Several hours later, with Lana asleep against his shoulder, Ben saw the surgeon come into the waiting room. There were lines of exhaustion on his face and his eyes were inscrutable. Ben braced himself for the worst. Lana must have felt him stiffen because she sat up and clutched at Ben’s hand while they waited to hear what the doctor had to say.
“We removed the bullet from your brother. He is fortunate that the bullet was not an inch higher, otherwise it would have penetrated his heart.”
Thank God, the bullet had not pierced his heart. Ben suspected that the bullet was made of silver, and if it had hit Josh’s heart, it would have killed him instantly.
“Will he be okay?” Lana’s voice was soft as she asked the question Ben needed answered but could not bring himself to say.
“Barring any complications, I’m certain your brother will make a full recovery. We are going to keep him here until we are sure that any danger of infection has passed. He will spend most of the night in the recovery room, so you won’t be able to see him until tomorrow. I suggest you go home and get some rest until then.”
The doctor turned and left them. Ben stood up and held his hand out to Lana.
“I’ll take you back to the inn.” He didn’t want to let her out of his sight until he knew she was safely behind a locked door.
They left the hospital in Lana’s car, and the ride to the inn passed in silence. Now that he knew his brother was safe, some of the fears that had been pressing down on him eased. It didn’t solve the problem of the Canergies, but at least they hadn’t won tonight.
He walked Lana to her door. “Thank you for tonight. You being there with me...it helped.”
“Do you want to come in?”
He looked at her standing there, so soft and beautiful in the dim light of the hall that he was tempted to say yes. But he knew that he couldn’t. His pack needed him and he had to put them first, ahead of his need for the comfort she was offering.
“Not tonight.” He leaned forward and kissed her softly on the mouth. She gave him a soft smile when he pulled away and went inside her room. He waited until he heard the lock turn into place before he walked away.
When he left the inn, he knew what he had to do. Being with him put Lana in danger, and no matter how he felt about her, he needed her to be safe. He knew that the next time he spoke to her, it would be the hardest conversation of his life.
15
Ben
After a full eight hours of sleep, Ben was no closer to finding the clarity he needed than before. He knew what his duty was and that his pack was relying on him to get them through this crisis; he couldn’t afford the distraction that Lana presented. It was also clear to him that the Canergies weren’t going to go away quietly and that anyone close to him was in danger, including Lana.
He stood outside the door to Josh’s hospital room and braced himself for what he might see on the other side. He walked in and saw that Josh awake, looking pale and weak, but alive. He was hooked up to a bunch of machines, and there was a soft beeping in the room from the machine that monitored his brother’s heartbeat.
“Hey, Ben. I guess you could say that I know how to add some excitement to a party.” Josh gave him a weak grin, but Ben didn’t feel inclined to laugh. He came over to sit at his brother’s side.
“You definitely caused a stir.” Ben leaned forward and braced his hands on his knees. “Do you remember anything about what happened? Anything that can give us a clue to where the fuck those bastards are?”
Josh frowned and gave his head a slight shake. “I never saw it coming. One minute I was taking a walk with Harper, and then next I heard the shot and felt the pain of the bullet ripping through me.”
Now that he knew that his brother was going to be okay, Ben finally unbottled the anger that had been festering inside him at Josh allowing himself to be put in such a compromising position.
“What were you thinking going off with her?”
Josh looked sheepish for a second. “I was thinking that she was hot and that I wanted to get to know her. You know what I’m like, what I’ve always been like. Something about human women has always held an allure for me.”
“And how many times have I told you that your curiosity towards the humans would get you killed? For fuck’s sake, it almost did!” Ben sat back with a growl and raked his fingers through his hair. “Not only that, but you put Harper in danger, too. You knew that the Canergies were after us. Did you think they were going to sit idly by and wait to see if we were going to move out?”
A grim look crossed Josh’s face. “Is Harper okay?”
Of course his brother would be more concerned about a human than he would be about his own skin. Even after everything, he still couldn't see the danger he’d brought onto himself by getting tangled up with a human.
“Physically, she’s fine. I’m sure it’s going to be a long time before she gets over the trauma of seeing someone shot in front of her. I have told you a hundred times that we can’t get tangled up with the humans. It’s just too dangerous, for us and for them.” There was a hard note in Ben’s voice, and he wondered for a moment if he was trying to convince his brother or himself. The thought of letting Lana go ripped at his insides, but he knew that it was what he had to do for both of their sakes.
“But it’s okay for you?” Anger flashed across Josh’s face. “You’re sleeping with a human. How is that any different from me going for a walk with one?”
Truth be told, it was much worse. He knew from the moment he met Lana that there was something between them. And instead of doing what he should have done, namely keeping away from her, he’d done the opposite. He’d gotten to know her, had come to care for her, and now he’d put her in danger because of his own stupidity and selfishness.
“You’re right; I’ve been careless as far as Lana is concerned. But that stops now.” Ben knew that by making that declaration out loud, there was no backing out for him. He had to end things with Lana, and now that the words were out of his mouth, he couldn't turn back from his chosen course.
Josh went pale as he looked at him in disbelief. “I never thought you’d be so stupid.”
“It’s not stupid.” His brother would never understand how much the responsibility of looking out for the pack weighed on him. He had to put the pack before what he wanted and needed.
“It is stupid. You have this purposeful blindness inside that you can’t see through. Lana is the best thing that has ever happened to you. I’m pretty sure she’s your mate, and yet you are ready to throw that away because she is human?”
Ben shook his head. “Her humanity has nothing to do with it. If it was still an issue for me, I would never have slept with her. When I look at her now, I don’t see a human, I see Lana.”
Josh stared at him as if he couldn't figure his brother out. “Then why are you thinking of letting her go?”
“I am facing the biggest fight of my life, a fight for our pack’s very existence, and I don’t know if I’m going to come through it alive. But I will be damned if I’m going to drag Lana into it. If anything happened to her…” Ben pressed his lips together for a moment and steeled his resolve. “The relationship between Lana and me is over, and that’s all there is to it.”
A noise came from the doorway, and Ben turned to see Lana standing there. Judging by the pale cast to her face, it was obvious that she’d heard what he’d said to his brother.
“You’re unbelievable.” She quickly turned and was gone before Ben could even get up out of his seat.
“Looks like you got what you wanted.” His brother’s voice sounded sour as he spoke up from behind him.
“Not like this.”
“Then you better go after her and explain. It’s the least you owe her, considering you knew about the threat of the Canergies and slept with her anyway.”
Ben was calling himself every kind of fool as he strode out of his brother’s hospital room. He should have talked to Lana first before he told Josh an
ything. Now he had to go after her and that was going to make what he had to say that much harder.
16
Lana
Lana swiped an angry hand across her cheeks as she strode down the corridor of the hospital. She was such an idiot to think that the differences between her and Ben didn’t matter. He’d tried to tell her that he didn’t trust humans. and like a fool, she’d thought he’d gotten over that.
She ducked her head so the few people wandering around wouldn't see how distraught she was. As if from a distance, she heard the sounds of rapid footfalls before a strong hand wrapped itself around her arm.
“Lana, stop. We need to talk.” Ben’s voice was deep and grave as he drew her to a halt.
She tugged her arm free. “I think you’ve said more than enough.”
He reached for her again and pulled her into an empty hospital room. She pulled away and turned to face him, her arms crossed over her chest. His face was grim as he looked at her, and her anger at herself grew because despite what he had said, if he told her now that it was a mistake, she would gladly take him back.
“I never meant for you to hear it that way.”
Pain went through Lana as she realized that he’d meant what he’d said to his brother and that he had every intention of ending things with her. She smothered down the pain he caused and embraced her anger instead.
“And when were you planning to tell me? After you’d fucked me a few more times?” And as soon as she said it, she knew why he’d rejected her overture the night before. “You decided it was over last night, didn’t you?”
He looked away from her and she could see the truth in what she’d said emblazoned on his face; it took all the anger out of her.
“Why?” She pressed her lips together to keep the lower one from trembling. Despite her efforts, a tear slipped out from under her lashes and fell past her cheek.
“Please don’t cry.” He looked like he was in pain as he whispered those words. “This is hard enough without seeing you cry.”
“Then why are you doing it?” Her words came out in a sob and she hugged her arms around her middle.
“Because I need you to be safe. My being with you puts you in danger, and I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you.” His voice was like the cry of a wounded animal, and she could see that this was not a decision he had taken lightly. “Those enemies I told you about last night, the ones who hurt my brother, are out there and I need to be there for my pack—I am responsible for them. I can't have any distractions.”
“And is that all that I am, a distraction?” It would have been so much easier if he’d said that he couldn't be with her because he didn’t want her anymore. That she could have understood. But to be called a distraction he couldn't afford was something that cut her deep to her core.
He took a step toward her and raised his hands as if he wanted to touch her. His hands curled into fists as he brought them back down to his sides.
“You are more than that to me. If I could see any other way forward, I would take it. But this is how it has to be.” That muscle worked in his jaw as he finished speaking.
It was clear that no matter what she said, he wasn’t going to change his mind. It was over, and she had just enough dignity left to respect his decision and not lower herself by begging him not to leave.
She stood there and injected the same strength that had made it possible for her to leave everything behind for a chance at a new life back into her spine. She clung to that strength as she looked into the stormy gray eyes she had grown to love.
“I’m not going to make this difficult for you. It’s better that I know now before I get myself too deeply entangled in your life.” He looked relieved that she was speaking to him in a more moderate tone. She wanted so badly to fall apart, but she was not going to do that in front of him. “If I see you on the street, I’ll be cordial, but when this fight of yours is over, don’t come looking for me. You had your chance to include me in your life and you blew it.”
He flinched as if every word she spoke was a blow to him. “I know.”
“Goodbye, Ben.” She turned around with her head held high and made her way to the door. She focused all of her energy on getting out of there without falling apart and putting one foot in front of the other.
“Lana,” he called out behind her, and she thought for a moment that he was finally going to see sense. She turned back to look at him. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I’ve always been strong, Ben. It’s too bad you weren’t able to see it.” With those parting words, she pulled open the door and walked away from him.
She managed to keep her emotions in check as she navigated her way out of the hospital. She would get through this, just like she’d gotten through every other painful experience to come up in her life. And maybe someday, she could look back on her time with him without the searing pain that threatened to swamp her now.
“Just get to your car. You can fall apart once you are inside your car.” She received a few strange looks as she said the words out loud, but she ignored them. She would rather people think she was a little strange than have them think she was a basket case by falling apart in the middle of the hospital.
Her hands were trembling by the time she got to the garage where she’d parked her car. She pressed her lips together to keep the tears burning in her eyes from spilling over.
“Well, fancy meeting you here,” a woman’s voice called out from behind her, and Lana turned her head to see the woman who’d come into her shop to talk to Ben.
“If you’re looking for Ben, he’s not with me.” Lana turned back around and dug into her purse for her keys.
The woman’s perfume threatened to overwhelm her when she stepped up close. Lana stiffened as she felt something hard press into her ribs.
“You’re exactly who I’m looking for,” the woman’s voice hissed in her ear, and pure fear went through Lana when she realized what she felt pressed against her side was a gun.
Lana had no idea how long she had been in the car. The hood the woman had put over her head when she shoved her into the waiting vehicle made it impossible to see. The man who was driving didn’t seem too happy that the woman had taken it upon herself to engage in kidnapping, but it appeared he had little enough to say about it. The woman had told him to shut up and drive, and he obeyed.
A terror unlike anything she’d ever felt went through her, and she prayed that her life would not end now. There had to be a way out of this. There had to be something this woman wanted that Lana could give her to let her go.
The vehicle finally stopped and Lana was dragged out. The woman’s talon-like fingernails dug into the soft flesh of Lana’s upper arm and the hood was pulled off. Lana could see a dilapidated farmhouse in front of her. She had no idea where she was and no idea how to get back to Lenox, but she knew she had to do something to get away from this woman.
“Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. Please, just let me go.” Lana hated hearing the weakness in her voice. She’d always thought of herself as a strong woman, but being kidnapped at gunpoint was a situation she’d never thought to prepare for.
“The one thing I want you can’t give, but you will play your part in getting it for me.” The woman tugged on Lana and dragged her towards the house. Lana pulled at her arm, trying to free herself, but the woman was quick with the gun and pressed it against Lana’s temple. “I suggest that you cooperate. I have no desire to kill you. I only need to use you as leverage to get Ben Stokes to vacate the home that is rightfully ours. But don’t think that I won’t end you if you give me too much trouble.”
Lana stilled. It wouldn't do her any good to fight this woman, and she clamped her lips together to keep a hysterical laugh from bursting out. This woman was an idiot if she thought Ben would leave Shadowbrook for her sake. She meant nothing to him, otherwise it wouldn’t have been so easy for him to let her go.
The woman dragged her up the steps tow
ard the door. A low growl rumbled behind them and Lana glanced back, hope rising in her throat. Ben was here and he would save her! He did care for her after all!
But the wolf standing in the middle of the yard, his hackles raised and his lips peeled back to reveal his lethal teeth, was not Ben. He was smaller, and his fur was gray.
The woman opened the door. There was a large group of men scattered inside the house.
“We’ve got company. Go take care of it.”
Several of the men moved toward the door as the woman dragged Lana inside. Lana turned to see what was going to happen to the wolf, but the door slammed shut behind the last man out.
“Let’s get you settled into your temporary new home.” The woman dragged Lana towards the back of the house. The man who’d driven the car followed behind, and Lana swallowed hard at the way he loomed over her once they got to her room.
“Ray is going to tie your hands and feet. I don’t want you escaping before I can set my plan in motion. Remember, if you want to get out of here alive, you need to do everything we say.”
Lana wanted to believe what the woman was saying, and so she held her hands out to be tied by the brute in front of her. A small voice in her head told her that once the woman got what she wanted, Lana would be surplus to requirements. But right now, the woman held a gun, and she didn’t look like the type who would hesitate if forced to act. The best thing Lana could do was pretend to cooperate while she tried to figure a way to get out of this mess.
17
Ben
From the second he walked away from Lana, Ben knew he’d made a big mistake. Seeing how much he’d hurt her made him want to rip his heart out of his chest so he didn’t have to feel his guilt over the pain he’d caused. But what else could he have done? The Canergies had gotten to his brother, there was no way he was going to risk them getting to her, too.
Firefighter Wolves Shifters (A Paranormal Romance Series Boxset) Page 7