The Touch of Her Hands [The Wind River Pack 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) (22 page)

Zander nodded. “I’m truly sorry, Remus. I’ll find out exactly what happened to set the fireworks off early. I never meant for Aurelia to get hurt, much less killed.”

Remus sighed and looked at the members of his pack. None of the men had dry eyes.

“Take your family home, Remus. I’ll take care of the doctor. I’m transferring him to the council’s prison facility. They can decide what to do with him. I’ll try and retrieve any bodies, but that fire’s pretty hot. There might not be anything left to find.”

“Understood.” Remus bent and scooped the coyote up into his arms. He bent and rubbed his cheek along the fur on Zack’s back and then looked up at his pack. “Let’s go home, boys.”

Zander watched them walk toward their van and gently place the coyote inside.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” asked Conrad. “You’ve destroyed a lifetime of work that can never be replaced. And that lovely, young woman. She had such a special gift. You’ve destroyed everything I’ve worked on for the last twenty years.”

Zander grabbed Conrad’s arm and held his breath at the stench. “You can blame yourself for her death. She wouldn’t have been here if you hadn’t kidnapped her.” He marched him toward his van and thrust him toward his men. “Get him some clean clothes so we don’t have to smell him all the way home. Round everyone up. We’re done here.”

* * * *

Zack slowly opened his eyes and groaned. The light was bright, and he tried to lift his arm to shield his eyes. “What the hell?” Both arms were strapped to the sides of a hospital bed. He looked around and frowned. He wasn’t in a hospital. He was in the living room of his own apartment. “What the hell is going on?” he whispered. Then, he remembered his mate was dead. He struggled with his bindings and called for his coyote.

Remus came up beside the bed. “Don’t shift, Zack, or I’ll have to tranquilize you again.”

Zack pulled back from his shift. “Shoot me then. I don’t care. But do it right. Use a real gun.”

Remus frowned. “You want me to shoot you?”

“I can’t live without my mate, Uncle Remus. She was everything to me, everything. I woke up each morning anxious for the touch of her hands, and it’s the last thing I wanted every night. Without her, I’m only half-alive, and it would be humane to put me out of my misery.” He struggled against his bonds. “Please, Alpha Remus, help me. If you won’t put me down I’ll find a way to do it myself.”

“You love her that much?”

“She’s my life. Without her, I’m already dead.”

Remus sighed. “I’m sorry, son, but I can’t help you leave this world. The pack needs you. You’re going to get well and things will get better, I promise you.”

Zack cursed and turned his head away. He didn’t want to look at his alpha trying to convince him that life was worth living without his mate.

“Tehran took a look at you and said you’d make a full recovery, but suggested we get you a live-in nurse for a while. Someone to act like a caretaker. They’ll make sure you eat and get plenty of exercise and rest.”

“I don’t want a nurse. I don’t need anybody.”

“That’s too bad because I already got one for you.”

Zack turned around and glared at Remus. “Then you can just get rid of them because they’re not staying here.”

“No, if you want to get rid of the nurse, you’ll have to do it yourself.”

“Fine, where is this paragon of virtue?”

Remus glanced toward the kitchen. “You can come out now.” He turned back to Zack. “I’d like you to meet your live-in caretaker, Ms. Jennifer Golden.”

Zack looked up and froze. Aurelia came striding into the room, her face glowing with an ear-to-ear smile. “What’s all this fuss from my patient? Is he already acting up?”

Zack swallowed hard. “How?”

Remus sighed. “I’m so sorry, son. We wanted to make Dr. Jackson believe that Aurelia had died in the fire. As far as he and his associates are concerned, she’s dead and gone.”

“How did you keep me from sensing her through the mate bond? I couldn’t feel her after the blast.”

Remus sighed. “We counted on your emotions being out of control. That, combined with the fact she was given a tranquilizer, pretty much dulled your mate senses.”

“What happens when they come for her again?”

“They’re not going to look for her ever again. Zander arranged for her to have a death certificate and all new papers for her new identity.”

Aurelia smiled. “I’m Jennifer Golden.” She giggled. “Actually, Aurelia means golden, so it’s like keeping a part of me around.”

Remus reached over and began unfastening Zack’s restraints. “He recommends that the two of you lay low for at least six months. A year would be better. You have to be the grieving husband for a while, and then you can fall in love all over again with someone new. In the meantime, the two of you can move into the guest cottage on the mountain. You’ll be free to roam our lands, but out of the public’s sight.”

Aurelia grinned. “That’ll be great. Your brother’s mate, Kati, asked me to be in her wedding. We’re all gonna get together and plan it.”

Remus groaned and unfastened the last restraint. “Maddie already has about a hundred lists for the coming nuptials. It’s gonna rival Will and Kate’s shindig.”

When Zack was free, he jumped up and pulled Aurelia into his arms, breathing her scent in deeply. His coyote howled inside, racing around in his exuberance. “How come I can’t read your thoughts?”

Aurelia laughed. “Remus taught me to block them while you were sleeping.”

Zack growled and turned toward Remus as he snuck out the front door. He could hear his alpha laughing all the way to his car. He turned back to Aurelia. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to keep you safe. They shouldn’t have been able to get their hands on you at all.”

Aurelia placed her fingers over his lips. “Shhh, none of that now. Fate brought us to where we are, and now we have to put the past behind us and move forward.”

“I love you, and I want you to marry me.”

Aurelia grinned. “What a coincidence. I happen to love you, too.” She bit her lip and glanced away for a moment. Finally she turned to look at Zack. “Nothing has changed about my gift. I’ll still be able to heal with the touch of my hands. I’ll never be able to turn down anyone that needs my help. Can you live with that?”

Zack picked up her hand and kissed her fingers one by one. “How could I refuse? I was a lost soul before I met you, and you healed my heart with the first touch of your hands.”

THE END

WWW.MISSYMARTINE.COM

I was born and raised in the great southern state of Tennessee. In my youth, I studied nursing, and spent several happy years working in the hospitals there until I branched out into medical management in 1980.

In 1998 I was managing a medical supply house in Chattanooga, when I met the love of my life. The only problem facing me then, he lived way out in Oklahoma. You see, we had met in a chat room!

He romanced me daily with love letters, flowers, and phone calls. It wasn’t long before I uprooted myself, and moved west to join him. We married in 1999, and then continued our fantasy romance all over the world. Together we have traveled in almost all of the Continental United States, and taken trips to Canada and China.

I retired from working in 2002 and it wasn’t long before my husband was encouraging me to find some kind of outlet to occupy my time, something that was challenging, and rewarding. I was already obsessed with reading about romance, and I began to think I could probably write a good, romantic story. My husband heartily agreed with me. With that encouragement, I began writing my first book. I wasn’t really convinced that anyone else would find it interesting, but he pressed me to take a chance and send it in to a publisher. To my surprise, it was accepted, and now I’m able to share it with readers everywhere who like a “happily ever after” story.

Today, I’m living in California with my still romantic husband of twelve years, and our boys. Our boys consist of Beau, Midnight, and Bubba, three male cats that allow us to live with them and serve them at their leisure. I continue to write almost daily, hoping that someone, somewhere will get the same enjoyment from reading my stories, that I get from writing them.

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