Terry Spear’s Wolf Bundle (90 page)

Hunter focused on Butch, and he shrank under the harsh scrutiny. “The lady is mistaken,” he quickly said. “I told her so already. I wasn’t there. Don’t know anything about it.”

“Police car just drove up in the driveway,” Leidolf warned.

Someone yelled from the driveway. “Hello!”

“Deputy William O’Neal,” Ashton and Rourke said at the same time.

“I’ll take care of him,” Rourke said.

Before he made it to the door, the deputy poked his head inside. “Is everyone all right? Sheriff got a call that Rourke’s truck careened down a hill. We didn’t find
anyone so assumed everyone made it out all right, but I had to make sure.”

“We’re a little battered,” Rourke said, “but otherwise okay.”

“Good, glad to hear everyone’s all right. I’ll let the sheriff know. Road’s still blocked the way you were going, but north of here has been cleared.”

“Thanks, Deputy.” Jessup inched toward the front door, keeping his distance from Hunter. “We’ll be running along then.”

“You were going to stay awhile and explain some other matters to us,” Hunter said, with a warning look.

“Later. Got to run.” Jessup gave Meara a long look and then rushed out of the house.

Redmond and Butch followed him, although Butch glanced back at Tessa. She was sure he had been at the trial. But why?

Hunter took a step toward him, and he dodged outside.

“We’ve got road crews clearing the rock slide and the rest of that tree, but it’ll probably be another day or so before it’s cleaned up. Is your electricity still out?” the deputy asked.

“Yes, it is,” Tessa said.

“We’re going to Portland,” Hunter announced. “At least some of us are. The rest are going to my cabins up north of here. They’ve got generators at least.”

“Oh and by the way, Bethany Wade’s parents confirmed they had asked you to check her house for any evidence that would lead to finding the right murderer. They never believed Michael had done it. So you’re welcome to go there anytime,” the deputy said.

Tessa closed her gaping mouth. Hunter and Rourke smiled.

The deputy looked at Ashton. “Your dad wants you to report in, let him know what’s going on. See you all later.” He returned to his vehicle and backed out of the drive.

Meara took a deep breath. “Who’s going where?”

“Can you handle Ashton and Rourke?” Hunter asked.

“No moon for a few days,” Meara said. “They should be fine.”

“I promise I’ll protect the women,” Ashton said.

Rourke seconded his promise.

“Okay, then. I want the four of you to go to our place. Meara, we have a couple of rifles there, plenty of food, and the generator will keep you warm. Tessa and I are going with Leidolf. We’ll drop by the prison to speak with Michael and then head to Portland.”

“You trust me to not run off?” Meara gave her brother a wicked smile.

“Yeah, since you know what a problem this is if I can’t rely on you.”

“You can count on me.
So
, when are you going to change her?” Meara asked.

“When the time’s right. I can’t now until the moon reappears, for one.”

Meara gave Hunter a get-real look.

Tessa wondered what that meant, although she again assumed Hunter wasn’t interested in being saddled with her. Why didn’t he just “give” her to Leidolf or Devlyn then? Not that she wanted to be handed off to another
lupus garou
pack either, and she wasn’t sure she could handle becoming a werewolf in any event. She hadn’t
any family anywhere else that she could run to. Still, if she could get Hunter to help free her brother, she might be able to disappear and…

But she couldn’t leave her brother. What a mess she was in.

Hunter carried Tessa out to the Humvee. When he had her settled on the seat, he propped her foot up to ease the swelling and covered her with a blanket. Watching him change from hostile when it came to dealing with Jessup and his friends to tenderness when handling her, she wished he could’ve been a regular guy. But then again, the fact he wasn’t was probably why she loved him so much.
Love?

“Let’s go,” Hunter said.

He and Meara moved some of the gear to Leidolf’s vehicle and after Hunter locked Tessa’s place, they all loaded into the two vehicles.

Hunter motioned to Ashton to take off. Meara waved as they headed out.

“Are you sure dividing our forces is such a good idea?” Tessa asked, as Leidolf drove out of her driveway.

Leidolf chuckled darkly. “A
lupus garou
would know
never
to question the alpha leader’s decisions.”

Talk about male chauvinists.
Tessa folded her arms.

Hunter smiled at her over the seat. “She’ll learn.”

“You and your kind may live in the Dark Ages, Hunter, but I’m not going there.”

“Are you
sure
you don’t want me to take her off your hands?” Leidolf asked.

During most of the drive, Hunter had seemed to be brooding about something, but Tessa didn’t want to
ask what the matter was in front of Leidolf. When they arrived in Salem, the sun had already set and visiting hours at the prison were over. If it hadn’t been for all the ice and snow, they might have made it in time. Tessa brushed away useless tears, hoping to hide her distress. Both Leidolf and Hunter caught her action though.

Leidolf drove them to a nearby hotel. “Two beds, one room for safety sake?” he asked.

“Two adjoining rooms will suffice,” Hunter said. “But drop by the hospital first, will you?”

Leidolf cast a questioning glance Hunter’s way.

“To get Tessa’s ankle x-rayed.”

Leidolf found the hospital and when he parked, Hunter skipped getting a wheelchair for her and carried her in. Once a technician had taken her in for an x-ray, Leidolf took a seat in the empty waiting room while Hunter stood nearby.

“So what was
that
all about?” Leidolf asked.

Hunter looked over at him. “What?”

“Not wanting to turn Tessa until the next moon appears. You’re a royal. You can shapeshift anytime it suits you, moon or no.”

“I want her to be ready for it.”

Leidolf shook his head. “She’ll never ask you to change her. The idea of confronting Devlyn bother you? If I were you, I’d have doubts.”

“I’m not turning her over to you and your pack, Leidolf, so quit suggesting it.”

Leidolf smiled and sat back in his chair. “She’s too petite to be a gray. She couldn’t handle your pack when you’re away, could she?”

Hunter looked back at the hall where Tessa had disappeared.

“Three newly turned
lupus garous
all in one pack make for an awful lot of trouble. What are you going to do about her brother? Ashton’s father, the sheriff? What about Rourke? Has he got any family?”

Hunter tried to ignore him, but the truth of the matter was he had no idea how he was going to handle any of it.

“Ashton might not be very close to his father, which will help some, although his father seems to keep tabs on him. But, Tessa, you can tell she’s really close to her brother.”

Hunter would deal with it, damn it. All of it, somehow.

The sound of a wheelchair rolling along the floor down the hall drew closer and Hunter’s spine stiffened.

A nurse pushed Tessa into the waiting area, but all that Hunter focused on was Tessa’s smiling face as she held onto a pair of crutches, her enticing lips beaming, her green eyes sparkling, the dimples in her cheeks endearing. His frown evaporated and he let out his breath as he hurried to join her.

“The ankle’s not broken,” she said. “Just a bad sprain.”

“Good show. I’ll take her,” he said to the nurse and wheeled Tessa out of the hospital.

“Want to get something to eat?” Leidolf asked, walking them to the Humvee.

“It’s late and it’s hard for Tessa to get around. We’ll get room service.”

Leidolf opened the back door for Tessa. “Sounds good to me.”

When they returned to the hotel and got the rooms, Leidolf dropped off their bags and leaned Tessa’s
crutches next to the bed while Hunter deposited her on the mattress.

Leidolf bowed his head slightly. “See you both in the morning.”

Tessa frowned. “You don’t want to have room service with us?”

“No,” Hunter said, and then gave Tessa a half smile as soon as he realized how harsh he sounded. “Leidolf drove all that way. I offered to relieve him while you were sleeping, but he won’t let anyone drive his Humvee. So he needs his rest.”

“I’d take you up on sharing a…meal with you, Tessa, but I believe Hunter is feeling a bit possessive.” Leidolf shrugged. “It happens to the best of us from time to time. If you have any trouble in the middle of the night, don’t hesitate to holler for my help. Just keep the adjoining doors to our room unlocked, and I’ll come running. Good night.” He slipped into the hall and closed their door.

“You should have let him eat with us,” Tessa chastised.

The lock to the adjoining door clicked open.

Wanting to be alone with Tessa and not about to change his mind, Hunter removed Tessa’s parka and didn’t comment.

“Aren’t you going to unlock our door for Leidolf?” she asked, her voice annoyed.

“Later.” Hunter lifted the phone off the hook and called room service. “Two steaks, one rare, one medium, baked potatoes, everything on them, blue cheese dressing on the salad, water. Thanks.” He hung up the phone. For a moment, he stared at her.

She folded her arms. “What?”

“Pajamas?”

“Of course.”

He turned the heat on in the room and then he came over to the bed and began unbuttoning her sweater. “I like summer best.”

“Why’s that?”

“Fewer clothes to remove.” He grinned at her.

Her cheeks heated. She could just imagine he would be half-naked—no totally naked—all summer long. “As if it matters to you.”

“What’s
that
supposed to mean?”

She smiled. “I can imagine you don’t wear much at all in the summer.”

“You’d imagine right.” He kissed her forehead and then unwrapped Tessa’s injured foot. “I’ll get some ice in the bucket for it.”

He unlocked the adjoining door, then grabbed the bucket and headed for the door to the hallway. When he opened it, Leidolf had his hand raised, ready to knock. In the other hand, he was carrying a full ice bucket.

“For Tessa.” He handed it to Hunter.

Feeling annoyingly humbled, Hunter gave him the empty one. “Order your meal yet?”

“Yeah, a rare steak. It’s on it’s way.”

“Bring it over to our room when you get it.” Hunter closed and locked the door, and then turned.

Tessa smiled at him.

“What?”

“Nothing, Hunter. Well, except you’re a paragon of mixed messages. I can’t understand why your people left you.”

“They were mad about losing their homes in the forest. They have some notion that if they live in the city, or in the case of the others, down in the California vineyards, they’ll avoid this tragedy again. It’s understandable to an extent. But we’ve always lived on forested land. I can’t imagine making do anywhere else. However, I don’t begrudge them their choice. Pack members can leave any time they want.”

“Except for Ashton, Rourke, or me.”

“That’s different. You’re right. You’ll need plenty of supervision for the first year at least.”

“I don’t like to be supervised, I can tell you that right now. I’ve always been responsible for my brother, the one in charge, the one who’s had to deal with everything.”

“Then it’ll be a nice break for you.” Hunter set the bucket of ice on the bedside table.

“I won’t give up my independence, Hunter.”

Someone knocked on the door. “Room service!”

Tessa folded her arms. “It’s not something I do because I’ve had to. I’m wired that way. And not you or anyone else is going to take that away from me.”

Hunter shook his head, grumbled something about another Meara under his breath, and opened the door. As soon as he did, he hesitated to let the man enter with the food. To Tessa’s surprise, Hunter tried to shove the door closed in the man’s face. But the metal cart blocked him and with a hard push, the server rammed it into Hunter’s stomach.

He stumbled back, cursed, and tried to regain his footing.

But what happened next, chilled Tessa to the bone. Two wolves charged into the room, while the man with
the cart brandished a large carving knife and taunted Hunter with it.

“Damn it to hell. They’re royals,” Hunter said.

The heavier-set wolf jumped onto the bed. Tessa grabbed one of her crutches. Swinging it at the wolf, she hit him in the side of the head with a whack. He yelped and jumped off the mattress and landed with a thud on the carpeted floor.

The other leapt up next, while Hunter seized hold of the food cart and rammed it into the knife-wielding menace. Tessa swung her crutch at the white-faced wolf, the one who had bitten Ashton, but he dodged her blow. And then he dove in again.

Unable to move the crutch fast enough, she dropped it and instinctively threw her hands to block him from ripping out her throat. She grabbed hold of his neck, his teeth snarling and snapping, but she was losing her grip.

Leidolf threw open the adjoining door when the wolf bit Tessa’s arm. Hunter yanked the knife out of the gray’s hand and plunged it into his neck.

For an instant, everyone seemed to stop in mid-motion. The man collapsed, holding his jugular, blood spilling all over the carpeted floor. The two wolves dashed out of the room. Hunter turned to Tessa.

Tears blurred her eyes and she held her bloodied arm.

He hurried to her and gave her good arm a squeeze. “I’ll get a towel. Call 911, Leidolf.”

“He’s dead,” Leidolf said, feeling the man’s pulse.

Hunter let out his breath, grabbed a towel from the bathroom, and wrapped it around Tessa’s arm. “Do you feel any differently?”

“Sick to my stomach.” Tears trailed down her cheeks. “My arm hurts. And I twisted my ankle some more.” But what distressed her the most was the sight of the dead man in their room. Why couldn’t the men have left her alone?

Sirens sounded as emergency vehicles headed down the street toward the hotel.

“Guess someone else called the crisis in,” Leidolf said. He pulled some yellowed newspaper clippings out of the man’s pocket. “Are you sure you don’t want to give her up to me?”