Terry Spear’s Wolf Bundle (78 page)

He gave her a sly smile. He knew what he did to her, damn it! “Don’t be gone too long.”

“I won’t be,” she whispered, “because I don’t trust you.”

He laughed. “Good. Best to be alert always.”

Ashton grinned, but Rourke looked annoyed. The sheriff had already left.

“Watch him,” she said to Rourke. “Don’t let him sneak out of the hospital.” Then she thought about the food incident and added, “And don’t
you
help him do that either.”

Then she left, but she had a very bad feeling about the situation.

For a human, Tessa had pretty good wolf instincts. As soon as she was a little way down the hall with Ashton, Rourke got Hunter’s clothes for him. Hunter pulled out
the I.V. and then hurried to dress. “I take it you have a way to get us to your place until we rendezvous with Ashton and Tessa and head to her house.”

“Taxi.” Rourke got on the phone and called for one. He took the knife from one of the breakfast dishes and sawed through the hospital tag around Hunter’s wrist.

“Can you occupy the nurse while I go to the lobby and wait for the taxi?”

“Got it.” Rourke left the room.

Hunter waited until Rourke asked the nurse when the doctor was releasing Mr. Grey. Then Hunter stalked down the hall, found the stairs, and bolted down them. When he reached the lobby, he paced. Rourke soon joined him.

“It won’t take long for them to realize you’re gone.”

“They can’t hold patients against their will.” Hunter glanced out the window. “Taxi’s here.”

“That was sure quick.” Rourke raced after Hunter.

“Mr. Holloway?” the driver said.

“Yes.” Hunter climbed in and Rourke shut his door and then ran around to the other side.

“Five-twenty-two Sycamore, right?” the taxi driver asked.

Rourke smiled as he entered the cab. “Take us to 1032 Redwood.”

“You got it.”

“I hadn’t thought of giving an alias,” Hunter said to Rourke.

Rourke motioned to an old guy standing in front of the hospital, leaning on a cane. “I told you I thought it was awfully quick for the cab’s arrival. I think we took his.”

Another cab pulled up.

Hunter watched out the back window. “Good. He took ours then.”

“Hope he tells him a different address than my place.”

When they arrived at the brick apartment complex, Rourke paid the driver and Hunter headed toward the front door.

“You’ve got a hell of a lot of explaining to do.” Rourke fumbled for his keys as he joined Hunter. “Like why I can see in the damned dark? And why I can see things in the distance when I used to have to wear glasses. And hell, why that nurse smelled like a gray wolf—you, too. But also why I knew what a wolf smells like in the first place.”

“Yeah, well, you shouldn’t have stuck your finger down my throat.”

“You tried to spit the pills out. I was trying to push them down farther so you’d swallow them. Wish I hadn’t. Well in a way. I mean, I like some of these abilities, but I want to know what I’ve gotten myself into.” Rourke shut the door behind them and turned on the heat. “Here, I’ll make the couch into a bed, and you can lie down before Ashton and Tessa show up.”

“The couch is fine. I’m feeling better already.”

Rourke removed the bandage from his finger. No sign of a bite. “Okay, start talking.”

Hunter meant to sit on the couch, but he was wearier than he thought. He reclined instead.

Rourke frowned. “Hell, I thought you were nearly healed.”

“Not for a few more days. But I’m healing too fast to stay at a hospital any longer.”

Rourke got him a pillow and blanket. “Need any pain medication?”

“Yeah, but this time, keep your fingers to yourself.”

“Deed’s already done, but believe me, I’ll be careful when I’m around you from now on.” He left and then returned with a glass of water and two white pills. “Start talking.”

“We’re
lupus garou.
Werewolves.”

Rourke collapsed on the leather chair in front of the coffee table. “Holy crap. You can’t be serious. But damn, you can’t be making it up either.”

“It’s true. When we shapeshift we’re like real wolves, except we still have our human reasoning. When we’re humans—”

“We have the increased senses of the wolf. I already got that part since I smelled women’s scents, pine needles, the shift in the weather from snow to drier conditions.” Rourke rubbed the newly sprouted whiskers on his chin. “The antiseptics in the hospital were nearly killing me, they were so strong. And I heard people talking way down the hall—not just talking, but heard what they were saying when I shouldn’t have been able to discern a thing. Then my finger began tingling like crazy, and it felt like it was healing at the speed of light. But I couldn’t figure out what had happened to me—only that it had to do with you. You really don’t remember who you are?”

“No. Only that I have a sister. I’m sure I lead a pack. And three grays pushed me off a cliff north of Tessa’s place.”

“Because?”

Hunter shrugged. “I might have deserved it. I don’t know.”

“So,” Rourke said, easing back in the chair, “if we bite someone, we turn them?”

“Not always. And we can’t when we’re human. It would put a damper on our sexual relations with human women if we had to worry about changing them by accident.”

“But you bit me! And gave me your condition.”

“I bit you, yes. But I’d tangled with the stalker before that. Our mouths clashed a couple of times and I tore his ear. I bit the other two wolves also. Either it was their blood or the stalker’s blood or saliva that transferred the genes. We’ll never know.”

“So you’re saying, technically, one of
them
changed me.”

“Technically yes. Because as a human, I couldn’t bite you and transfer the condition, but since my teeth opened your skin, it helped the transmission.”

Rourke relaxed. “Good, because I thought…well, I worried about Tessa.”

“I won’t turn her.”

“But the stalker—he’s a gray and he plans to, don’t you think?”

“That’s what Yoloff plans. I’m not giving him the chance.”

“Yoloff?”

“Yeah, and he has two brothers. The one paid me a visit in the middle of the night, figuring he could slip Tessa out from under my nose. I broke the one’s leg. He’ll probably heal in about the same amount of time it takes me to get back to normal.”

“Shit. They’re not going to give up.” Rourke combed his fingers through his hair. “So what are the negative aspects of being a
lupus garou
?”

“Having the uncontrollable urge to become a wolf when the moon is out, particularly strongest when it’s the full moon, although it’s not a constant craving. Once we fulfill the urge to hunt, we can manage several weeks without changing again. On the other hand, I’ve never personally known anyone who was changed by a bite, so it might be a little different for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Most of us were born
lupus garou
.”

Rourke’s eyes widened. “How many of you are there? I had the impression that a wild wolf had some kind of a weird virus and infected a few people.”

“We have no idea how many there truly are of us. Since we live in secret, most of us only know about our local packs. Sometimes we learn of others while we’re searching for a mate.”

“A mate.” Rourke perked up.

“Yeah, and that’s one of the more important rules we have to live by. We don’t turn humans.”

Rourke made a disagreeable face. “Right. Very important to remember that.”

“Yeah, otherwise we have to deal with the consequences.” Hunter raised a brow.

“Like me.”

“Exactly. That’s another thing. You’re part of my pack now.”

“Just curious, but why wouldn’t I be part of the pack of the ones who actually turned me?”

“Just a gut feeling, Rourke, but I don’t think they’re soliciting newly changed
lupus garou
pack members. I doubt another male would be accepted.”

“Okay, not that I was interested since they’d tried to murder you, but I just wondered.”

“Another thing—when we take a female for our mate, it’s for life. We don’t have marriage rituals, wear wedding rings—or any other jewelry for that matter—too hard to change into our wolf form quickly. We don’t believe in divorce. It’s for life. And we live very long lives.”

Rourke’s expression brightened. “For how long?”

“After we reach eighteen, our aging metabolism slows down. We age one year for every thirty we live.”

Rourke whistled. “Man, oh man, what a deal.”

“We
can
die early.”

“Silver bullets?”

“Supposedly, if they’re in the heart or brain and not extracted quickly enough. But we can drown, die in a fire, a snapped spinal cord at the base of the neck will do it. Probably other ways. Old age eventually, too. Although our bodies have an unusual capability to heal quickly, as we grow old, the ability wanes. So we’re not completely invincible.”

“Good enough for me. So what are you going to do about Tessa?”

A
SHTON
RANG
THE
DOORBELL
AT
R
OURKE
’
S
APARTMENT
and although Tessa worried Hunter would try to steal away earlier than the hospital staff recommended, she
never
expected him to leave this soon or be resting on Rourke’s couch.

“I can’t believe this! What did the doctor say, Hunter? That you needed to be at the hospital for at least a couple of more days. At least! Didn’t he? What happened to sharing lunch with you? What happened to…” She growled, whipped around, and stalked out of the apartment.

Outside, she shivered and rubbed her arms, her frosty breath filling the air. How could Hunter be so damned stubborn and illogical about this? What if he got sick again?

Rourke joined her outside. “He’s got a horrible phobia about hospitals, Tessa.”

In disbelief, she stared at him. Was he telling the truth or making up another Rottweiler tale? “Why?”

Rourke shoved his hands in his pants pockets. “I don’t know. Maybe somebody special died in one. I don’t think he remembers. He’s doing really well physically. Psychologically, he couldn’t handle the hospital stay any longer. If he starts running a fever, we can bring him back here. All right?”

“No, it’s not all right. You didn’t get the doctor’s permission, did you?”

“I talked to the nurse.”

“
She
doesn’t sign the release forms.”

“He can’t go back, Tessa. Trust me on this.”

“If he gets worse…”

“If he gets worse, I promise we’ll return him to the hospital and chain him there.”

“I don’t like it.”

“I think he’s afraid of Nurse Godzilla’s return also.” Rourke winked.

Tessa frowned. “Not Hunter. I don’t see him being afraid of anyone or anything.”

“Maybe not, but that woman was scary. She’d definitely wear the pants in the family.”

“Is Hunter well enough to travel?”

“Yes, Hunter is well enough to travel!” he roared from the couch. “And I want to arrive at your place before lunch.”

Despite how annoyed she was with him, she smiled to hear his gruff voice. “Hmm, he’s sounding better already. Grouchy and hungry.” She returned to the apartment and glowered at him. “If you get sick again, we’re bringing you back and chaining you to the hospital bed. Phobia or no phobia.”

“Hell, Rourke, you didn’t tell her about my phobia, did you?”

The devil shined in Hunter’s amber eyes, and Tessa had the feeling he and Rourke were bamboozling her.

When they arrived at Tessa’s house, she wanted Hunter to return to the couch, but he organized a search of the place to ensure the stalker wasn’t there first. Always
business first, although she felt Rourke and Ashton could have done the deed so Hunter could rest.

After Rourke and Hunter checked the rooms while Ashton stayed with Tessa, she made Hunter lie down on the couch and covered him with blankets. Rourke and Ashton hauled in the groceries and Rourke’s bags. Ashton had brought his own. One big happy family. If only her brother were here. And here she thought she would be alone until she could obtain her brother’s release.

What else could go wrong? If it hadn’t been for her stalker and the wolf attack, Hunter might have made some headway into investigating Bethany’s murder.

Disheartened at the turn of events, Tessa started putting away the groceries: meat, and lots of it.

“Rourke and I are going to replace the window now,” Ashton said. “If you need anything, just holler.”

“Thanks. I should have gone grocery shopping with you. Don’t you guys believe in eating vegetables?”

They laughed and headed outside. When they began pulling the boards off the house over Michael’s broken window, it sounded like a tornado was ripping the place apart. She hoped they didn’t do more damage than the thief had done.

“I’ll fix lunch if you don’t need anything else,” Tessa said to Hunter.

“I’m fine.”

“Good. Just yell if you need anything.”

She started preparing ham sandwiches for lunch and was glad that Rourke had helped foot the bill. When Ashton and Michael ate her out of house and home, it was bad enough, but at least Michael always brought in an income, too.

Hunter’s shoulder seemed okay, but he appeared disquieted about something else. He and Rourke had shared a look between them after checking out the house, although it was fleeting enough it had been barely noticeable, but she suspected something was wrong. Had the intruder been here again? She suspected so.

Ashton was oblivious, happy to be one of the “gang.” She guessed maybe one of his problems was he had never fit in with most anyone, and for whatever reason, he had latched onto her brother. Hunter was more of a leader figure, and Ashton seemed to need his kind of guidance.

“Tessa,” Hunter called out.

She set the bread on the kitchen counter and hurried into the living room. “Are you feeling badly?”

Still looking weary, Hunter was sitting up on the couch.

“Why don’t you lie back down?” she asked, touching his good shoulder.

His expression uncomfortably serious, he motioned to the couch. “We need to talk.”

She didn’t like those words. They were the same the sheriff spoke when he informed her he had arrested her brother for murder. She stood rigid.

Hunter took her hand and eased her onto the couch next to him. He draped his arm around her shoulders and his free hand held one of hers in her lap. “I’ve been so wrapped up in this business with the stalker, I haven’t talked to you about some things I need to.”

She barely breathed. Did he remember who he was?

“When I went after the wolf—”

“The Rottweiler?” she asked, her voice and brows arched.

“The wolf. I discovered the place where I was pushed
off the cliffs. I need to return there, to discover clues of why I was thrown from there.”

Her heart raced. “Do you know who did it?”

“I remember there were three men, but I didn’t know them, and I don’t know why they did it. I might have deserved it. I don’t have any clue. I just wanted you to be aware of the fact I need to return there. Maybe seeing the place will help the rest of my memories return. I’ll take Rourke with me, but I want you and Ashton to stay here.”

“Not right now. You can’t leave until you’re perfectly healed.” She hated how desperate she sounded. “You haven’t seen these men again, have you? Is that why you need Rourke? Why don’t you call the sheriff? Even if these men were mad at you, they had no right pushing you off a cliff. That’s attempted murder.”

“I’ll deal with it, Tessa.”

“You’re
not
invincible, Hunter. When will you get that through your thick head?”

He smiled and melted some of the icy worry collected in the pit of her stomach, but she still couldn’t shake loose of all her concerns.

“Listen, there’s another matter Rourke and I were anxious about,” Tessa said.

Ashton opened the front door and he and Rourke walked inside.

“Window’s done,” Rourke announced. “We’re not interrupting anything, are we?” He almost looked like he hoped they had.

“I was just about to tell Hunter another of our concerns. About the guy who disappeared after he rang the doorbell. We opened the door and the wolf jumped
on you. Had he killed the man first and dragged his body off?”

“The guy got away,” Hunter said. “When I was fighting with the wolf, I saw the man looking scared to death in the cab of his truck. Then he drove off.”

“And he didn’t offer to help you?” Tessa asked, frowning, not believing someone could be that horrible.

“Some people are afraid of dogs,” Hunter said.

Especially when it was a wolf. But still, couldn’t he have done
something
to help Hunter? “So what did his truck look like? Who was he?”

Hunter shrugged his good shoulder. “I didn’t get much of a chance to look. Phone lines were down or I’m sure he would have called for help.”

“I saw another wolf on the back patio last night when I was getting a glass of water for your fever. He wasn’t the one I’d hit with the fireplace tongs though.”

Hunter frowned. “Can you describe him?”

“Darker gray and beige, white mask, no blood on nose. He was sitting, watching me as I looked out the window. That’s it. I didn’t see any wounds on him, but he might have had some somewhere. Where he was sitting was dark. Oh, and he was a little smaller than the one who bit you. Was that what the wolf looked like that fought the other?”

Hunter nodded. “Yeah.”

But she could tell by the way he seemed to puzzle over the matter that he didn’t think so.

“Lunch ready soon?” Ashton asked. “We’re going to install the new doorknobs next.”

“As soon as you’re finished, the sandwiches will be ready,” Tessa said.

“I’ll help you in a minute, Ashton. Be right back.”
Rourke went out back and Ashton hurried to join him.

Hunter ran his fingers over Tessa’s hand with a reassuring touch. “So where and how did Bethany die?”

“Oh, I guess you wouldn’t know. Like you, she was pushed off a cliff. Right beside a burned-up pine tree, about six or seven miles north of here. But of course, she didn’t survive the fall.”

Hell.
The same place the grays had thrown Hunter off the cliff?

They would probably come in a pack the next time. He didn’t want Tessa out of the house, ever, until he took care of the menace. Now with this newest revelation about Bethany, he again wondered if the stalker, Yoloff, had something to do with her death to get Michael out of the way so he could go after Tessa.

“You look pale. Are you all right?” Tessa touched Hunter’s forehead. “No fever, thank goodness.”

“That’s the same place where I was shoved from the cliff.”

Her eyes grew big and her lower lip quivered. “No,” she whispered. “Do…do you think the same guys who pushed you could have killed Bethany? We’ve got to tell the sheriff.”

“No, we can’t.”

“But we have to so we can free Michael.”

“They may not have been the ones who’d thrown her from there. Besides what would I tell the sheriff? That everything I’ve said is a lie?” Hunter ran his thumb over her hand, trying to pacify her, wishing he could reassure her. “Then what would he believe? Maybe I did it.”

“But Bethany’s murder happened months ago.”

“Yes, and then here I was at the same crime scene months later. Who’s to say I wasn’t the one who did it, and then like murderers will often do, I came back to investigate the area where I’d committed the crime?”

“You couldn’t have done it. You didn’t.” Her eyes filled with tears and his stomach clenched.

“You’re right, I didn’t. Three men pushed me off that same cliff. But I don’t know who they were, where I’m really from, or what my last name is even. How will the sheriff believe any of it?”

She stiffened her back and folded her arms. “Why did you and Rourke lie about the wolf?”

Hell, what was he to say now?

“I’m an advocate for wolf rights. They cull out the weak and old, unlike human hunters who target the biggest and healthiest elk or deer. Humans kill the prime stock that would provide for more offspring. Wolves go after the easier prey.”

“Like me? You?”

“That’s different.”

“But this one’s so dangerous.”

“Tessa, hunters won’t discriminate. Believe me in this. They’d come here in droves, killing anything that moved, hoping to get a chance to take down the devil wolf. I’ll take care of it.”

“A Rottweiler.” Tessa shook her head. “Dumbest story Rourke could have made up. He should have at least thought of a dog that looked more like a wolf—that had fur even! Let me finish making lunch, but we’ve got to figure out what we’re going to do about clearing Michael so we can get him released from prison.”

“Did Bethany have a cabin near that burned-up pine tree?”

“About a mile north of there.”

“Rourke and I’ll check it out. But I mean it, Tessa. You and Ashton have to stay here in the house at all times when we go.”

“All right.” As long as the two of them were together, Tessa figured they would be okay once Hunter had healed up.

She returned to the kitchen and finished the sandwiches. Looking out the window, she saw Rourke and Ashton talking and examining the ground. So much for replacing the back doorknob.

“After we eat, I’ll look at your injury and see if the bandages need changing yet,” she called out to Hunter.

He didn’t answer. She peeked into the living room. The front door was wide open, letting in the frigid air. He was gone. Her heart in her throat, she rushed to the door and looked outside. Hunter was examining the work Ashton and Rourke had done on Michael’s window.

“Jeez, Hunter, you about gave me a heart attack.”

He smiled. “They did a super job.”

“Come in here before you get sick again.”

He saluted her.

“Wrong hand,” she grumbled.

“Can’t use the other. Shoulder’s too stiff.”

“Oh. I was afraid you’d forgotten how a Navy SEAL salutes.”

“Navy SEALs don’t salute. Not while they’re on a mission and undercover.”

“Ha! Like you’d know. So what are you, really?”