Now that the initial panic was over and he was coming back to his senses, it seemed something else in him was still alive. His tiger. The beast hadn’t reared its head in years. Content to sit back and let the human side of Devon make all the decisions in their life, all the choices.
It appeared he was no longer taking the backseat. The tiger calmed at the feel of Carolline’s skin, but not completely. He insisted on things Devon still couldn’t bear to acknowledge.
Devon forced his human side to take control. He was needed as a doctor, a healer for Carolline’s body and bones.
This inexplicable need he felt for her had to be because of what she had done for him, what she had done for the kids. There was no other reason for him or his tiger to feel this protective pull towards her. He’d had a mate. One he’d loved dearly, if not obsessively.
But, was Sasha really your mate? You pushed until you had what you wanted. You damned everyone who stood in your way or tried to make you see reason.
Carolline let out a pained moan as he stood. He couldn’t step forward, couldn’t move closer to the stretcher. The idea of him causing her more pain left him rooted to the spot. “Pull that thing over here. She’s in enough pain already.”
“Sir, we can’t get it closer,” a short, redheaded female paramedic named Harrison said, nibbling on her bottom lip. She looked nervous and ready to bolt.
The snarl coming out of his mouth was out of his control. So was the Blood Legacy leaking from his pores. The redhead stepped back, eyes wide, Franklin pushed in front of her, but had trouble standing his ground. The two paramedics wilted under the pressure of the heatwave of energy, and only when Harrison buckled, her knees hitting the ground, was Devon able to rein it in. He was out of control and that wouldn’t do anyone any good.
“I’ll be as careful as I can, Carolline.” Without thought, he dropped a kiss on her head before walking the four steps needed to reach the stretcher. Once he laid her down, he reluctantly took a small step back.
Franklin stepped toward Carolline, covering her with a blanket. “What about pain meds, sir?”
“I don’t know the extent of her injuries. It will have to wait until I can get x-rays. She’ll need to be carried. There’s no way you can roll the stretcher over the grass.”
Harrison, who had risen and taken up a position at the end of the stretcher, stared at him. “But sir, I can’t carry her that long of a distance.”
“I’ll do it,” Devon grunted. He moved into her place and lifted his end. Franklin lifted his, and they walked back over the grass to where the EMT bus was parked. After Carolline was loaded in, Devon climbed up behind her.
“Sir, you can’t ride back here.”
“I can do whatever the hell I want. I’m her doctor.” It was a lie and they all knew it. Devon couldn’t walk away and leave her care in someone else’s hands.
The more he thought about it, the more he came to realize he might never be able to walk away. It was a complication he didn’t need.
Chapter 10
Carolline woke with a start. The gasp of breath caused pain to radiate from her side and throughout the rest of her body. She slid her hand gently over her torso, running into bandages wrapped around her middle.
“Damn that hurts,” she said quietly, afraid to put any force behind her words. She knew better than that.
Casting a glance around, she found she was in a private room at the hospital, hooked up to an IV bag, hopefully pumping good drugs through her. Based on the amount of pain radiating from head to toes, she wasn’t too sure.
“They might need to up my dosage,” she said, her hand still resting on the bandages on her aching side.
Noise from a chair against the wall caught her attention. A man appeared to be scrunched up in it looking terribly uncomfortable. His arms were folded across his t-shirt clad chest; head hanging down so all she could see was the top of his dark hair. Long legs were kicked out in front of him, feet crossed at the ankles.
She let her eyes roam over his body. He wasn’t a huge, bulky man. He had a lean, sculpted look to his tall form. It hit her in a flash. She knew exactly who that man was.
Devon Andersen.
He shifted in his seat as she studied him. Aside from the few recent encounters, they didn’t have much interaction at the hospital. She tended to stick to her wing of the five-story structure, while he was everywhere but there. Research in Hybrid Development and Studies was generally a lonely field. She was one of a handful of people even interested in it. Hence, his not needing to be on her floor.
Most of the shifter population took the out of sight, out of mind way of thinking. It would come as a shock to them to see how many hybrid shifters there actually were in the world. For too many years, they kept to themselves. Hiding amongst the humans. Pretending to be what they were not. Much like Mary Jane Hart. It was only in recent years that hybrids of the world started showing their faces and no longer hid in fear. Their numbers were beginning to creep up on the pure shifter population, and not just in the Big Cat realm.
It was unfortunate, and yet typical, that MJ’s parents treated her like she wasn’t worthy. Carolline knew the story and the well-meaning behavior behind it, but it harmed more than helped. Poor MJ had been ready to settle down with a man she didn’t love, rejecting the man who was her true mate.
Carolline was all too happy to be able to talk to MJ and give her some perspective on the life she lived and the path she would be headed down. Which brought her back to the man sitting in the chair. MJ’s almost husband.
Her gaze came back into focus and she noticed Devon stared back at her, the outer ring of his irises glowing under the dim light in the room. He pushed up out of his chair and came to stand next to her.
“I’m glad you’re finally awake,” he grunted out, his voice sleep rough and sexier than it should be. Placing his fingers on her wrist, he took her pulse. She didn’t think it was necessary. She was hooked up to monitors, which clearly worked…if the flashing numbers were anything to go by. He could probably track her pulse with his hearing if he concentrated on it hard enough. She would guess years of training himself not to use just his hearing was the only reason he used touch.
“Good. Good. Your pulse is normal.” He seemed to let out a relieved breath. “How are you feeling?”
Carolline snorted and it only hurt a little. “Like someone stomped on my ribs.”
The corners of his mouth turned down in a frown. “Clearly. Are you managing the pain? Do you need something more?” He looked to the IV bag hanging off to the side. She did the same.
“Give me a couple minutes and I’ll let you know. Or whatever nurse comes in to check on me.”
Devon seemed to weigh something in his mind. His gaze flickered between her face and her side. His fingers still on her wrist, thumb gently rubbing over the skin on the back of her hand.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
“What?” She wasn’t sure she heard him correctly, or if her mind formed the words for him. It didn’t dawn on her that he would thank her. It’s what anyone would have done if faced with the same situation.
“For saving my kids. Thank you.” He looked down to where he touched her. His jaw clenched, he took a deep breath, and then let his hand fall next to his side. He paced away over to the window and stared out. The weight of the world seemed to be dragging him down. His shoulders were tense. His back stiff, and hands clenched at his sides.
Carolline had no idea what was going on in that head of his. It had to be scary as hell to find your children in trouble. To know they were seconds away from being taken. She couldn’t imagine the terror that ripped through him.
“I didn’t do anything special. I would hope anyone coming across the situation would come to their rescue. Are they okay?”
Devon snorted rudely before turning around. His lips were thinned and in a grim, straight line. “Their nanny has been fired. She was supposed to be watching them; but, instead, left them alone whi
le she wandered off with her boyfriend to go and make out. Jack took them home and has been staying with them since. He said he’d gotten them settled down, and my parents are with them as well.”
“You haven’t seen them?” It came as a complete surprise. He was known for being a doting father, and one would think this would be the time he needed to be there for them. Would be there for them.
“Not yet. I came in the ambulance with you. I wanted to make sure you didn’t have any life-threatening issues.”
“Trust me. It was nothing that would kill me.” And she knew the truth of the statement. Too many times in the orphanage, she’d experienced the cruelty of other orphans and adults who didn’t understand her kind.
His head tilted to the side, a look of contemplation on his face. “Why did you slink away to curl up in the woods?”
“I didn’t slink. I crawled, if you want to get technical about it. I’m not a fan of large groups, and my tigon insisted. She feels safer on her own when injured. It allows her to relax enough to start healing. Not everything needs to be done in the public eye.”
Devon nodded. Maybe he understood the need. She’d heard the stories about his wife’s death. Heard how he didn’t seem to grieve, always the perfect father, being strong for his children. He acted as if nothing life-shattering happened, when it so clearly did.
Maybe he took the same route she did and handled grieving and recovery in private.
There were times Carolline thought she saw beneath his polished, unbreakable exterior. Not many though. The incidents in the cafeteria streaked through her brain. The soft touch and the convincingly concerned voice. Their paths would have to cross more than they already had, and she would have to act like the rational, intelligent woman she was, to be positive.
She figured they would cross even less after she had talked to MJ, and basically steered her away from him. However, from what Carolline could see, Devon didn’t harbor any ill-will toward MJ or herself. He went on living his life, business as usual. The almost engagement a thing of the past.
The door to her room opened and in walked a nurse. The woman walked on quiet shoes, until she noticed them both. “Oh! Dr. Andersen, you’re awake, and so is our patient. That’s wonderful.”
The nurse fiddled with the monitors and looked at Carolline’s IV bag. She pulled a small electronic device from her pocket and typed on it. She slipped it back into her pocket and smiled at them both, focusing mostly on Devon though. A small thread of irritation wove through Carolline at the look of adoration on the nurse’s face.
“Should I let Sheriff Matthews know she’s awake? He’s been patiently waiting to talk to her.”
Devon looked at Carolline, then back to the nurse. “Yes. Let him know she’s awake. I’ll be staying in the room when he speaks to her, however, to monitor her.”
“Of course, Dr. Andersen. They were trying to steal your kids. I would want to know what happened too, and how she came across them.” The nurse’s gaze swept over Carolline, along with an undercurrent of—jealousy? Who would ever be jealous of getting the shit kicked out of them?
“Thank you, Ms. Ryan,” Devon said smoothly, yet dismissively.
The nurse left and, a few seconds later, tall, gruff Sheriff Matthews walked in. He shut the door behind him, nodded to Devon, and then planted his massive body at the end of her bed.
Ben placed a hand on her foot in a show of comfort, squeezing the digits lightly. Devon stepped forward, closer to her bed. Carolline could have sworn a snarl escaped his lips.
Ben’s eyebrow lifted in question, a smirk pulling up one corner of his mouth.
Devon clenched his jaw before taking a step back.
This day is so weird. Carolline sighed and looked between the two men. The mild ache in her side was beginning to become more of a constant throb. Her energy felt like it was being zapped from an unknown source. She needed to get this interrogation over with, so she could get some pain meds and go back to sleep. She knew she had a long couple of days in front of her. Damage of this sort could take her up to a week in which to heal.
“What did you want to know, Ben?”
Kind, friendly, yet concerned brown eyes looked back at her. “How you doing, Carolline?”
“I’ve been better. The guy that ran off got me pretty good.” She placed her hand on her side, unable to hold back the flinch of pain the slight amount of pressure caused.
“We can do this later if you need to rest. We have the one guy in holding. He’ll keep a little longer.”
“That might be for the best,” Devon announced a little too firmly. She didn’t know why he was acting the way he was. One would think he would want to know what happened.
“No. Let’s do this now while it’s fresh in my mind.”
Ben nodded sharply while Devon heaved out an irritated breath.
“I was coming back from a run in the woods like I usually do. You know my schedules and me, can’t make it through the day without them.”
Ben chuckled and nodded his head for her to go on.
“Anyway, when I got to the meadow, a sound from the playground caught my attention. I saw the kids and two men approaching them. It didn’t feel right. Something about the scene was off. I decided to skirt around just inside the tree line, so I could keep an eye on them. See what was going on. When I got up behind them, I heard them threaten the kids. Saying they would harm their father,” she looked at Devon quickly, then back to Ben, “if they didn’t go with them. I knew I couldn’t wait any longer and pounced. I only hoped to bring them both down so the kids could get away.”
Ben scribbled in his notebook. His large fingers moving fast and furious over the paper. Without looking up he asked, “The kids took off after that?”
“Yes. I waited until they were out of sight before calling for help. I had hoped whoever was supposed to be watching them was close by and would either come to my aide or get someone who could.”
Devon grunted, drawing her gaze. His lips were turned down in a frown of obvious disapproval. If it was because of her actions or the nanny’s lack of, she didn’t know.
“How did the one man get away? Did you have your claws sunk into him?” Ben asked.
Carolline cringed, reliving the moment he twisted out of her grasp. “My claws were in pretty deep, it just didn’t seem to matter. He rolled and his flesh ripped. He didn’t seem to even notice.” She looked at her clean hands. “Were they able to get samples of blood and skin from my nails?”
Ben looked to Devon. She guessed this was where he played a role in the storytelling.
Devon moved toward her again. He reached out like he wanted to touch her, then abruptly pulled back, curling his hands into fists. “Yes. They got everything they needed. The staff gave it all to one of the Sheriff’s men.”
“I’ll check on it when I get back. We’re thinking the men are attached to Purest Extremists or Rogues. I’ll need to talk to you separately, Dr. Andersen, as well as your children, when you’re ready, of course. I know you want to get back to them. The guy we have in holding hasn’t given us any information. Yet. When he does, I’ll let you know.”
Carolline sank back into the bedding; relieved they at least had a direction to follow. The movement caused pain to cascade over her side and up her chest. She winced and sucked in a shallow breath.
Silently, Devon reached out and pressed the call button. A minute later, the nurse from before walked through the door. “What did you need?” she asked sharply, annoyance ringing through her voice.
Devon cleared his throat. His eyebrow raised and his stern doctor’s mask in place. The one Carolline was used to seeing on his handsome face. The nurse looked at him and blanched. She snapped to attention, wiping the scowl from her face. She must not have realized Devon and the Ben were still in her room. How someone could miss either of them leaving and walking through the hall was beyond Carolline.
“A round of pain meds. I also want to recheck her x-rays. Dr. Greene is in a lot
more pain than she should be. I want to make sure we didn’t miss anything the first time.” He paused and his eyebrows pinched together. “I’d also like to remind you, Miss Ryan, that Dr. Greene is a patient, as well as a doctor, in this hospital. I would hate to think you treated all of your patients with as much disdain as you have her.”
“Of course, sir. I mean, no sir,” she stuttered out before spinning on heel and darting from the room.
“Is there going to be a problem here, Andersen?” Ben puffed out his chest and stood a bit straighter. Authority and protectiveness rolled off him. Carolline knew him to be intimidating, but it didn’t appear to bother Devon.
Devon rested his hand on Carolline’s. A zip of heat travelled up her arm, almost distracting her from the conversation. “No, there won’t be a problem, Sheriff. As open to hybrids and other shifters as we are in the hospital, there are a few who still look down on them. I’ll make sure Ms. Ryan is talked to about her attitude and, if necessary, moved to a different ward.”
Ben’s gaze landed on where Devon touched her. His eyebrow rose in question, as he looked from her to Devon. “Is there something I need to know about?”
This time Ben looked at her.
“I have no idea.” Even as she said the words, her tigon rolled in contentment. She purred and nudged beneath the surface.
Devon’s phone went off, breaking the silence that had descended. “I’ll be back in a moment.” Hesitating a second, he squeezed her hand lightly before striding from the room.
Once Devon left, Carolline felt the weight of Ben’s regard on her. “So, is he why you aren’t upset about us?”
Carolline’s eyes rounded in shock. “Devon has nothing to do with me not being upset that you like someone.”
“I beg to differ. It may be harder to see, but your eyes are softly glowing. He’s your mate.”
Carolline tried to sit up, with no such luck. “No, he isn’t,” she said through clenched teeth.
Ben laughed, tossing his head back. The deep rumble flowed over her and didn’t do a damn thing to her. Years ago, the sound of him laughing with that deep, rich voice would have her nipples puckering and her pussy clenching with need. Fuck.
Finding More (Tiger Nip Book 3) Page 6