The sound of a man and woman arguing floats through the open window. I dash quickly down the stairs to quiet them down, before they wake Jesse up. The further away from window I get the less I can hear. It’s not until I reach the bottom of the stairs that I pick up the conversation again.
“He’s not stupid! He’s bound to have Nate or Kelly there, even Carter would protect him from a challenge when he’s injured. Let’s just go home,” she pleads in a whisper.
“Patty, I’m not challenging him. I’m going to kill him,” a male voice says vehemently.
“It’s suicidal” The woman - Patty, the male had called her - hisses.
“There isn’t anyone there except him. I’m sure of it.”
This guy is planning on killing Jesse? My patient. My father’s friend. Hell No!
I tug open the front door with the intention to tell this guy how stupid he is for even considering killing Jesse, but before I open my mouth I feel a sharp pain in my stomach. As he steps back I realise it wasn’t the entry I felt, it was the twist of the knife as he pulled it out. The man looks at me, eyes bulging in shock. I know behind my grimace of pain I’m mirroring his look. I put my hand to the wound to try to staunch the bleeding. Seriously, what kind of person stabs someone before seeing whom they are actually stabbing?
“You smelt like him,” he says answering the question I thought I’d asked myself.
A fierce growl emanates from behind me; before I can turn to look at Jesse I see a blur of fur fly over me. The wolf lands on the shocked man and rips into his throat. I hear the woman screaming, something I can’t quite make out, before the world fades away and darkness descends.
Something wet and rough rubs against my cheek bringing the world back into focus. I open my eyes to see Tony’s snout in my face. “Hey,” I say, it sounds slurred even to my own ears as the pain is ebbing away and a floating feeling is falling over me.
Tony whines over me.
My eyes close and I no longer have the energy to open them, not even to look at him to give him comfort. I’m not hurting anymore. It’s okay.
The feel of teeth tearing into my stomach causes me alarm but there is nothing I can do, I can’t move. Tony’s eating me and I’m not even dead yet.
Chapter Seven
Carter
I turn on the bed to snuggle into the warm body beside me, to find it’s no longer where it should be. I’m alone in bed. I listen to the apartment hoping to hear Frankie in the shower but my ears are greeted with silence. In a final hope I send my energy out to feel for her but there’s no one here, no one but me. If I was in my own apartment I’d be worried she’d had regrets and done a runner but I’m in her apartment; she’s probably just gone for milk or something.
As I lift the covers off and throw my legs over the side of the bed, a piece of paper slips to the floor. I pick it up and see it’s a note from Frankie. Seeing the kiss she’d ended her note with washes away any worry of her possible regret that had been niggling at me. I shake my head in disbelief at the feelings I have for this girl - she’s working her way into my heart and that’s a first for me - before getting up and heading into the bathroom.
Once dressed and ready I look around the apartment and wonder what I can do with my time? My wolf is pushing at me to go hunt Frankie down. I’d normally put it down to the excitement of a chase but he’s feeling unnecessarily anxious and I can’t put my finger on the why. Without a second thought I follow his instinct and decide to track Frankie by following her scent. We know it intimately so on a dry summers day like today, we’ll easily be able to follow it.
I trail her scent as far as the car park and stop in an empty spot with her apartment number painted on it. The other space with her number is occupied by her beloved Kawasaki Ninja. Knowing she uses the VW Kombi for the farm I put two and two together and decide to head to the farm.
As I’m approaching the entry road to the O’K Cattle Farm, the windows in my old rust bucket wound down as far as they can go, I’m well and truly regretting not staying in Frankie’s apartment. Driving during summer in WA with no air-conditioning is hell, but I can’t afford a new car and no matter how many times my mechanic replaces the gas and seals, it still doesn’t fucking work. My nose picks up a familiar scent that instantly causes my wolf’s hackles to rise. Blood. Jesse’s blood. That scent alone is enough to have my gut churning in worry, but the sweet scent of Frankie’s blowing in on the breeze has me instantly slamming on the breaks, jumping out the car and running through the small graveyard beside the road.
A number of visions flow through my mind as I vault over gravestones. Frankie, bleeding, with a manic Jesse ripping into her body is the worst one that my mind seems to be stuck on. The fact that I can’t smell Frankie’s blood doesn’t help convince me she’s okay. Jesse is obviously injured, he could easily loose his control and attack her. I pick up my speed pushing myself to reach them in time, all the while knowing if I do make it before he hurts her, I’m not dominant enough to stand up to Jesse. I’ll only give him another body to rip apart before he turns to her. Mine.
I come to stop at the back of the graveyard; before me is a pool of Jesse’s blood that tells me this is where the incident happened, whatever it may have been. I can see a trail of blood leading through the fence and into the paddock that leads to the O’K Cattle Farm beyond it. I take a step forward to follow the blood before pausing to pull out my phone. I immediately make a three-way call with the two people I know can give a manic Jesse, a run for his money - Kelly and Nate, two of the pack’s best enforcers.
“Hello, ” Nate answers first.
Within a second Kelly’s voice joins the line.“Yo Carter, Nate, what’s happening?”
“I’ve found some of Jesse’s blood. A lot of it. My girlfriend Frankie’s scent is here, too. I’m worried he’ll attack her blinded by his pain. There’s a trail I can follow but I’m not sure I can do anything except get myself killed.” My body is wracked with pain as my wolf tries to force me to follow the trail; he wants to protect Frankie and doesn’t care if we die doing it.
“Where are you?” Kelly demands in his New Zealand accent.
The power of the more dominant wolf’s demand gets my wolf’s attention and forces him to ignore his needs, which allows me to answer. “The cemetery. It looks like the blood leads to Frankie’s farm, which is just across the paddock. Joey works there, I think.”
“I’ve given Joey a lift there before. I’ll go straight to the farm,” Nate says before disconnecting from the call.
“I’m two minutes away, I’ll come to you. Do not follow the trail until I get there,” Kelly orders, his breathing changes and I know he’s already running.
Chapter Eight
Jesse
The life fades out of Frankie’s eyes and I do the only thing I can. I bite her, trying to provoke her wolf into surfacing. I step back and watch, hoping to see or feel a spark of something. What I see is terrifying, I haven't watched over her all this time for her to die now. To die at the hand of a pack member who was after me. No! The bastard had managed to hit her aorta; no amount of staunching the wound will help. She’s bleeding to death. I bite her again. If I can get as much of my wolf DNA into her it might make her become a werewolf like it would a regular human.
“Shit! Jesse!” Nate bellows from behind me.
I freeze on the spot. Knowing how bad this will look I force my body to change, ignoring my wolf who whines at me in protest. He wants to keep biting Frankie. He needs her to survive. Mate. Every inch of my body burns as I push him back and pretend I didn’t hear the word he just pushed through my head, the burning eases, turning to a tingle as I wiggle my fingers and toes. Not acknowledging the remaining pain I turn to find Nate cradling Frankie against his body. My wolf growls at the sight and I can’t stop it from escaping my own throat.
Nate looks up at me with wide eyes.
“It’s not what it looks like,” I say with cracked voice that isn’t quite human yet.
Nate glances down at Frankie and then back up to me. He doesn’t say a word, just holds me there with his eyes, demanding an explanation.
I take a moment to thank the gods it’s Nate who arrived first. He’ll listen before acting, unlike the others who’d rather react and deal with explanations later. “She’s Ant’s daughter. Our old Alpha, Rossi.” I use the surname hoping it will ring a bell, it’s the name Ant mainly went by within the pack. Seeing a spark of recognition in Nate’s eyes I continue, “I don’t know where to start? Damn it…” My mind’s moving from one thought to the next too quick for me to process.
“Start at the beginning.” Nate’s calm voice washes over me. “We found your blood in the cemetery. Why were you there? What happened?”
My mind clears and I let the answers flow out of my mouth without thinking about them. “Before Rossi died he told me to watch out for her. I’ve been meeting up with her in my wolf form since she was seven years old. She calls me Tony after some story of her Nonna’s.” I wave hand in dismissal, knowing I’m going off track. “It’s our day. I went to the cemetery like usual, but before she arrived a fucking bounty hunter came out of nowhere and shot me. He was using silver bullets.” I shake my head at the memory of the hunter. His face memorised. I’ll be hunting him down once we have deal with today’s problems. “She helped me to the house and fixed me up. I had to change because I nearly went for her as she was feeling for the wound. She knew what I was and she didn’t care, she carried on as though it was nothing.” I swallow back the need to claim her as mine, knowing my wolf is over reacting in the moment.
“She fed me and forced me to lie down. I woke up when I heard the front door open.” I point out the body a few metres away. “He was here to kill me but she answered the door and, blinded by his vengeance, he stabbed her.”
Hearing the footfalls in the paddock behind me, I know my time is running out. More wolves are approaching and they are approaching fast. “I killed him and his mate. She was dying on me, Nate. I know she has a wolf in there; I felt her the other day and I was around when she was a pup in a crib. Her wolf wasn’t taking over to bring her from the brink and I thought if I bit her it would provoke her out. It wasn’t working - nothing is working.” My voice breaks. “I thought if I got as much of my DNA in her as I could that might help. What else could I do?” I plead, hoping that he thinks of something I haven’t.
“You bastard!” Carter shouts in my ear as I’m hit by a wall and plastered to the floor. I won’t fight back, I know what he sees and what it’s making him think. He hits me with a good right hook.
“Carter, get off! It’s not what you think,” Nate demands.
Kelly‘s head comes in to view over Carter’s shoulder a second before Carter’s weight disappears. I get up and brush the dirt off as I make my way over to Frankie. Nate’s crouched over her once again. “How’s she doing?” I ask. Not sure if I really want an honest answer.
“Her pulse is weak, she’s almost gone. You did everything you could, Jesse,” Nate says, no doubt trying to comfort me, but it’s far from working. The guilt from biting her is raging through me.
I listen as Kelly manages to calm Carter down, taking Nate’s word that I had been helping. We all listen in silence as Frankie’s heart beats weakly, one last time.
Carter drops to the floor with his head buried in his hands, a moment passes and he jumps up. “We need to do CPR,” he states, trying to pry Frankie out of Nate’s grasp. The sight before me makes me realise Carter really does have feelings for Frankie. She isn’t just a notch on his bedpost after all.
“No! We listen and wait,” I tell them.
“Wait for what? She’s dead. She’ll still be dead if we don’t do anything. It’s too late to even infect her.” Carter punches the floor with his fist, leaving a cracked floorboard on the porch.
Looking up to the heavens I pray to Ant, hoping he’s listening and he’ll understand I’ve done all I can for his daughter. “Why do you think I bit her, Carter? It wasn’t for the fun of it. She was born with the gene. We’ve just got to wait and pray it kicks in. If Rossi wasn’t dead, he’d kill me for not stopping that bastard before he stabbed his daughter.” I finish with a sigh. I want to kill myself. Dammit!
“Frankie? No!” Joey screams, as he runs full pelt through one of the paddocks.
Kelly stops him before he ploughs into us, pulling him into a warm embrace. “Shhh…” he murmurs as Joey sobs into his chest. Joey has always been one of the more submissive wolves but I’ve never seen him show his vulnerability in front of such dominant wolves.
“Rossi? You mean the old Alpha Rossi? This is his daughter?” Carter slaps his own forehead. “Of course! Joey introduced her as Rosa Rossi, I didn’t make the connection.” Carter doesn’t need an answer, but I nod regardless.
“Guys, she has a pulse again.” Nate calls out from beside Frankie’s body. “It’s really weak but it’s there. She’s back, boys,” he adds with a grin.
“Did you hear that Joey? She’s gonna be ok. She’s back.” Kelly comforts Joey, patting him on the back.
I bend and feel Frankie’s pulse for myself. It’s not that I don’t believe Nate or my ears, but sometimes you just need to feel it under your own fingers. My shoulders slump in relief as I feel it beat under my fingertips. Leaning over I place a kiss on her forehead. “Thank you,” I whisper. “For everything,” I add before standing. “Put Frankie in the bedroom with the door open. I’m going to go get cleaned up, call me the minute she wakes up,” I tell them all as I walk in the direction of the cemetery. “Someone call Tracey, tell her she’s needed,” I state over my shoulder referring to the healer in our pack.
“Wait! Don’t you want to be here we she wakes up?” Kelly questions.
“I don’t want to scare her,” I answer, before changing to wolf, knowing that will stave off any arguments about my decision. If Frankie wakes up remembering me attacking her, she may never want to be in the same room as me again. It’s a huge sacrifice I’ll have to make, my wolf already feels like he’s lost any chance he had of having a mate, but it’s worth it to have her alive. Nate and Kelly will protect her and Frankie will never have to see me again. Ever!
Chapter Nine
Frankie
I open my eyes to glimpse two dark brown, almost black eyes, watching me before the world falls away from me. The sound of birds tweeting brings me around to consciousness. Peeking open an eye I find myself looking at an attractive man, one I’ve never seen before sitting in my wicker chair, which has been pulled up next to the bed. I open my other eye to get a clearer view of him; he looks to be asleep so I leisurely take in the sight. His black hair is closely shaven to his head and his rounded face and broad nose fits with his muscular physique, his darker skin making him easily distinguishable as an islander. At a guess I’d put him in his late twenties. I shift on the bed to get into a more comfortable position and groan as pain courses through me. The man opens his eyes and stares at me, with concerned dark brown eyes that look vaguely familiar.
“Welcome back Darl’,” he says, his New Zealand accent easily recognisable by his pronunciation of the first ‘e’ in welcome as an ‘i’, his face brightens with a genuine smile.
Knowing I’m in my room at the farm I try to sit up and look around the room to work out why I’m here, especially since I’m in the company of a stranger, no matter how at ease I feel with him. An agonising wave of pain rolls through my middle causing me to feel nauseous and evoking a moan from me as I curl in on myself.
“Trace…” the guy shouts, jumping up out of the chair. He pats my shoulder comfortingly. “Tracey’ll be up in a sec, she’s a nurse. She’ll sort out the pain for ya.” He looks at the door and it suddenly opens as a tall leggy blonde rushes in. I can’t help but notice she has a remarkable resemblance to a Barbie doll, especially with the fuchsia pink tight tank top and cropped leggings she’s wearing.
“Hey Kelly, what’s wrong?” She looks at me, a huge sm
ile gracing her face before she claps her hands together excitedly. “Ooh our patient is awake.”
The guy, Kelly —that’s what she’d called him — grimaces at her excitement and shakes his head. “Trace, can you give her something? She’s in a bit of pain.”
“A bit?” I question his under evaluation through gritted teeth.
Tracey reaches out and pats my arm. “It will be gone in a minute,” she says as she picks up a needle and syringe filled with something clear off my dresser and jabs my arm with it. I pull my arm away from her and rub it watching the hole from the needle close as it heals before my eyes. Staring at my arm in shock causes me to be too late to question her about what the needle contained. I look up as the door closes shut behind her.
“I’m gonna go call Jesse, he wanted to know when you were awake. Do you want me to send someone else up?” Kelly asks as he steps towards the door.
The name causes everything to come flooding back; Tony laid on my fathers grave, Jesse bleeding all over the kitchen table, everything he told me about my father and me, the man stabbing me, Jesse eating him, and then eating me. “Jesse…” I whisper and I bring a hand up to my mouth in shock. “Where is Jesse?” I add, glancing at the closed door expecting him to walk in any second.
“It’s okay, he can’t hurt you. He’s not here,” Kelly reassures me.
I gasp in disbelief. “Hurt me? I know he won’t hurt me.”
“Don’t you remember? He bit you! We thought you’d be scared of him.”
“I remember,” I confirm with a nod of my head. “Being eaten is something that’s not easily forgotten. He bit me because he had to though; it was the only way he thought he could get my wolf to come out. I heard him tell her as much.” I pause before adding, “Actually he did think of another way but he’s not a rapist.”
Releasing the Wolf (The Rossi Pack Book 1) Page 5