TerrIIItory (4 page)

Chapter 7

“Something…something’s wrong, Kane.  She’s not healing.”

Bethany slowly came awake to an unfamiliar voice hovering somewhere over her.  She instantly recognized the angry voice that followed.

“What in the fuck do you mean,
something’s wrong
?”  Evander’s growled displeasure filled the room and had Bethany blinking awake, only vaguely aware of the hands on her arm.

Seconds later, she jerked fully awake and pulled her arm back.

“Easy,” Evander crooned, while the unknown male who had been holding her wrist stepped back.

“What are you doing?” Her tone was accusatory as she scooted toward the headboard and curled her legs under her.

“Leave us,” Evander commanded, and the younger man turned obediently and exited the room.

When the Alpha looked at Bethany she quickly lowered her eyes.  “Why are you guys messing with me while I’m asleep?  You shouldn’t be in here.”  She looked up with fury sparking in her eyes.  “What were you doing?”

Evander’s expression was grim.  “That was Clay.” He motioned with his head toward the door.  “He’s our pack healer.  I wanted him to look you over once you woke this afternoon.  When you didn’t wake, I grew worried.”

Didn’t wake?
  Her eyes shot to the window and she was shocked to discover it was dark outside.  Kicking the sheets free, she got to her feet and wobbled toward the window.  “How long have I been asleep?”  Her tone was panicked.

“Easy.” Evander growled when her knees nearly buckled.  One second she was making her way to the window, and the next she was in his arms.  His hiss brought her attention to him, and she panicked when she saw him visibly wince.

“What’s wrong?”  She struggled to break free of him.  “Am I heavy?”  She kicked her legs weakly and shoved at his chest as her anxiety spiked. “Oh God, please say I’m too heavy.”

Evander stopped at the edge of her bed and his eyes met hers.  “You are
not
heavy.”

Oh God! 
“But you…”

“I know,” he grumbled as he set her on the bed.

She was shaking her head and refusing to look at him.

“This is a lot to take in right now, and I apologize.”

Still, she refused to look at him as she continued to shake her head.  “I don’t know what you’re…”

She didn’t get to finish as he cut her off with an amused tone.  “Yes, you do.”  A strong finger lifted her chin until her eyes reluctantly met his.  “You know what it means.”

“But…but when we first saw each other you weren’t…”  Panic hit hard.  He was exhibiting signs of a mating, but he hadn’t been stricken upon their initial meeting.  She couldn’t be his.  “I didn’t!  I wasn’t…”

“When we first laid eyes on each other, you were barely alive.”  He set about tucking her in.  “I know what I saw.  I know what I felt.”  He stopped moving and lifted stormy gray eyes to hers.  “You are mine.”

“You’re wrong!”  It couldn’t be true.  She hadn’t been stricken.  “My wolf must have called out to you for protection is all.”  Tears welled in her eyes.  “You’re the first strong shifter we’ve encountered, and she’s just seeking protection.”

“Protection?” he scoffed and stood to tower over her.  “You are mine, Beth!  I
am
asserting my claim.”

She pulled her eyes from his and dropped her hands to fist the sheets on both sides of her hips as the world swayed at the sheer possessive power in the declaration. Her vision was spotty, and she was pretty sure she was going to pass out.

“Beth!” Evander’s tone turned worried as he shouted, “CLAY!  GET IN HERE!”

The door slammed open and the pack healer rushed in.  “What’s wrong?  What happened?”

Bethany was shaking, and her mouth hung open as she took ragged breaths.

“I told her she’s my mate and it freaked her out.”

Clay’s hand was halfway to Bethany’s wrist when he stopped, his eyes jerking to Evander.  “Your mate?”

***

Evander’s lips thinned at the reproach he read in Clay’s eyes.  He knew what the pack healer was thinking.  It was the exact thing the rest of his pack would think.  That he was back to his obsession with finding a mate.  The obsession was over.  Bethany was his, and if his pack healer and subordinate didn’t stop looking at him like he was trying to claim something that wasn’t his, he was going to punch a hole through him.

A low rumble vibrated up from Evander’s chest and Clay paled as his eyes snapped to Bethany.  Quickly, he set about checking her pulse with a muttered, “Sorry, Kane.”  Focusing on Bethany, Clay asked, “You okay?”

“I’m…” She was still shaking her head.  “I’m not his.  My wolf is sick, and…”

Clay’s reproach was back with a vengeance.  He gritted his teeth, asking Evander while keeping his eyes on Bethany, “Were you stricken, Kane?”

One second, Clay was kneeling beside Bethany taking her vitals and the next he was sailing across the room.  His back smashed into the wall, and he slid down it, landing on his knees before his infuriated Alpha.

Evander snarled. “I
know
what a true fucking claim is!”  Part of him was upset at Clay’s clear belief that he was attempting to take something that wasn’t his, but a bigger part of him was furious at the fact that he couldn’t fault the younger wolf.  Evander had always believed that his pack would excel with a mated pair at the helm.  Problem was; he hadn’t been able to give that to them.  After years of searching, and sniffing out every female shifter in the state, he’d reluctantly admitted defeat and vowed to give up the search in favor of re-focusing on his pack and being the leader they needed.  Now, with his mate dropped squarely in his lap, it was no wonder Clay doubted that Bethany was truly his.  Hell, the circumstances were unbelievable to Evander, and he was the one who’d been stricken.  Evander finding Bethany was fortuitous, but he knew his pack would have a difficult time believing it.

Drawing in a deep breath, Evander calmed himself then held out a hand to Clay.  Pulling the young healer to his feet, Evander explained.  “When I found her in the bunker, I just knew.”

Clay nodded without looking up and, while angry at his pack mate’s affront, Evander felt guilty for having acted so harshly.

“She woke only briefly in my jeep when I took her from the site.  It was enough.  I was stricken.”

Clay’s head raised a fraction and he looked at Bethany.

Shaking her head, Bethany’s eyes were imploring.  “I didn’t…”  She swallowed hard.  “I wasn’t stricken!”

Evander growled, low and hard.  Her denial of him was infuriating,
and
it made him look like he was still on the hunt for any female to claim.  He knew when Clay dipped his head that the younger wolf still didn’t believe him.  Clay thought Evander was simply staking claim on Bethany…
why
? 
Because she’s injured and too weak to defend herself?
  His growl deepened. 
Or is it because they think I’ve taken advantage of her unconscious state to fabricate being stricken?
  He had to admit, it looked and sounded bad even to him and there was no one else to blame for it.  He’d been the one who’d neglected his pack to search out his mate.  What were the odds of her landing in his lap after he’d given up that search?  Almost as improbable as his pack actually believing that he’d been so lucky.

“It is painful to touch her,” he defended himself.  He stalked across the room with a lethal grace.  He had every intention of touching her to prove to Clay that he was still stricken, but when she flinched back he stilled mid-stride.

What in the hell am I doing?
  Rising to his full height he snarled, “Tend her!”  Then, without another word, Evander turned and exited the room, slamming the door firmly behind him.  He tromped down the hall and hurried down the stairs.  He needed a good run to work off some of his aggression.

I’m the fucking Alpha!  I don’t need to prove myself to Clay or any of the rest of them for that matter. 
Still, the circumstances were frustrating.  Bethany couldn’t even verify his claim, and in his selfish need to prove to Clay that he wasn’t lying, he’d frightened his mate.  He was really screwing things up.  First, he shouldn’t have just taken her from the bunker.  Second, he should have waited to verify his suspicion that she was his.  He’d have had witnesses…well, if they didn’t think he was simply acting.

Lincoln!
  How had he forgotten?  The shifter had been there when Bethany had woken in her room.  Lincoln was the witness.  He knew Evander had been stricken.  Turning, Evander was halfway back up the stairs when he stalled.  Even the straightforward act of finding a witness to verify his claim was asking his pack to accept his and Bethany’s mating.  As Alpha, he didn’t need to do that.  What he said was law, and if any of them didn’t like it then they could take it up with Evander.

At the bottom of the stairs, he ran into Raina.

“Hi, Kane.  How’s Bethany?”

Evander eyed the tray in her hands and knew she was going up to Bethany’s room.  “She’s not healing.”

“Not healing?”  Raina gasped.

The pack thinking that Evander was taking advantage of Bethany was the least of his problems.  Right now, he needed Clay to find out why she wasn’t healing and to, more importantly, fix it!  When she’d recoiled from him in the room, he’d left not out of shame but out of concern.  Bethany’s wolf wasn’t present.  As Alpha, Evander could sense another shifter’s wolf.  Always close under the surface, and even more so in an Alpha’s presence, a shifter’s wolf was always at the ready for defense.  Bethany’s wasn’t.  He’d approached, and she’d shied back, but there was no wolf in her surging to the fore.  No, it had been all terrified woman attempting to avoid him.

“Get up there and see if Clay needs help,” he growled and eyed the tray of food.  “And make sure she eats it all.  Tell Clay I want a full report at dawn.”

Raina nodded and hurried up the stairs.

Chapter 8

Evander had gone for a long run and then roamed the woods outside the compound until the sun peeked over the horizon.  He watched from outside, lying on a bed of newly fallen leaves, as the lights in the house slowly came on one by one.  Sniffing against the crisp bite of fall frost, he paid particular attention to the light in the guest room.  It’d been two full days of rest and nourishment now, and Bethany should be fully healed.  Standing, he stretched while keeping his eyes glued to the window.

Once Bethany healed, he could begin the process of courtship. It was something he was greatly looking forward to.  Heading toward the house, he shifted mid-stride and clothing rippled as it regenerated over his strong limbs.  It wasn’t a gift all shifters carried.  It was a testament to his pure blood lines, and a trait he’d easily learned from his friend, Dell.  Wolves of the North—the original Glacier Park and Yellowstone Park packs—had honed the ability.  Even now, some Eastern shifters and those in the South still weren’t able to regenerate clothing with a shift.  Some lone wolves and ferals had completely lost the ability. 

Booted feet hit the front steps, and he entered the back door leading into the compound’s large kitchen.  Scents hit him instantly and had his belly growling in anticipation.  He’d been so concerned with Bethany the night before that he’d forgone his own dinner, and his wolf was grumbling at the fact.

Entering the dining room, he watched as several heads snapped up.

“Morning, Kane.” Raina greeted him without her usual warmth, while Swan and Clay refused to lift their heads.  Lincoln watched Raina fix him a plate while Mateo and Weston smiled at him knowingly.  He knew what their reactions meant.  Clay had told them.

He crossed to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup before claiming his seat at the head of the table.  He cleared his throat and scowled at Weston.  “And what’s got you grinning like an idiot?”

“Congratulations!” Weston clapped him on the back with one hand while the other flipped his sliver through the air then caught it as it fell.  Weston’s sliver was a weapon that looked like a large knife with a liquid mercury blade.  The molten silver blade appeared solid, but a closer look revealed a shimmering, liquid blade that never solidified.  To date, the pack still didn’t know all the powers the blade held.  Evander only knew it was a possession passed down in Weston’s family for centuries.

“I’m glad you’ve finally found her.”

Evander stilled to eye Weston.  He could scent jealousy, and wondered if Weston had some interest in Bethany, or was simply deflated that the Alpha had finally found his mate while Weston still hunted his own.

At the other end of the table, Swan snorted, which drew a frown from Evander and his pack Beta.

“Problem, Swan?”  It was Weston that did the asking, but Swan didn’t get a chance to reply.

“She’s fine,” Mateo interjected.  “No problem. Right, Swan?”  His coal-black hair fringed nearly to his clear blue eyes.  Eyes that were warning Swan not to offend the Alpha or the Beta.

“Fine, Kane.”  Swan’s tone was brittle.  “I’m glad you finally found her.”

Swan wasn’t jealous.  She was upset.  As the youngest member of the pack, she relied heavily on Evander for patronly support.  She didn’t need him for protection; she had Mateo for that. But it had been hard for her when Evander had all but abandoned the pack to hunt down his one.  As pack Beta, Weston had asserted control in Evander’s absence, but Mateo was nearly equal in strength and enjoyed fighting more than any of them.  It had been hard to watch the in-fighting between the two.  Worse, Swan and Raina had abandoned their own pack to avoid a ruthless Alpha.  Swan had always feared retribution and, with Evander gone, she’d lost many nights of sleep as well as her sense of security.  Now, with the claim that Bethany was his, he knew there’d be fear that he’d neglect the pack again.

“I have been stricken,” he announced, shoving away the plate of bacon, eggs, and toast that Raina placed in front of him. “This is going to be a good thing.  I’ve long professed how a mated Alpha pair will strengthen this pack.  Now, I get the chance to prove it.”

The reaction to his news wasn’t what he’d expected.  Weston continued to smirk, but Swan, Clay, and even Raina bowed their heads in clear disbelief.

“Lincoln was witness.”

Raina’s head snapped up, and her eyes jerked to Lincoln.  The man rarely spoke, so when he did it wasn’t to waste his breath on lies.  Lincoln nodded, and Raina’s eyes flooded with tears as she faced Evander.

“Oh Kane!” She was out of her chair and across the kitchen in an instant.  Arms wrapped around him, she sniffed, ignoring Lincoln’s rumble of displeasure at her show of affection toward the Alpha.  “I’m sorry I didn’t…”  She sniffed again as she pulled back, smiling affectionately at Evander as she squeezed his shoulders.  “I’m happy for you.”  Raina turned and eyed the table.  “We’re all happy for you.”  She eyed Swan and lifted her eyebrows in expectation as she nodded, silently prodding the other woman to show her support.

Mateo reached beside him and grabbed Swan’s hand as her face flushed.  It was good news and bad news.  Good, because Evander’s claim was true. Bad, because Swan feared he’d abandon them again.  “I’m…” Swan’s voice trembled as her eyes flooded.  “I’m glad…”  Shoving back from the table, Swan jerked her hand from Mateo’s.  She didn’t finish as she raced from the kitchen.

Mateo was on his feet in a flash.

“Let her go, Mat.”

Mateo turned to snarl at Weston.  “She’s just afraid.  She has a right to that.”

Weston made to stand at Mateo’s challenging stance, but Evander’s hand on his Beta’s arm kept the man in his seat.  Evander eyed Mateo.  “Go to her.  Tell her I’m not going anywhere.”

Mateo nodded once.  He appreciated his Alpha’s understanding.  Then he was out the door chasing after Swan.

Reclaiming his seat, Weston smirked in his charming, playboy way.  “Better you than me, Kane.”  He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head.  “Imagine all the broken hearts if
this
,” he let his eyes swipe down his frame, “was relegated to pleasing only one female.”

Raina rolled her eyes with a lady-like snort, but Evander knew something the rest of the pack didn’t.  His Beta, Weston, spent his nights jumping from partner to partner because he too was seeking out his mate. He just didn’t have the heart to admit it.  Both men longed for that missing piece of their soul, the piece that would make them whole.

“Kane.” Clay’s voice was apologetic as he plowed a hand through his short, blonde hair.  “I’m sorry.”

Ignoring the other man’s apology, Kane demanded, “How is she today?”  Part of him had hoped she’d join them for breakfast, but he knew his pack needed to deal with the initial shock of his new circumstance first.

Clay looked up at the ceiling overhead as if he could see Bethany’s room and shook his head.
“It’s the same.  She’s the same.”

“
Same
?”  Shock hit hard, followed by fear; a rare emotion for the Alpha.  “What do you mean, the same?”

“She hasn’t healed at all.  It’s like…It’s like she’s not even a shifter.”

The legs of his chair screeched as he shoved back from the table.  Raina rose as well, but Kane waved her off.  “Stay here.”

“Kane?”  Clay offered.  “We need to talk.  I’ve got an idea.”

“With me.”

Clay followed Evander out of the kitchen, talking as he walked.