Authors: Shelly Laurenston
Miki struggled to stand, but strong hands grabbed her from behind and lifted her to her feet. She looked over her shoulder and frowned. She’d assumed it was
Conall
but it was another Pack member.
“Where’s
Conall
?” He didn’t answer her, but lifted her and threw her into the van. The rest of the Pack, some human some still wolf, followed in behind her. He slammed the door and
Conridge
was moving. The woman drove like she taught. Dangerously.
“Wait! We’re not leaving without
Conall
!” She had the guns and they all knew she’d use them in a heartbeat.
“He’s back here.” One of the females motioned to her.
Miki clamored over the seats and around the Pack members, doing her best to ignore the pain in her calf. She could hear sirens blaring as cops headed their way. They’d probably just gotten out in time. As she stumbled to the back, she found
Conall
in the rear boot. He was still wolf. His shoulder torn open. His struggles to breath obvious.
“It’s poison.” The female next to her offered. “We need to get him some place safe.”
Conridge
spoke from the front, “You’ll come to Van Holtz territory. You’ll be safe there. And our doctor can help him.” Miki slid into the back with
Conall
. She petted his head.
“Miki? Is that cool with you?”
Miki looked up. The female, Patty was her name maybe, was staring at her. Waiting for an answer. It took her a second to realize that the Pack was waiting for her decision. When Zach and Sara weren’t around,
Conall
was in charge. With
Conall
down that meant the next strongest was in charge. She suddenly realized that was her.
“Yeah. Yeah. That’s cool.”
She focused back on
Conall
, running her hands over his flanks, avoiding the bloody wound on his shoulder.
“
Conall
. Can you hear me?”
He rubbed his snout against her arm. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She searched around her for something to wrap his wound. “Baby, can you shift back for me?”
He whined and she took that as a no. At least not yet.
“That’s okay, baby. That’s okay.” She grabbed a kid-sized bottle of water from a box lying next to
Conall’s
head and a small T-shirt she found. She tore the shirt into strips and drenched the strips in water.
She wiped the wound with the wet cloth. She sniffed it, but couldn’t recognize what they’d used on him.
Taking him to a hospital was out. Taking him to the vet equally so. She could only hope that the Van Holtz Pack would help.
She leaned in close to him. “
Conall
, will you be able to hold on for a bit?” He licked her arm. “Okay. Good. We’re going some place safe.”
He licked her face. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ve got
ya
, okay?” He made a soft sound and she rubbed the fur at the back of his neck. “I’ve got
ya
.”
Chap
ter Thirteen
Conall
forced his eyes open, wincing at the pain in his head. He glanced around and realized he was in the back seat of some vehicle he didn’t recognize. He looked down. He was human. His shoulder hurt. The poison had taken hold and was traveling around his system like a flame on gasoline. But his body was fighting it. He could feel the fever coming on. This would definitely get worse before it got better.
But he didn’t care. Not really. He needed to know if Miki was safe. Was she alive? He heard doors opening and felt hands on his body. He tried to fight, but he didn’t have the strength left. He heard grunts as they hoisted him up and then he was moving.
***
Miki limped behind the wolves that had
Conall
. Her leg was killing her, but not from poison. If she’d been poisoned, she’d be dead by now. She wasn’t wolf and she would never be able to fight the affects.
Conall
was wolf. But whether he would live or not, well no one could give her an answer on that.
When they arrived at Van Holtz territory, she was surprised at the size of
Conridge’s
home. It was huge but extremely modest. She liked that it wasn’t fancy. She saw
Conridge’s
husband at the front door. He was even more gorgeous than his picture. A typical wolf. Tall, broad, and devastatingly handsome. And his relief at seeing his wife was blinding. He swept her into his arms and lifted the woman off her feet, hugging her close against his body.
Miki thought about
Conall
and she felt that tightness around her heart again. The pain worse than the one in her leg.
What if he dies
? She stopped the thought. Of all the things she tortured herself with on a daily basis; this couldn’t be one of them. She’d never survive it.
They carried
Conall
into the house and
Conridge
motioned for them to go up to the next floor. Miki went to follow, but
Conridge
grabbed her arm.
“No you don’t. I want to take a look at that leg.”
“I’m not leaving him.”
Conridge
pulled her toward the back of the house. “Of course not. But the wolves have him now. Niles called in one of their own. He’s a physician. Give him some time with
Conall
. And while they do that, we’ll deal with you.”
Miki allowed
Conridge
to drag her to their spotless kitchen. Funny, Sara’s kitchen was spotless because apparently none of them used it.
Conridge’s
kitchen was spotless because someone in her family was obsessive compulsive.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but drop your pants.” Miki would have laughed if she had it in her. But she didn’t. She dropped her pants and
Conridge
gently forced her into a chair.
Conridge
was on her knees, pulling Miki’s leg up to examine her wound when Niles Van Holtz walked into the kitchen. He took one look at his wife and raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t go there,” she warned without even looking at the man.
“I didn’t say a word.” His gaze shifted to Miki. “Have you eaten?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“So no it is.” He went to a row of cabinets and pulled out a pot, a sauté pan, and fresh pasta from the stainless-steel refrigerator.
“He’s ignoring me.” Miki didn’t even recognize her own voice. There was no life in it. And until
Conall
recovered,
if
he recovered, she’d be dead inside.
“Of course he’s ignoring you. He’s wolf. That’s what they do when they don’t like what they hear.”
Conridge
cleaned off the wound, wiped it down with mercurochrome, and wrapped it in a clean white bandage. “It’s going to hurt like hell, but it will heal.”
“Thank you.”
Conridge
looked up into Miki’s face. She wasn’t sure what the woman saw but her face softened to the point were Miki barely recognized her. “I know you’re scared, Miki. But they’re doing all they can for
Conall
. He’s wolf, he’ll fight.”
Miki nodded as
Conridge
got to her feet. “Let me get you some clothes.” She spoke to her husband. “And I’m stealing a few things from you for the rest of her Pack.” Miki didn’t bother telling them they weren’t her Pack. She was too emotionally drained.
“I’ll be right back.” She squeezed Miki’s shoulder and walked out. Miki watched Van Holtz at the stove. She was impressed. The man seemed to know what he was doing. And whatever he was creating smelled good. “You’ll be safe until morning. By then we’ll know if
Víga-Feilan
will…” He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder.
“Survive?”
“I wouldn’t worry too much. He looks… well,
really
strong. And the fever has already taken hold.”
“Fever?”
“It’s how our bodies fight. The fever can last up to twenty-four hours. And you never know what will happen when you’re going through it. Sometimes nothing. Sometimes you shift a thousand times in twenty minutes. And sometimes you start flipping out. It’s a crapshoot.”
“I should be with him.”
“After you eat.” Van Holtz dumped some sautéed pasta onto a dish, added some extra cheese, grabbed a fork, and plopped it down in front of Miki. “You have to eat it. I usually charge fifteen bucks for that dish in my restaurant.”
It smelled great and her stomach suddenly roared to life. Taking a deep breath, she took the fork he held out to her and sampled the food. It tasted as good as it smelled.
“Thank you.”
He patted her on the shoulder then walked away. She ate while he cleaned up his kitchen. An obsessive-compulsive wolf.
Odd
.
As Miki was taking the last bite she could manage, a girl walked into the kitchen in shorts and a T-shirt, with a soccer ball under her arm. “I’m back from practice, papa.”
The girl reached up on tiptoe to kiss her father. “How did you do?”
“Fine. But the rest of the team is holding me back.” She turned and looked at Miki. “Hello.”
“Hi.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Miki.”
“Kendrick?”
Miki blinked. “Yeah.”
“I read your dissertation.” Suddenly the girl looked just like her mother. “I found flaws.” The girl walked out of the room.
Miki stared at Van Holtz. He shrugged. “She takes after her mother.”
Conridge
pushed the kitchen door open, but she was yelling over her shoulder. “I said do your homework this minute, mister. And don’t you dare bare your fangs at me!” She came in with a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved Tee. “Damn wolf children.”
Conridge
handed Miki the clothes. Without even thinking about the fact that Van Holtz was right there, she changed into them.
Just as she finished pulling the Tee over her head, Billy
Dunwich
stuck his head in to the kitchen. “Miki, we need you.”
Miki moved. She ignored the pain in her leg and followed after
Dunwich
who was now wearing only a pair of jeans. He took her up the stairs and to a door. She could hear snarling and snapping. She pushed past him and threw the door open.
Conall
as wolf was out of control. She could see the whites of his eyes as he spun in a circle and snapped at anyone who got too close to him. The one she assumed was the Pack doctor had a needle out and was standing behind several Van Holtz wolves. The other wolves seemed at a loss on what to do.
She walked into the room. “
Conall
!” The wolf spun around at the sound of her voice. She sat down on the floor Indian style. “Come here, baby.” He ran to her. His shoulder was bleeding again and he had a pronounced limp. He came to her and dropped in front of her, his head in her lap. He whined and then shuddered. “It’s okay, baby. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” She petted his head and waited until he was calm. Then she looked up at the doctor. “All right. Do it.”
The doctor walked over, crouched down beside them, and quickly shot him up with whatever was in the needle. She glanced up at
Dunwich
. “Get him up on the bed.”
Conall’s
Pack lifted him up and placed him back on the bed.
“Everybody out.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded at
Dunwich’s
question. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”
The wolves left. The doctor the last to go. “You’ll have to clean off that wound again, but that shot should keep him calm. He’ll probably wake up, though, while in the throws of the fever. I’ll be taking care of the other wolves who were injured tonight, so I’ll be here if you need me.”
“Thanks.” The doctor walked out, closing the door behind him.
Miki glanced around the room. It was a huge bedroom with an adjoining bathroom. She was thankful for that. She didn’t want to leave
Conall
at all. She never wanted to leave
Conall
. And the thought absolutely terrified her.
Chap
ter Fourteen
Conall
felt cold. Freezing cold. He pried his eyes open and looked around the room. He had no idea where he was. But even worse, he didn’t see Miki. Where was Miki? He needed to make sure she was okay.
“Miki?” He tried to sit up but his head was pounding.
“Hey. Hey. No you don’t, Viking.” He felt her warm hands on his chest, pushing him back down on to the mattress. “You’re not going anywhere yet.”
“Safe? Are you safe?”
“We’re both safe, baby. Everything’s cool. Just sleep.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her close. “Stay with me,
Mik
.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He smiled as his eyes closed, “Promise?”
She chuckled. “Yeah. I promise.” He settled back down into the bed, but he still wouldn’t release her hand. “You’re not going to let me go, are you Viking?”
“I’m never letting you go,
Mik
. Besides, I’m cold. I need you to warm me up.”