“Get a grip.” Allen nodded and was pushed into a chair. “Okay. You can’t drive but I can. And I’m not sure what happened between the two of you, but she must have felt something for you if she had them call you.”
Allen nodded. He had no idea why anyone would call him when they needed help. He could barely hold himself up most of the time. But Luke was in charge now and he’d see to things for him. Not that he wanted to depend on anyone again, but this was his sister, his only sister, and she needed him.
“I can give you the directions to her place. I used to go there a long time ago, but not in a long while. I wanted to, but without a license I don’t do much traveling.” He reached for a piece of paper to write the address on when Luke said his name again.
“You’re going too. I’m not going to go to the hospital and bring back a strange woman. A strange and hurt woman. She would more than likely not come with me, and they said you were going to have to be there. You’re her brother. You can do this.” Allen nodded. “Is there anyone else you should be calling? Your mom? Dad?”
“My mom died when I was a teenager. My dad? He hated Jack more than he did me most of the time.” Allen had resolved himself to the fact that he’d done this all to himself, but his dad had been a prick. He decided that if he had to he’d call him, but not before. “I’m…when do you think we should leave?”
“Now if you’re ready. I’ve already contacted my brother and he’s going to keep an eye on things while we’re gone. Slone said that if you need the plane, just call and she’ll have it ready to bring her back. I told her that we’d see when we got there.”
“You mean if she lives.” Luke hesitated and Allen felt his heart twist. “How bad is she hurt? I need to know. I don’t want to know, but I need to know.”
“Her lungs are badly burned and she hit her head on something and fell onto a burning piece of timber. The doctor said she’d be all right if she could make it for the next twenty-four hours, but he wasn’t sure. She’s in intensive care now. There was a great deal of damage done to her lungs, as I’ve said, and they have her on a breather to help her.”
“And the man she tried to save? Did he make it?” Luke nodded. “Good. If she makes it that will make her feel like this was worth it. Like I said, my sister is the best there is.”
They left within the hour. Luke dropped him off at his house and said he’d be back to get him. Allen was shoving things into his suitcase when his phone rang. He answered without checking the caller ID. His nerves were shot.
“You gonna tell me that your sister was hurt or was you hoping that I’d just see it on the news like I did?” Allen closed his eyes and sat on the bed. “I don’t like the fact that you shut me out of your lives. I’m your father no matter how much I can’t stand either of you. I have a right to know when she’s been hurt. Same as I would expect her to tell me if you’re dead of an overdose or something.”
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know if you’d care.” Allen looked at the clothes he was putting in the case and took out the pair of pants and folded them. He decided right then and there that he wasn’t going to take his dad’s shit any longer. He was twenty-four years old. “Why are you really calling? You can’t care a shit if she’s dead or alive.”
“I don’t like that language coming from my kids.” Allen snorted, a nice little habit he’d picked up from Luke. “You think this is funny, boy? You aren’t too big for me to beat, you know.”
“What I know is that you try it, old man, and it will be the last thing you do.” His dad sputtered, and Allen heard the doorbell peal. He stood up and moved toward it as he finished with his dad. “Don’t call me again. If you do, I’ll have my number changed and you’ll have no one.”
Allen closed his phone and put it into his pocket as he answered the door. Telling Luke that he’d be just a few more minutes, he put the last of the things he thought he’d need into the case and zipped it closed. He had no idea how long he’d be there, but however long he had, he was going to try and talk to his sister. He knew as surely as he was standing there that someone had called him by mistake.
The ride wasn’t that long, but long enough for Allen to think of all the stuff he’d done to Jack. First and foremost he’d been a real ass to her when Mom had died. But he’d been so lost without her that he’d taken it out on Jack. Their mom had been the buffer between him and his dad, and when she was gone, Allen Senior had taken his meanness out on him. It was bad enough that he’d done nothing to save his mother, much less his sister, but he’d really failed them both the moment he’d taken drugs into his system.
“What does she do?” Allen looked at Luke when he spoke. “Your sister. What does she do for a living?”
“Graphic design. She works for an advertising firm and she designs ad campaigns. She can draw about anything. I never really understood why she’d gone into advertising as a marketing associate, but I guess it paid the bills.” Luke nodded. “I haven’t seen my sister in years. Almost five now. I wasn’t a great kid, and I wasn’t nice to her at all. If someone called me, it had to be mistake. It’s doubtful that she would have put my name on her list to be notified. I deserve whatever she feels for me.”
“You said she never answered your letters. How many did you send her?” Allen felt stupid that he’d said those things to Luke, but now that it was out there, he would tell him.
“Right after I got out of the clinic to dry out, I started to write her daily. I never sent those, of course, but I did write her. Then when I’d moved here, I started sending her post cards once a week. Most of the time it would just be that I was fine and what I’d done that day. Then as the years went by, I just sent them monthly. The last one, I invited her to come see me for Christmas.”
“She doesn’t sound like a very nice person.” Allen shook his head. “She could have answered you at least once, if only to tell you to stop writing her.”
“For that reason alone I kept writing her. She never told me to stop, so I didn’t.” Allen watched the trees fly by them. “She was good to me. All my childhood she was good to me. And a few times she took the brunt of Dad’s temper for something I did. I never appreciated her at all. Not ever. I was cruel to her most of the time, and the only time I had anything to do with her was to bail me out of one jam or another. The last time…she left me in jail the last time I saw her. It was probably all that saved my life. No, that’s not right. It did save my life.”
Luke didn’t say anything for a while, and Allen thought of the man he’d been celled with. Allen had been just eighteen then and his cellmate, a tall, built man, had eyed him for an hour before he stood up and slammed him back against the wall. He held him a foot above the floor until Allen no longer had the strength to struggle. Then he let him go by dropping him on the floor.
“You want me to fuck you in the ass?” Allen had crawled away from him, sobbing. “You think you can stop me if I want to? I’ve a good mind to show you just what can happen to idiots like you.”
As he started to unbuckle his pants, Allen tried to get someone to come for him to save him. The man just laughed. When he didn’t move again, Allen looked up at him when his belt hit him in the face. The pain caused stars to dance in his vision, but he never turned from the man. He was terrified to think what he might have done to him at that moment.
“You wanna kill yourself, do it here instead of the prison where you’re headed. That way somebody will be able to claim your slimy ass. Otherwise, it might be months before anybody gives a shit that you’re dead.” Allen watched him walk back to the bed and sit down. “The rate you’re going, you’ll be butt fucked before the first night. Then some queer will give you something that will either kill you or make you wish you were dead. Provided you don’t hang yourself first. You will though. Hang yourself, I mean. A shit weed like you wouldn’t stand a night behind bars.”
“I could do it.” The man laughed. “You think I’m not tough enough? I got news for you, I’m plenty tough enough.”
The man stood up and pulled out his dick. Allen had pissed his pants. The man never raped him, but he did talk to him. All night. And when he was let go the next morning, a mistake that Allen had forever been grateful for, he walked out with a new outlook on life. It was the last time he’d ever been behind bars and the last time he’d ever taken any kind of drug or alcohol into his body. But he’d fucked up his relationship with the one person in the world who had ever meant more to him than his parents did. Jack had been and always would be his hero.
Chapter 3
Luke sat in the hall while he waited on Allen. He’d gone in to see his sister about five minutes ago and had not returned yet. The doctor had told him that she could only have a visitor once an hour and only for five minutes. Plus, in order to see her, Allen had had to dress from head to toe in sterile gear. It was a precaution, the doctor had said, as her burns were not that bad. But they didn’t want her to catch anything. Her body was having a hard enough time simply functioning on its own, which anyone could see it wasn’t doing. Allen told him there were enough machines hooked to her that he was sure it was all that was keeping her alive. Luke had held onto Allen as the doctor had told him what his sister had been dealing with since they’d brought her in.
“She’s got some burns on her cheek and one on her shoulder, but those will heal with minimal scarring. Her lungs are what have us worried. She took in a great deal of smoke trying to save that firefighter.” Luke watched Allen as the doctor explained. “She will have to have treatments for the rest of her life because of the damage, but she will be able to function well enough, so long as she’s careful that she doesn’t get a bad cold or anything. But right now…I’m sorry, son, but right now her chances of recovering are very slim. She’s in a bad way, and though she might recover, I give her only about a three-percent chance.”
Luke stood up when his legs started to cramp up. He was hungry too. Moving down the hall in the direction that Allen had gone he saw the nurse’s station, but it was empty of anyone. Turning, Luke looked into the glassed in area. He recognized Allen right away. The man sat straighter than his Aunt Mary did at Sunday dinner. But it was the woman in the bed that took his breath away. She was, quite simply, beautiful.
Even with the bandages on her head, he could see that she had dark hair like Allen’s. Her nose, what he could see of it, was small and button-like. He moved closer to the glass, and was startled when a nurse asked him if she could help.
“I’m here with Allen Wagner. That’s his sister.” She asked him if he wanted to go in as well and he was nodding before he thought better of it. He was dressed and moving into the room before too many minutes passed, and he stood near Allen.
“The doctor said I should talk to her. I don’t know what to say, so I’ve been telling her about my week with you.” Allen sounded as if he’d been crying. “She’s going to be all right, isn’t she?”
Luke nodded, mesmerized by her. When he moved closer to the bed, he nearly backed away again when he caught her scent. He looked at Allen to see if he could smell it too. But, of course, the man was holding his sister’s hand and barely paying any attention to him.
Christ, she was his mate. Luke reached for his dad, not sure what else to do.
I just found her.
His dad asked him who.
My mate. She’s…she might die and I just found her. I don’t know what do to.
Can you convert her?
He told him where she was and what had happened.
She’ll be all right, son. And once you convert her over to being your mate, that lung problem will go away. You want me to come up there with you? I can be there soon. Just keep an eye on her and I’ll be there soon.
No, I…Christ, Dad. She’s beautiful.
His dad took offense to that and told him of course she was
. No, I mean…Dad, you should see her. Even hurt the way she is, she’s simply the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. I can’t see her eyes, but I’m betting that they’re dark like mine. Her hair is almost a blue black. Her wolf would be gorgeous. I know that looks aren’t everything, but she is perfect.
You have to claim her before you can go running naked with her, you know that right?
Luke flushed and told him he knew that.
I’m coming up. I won’t tell Hunter or the others, but I gotta see her now. I can…where the hell are you, anyway?
Luke told him and about how long it took to get there. It never occurred to him to tell him not to come. Once his dad decided on a course of action, there was no stopping him. And Luke decided that he wanted his dad there with him more than anything. He was glad that he’d told him he wasn’t telling Hunter. If she didn’t make it, he wasn’t sure he could stand to have them around him right then.
“Can you save her?” Luke looked over at Allen, who was staring at his sister. “I know what you are. I mean, I think I know what you are. You can’t live in our town and not hear things. Are you?”
“Am I what?” Allen looked at him, and Luke felt as if he were staring at his very soul. Neither of them blinked, and when Allen finally looked away, Luke felt as if he’d been released from a tight hug. “You want to know an answer to something, then ask me. I’m not going to assume anything right now.”
“There are rumors that you and your family came here to be in charge of the other wolves in town. I’ve never…I don’t think I have met any of them but…I guess Pete was in charge before you, then before him, I don’t know. But you know how things are. And Conklin hated them, all of them.” Luke told him that Conklin was a fool. “Yeah, I got that on my own. But I didn’t want to be misinformed. So I tried to find something, anything on you when you hired me. There isn’t a lot out there. Less if you take out the women’s books.”
Luke looked at Jack before saying anything. “She’s my mate. Do you know what that is? I mean, have you found much on that?”
“Just things that were referred to in those books. I don’t normally go for all that bodice ripping stuff, but it was all I could find. She’s your other half, right?” Luke nodded. “Other than that, I’m clueless. But if you can save her, then I’d very much like for you to do it.”
“I’m a werewolf.” Allen didn’t look at him but nodded. “I need you to understand, so I’d very much like it if you looked at me.” Allen didn’t look, but he did speak.
“I’m…I don’t want her to die. I know that she more than likely hates me and I can’t find a single reason why she shouldn’t, but I love her with all my heart.” He looked then, and Luke could see the anguish on his face. “You’re going to have to change her into what you are. I get that. She’s going to have to be hurt more in order for that to work as well. That too I understand. Right now the thought of you doing whatever it is you’re going to do scares the shit out of me, but I think it’s her only hope. And if what I’ve read is true, you can’t help but want to make her better. And she will be, right? If you change her?”
“Yes. But you also have to understand that it may quicken her death too.” Allen brushed at the tears as he nodded. “Allen, she’ll be a werewolf like I am. If she’s mad at you, she could kill you without any problems. She’ll be my mate. I’m not going to be able to take that back, no matter what you may think right now.”
“You can save her by changing her. Jack might be really pissed at me for this, and if she never talks to me again, I don’t care so long as she will live.” Allen stood up just as the nurse came into the room. He looked at him. Luke nodded, and Allen looked so relieved that he wanted to guide him to a chair.
Luke looked at the nurse. “We’re going to transport her closer to home. Mr. Wagner would very much like for you to make the arrangements, and I’ll have the doctor whose care she’ll be under give you a call.”
She stared at him for several seconds before she nodded and left them. Allen started laughing, and Luke looked at him with a quirked brow. He was still laughing when he finally answered.
“You used that mind thing on her, didn’t you?” Luke said nothing as Allen laughed harder. “Yeah, you did, and I love it. It’s all the books can talk about. How this guy made them do this or some crap like that. Compulsion, I think it’s called. Have you ever used that thing on me?”
“It is, and no I have not. And in the future, it’s not funny when I make others do what I want them to do. You should have respect for my awesomeness.” That, of course, made him laugh harder, and Luke joined him this time. They both sobered quickly when the doctor came to the window and knocked. Luke had a feeling it was going to be more difficult to convince this man than it had been the nurse.
~~~
Hunter wasn’t just worried for the woman. She was in bad shape and might not make it at all during this conversion, but he worried for his brother. Luke was already looking like a man who had lost it all. And he knew that he’d not slept well either. Hunter tried to get him to stand back when the gurney was loaded onto the plane.
“I have to be with her.” Hunter nodded but pulled him back anyway. “Please, I don’t want to have to hurt you, but I will, damn it, if you don’t fucking leave me alone.”
“You’re in their way.” Luke looked at the three men and then back at him. “Come with me, and when they have her loaded, you can go in. But for now, you’re slowing them down when they’re only trying to work. The longer this takes because you’re in their way, the longer it will be before you can be with her. Come on, Luke.”
Luke nodded and let him pull him back further. He held onto his brother just a little longer after the men came out of the plane too. The need to comfort him was overwhelming. The others, all of them, seemed to feel the same way and came to give him physical support as well.
“I don’t know if I can do this.” Hunter had a feeling he was thinking about changing the woman and just having her as a mate. “I’ve never even bitten a woman before during sex. I mean, I know it’s in our nature but…Christ, I’m going to kill her.”
“No, you’re not. You’re going to shift as soon as the plane is in the air, then you’re going to convert her. We’re all here for you. And Dan said that he’d be there as soon as we land.” Hunter was so glad that Slone had thought of bringing Dan with them to drive Luke’s truck back. It would have been a real bitch to have had to come back and get it, especially if she didn’t make it.
As soon as the pilot said they were ready, they all got into the seats. When the lights went off, indicating that they were up high enough, Luke stood up.
“I’m going to be there with you.” Luke nodded at his dad. “And so will Hunter. I don’t think you’ll need us, but you might want someone there to steady you when you’re done.”
“I want to be there too.” Hunter had forgotten about Allen and started to tell him no. But Luke nodded. Hunter didn’t think it was a good idea. But it was the man’s sister and everything they were doing was because he’d allowed it.
“I’m going to warn you now, Allen. She’s going to scream. She might even beg to be let die. But her screaming is going to hurt you. Hurt all of us.” Allen paled when Luke spoke to him. “But we do this or she will die. I’m going to have to hurt her in ways that will make the change happen, and she’s going to hurt more than she does now. I’m not trying to scare you, but I do want you to know what you’re going to see and hear.”
“I want to…I need to be with her. I need to know that…I just need to be with her.” Luke nodded. “I want to be there for you as well. When this is all finished, we’ll be related, you and I.”
“You can’t stop him once it begins, son.” Hunter looked at his dad when he cleared his throat to speak. With a short nod from him, his dad continued. “He’s going to bite her in the leg first, then her belly. That’s what’s going to have her screaming. And if you try to stop him, or even beg him to stop, you’re going to sign your sister’s death warrant as surely as if you pulled out a gun and shot her. I’m not kidding you when I say that this is not pretty, like a vamp would do. A bite to the neck a few times then poof, a lady vamp; but this…we’re tough, we make tough mates.”
“I understand.” Hunter hoped to Christ he did, because he would take the man down if he tried to stop this. Luke would more than likely kill him too if he tried. His wolf would be very unstable when this began. And being on a plane at ten thousand feet was not an ideal place to make a conversion.
They moved to the back of the plane where the bed was, and Luke went into the bathroom. When he came out a few minutes later, he was his wolf.
“We’ve nearly put the bed on the floor for you so it would be easier. Get on up there with her, but be careful of your paws. There isn’t any reason you should crush her any while this other is going on.” Luke leapt up on the bed and stood over her. He kept staring at her, and his dad moved up behind him. When he lifted her leg up for him to take, Luke whimpered. “I know, son, this is about the hardest thing you’ll ever do other than waiting for your first child to be born. But like the rest of us, you can hear her heart slowing. This was just too much on her. Either do it or we stop before it’s too late for you both.”
Luke lunged forward and took her leg into his mouth. Jack screamed. Not a loud scream, as her voice was raw from the smoke, but enough to make Luke and the rest of them hurt for her. When his dad said to move back after a few minutes, they exposed her belly. Before Luke could go there, Allen stepped up and hugged Luke. Then he left the room. Hunter sent Jarrett out to keep him under control if need be.
As soon as Luke bit into her flesh, she came up off the bed, screaming. This time it echoed around the small cabin over and over until she finally fell back on the bed. Luke never let her go the entire time, and Hunter knew what it was costing him. He didn’t have any doubt that if he had to hurt Slone like this, he’d rather kill himself. His respect for his brother went up exponentially.
She’s not going to make it.
He looked over at Slone when she spoke to him through their connection.
I can hear her heart. She’s barely hanging on. Oh, Hunter, what will he do? He can’t love her as yet, but she’s his mate. I don’t think I could do this to you if I had to.