Her paws hit him in the chest and knocked him to the ground. Then the taste of his skin was in my mouth—salty with perspiration—as she licked him. The low whine in her throat begged for his hands in her fur, and he caved the second he recovered his lost breath.
“Hey, girl.” He scratched behind her ears. “Long time, no see.”
Hearing him talk to her always amused me on some level, because we were the same being and yet not. All our private conversations were eavesdropped upon by the other. Not that either of us understood all the feedback the dominant personality received at any given time due to its alienness to our own sensibilities, but the simple happiness in his voice as he baby talked my wolf into a frenzy sent a pang of regret arrowing through me. I wished it could be that easy for us. I wished we had been that simple.
I had to exert pressure on the wolf’s mind to draw her attention from her happy reunion. The second her focus shifted, she caught a whiff of Zed’s scent and her playful moment ground to a crushing halt. A second, fainter scent intertwined with his. It reminded me of lilacs and sea foam…and petrichor.
She barked once and took off through the grass. An old barbed-wire fence yanked fur off her back as she scrambled under the strands. She didn’t slow down for Isaac’s benefit. A good mate was a strong mate. Either he kept up or he got left behind. End of story.
The sprint through the pasture ended when she lost her footing and slid down an incline that raised hairs down her spine. This place seemed so familiar. Why did it…?
A faint wheezing in the tall grass drew my attention. I cocked my head, straining my ears. The faint but steady rhythm spurred me into a run. I shouldered through a dense knot of tangled stems into a clearing made by the wolf lying unconscious on the ground before me. His thrashing had flattened the surrounding area, and his labored breathing spoke to more injuries than his blood-crusted ears.
“Zed?” I pushed the questing tendril through the pack bond as gently as I could.
The silence that responded caused a pained whine to clog my throat.
The wolf nosed her way around Zed to reassure herself he was alive. We were debating the virtues of a wolf versus human rescue attempt when heavy breathing snapped us to high alert. A vicious snarl rumbled through my chest seconds before the burnt-metal scent that was Isaac washed away my fear.
“Zed?” He aimed the question at me since he still struggled to match wolf to warg with most pack members.
I bobbed my head and gave him an opening to add his two cents.
“He’s too heavy for me to carry that distance alone without jarring his injuries.” Isaac unbuttoned his flannel shirt and pushed it down his arms. “I hate to ask you to shift again so soon, but I need your help if we’re going to get him out of here fast enough to make a difference.” He rubbed one of Zed’s stained ears between his fingers. “There’s a lot of blood here, and it’s dried through. He’s been out here for hours already.”
Wishing I’d had time to stop at Waffle Iron for coffee, I turned my back on Isaac and shoved through the veil of greenery to the other side. The change resisted me. Danger was near, and my wolf was the stronger of us. Instinct warred with logic while I panted and sobbed in the dirt.
I wasn’t a light switch. I couldn’t keep flipping my wolf on and off like this or I would burn us out until one or the other took the reins. I had seen wargs who let their wolves take the upper hand. They fared better in warg society than those who strangled their inner beast. But neither was whole, and neither lived for very long before they self-destructed or made a mistake that cost them their life.
When I was able to roll onto my back and look up at the sky, the sun had shifted in its track. Not good.
“How about that shirt?” I rasped, half wishing he would offer to come dress me so I didn’t have to remember how my arms worked.
It hit me in the thigh a second later followed by two socks that missed the mark entirely.
“I considered lending you my boxers,” he yelled, “but I didn’t know how you felt about sharing underwear.”
I laughed, and it felt good for the stolen minute I allowed myself. Then I got dressed and joined Isaac at Zed’s side. There was no point in whispering now, no point in fussing at him for calling out earlier. If my pained cries hadn’t given away our location, nothing would. If whatever hurt Zed was out here, we were sitting ducks.
“There’s a stone cottage across the field” was how he greeted me.
His shirt hung long enough to cover my pink parts, but bending over would flash him if he cared to look.
“Do you think they’d have a phone?” I wondered out loud, debating the wiseness of moving Zed before Abram set eyes on him.
“The field and the one next door are both overgrown. There’s no livestock, nothing. I don’t see power lines strung through the area or any other signs of habitation. My guess is it’s abandoned.”
“So no use to us then.”
“No use to us.” He left his hand resting on Zed’s flank. “Besides, I have a phone, but there’s no one to call you can’t shoot a mental memo to faster than I can dial. I mentioned it because once the dust settles, you’re going to be curious about why he was out here in the first place. It’s as good a landmark as any in case the storm washes away your scents.”
“That was smart.” I gave him a lingering glance. “I’m glad you thought of it.”
“Glad I thought of it?” He chuckled. “Or surprised I thought of it?”
“Let’s get moving.” I put my fledgling diplomacy skills to use yet again and ignored him. Rather than ping Abram, I made the tough call to notify the pack first. “I’ll update Moore while we work.” I turned my thoughts inward. “Moore?”
“No sign of him yet. The control box he’s been fiddling with is gone, so I was going to check the shop in town before I worried you.”
That right there cemented my resolve that I had made the smart choice by reaching out to him.
“It’s my job to worry. Next time do as I ask.” A twinge of annoyance forced a growl out of me. “Keep everyone within the wards. No one leaves without my permission.” I spoke over his questions. “We found Zed. I’m about to touch base with Abram. Head to the office and get ready to lend a hand. We’re headed back now.”
“Everything okay?” Isaac slid his hands under Zed’s shoulders. “You’re snarly all of a sudden.”
“Yeah.” I scooped up Zed’s hindquarters, and we lifted him. “Moore’s just being Moore.” The furry body hung between us, limp and pitiful, and it broke my heart. “I’m going to alert Abram. Then we can talk logistics.”
Stepping to the side, he angled Zed so we could hold him between us and both walk forward. I cast him a weak smile in thanks. All we needed was to add a broken ankle or two to the list of injuries for Abram to treat.
“Abram?”
“Do you think seven ninety-nine is too expensive for a used EKG machine?”
“No idea.” Somehow I doubted he meant seven dollars and ninety-nine cents, which put the cost way out of our budget. Unless I used the card… “Listen, Zed’s been hurt. We’re bringing him in now. We need you at the office when we get there.”
“I remember the good old days when the worst condition I had to treat was arthritis.”
“The good old days weren’t that great,” I reminded him. “If they had been, you wouldn’t be here now.”
His mental chuckle as much as agreed with me. “See you in a few.”
“This is taking too long.” I signaled for Isaac to stop walking long enough to worm my hands under his, accepting the bulk of Zed’s weight. Shifting his body closer to my chest, I swung him up into a fireman’s carry and set off at a clipped pace. “Keep up or get left behind.”
Isaac didn’t get left behind.
Chapter 14
Isaac broke speed records in his mad dash for Stone’s Throw. I didn’t mind past worrying about him slinging Zed around in the bed of the truck. Wargs could heal a lot of damage,
but that didn’t make us indestructible. Anyone who said differently had bought into the hype and had a rude awakening in front of them, if they were lucky.
Other than a farmer who flipped us off from the seat of his tractor, we reached the park unscathed. Moore and Abram were waiting at the office wearing matching grim expressions. They jogged out to meet us as Isaac and I exited the truck and lowered the tailgate.
“Damn.” Moore wedged between Isaac and me to get a look at his friend. “Who did this to him?”
“We don’t know yet.” I curled my fingers into my fist against the urge to carry him inside when Moore clearly needed the same contact I’d had earlier to reassure himself our friend was still among the living. “There wasn’t time. Not once we found him like this.”
Déjà vu swept over me as I watched Zed carried into the exam room and spread out on the table. This room had seen more action in the past thirty-six hours than it had since we moved in. That trend was bound to continue at the rate of unanswered questions we had piling up around our ankles.
Abram set to work, his routine as familiar to me as breathing at this point. It occurred to me how much he had taken on by coming here with us. Having recently discovered the pleasure of having a crew to help divide and conquer my daily to-do lists, I resolved to find him an assistant even if I had to draft one of the Stoners.
“Moore, I need you to do Zed a favor.” Invoking his name might not have been kind, but it was effective. Troubled as their friendship might be, Moore would do anything for Zed, even though he could tell I was giving him busywork. “Tallulah is still on the side of the road near mile marker thirty-eight. Someone has already attempted to hot-wire it once. I locked it up when we left, but I’m worried the scavengers might circle back for it.” I grimaced. “Crap. The O’Malley car is still up there too. Can you park it in your garage? That’s where we were headed when I spotted Tallulah on the side of the road.”
“Sure thing.” Jaw flexing tight, Moore gave Zed a final, lingering glance. “I’ll bring Job with me. Let me grab my tool kit.”
“Job’s back?” I aimed the question at Abram. The timing couldn’t have been better considering he was an accountant and handled pack finances, and Lorimar had just hit a windfall.
“Got here about fifteen minutes before you did.” Abram paused with a stethoscope pressed to Zed’s chest. “He went to sleep off the drive but mentioned you two needed to talk.”
Job had applied to a fancy-pants firm a few towns over that would allow him to telecommute. He had a knack for finance, and he preferred to keep a hand in the human world to keep abreast of new trends and upcoming opportunities. Most supernaturals—and fae—viewed humans as transient. As such, they burned brighter and faster than the rest of us, and their ideas and inventions did too.
We had been so desperate for income at the time, I had packed him a lunch then shoved him out the door when the company called with their offer and a request to interview him. The situation he had left was not the same one he had returned to, and now I regretted acting in haste. But he had a right to a life outside the pack, the same as we all did. He would make it work. He was an accountant. Finding balance was his thing, right?
“We do need to talk,” I agreed softly.
The Lorimar wolves must be made aware of the conclave’s generosity. We needed to decide, as a pack, where to allocate our resources. We also had the ability to address the long list of supplies required to bring the Stoners’ living area up to code. We had big decisions ahead of us and would require alpha approval to move forward, but I kept thinking of the bare-bones clinic. More than any other auxiliary building, we needed that one completed and functional. During times of war, it was rare for patients to be as polite as we had been about requiring emergency medical attention one person at a time.
A strong hand landing on my shoulder brought me back to myself. I followed that arm up to the man attached to it and leaned into Isaac’s touch when he began rubbing slow circles near my nape. The contact eased the ball of tension growing in my gut. He had never been prone to public displays of affection, but this didn’t have that same proprietary feel as a guy putting moves on his girl. This was more like the solid, anchoring touch that a pack member might offer because they understood on an instinctive level that it was welcome.
All the mixed signals bouncing between us had scrambled my brain. Despite how good it felt, I stepped away from him and joined Abram beside the table.
“Well?” I stroked the coarse pelt of my friend. “Any ideas what could have done this? Or what kind of damage was done?”
“His eardrums burst. That much I can guarantee.” His hands slid through the patchy fur, tracing each individual rib. Through his fingers, a black stone shot through with silver gleamed in his hand. “He’s got multiple hairline fractures. None of his skin is broken, but with a warg, that doesn’t mean much.” He opened his palm and showed me the silver traceries had turned to red. “Magic was involved in making these injuries. Assuming whatever did this to him didn’t prevent him from healing normally, there could have been a lot more damage than what we’re seeing now. There’s no way to know since we’re not sure what happened or how long he was out there.”
“Or why he was out there in the first place.” Zed owed me some answers, and I would be foolish to trot off without arming myself with whatever information he could supply. “This whole week has been surreal.”
“It will get better or it won’t.” Abram pulled a needle packet out of a drawer and palmed a small glass bottle filled with a bluish solution. “Things are bound to get worse before they get better. We’re teetering on the edge, Dell. Any calm we experience is an illusion.”
There was nothing left for me to do but take a seat in the hall and wait. Isaac took the chair next to me, and it was nice to share the quiet with someone. Even if the air hung thick with unspoken words and the scent of his skin distracted me from where I should have directed my worries.
Bang.
The noise split the silence like a gunshot, and I leapt to my feet.
“The wind snatched it out of my hand.” Enzo stepped inside and put his shoulder behind getting the door closed again. “We’re under a severe thunderstorm warning, and there’s a wind advisory out on the lake.”
A chill breeze swirled down the hall, sending hairs flying around my head and reminded me it was past time to check on Tahvo’s progress. “What are you doing here?” I halved the distance to meet him. “I hope you didn’t drive all the way from town just to tell us it’s about to rain.”
The scent of his cologne lingered in the air, fainter than usual. Not that he bathed in it the way some guys do. His pants were rumpled, and his shirt was creased from wear. All of those were signs that pointed in a direction I hadn’t been looking.
“You never left,” I surmised.
“Is it that obvious?” He plucked at his shirt. “I can’t even magic away the wrinkles. Abram’s forbidden me from practicing for another twenty-four hours.”
“I’m the last person in the world who can comment on someone else’s fashion choices—or lack thereof. Let alone wrinkles. You’ve seen how I dress and how wrecked I look at the end of a workday.” Exhaustion bled into my voice. “Where are you staying?”
“I offered him my spare bunk,” Abram said, joining us in the hall. “He was in no shape to get himself home, and I figured keeping him overnight for observation wasn’t the worst thing that could happen.”
“The real question is what are you all doing in here?” Enzo’s gaze touched on a point beyond my shoulder. “I came in to transcribe some notes before dinner but found a party instead. Any reason why I wasn’t invited?”
“It’s not a party.” I indicated the exam room. “Zed was hurt. We don’t know how or who is responsible. We’ll focus on that once he gets through this.”
Enzo’s lips parted. “I can—”
“No.” I placed my hand on his forearm. “You’ve done enough. More than enough. You ne
ed to rest and heal or you’ll be no use to anyone, least of all yourself.”
Now that he had survived his ordeal, I got to worry about whether his burnout signified the end of our contract. That conversation could wait. Right now Zed—and the potential danger to the pack—took precedence over probing questions Enzo might not be able to answer yet.
“You’re right.” His lips flatlined. “I don’t like it, but I can’t argue the facts.”
“Since you’re benched for the short term—” I withdrew before he got the wrong idea, since touch wasn’t required to appease his inner animal, “—Abram could use a nurse if you’re interested.”
He appeared to give it some thought. “Do I get one of those nifty white hats?”
“I’ve got just the thing.” Abram ambled into the exam room. Papers rustled, and a box crashed. He strolled out with a flat white rectangle laying longwise down his hand. “I had these printed up for when I did first-aid classes with the pups.”
I spread the crease and popped up the center. “It’s got the red cross on it and everything.” I set it on top of his head and tapped the top until it stayed put. “I dub thee Sir Enzo of the Paper Hat and Questionable Medical Qualifications.”
“My lady.” He took my hand and pressed a kiss to the top. “It is an honor to serve you.”
Forcing an awkward laugh, I withdrew my hand. “Well, you’re technically serving Abram. I understand if you don’t want to kiss him. God only knows where his hands have been. Other than inside Zed.”
“I have a working sink, as you well know.” Abram puffed up his chest. “Calling my sanitary practices into question is not amusing, Dell.”
“I was joking.” I tweaked his nose. “We all know your work is above reproach.”
The good doctor left in a huff, rubbing his schnoz, and then I was alone with Enzo.
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