by Lisa Kessler
“Adam was worried you were leaving the Pack.” Aren put a hand on Gareth’s shoulder. “We didn’t want to give you one more reason.”
Gareth grabbed Aren’s hand and shoved it off. “Be honest, Aren. You all kept this a secret from me so I wouldn’t kill your inside man.” His tone darkened, almost a growl. “My brother’s life wasn’t as valuable to you as this asshole’s information.”
“This isn’t getting us anywhere.” Sasha looked up at Gareth. “Did you kill Sebastian?”
“No. You can rest easy.” Gareth shook his head. “It wouldn’t have been hard though. I almost got the feeling he wanted me to. He was drinking, a lot…”
“Sebastian?” Sasha frowned.
“Yeah.” He glanced at me for a second, then back to my sister. “He knocked back whiskey like he needed some instant amnesia.”
“And he told you he killed Gabe?”
Gareth nodded. “Yep. He walked away with his back to me. It would’ve been simple to even the score, but Nadya had an attack before I could go after him.”
“Sebastian is one of Nero’s best.” Sasha pondered everything and shook her head. “He’d never leave himself open and vulnerable with his back to the enemy. None of this makes any sense.”
“Maybe not, but he’s lucky Nadya needed me when she did.”
I gave his hand a squeeze. We’d decided not to share the information Sebastian told us about Dr. Granger. No point in getting Jason in trouble with Adam. We could handle him.
“Why was Sebastian following you?” Sasha’s eyes narrowed in my direction.
My sister was an excellent detective, and her emotions made it clear she sensed deception. I hated lying to her, but if she and Aren found out about Dr. Granger, then Adam would, too. I’d gone into this treatment with my eyes wide open. I didn’t want Jason to take the fall for bringing Nero into our backyard.
“I don’t know. Nero knows I was bitten.” All true. “And since I’m still alive, I assume they’d like a closer look.”
“They sent Sebastian to take you back to their headquarters for scientists to study you?” Sasha opened and closed her hands, pacing the room. Tomorrow night was the new moon. My sister would shift into a jaguar. She finally stopped and looked up at Gareth. “Thank you for protecting Nadya.”
“You don’t have to thank me.” He tipped his head. “Tell me something about Sebastian. Do you trust him?”
She paused and glanced at Aren, then back to us. “Sometimes… Maybe? Sebastian only cares about himself, never forget that. As long as what you need serves him in some way, then he’ll see it through to the end.”
“I’m not sure how not abducting me helped him.” I rubbed my forehead, wishing I could turn down the emotions in the room. “He said his father killed someone to punish him, so Sebastian abandoned the mission to bring me back to Nero in retaliation.” The steady hum of disbelief wafted off my sister. Interesting. “Is this unusual? He’s never disobeyed his father?”
Sasha shrugged. “His father wouldn’t be happy if he discovered Sebastian helped me evade them after the confrontation at Lake Tahoe, but blatantly disobeying an order… I’d be surprised he’d go that far.”
“He’d get in a lot of trouble?”
Sasha sighed. “Sebastian is Severino’s eldest son, not his only one. If he was caught botching a mission on purpose, there is a good chance he wouldn’t be reprimanded. He’d be eliminated.”
Gareth met my eyes as my sister’s words sank in. Maybe Sebastian had a death wish after all. Either way, his life was on the line the moment he walked away, so why would he have lied about Dr. Granger? Although Adam’s uncle, General Miller Sloan, had reached out to request Nero’s assistance on my behalf, Nero had their own plans, and curing me wasn’t part of them.
…
Aren and Sasha finally left. Convincing Sasha I was stable proved to be difficult, especially when Gareth’s bandaged hand kept reminding everyone that I shifted two weeks before the full moon.
Once their car rolled out of the parking lot, I turned to Gareth. “You heard what she said. Sebastian put his life in jeopardy by leaving me behind to retaliate against his father, but he told us about Dr. Granger out of respect for Gabe. He was handing you an olive branch.”
“Or he wants us to think that. We can’t be sure anything he said was true.”
“I don’t see how lying to us would serve Sebastian.”
Gareth shrugged. “I guess we’ll know soon. You called Jason?”
“Yeah. Dr. Granger is coming. Jason told him about my hands shifting. There’s no way he’d pass up the chance to take my vitals and see what I can do.”
“Perfect.” He lifted my hand to his lips. “We’re going to force him to make this right for you. He boosted your levels; he can bring them back down again.”
I nodded, but inside I had doubts. If they knew how to reverse the process, wouldn’t they have saved some of their werewolf soldiers? They must’ve been worth more alive than dead, right? I wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
Riding on the back of the Harley, I closed my eyes, drinking in the warm breeze on my face as we rode to Jason’s office. A smile curved my lips. The freedom of the breeze demanded my full attention and enjoyment. I treasured moments like this, moments when I could forget what the future held for me, when I was just another part of the world around me. It made my problems seem small.
Gareth pulled the bike into the lot of the medical center. I opened my eyes, reality settling in heavy on my shoulders. We put our helmets and gloves away and Gareth took my hand.
“This is all going to work out. We’ll make him help us.”
I smiled, hopefully masking my doubts. “I’m ready if you are.”
We walked through the automatic doors and straight to the elevator. The sky was colored as the sun dipped below the mountains. Most of the medical offices were closed for the day, leaving the building fairly empty. Inside the elevator, my stomach roiled. I rubbed my middle like I could massage the cramps away.
“You okay?”
A flash of Gareth’s concern hit me before he pulled his emotions back.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You sure?” He came to my side of the elevator. “You’re sweating.”
I wiped my forehead, surprised to find it wet. “My stomach’s upset. Maybe I ate something bad.”
The doors opened and Jason was waiting. He came to my other side. “I thought you were feeling better?” He looked over me at Gareth. “You should have brought her sooner.”
“Contrary to what you might think, Nadya isn’t a huge fan of me taking her to the doctor against her will.”
They helped me into an exam room and onto a table. I vacillated between being cold and so hot I wanted to strip my clothes off. My pulse thrummed faster as my worries increased. What if I shifted into a wolf here? Would I hurt Gareth and Jason? Gareth hadn’t completely healed from my last unexpected shift.
Jason brought over the blood pressure cuff, but I shoved his hand away. “Not now.”
He frowned. “I need to know what’s happening right now.”
“I don’t feel good. That’s what happening.”
My instincts were running the show now, and other than my mate, I didn’t want anyone else touching me. At this point my wolf was much too close to the surface. I couldn’t quiet her or coax her back. Maybe this was what insanity felt like. I couldn’t trust myself not to hurt Jason. Not right now.
Thankfully he backed off, putting the cuff away. “All right. How about describing to me what happened while I check out Gareth’s hand?”
“I was pretty out of it. It hurt my head and my joints until I blacked out.” I left out meeting Gareth in a dream state and his chanting bringing me back.
He unwrapped Gareth’s hand and I winced. Seeing the bruising, the four angry red scabs, and the lines scratching up his arm made me want to scream. I did that. Me. I was a monster. I’d told him I loved him, and an hour later an animal i
nside me attacked him.
“Looks worse than it is.” Gareth looked over at me. “It’s my own fault for holding your hand like I had the power to make the shifting stop.”
My eyes welled with tears. I couldn’t stay here. What if I hurt him again? I was a danger to anyone near me. What if I attacked Sasha, or the little ones? Malcolm and Madeleine’s faces filled my head and a tear spilled down my cheek. I swiped it away as the door opened.
Dr. Granger walked into the room wearing his scrubs and a smock like he actually gave a damn about curing and helping people. My breathing grew ragged as I gripped the sides of the exam table, fighting the urge to rip his face off. I may have growled. I couldn’t be sure anymore. All eyes turned toward me, but my voice was gone.
Apparently Gareth and Jason would need to convince him to work with us, because I was fading as the wolf inside me came forward, and she had one intent.
Kill the enemy.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gareth
Nadya’s nostrils flared, her pupils dilating as her muscles strained. Shit. She was going to shift right here in the exam room. I wheeled on the Nero weasel. Grabbing the lapels of his smock, I slammed him into the wall.
“We know you’ve been juicing her up, asshole. Then you called Nero to collect her for you.” A bead of sweat rolled down his face. “Your life depends on how you answer the next question.”
The paper on the exam table ripped behind me. I didn’t turn around to check on Nadya, but judging by the pride glowing in the sick doctor’s eyes, she was barely clinging to her human form.
“You need to reverse whatever it was you put in her veins. Can you do that?”
His attention shifted back to me. Jason came up, blocking the doctor’s view of his handiwork.
“This science could change the world.” Spittle flew from Dr. Ganger’s lips as he babbled. “Her psychic abilities alter the nerve centers of her brain. She can tolerate much more than the werewolf soldiers we studied. We could learn…”
I let go with one hand and punched him in his disgusting mouth. He squealed, and the scent of blood assaulted me.
But apparently I wasn’t the only one.
Nadya cried out behind me, a strangled scream somewhere between a shriek and a howl. I released the doctor and spun around to help my mate. Behind us the door opened, and Dr. Granger raced out with Jason on his tail.
Outside Jason shouted, “Stop him!”
Another man let out a pained scream, followed by a heavy thud and then silence.
It wasn’t Dr. Granger or Jason’s screaming, but I did recognize the voice. Jason’s father. I should’ve gone to check it out, but right now my mate needed me. Nadya writhed on the floor, her hands fully shifted into wolf paws. Her ears stretched, hair sprouting on her cheeks. Blood trickled down from her nose and a heavy dose of panic slammed into my gut. Jason’s warnings about brain hemorrhages echoed in my head without any details to fill in the blank spots.
Bottom line, if I couldn’t bring her back, I might lose her.
No fucking way. Death was not winning. Not today.
I sat on the floor, pulling her into my lap. One of her paws swiped at my face, catching my chin as I started to chant, singing to her wolf. My mate. I closed my eyes, and in my mind Nadya was two, a woman and a wolf. I called to her wolf in the language of my ancestors. My voice started a little tentative, but the repetition of the words, the growing intention behind them bolstered me, strengthening my chant, my love for her coloring the tone.
Nadya was strong. Death wouldn’t come between us. Not yet.
In my vision, her wolf came to me. I brought my face close to hers as I chanted, convincing her this was not her time. The doctor made her confused. The moon was not calling to her yet.
Gradually, the wolf calmed and lay down at my feet, her head heavy. I continued the chant with my eyes closed, almost afraid to look. I blindly ran my hand down Nadya’s arm. When my fingers found hers, I opened my eyes. She was Nadya again. Whole. Human.
I stopped chanting and held her tight, kissing her hair. “You’re back.”
“Not leaving you,” she whispered.
I’d never been so relieved to hear someone’s voice. I kissed her forehead. “I need to find that maniac doctor.”
She nodded.
I lifted her up in my arms and laid her on the exam table. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’ll be fine. Catch that bastard.”
I lifted her hand to my lips, kissing it. “I love you, sweetheart.”
Her lips curved into an exhausted smile, but she didn’t speak.
“I’ll be right back.”
Her eyes drifted closed and I slipped out the door. I jogged around the corner and froze. Jason was on the ground doing chest compressions.
On his father.
I rushed to his side. “What happened?”
“The bastard shot him up with a syringe full of potassium chloride. I need to you go next door to the hospital and bring me injections of glucose and insulin. Now.”
Seeing Wyatt Ayers dead on the floor shocked me into action. I sprinted down the hall. We were in the medical office building standing on the south side of the medical center. An atrium connected the two. I slalomed through people standing on the moving walkway, shouting apologies over my shoulder to the ones I bumped.
Bursting through the door to the medical center, I caught the arm of a nurse.
She jumped, gasping. “Let go of…”
Her voice faded, probably reading the panic on my face. “I need glucose and…”
Shit! I couldn’t remember.
“Insulin.” She finished my sentence and was already hustling down the hall. Behind the nurses’ counter, she vanished into a locked room. She came back out with a pouch of full syringes.
“Do I need more than one?”
“I think so.” She nodded. “Which way?”
Although this nurse was over a foot shorter than me, her presence commanded as much respect as any werewolf. If she wanted to come with me to help Jason, I was happy to have her with us. Jason would probably be pissed about a medical professional working on a werewolf, and I realized it was a risk, but he could bitch at me later.
Right now, I was grateful for another set of hands to help.
We ran across the moving walkway, through the atrium, and into the empty medical office building. Jason looked up from his chest compressions, sweat dripping down his face.
“Who’s this?” His eyes narrowed at me.
“I’m Kilani.” She knelt on the ground on the opposite side of Wyatt’s lifeless body. She withdrew one of the syringes with her latex-gloved hands.
“He’s asystole.” Jason grunted. “Potassium chloride injection.” He panted between compressions. “He needs…”
“Alternating injections of glucose and insulin to flush it out.” She was inspecting the syringe, pushing the plunger just enough to get a bead of liquid on the end of the needle before injecting it into Wyatt.
She turned toward me. “You should take over compressions. He’s exhausted.”
Jason shook his head. “I’m fine.”
“You’re far from fine.” She pulled out the next syringe, frowning at Jason. “I’m assuming you’re a doctor. There’s a strong guy right here who can count compressions. You make the call.”
This little slip of a woman didn’t hesitate to put Jason in his place. Tough not to like her. I settled down on my knees next to Jason. “I can do this.”
He got up while I took over. Kilani helped me keep count. Jason came back with a manual respirator and started pumping air into Wyatt’s lungs.
He glanced at our assistant. “What’d you give him?”
“10ccs of glucose and I followed up with 10ccs of insulin.”
“Good.” He squeezed the bag. “We’ll probably need a few more.”
She nodded, already preparing the next syringe. “I think I brought enough to flush his system.” She glanced
at Jason. “How did this happen?”
She pulled a stethoscope from her pocket and motioned for me to move. She pressed it to his chest in a couple different places and then shook her head. I got started on compressions again.
“Well?”
Jason sighed. “He was attacked. Injected with 10ccs of potassium chloride.”
“Here in the hallway?” Her eyes widened.
“Long story, but yes.”
I ground my teeth, pressing against Wyatt’s chest, hoping his heart would start pumping blood again. That little bastard had a lethal syringe on him the whole time. His contingency plan must’ve been to make someone’s heart stop if he needed a quick getaway. Dr. Granger never had any intention of helping us save Nadya. We’d have to find another way.
Fast.
Kilani gave Wyatt another injection and his hands moved. We all stopped.
The nurse frowned. “He couldn’t have recovered that quickly. I’ve only given him three injections so far.”
Our high-powered werewolf metabolism may have just saved Wyatt’s life.
Jason leaned close to his mouth, listening. “He’s breathing. Dad? Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand.”
Nothing. Kilani pressed her stethoscope to his chest. “Sinus heart rate.”
Jason took his father’s hand, waiting for a second before he laid it on the floor again. “Not responsive.”
“He’s just suffered cardiac arrest. The lack of oxygen to the brain…”
“Anoxic encephalopathy.” Jason pulled his hair back from his face.
I looked between them. “What’s that?”
Kilani answered, “Oxygen deprivation… Brain injury.” She patted Jason’s hand with her gloved one. “You should get your father admitted. His heart started faster than most. Maybe he’ll be all right.”
“Thanks for your help.”
She nodded with an empathetic smile. “Thank your friend here for grabbing me. I’m glad we got him back. I hope he’ll come out of it all right.”
She stood up and collected her pouch of syringes. “Let me know once he’s admitted so I can add the glucose and insulin injections to his chart.”
Jason tipped his head up toward her. “Thanks, Kilani.”