There were also bandages around her middle and her thigh just as she’d expected. Now that she was fully awake, there was a fierce ache that ran from her midsection down through her legs and up into her chest. She rattled the chain again in complete disbelief. “What the hell is going on?”
The door opened and a dark-skinned young woman in a blue uniform poked her head in. “Oh good, you’re awake.” She bustled in and began checking a machine next to the bed. Becca could read her nametag once she got closer to the bed. It said “María Hernandez.” But the name didn’t ring a bell. Had they taken her to a hospital outside the valley?
“Listen,” Becca said, clearing her throat to get the woman’s attention, “I don’t mean to be troublesome, but where am I? And why the hell am I chained to this bed?” Becca chided herself silently for the “hell” but then, these were pretty extraordinary circumstances.
The nurse or whatever she was raised an eyebrow and stepped carefully back out of reach. “It’s standard procedure, ma’am. Let me get Dr. Green. He can explain it better than I can and he needs to check up on you now that you’re awake.” She vanished out the door without, Becca couldn’t help but notice, unlocking the cuff. When had she become a dangerous criminal element?
That sent her thoughts in a spiral. Had she killed someone else, maybe someone who didn’t deserve it this time? But she couldn’t have. They’d shot her before she could have done anything like that. She was in an agony of impatience and sheer terror by the time the doctor showed up.
When he walked in, Becca started. The studious looking youngish man with his round spectacles could have been Shelly’s younger brother. She squinted against the light from the blinds behind him. He smiled, with a flash of white teeth, and she realized who he was. Shelly’s cousin, Dr. David Green, had moved back to Wolf’s Point from the West Coast a few months back. This must be him.
“María said you were awake.” He picked up her wrist and checked her pulse, then reached toward her face. She jerked away, then forced herself to sit still while he shone a penlight into her pupils. Whatever he saw must have reassured him because he pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the cuff.
Becca tried to pull her newly freed foot up to check it. “Ow! Why did you chain me up like that?”
He frowned then looked puzzled. “You don’t know? It’s standard procedure when a Pack member comes in. Doctor Chin always did it when she ran the clinic, just as a precaution. Shelly will be in soon to explain it a little more, if you like. How are you feeling otherwise?”
Becca stared up at him. Did the whole town know that they all ran around the woods on all fours every full moon? This was getting ridiculous. She couldn’t quite bring herself to ask. Saying it out loud to anyone would make it more real than it already was.
There was a noise in the hallway just as he pulled out his cell. Sheriff Henderson strode into the room, his face set with a stern frown. Lizzie Blackhawk was on his heels, her sunglasses resting on the end of her nose. “Hello, Miz Thornton.” Henderson’s eyes went everywhere but to Becca’s face. He fidgeted like he was embarrassed to be there. “Dr. Green.” The sheriff’s head bobbed in a nod like it was on strings.
He cleared his throat, his discomfort clear in the sound. “Nice to see you’re awake, Miz Thornton. We’re wondering if you’re doing well enough to tell us what happened the other night. Between the fire and the broken cameras in the trees, it looks like you were on to something with your campers.” From the way he was looking at the doctor, he seemed to be waiting for more of an answer from him than from Becca herself.
She frowned and started to give him a piece of her mind when Lizzie caught her eye. From behind the sheriff, the deputy tilted her head forward and closed her eyes like she was falling asleep. Then she looked back up and winked. Becca smothered a smile as Dr. Green answered for her. “She just woke up, Sheriff. I think we might need to give her a bit more time. Right, Ms. Thornton?”
All at once, Becca realized that she really was exhausted. She yawned, only remembering to cover her mouth at the last minute. “Honestly, Sheriff, I can’t remember much right now, just an explosion and a lot of chaos. I was out for a walk when it happened. But I’ll probably remember more after I get a little more sleep.”
The sheriff scowled, but nodded as if this was what he had expected. “I can see that, ma’am.” He sighed heavily, then seemed to start to say something else. Dr. Green cleared his throat.
Henderson looked at the wall. “I’ll send Lizzie around tomorrow to collect your statement, Miz Thornton, if the doctor thinks you’re ready.” He shook his head. “Haven’t seen this kind of craziness in this town since I was a deputy. I think we’ll need to call in the State Patrol on this one,” His mouth drooped, giving him the look of an old dog that had just been woken up and wanted nothing more than to lie back down again. “All right. Ma’am, Doctor.” He nodded and strode out. Lizzie glanced back and gave Becca another wink and a nod as she followed him out.
Becca closed her eyes while the doctor fussed over her. It seemed like it was just five minutes later when Shelly walked in, but the light through the blinds was dimmer now. Much dimmer, so it must be almost nightfall. Shelly frowned as she saw Becca open her eyes. She seemed to be on the brink of saying something not too pleasant from her expression.
“Well, it looks like we’re on the road to recovery.” Erin leaned against the open door frame. Shelly and Becca jumped at the same time, and Shelly turned on her heel to face her. Erin met Shelly’s glare head on.
“You know I can’t let this go.” Shelly’s voice had the shadow of a growl running through it. “We’ve got two more Nesters in the hospital as it is. I think I know what you intended to do, Becca, but sooner or later, someone’s going to be wondering about some very sophisticated wolves. And every time someone starts wondering, we’re in danger.”
“I should have stopped her. I’m the one who’s supposed to be training her. That makes this mess as much my fault as it is hers.” Erin tone was neutral but Becca could see her body stiffen from across the room.
Becca cringed a bit; she might’ve gotten someone burned pretty badly. This wasn’t the time for feeling too guilty to speak up, though. “Not that I don’t love everyone talking about me like I’m not here, but it seems to me that I’m responsible for my own actions.” Becca couldn’t quite sit up yet, though the sharp ache had faded a lot since she’d woken up earlier. Instead she put as much weight as she could into her words even though her heart was racing in something approaching pure terror. What if they kicked her out for this?
Both women turned to look at her and she had a disturbing flash of wolf eyes in their human faces. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Whatever was coming next, she could handle it. Right? She forced her eyes open and looked at Shelly just in time to meet her stare head on.
Shelly’s lip curled for an instant and the wolf looked out from her dark eyes. From somewhere deep inside her, Becca felt a growl building. It surged up her throat and tumbled out from between her lips before she could stop it. Shelly growled back and Erin stepped forward, moving to put herself between them like she couldn’t help herself.
Becca realized what she’d done at the same instant and clapped her hands over her face. “I’m so sorry,” she mumbled through her fingers. “I’m still feeling like crap and I barely know what I’m doing. I know I shouldn’t have run into their camp like that but I was so worried about all of you, about the Pack. I was only thinking about stopping them.” She dragged her hands down into her lap, and looked up, not quite meeting Shelly’s eyes this time. “Go ahead. Tell me what happens to me now.”
She could feel the tension ease from the other women like it had been uncorked. For a wild instant, she wondered what it would be like to touch Erin and feel her taut muscles relax. Not now, not now.
Shelly cleared her throat, “This is where we talk about why I’m the alpha. For one thing, did it occur to you that I had a plan, one that
didn’t involve you running wild by your lonesome and getting shot?”
Becca stared down at the blanket. “Honestly, I didn’t think. I saw the lasers and the barrels and I got scared and mad. I just reacted.”
Shelly nodded. “As it happens, none of the rest of us got more than a few grazes and burns. The Nesters got burned when one of the barrels blew. At this point, the Sherriff realizes that it’s more than an out of control campfire so we’ll have to help him find a few Nesters. As for you, here’s what happens next: you don’t go anywhere without one of us at your side in either form. Not work, not home, not for strolls down by the river. Are we clear?”
Becca looked up, unable to keep from frowning. The whole babysitting thing was going to get old fast. It wasn’t so much that she loved being alone as it was that she was used to it. It gave her time to think about what was going on and to plan what was going to happen next—were they going to be moving in with her next?
Then she found herself wandering down a different mental path. She remembered what Oya had said the other night about her family, though it seemed like ages ago now. From the look on Shelly’s face, this probably wasn’t the time to ask and she buried it back down in her mind for later. It had a lot of company, right now; she wondered how she was ever going to get it all straight in her head.
She managed to croak out the one thought that was uppermost. “For how long?”
Shelly’s eyes narrowed and a quiet growl filled the room. “Until I say that you get it and we can trust you to be less spontaneous. Understand?”
Erin caught Becca’s eye. She had an odd, hopeful look on her face and she was clearly waiting for agreement. Her expression puzzled Becca and she looked away, instead nodding in Shelly’s direction by way of agreement. What else could she do? It looked like she was going to really find out what it meant to be part of a Pack.
Chapter 16
~
Once she was up and moving around, she felt a bit differently. It had seemed the easiest way out, saying yes to being babysat back at the clinic when Shelly was glaring at her. It wasn’t like she’d had any better ideas, at least none that would have changed her angry alpha’s mind. Three days later, once Becca was feeling well enough to go back to work, it got annoying pretty fast.
She went out to go to work, Erin was there to walk her downtown. She went into the hardware store and Shelly was there. She left work, and Molly or Agnes or someone else was there to walk her home. It got so that she felt like she never had a moment to herself. That was the odd thing: right after she and Ed split, she would have given anything to have a constant companion, someone to spend time with and talk to. Even though she and Ed hadn’t had that kind of relationship for years. Now, it felt like too much.
Thinking about the divorce did lead her to thinking about Ed, though. Becca went back through her mail to see if she’d missed anything. She didn’t see any threatening letters from him so maybe he’d given up on the house for the moment. Or he was just waiting to spring something worse on her.
She started to try and put away a little extra, just in case. Erin had told her that the Pack had an injury fund, and that would take care of the clinic bills at least. Which wasn’t to say that she wasn’t worrying about paying that back too.
She meant to ask Shelly about the help with the mortgage, but she was afraid to ask about that on top of the medical bills. What if she got too expensive and the Pack kicked her out?
Not that that wouldn’t have been something of a relief right at the moment. She could see Gladys watching the house from her backyard when she looked out the window. Sure, it looked like her neighbor was just feeding her cats but Becca could feel her watching all the same. This much attention was starting to feel like an itch she couldn’t scratch.
When the doorbell rang, Becca had already given up on reading the romance novel that she’d picked up from the library. It was interesting just how many werewolf-themed romances they had on the shelves down there. She had made a mental note to take a closer look or maybe a sniff or two at the librarian the next time she was in.
The chime distracted her from her current activity: she’d wandered down to the basement to check the windows. It had occurred to her that if she could crawl out one of them, she might be able to get out of her yard without Gladys seeing that she was sneaking out. From there, she was pretty sure that she could work her way down to the creek and gain maybe an hour or two of freedom. It was like being a spy, without the glamorous parts. It was also completely impossible: there was no way she was getting through that window.
The doorbell rang again and she climbed down off the stepladder and made her way upstairs, a polite grumble working its way out of her mouth as she opened the door. “Coming! Yes?” The last word popped out as she opened the door.
The perfectly coiffed and made-up blonde woman on her doorstep raised an eyebrow. One corner of her lipsticked mouth quirked in what might have been a smile or a grimace depending on how you wanted to read it. “Ms. Thornton? I don’t know if you remember me? Pamela Grisby, Ed’s attorney.” She held out a set of manicured claws.
“Let me revise my greeting to ‘What the hell do you want?’ ” Becca could feel the growl below the grumble now. It didn’t help that she wasn’t made up and was wearing her grubby old sweats and sneakers, all of which had seen better days. What made it worst of all was the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach; Ed was going to carry out his threat about the house after all. “And why are you on my porch? Don’t you have demonic minions to carry out your dirty work?”
“It was on my way home. I suppose being invited in is too much to ask?” Pamela pointedly looked around the porch, glancing from the chipping paint around the door down to Becca’s sweats and her lip curled a little. Becca didn’t move out of the way to let her inside, not even when she stepped forward. In fact, she could feel her own lip start to curl around imaginary fangs. At least she hoped they were still imaginary.
Pamela’s eyes narrowed and she extended the folder in her hand. “I expect you know what this is already. You’ve got thirty days to come up with financing to buy out my client. Otherwise, the two of you sell the house and divide the proceeds, just like you originally agreed to. Please bear in mind that he’s within his rights and is being more than reasonable.”
Becca glared at her, willing herself not to reach for the folder, willing herself to transform right then and there. She’d show Ed’s attorney that she wouldn’t be pushed around. How dare he try and take her home away?
But the growl faded and the wolf wouldn’t come when called this time. She’d known this could happen, after all. She just hadn’t planned hard enough for it.
Instead of changing, Becca could feel herself flush hot and sweaty under Pamela’s cold eyes. Damnit, not now. But there was no stopping the flash as it came on. Any more than she could stop Ed and Pamela by not taking the folder. Another moment of struggle and she gave up, defeated. She snatched the folder from the lawyer’s hands. “I notice he’s still got enough money to pay your fees. Or do you do his crap work pro bono?”
Pamela drew herself up and spun around on her spiked heels. She clicked deliberately across the porch and down the steps before she looked back. “If I were you,” she said sweetly, “I’d hope that I don’t suggest that he take all the necessary repairs out of your half of the sale money.” She clicked her way down the steps to her new sedan and screeched out of Becca’s driveway.
Becca watched her drive away, swearing quietly under her breath. The flash was passing now but it felt like there might be another one coming on in a few minutes. She walked over and collapsed onto the porch swing, using Pamela’s folder to fan herself as she sat down. It might as well be good for something.
Erin’s appearance at the bottom of her porch steps didn’t even begin to surprise her. Nor did the first words out of her mouth. “You okay? What was all that about?”
This was definitely the last straw. “You know, I’m thinking r
ight now is not the time. Babysit me later when I’m feeling up to being polite.” Becca was ashamed of herself the minute the words were out of her mouth. It wasn’t like any of this was Erin’s fault. But she wanted to be alone to think everything over and if she had to get that by being rude, so be it.
Erin raised an eyebrow, cocking her head to one side. “Doesn’t work that way, Becca. Shelly says to watch you and make sure you don’t get into trouble, we watch you and that’s that. That looked like trouble but if you don’t want to talk to me, that’s fine. I’ll get one of the others to come over and check on you. But we’re here for you, like it or not.”
“Lucky, lucky me.” Becca was snarling and on her feet now, pacing the length of the porch like it was a cage. “Is there some point soon where you think all this ‘being here for me’ will turn out to do me some good? So far, I’m not seeing it.” She threw the folder across the porch at the swing, scattering its contents all over the floor.
They both watched the papers slide around for a minute, then Erin reached out and started picking them up, working her way on to the porch as she reached for them. “This is about your ex and the house, isn’t it?” She asked the question without looking up.
Becca nodded even though Erin wasn’t actually looking at her. She was making herself stare across the street and watch her other neighbors work in their yards and walk their dogs and come home from work. Just like normal people. Just like she used to be. But she was not going to burst into tears on her own front porch, no matter what. Well, her own for a bit longer, anyway. She waited for Erin to mention the emergency fund, say that the Pack could help her. Like she’d take any more charity.
Instead, Erin just picked up the folder and stuffed the forms back into it. She had her back to Becca but her shoulders looked stiff and angry even to Becca’s distracted glance. When she finally did look up, her face was completely shut down, with no expression at all to tell Becca what to do next. Erin put the folder on the swing and closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath. Then she opened her eyes and met Becca’s hard gaze.
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