessa whispered to Rourke.

  Hunter opened his eyes and scowled. Since when did his word not mean the law? "No! I'll be fine. I heal fast. Just let me sleep."

  Tessa brushed away tears and then rushed back down the hallway. He only realized then she had been fighting them all along. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but he didn't need doctors messing with him. Not that they would discover what he was. Thank heavens the lupus garou genetics precluded that. As a wolf, they had only wolf genes and as a human, human genetics. But he still didn't want anyone seeing how fast he healed. Although as bad as the bite was, it would be a couple of days, maybe more, before it healed properly.

  Rourke tried his phone, but shook his head. "Still no reception."

  Tessa returned with an armload of blankets, a pillow, and the other wolf photo.

  Hunter studied the two photos. Hell, it was the same lupus garou. "How long ago was this taken?"

  "A month ago."

  "Have you seen any wolves around here since then?"

  "I thought I'd... I've heard howling up north."

  "When?"

  "About a month ago. Well, the first time. I've heard it on and off since then."

  The bastard must have seen her at La Grande and tracked her here. Had he caught a whiff of her? Her special scent that ignited his own cravings?

  Or had he taken objection to her photographing him? The fact he was rolling in her sheets meant he wanted her. He was taking her scent back to his wolf mates, declaring she was his and no one else's.

  "I thought maybe he'd been owned before." She pulled the soft blue blanket up to Hunter's chin.

  "Owned before?"

  "Yeah. He doesn't act like a normal wolf. Well, I mean he does, with the snarling and chasing and all. But--he stares me down like he's trying to remember a past life, like maybe he was once someone's pet and I look like the owner, or something." She gave Hunter a couple of pills.

  Rourke shook his head. "No way was that wild animal someone's pet, unless he already ate his owners."

  Hunter gave him an annoyed look. He wasn't helping his cause. His shoulder feeling like it was on fire, Hunter offered Tessa a pained smile. "Why would I need a doctor when I've got Miss Nightingale?"

  Her lips lifted a little, but he could tell her heart wasn't in it.

  He closed his eyes and listened to Rourke and Tessa move to the kitchen where they discussed him and how they would get him to the clinic in town despite what he wanted. He let out an exasperated sigh.

  Tessa was not normally a wimp, but she'd fought collapsing when she first saw Hunter's muscle torn to the bone. He had to have medical attention and soon. But he was right about the driving conditions. She would never normally chance driving in this kind of weather. Anyone with an ounce of sense wouldn't either. But infection could set in and he couldn't heal properly without getting some stitches no matter what Hunter said about it. Yet she wondered if he practiced some kind of mind-over-body meditation that helped him heal faster because all the injuries he'd suffered from his swim in the Pacific had healed.

  How he could have survived the cold for so long before they reached him, she couldn't imagine. It was almost as if he'd holed up in a nice warm cabin for a while. Except there were none close by, and he had been too injured to have gone very far.

  Rourke let out his breath. "I don't know what to do, Tessa. He needs a doctor for sure. My phone still isn't getting a signal or I'd call for an emergency crew to come get us."

  Tessa looked out at the accumulating snow--already drifts had piled up half a foot around the back of the house. "I'm afraid we wouldn't make the six-mile trip into town. If we ran the truck off into the woods down one of those steep embankments--if we survived--we could all be injured so badly we might not be able to crawl back to the road. Then what? And if we just got stuck, we'd have to walk in these freezing conditions the rest of the way into town. I don't think Hunter can take any more of the cold as badly injured as he is. But I'm also worried about infection and continued bleeding. And although he says the wolf wasn't rabid, how does he know? What if it was? The way the animal came into the house and headed for me, he acted more like a rabid wolf than not."

  "Agreed." Rourke glanced at his watch. "It's already midnight. One of us will need to keep a vigil on him all night. If he begins to run a fever or gets violently ill, either we can attempt a run into town, or we can wait out the storm and try then. The alternative is I can go by myself and try to get help."

  Tessa shook her head. "I'd worry about your safety. What if you didn't make it? And then, too, the stalker could still be out there. Oh, hell, I hadn't thought about it since it happened, but remember, someone rang the doorbell and then disappeared? Do you think the wolf killed the person and dragged him away?"

  Rourke collapsed on the dining chair. "Hell. We've got to report this as soon as we can. It's our civic duty, despite what Hunter says."

  Rourke was right, but what kept running through her mind was the strange way Hunter had c
onsidered the photographs. The concern etched in his face and actions, the questions he'd asked--all led her to believe he thought the same as her, despite his words to the contrary and how insane the notion could be. The wolf was the same one she'd seen on the three separate occasions, and he was stalking her.

  Chapter 7

  FOR TWO HOURS, TESS A SAT WITH HUNTER, HIS HEAD RESTING in her lap as he slept fitfully on the couch. Her nerves raw, she wanted to take him to the hospital in the worst way, to have medical personnel--who knew what they were doing--care for him.

  Rourke had finally fallen asleep on the other sofa, snoring softly. The fire crackled and cast a soft glow into the room, but the lamps remained on the floor where they had fallen. Not wanting to disturb Hunter's rest, she'd clean up later. Battling to stay awake, she kept vigilant, watching for any sign Hunter's condition was worsening.

  "Meara," Hunter mumbled and groaned. "Meara."

  Tessa's soggy eyes widened, and she strained to hear him speak again. Was he remembering something more? Of course he was. But about a girlfriend or his sister? Her heart skittered with the thought.

  She brushed the hair away from his forehead, the shadow of a beard giving him a rugged, sexy appearance, but his cheeks seemed flushed. She touched his cheek, her fingers recoiling at the feel of his skin. No, no. He was burning up.

  She hurried to move out from under him, removed his blankets, and went to the kitchen. Pouring water into a glass, she glanced out the window to see how bad the storm was. Maybe they could chance taking him into town.

  Half-hidden in the shadows of the shed, the security light revealed a wolf sitting, watching the house.

  A shiver stole up her spine. Was it the one that had knocked Rourke out and come after her? No, this one didn't have any blood on his nose. She squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look. Its darker gray fur blended with beige and its snout had the same pretty beige on top, white underneath. Was he the one that Hunter said attacked the other then?

  Maybe Hunter was right. She wouldn't want anyone to shoot a good animal.

  She opened the window and tried to get a closer look. The animal's ears twitched and his eyes focused on her. He didn't seem vicious, but he was still feral.

  She closed the window and returned to the living room with the medicine.

  "Hunter," she said, trying to wake him.

  He looked up at her, his eyes glassy. He closed his eyes and moaned.

  "No, Hunter, take this medicine. We need to bring down the fever. Hunter!"

  Rourke touched her arm and she nearly dropped the glass.

  "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice ragged with sleep.

  "He's burning up and I can't get him to take anything for it."

  "Here, let me." Rourke helped Hunter sit up and forced the pill down his throat, but Hunter growled and bit him. Rourke jerked his finger free. "Hell, Hunter, I'm only trying to help."

  "Let me get some antibiotics for that. Jeez. What next?" Tessa asked.

  "I just hope to hell the wolf that bit him didn't have rabies." Rourke helped Hunter lie back down and joined Tessa in the kitchen. "He seems to be sleeping all right."

  "Restlessly." She washed Rourke's finger in the sink and glanced out the window. No sign of the wolf. "Hunter broke the skin."

  "I noticed. Here I get off pretty easily by surviving the wolf attack, resulting in only a lump as big as a melon on the back of my head and one hell of a headache, and the ex-Navy SEAL bites me instead."

  "You can write it in your memoirs some day." She coated his finger in antibacterial ointment and then wrapped a bandage around it. "At this rate, I'm going to have to buy a whole lot more medical supplies. By the way, I saw one of those wolves out back." She got Rourke a couple of pills for his headache.

  He leaned against the sink and peered out the window. "I don't see anything but snow."

  "He's gone now, but it's not the one who attacked us. He had a bloody nose. This one didn't have a mark on it."

  "If they were fighting, how did he get away without a scratch?"

  "Maybe it was hurt somewhere I couldn't see. I just know it wasn't the one that came after us. Can you get back to sleep?"

  Rourke took the pills, drowned them with a glass of water, and followed Tessa into the living room. "Why don't you try sleeping for a while? I'll watch Hunter and the house for a couple of hours."

  She ran her hand over Hunter's temple, his face flushed and sweaty. "I hope the roads are clear enough in the morning. No matter what condition they're in, we're going to have to chance taking Hunter to the clinic."

  Everyone was fast asleep when the doorbell rang at six in the morning. Deja vu. Immediately, Tessa bolted upright from the sofa opposite the one Hunter slept on. Rourke opened a sleepy eye as he lay back on the recliner. Hunter continued to sleep, his face still red.

  She studied the door. "If there's no one there, I'm not opening the door."

  "I'll get it," Rourke offered, pulling the blanket off his lap.

  "No. Last time you did, it was a disaster. Are... are you okay? You look a little feverish."

  The doorbell rang again.

  Tessa rushed to peek through the peephole. "Oh, hell," she whispered. "It's Ashton and he's got a rifle."

  Rourke hurried to join her. "Since Ashton got here safe and sound, maybe we can take his truck and get Hunter to the hospital."

  "He's got a gun!"

  "He won't know what hit him." Rourke bolted across the living room, grabbed the fireplace poker, and then rejoined Tessa at the front door. "Okay, open it."

  "You're not going to hit him with that, are you?"

  "I'm just going to persuade him to let us use his truck so we can take Hunter in for heavy-duty antibiotics and sutures."

  Ashton rang the doorbell again.

  "Hide the poker behind your back and don't hit him. I'll try to convince him to agree to help us."

  "Hey! Hunter! It's me, Ashton! I got my dad's permission to be here."

  Tessa glanced at Rourke. He shrugged. "Let him in."

  Her heart pounding hard, she unlocked the door and opened it. Ashton was more cheerful than she had seen him in months. His blue eyes sparkled with humor and his grin couldn't have been any more friendly, but his jaw was slightly bruised.

  "Where's Hunter? I told him I'd help him locate the stalker. He made me get my dad's approval first. Dad and I went around and around about it late into the night, but I finally wore him down. Hey, you look a little ill, Rourke."

  Tessa looked at him. "Oh, Rourke, your face is as red as Hunter's." She clapped a hand on his forehead. "You're burning up, too."

  Ashton peered around them at the mess in the living room, and his mouth gaped. "What the hell happened? Did the stalker break in? I knew I should have stayed."

  "A wolf attacked Hunter. We've got to get him to the clinic. Can you get us there?" She closed the door.

  Ashton swore under his breath. "He's got a fever."

  "The animal might have been rabid," Tessa warned.

  "I sure hope the hell he wasn't. Hunter bit me!" Rourke raised his bandaged finger to show Ashton.

  "I'm not sure I want to know how that happened." Ashton set his rifle down. "Let's get Hunter to the truck. We'll go to the hospital emergency room. I have chains on my tires, so we should be able to make it."

  "Thanks, Ashton," Tessa said, relieved that he would help without resorting to Rourke's tactics. She wondered if Rourke had wanted to clobber Ashton though, for what he'd pulled with her out by the shed.

  "It's nothing. Rourke, can you help me? Or are you too sick?"

  "I'll help."

  Tessa got the front door and then the truck door while Ashton and Rourke carried Hunter to the extended cab. As strong as Hunter seemed, she couldn't believe how sick he was. Which was ridiculous. As torn up as he was, infection had to have set in. He was only human after all.

  She threw on her parka and grabbed blankets, a pillow, and her purse. Rourke yanked on his parka and
gloves, and they climbed into the truck.

  "So what the hell happened?" Ashton pulled out of the frozen driveway.

  Tessa knew her vehicle would never have made it. Rourke's either, since his had slipped into a ditch even before the storm had worsened.

  "A wolf knocked Rourke unconscious and came after me. Hunter was searching for the stalker."

  "Oh."

  Ashton sounded so guilty, she immediately became suspicious. "What?"

  "He found me looking for the stalker instead." Ashton rubbed his jaw. "I guess I distracted him from his mission for a time. Sorry, Tessa. I had to tell him I was there to protect you. I'd promised Michael."

  "You did? Thanks, Ashton." Maybe the jerk was salvageable after all. She hadn't thought he could ever be.

  "I shot Hunter because I thought he was the stalker."

  She barely breathed. "Have you seen the guy then?"

  "Yeah. He's tall like Hunter. Dark-haired, too. It really was an honest mistake. I have to tell you, I couldn't go to the trial, Tessa. I thought Michael was guilty of murdering Bethany. I thought he did it because she was seeing some other guy, and he found out."

  "You were the other guy," Tessa said, her voice bitter.

  "Yeah. But he'd asked me, begged me to watch out for you. I promised him I would. Believe me, I really didn't think there was anything to worry about concerning your safety. That first night I was out there, I saw someone peeking in the windows. I think Michael already knew there was someone, but like with me seeing Bethany, he couldn't catch the guy in the act. Anyway, I hollered at the Peeping Tom. Asked him what the hell he was doing. He took off running. Really fast dude. Just like Hunter when he charged up the hill toward me the other night."

  "He was getting firewood. He was wearing Michael's clothes."

  "He wasn't getting firewood when I saw him. He was naked."

  Tessa closed her gaping mouth and stared at Ashton in disbelief.

  "He began yanking Michael's clothes out of a plastic sack and jerked them on. I didn't recognize the sweats. But I did see the familiar eagle on the back of the field jacket and knew it was Michael's. So I thought maybe he'd gotten into the house and stolen some of Michael's things."