Wild (57 page)

She nodded, then came up on tiptoe to kiss him softly on the lips. Before Channing could say anything in response she was pulling away, stopping in front of Malec and placing a hand on his chest as she kissed him too. It was when she disappeared into the bathroom that Malec and Channing both finally released the breath they'd been holding because the worry that she would toss them both out on their asses was real.

Luckily, Channing thought, the Fates had intervened.

 

CHAPTER 14

An hour and a half later, Caroline stood on the steps of the clinic watching as Malec pulled away in that sleek and sexy car. Her argument that she could drive herself to work had been completely ignored and when she'd brought up how she would get home, Malec had immediately announced that he'd be picking her up. Originally, she'd been upset by his presumptiveness, but now, she'd smiled as she realized how good a match man and car were. Channing had looked deliciously handsome sitting astride his bike, Caroline recalled as she'd climbed into Malec's car. They were two hot men, and they were all hers, she'd thought with a nervous giggle that had her immediately looking around to see if anyone had seen her.

Had Nora seen her getting out of Malec's car? What would she have said if she did? And why should Caroline even care?

With a sigh she unlocked the door and let herself into the clinic, gasping loudly when she turned on the light to see pictures taped along the front of the receptionist stand. They were taped around the window. She turned and saw them on the file cabinet, all along the walls. Lifting a hand she covered her mouth to stifle a scream as the pictures were the same as the one that crazy lycan had in her house last night. It was of her and Channing and Malec.

“So you decided to come back,” Martin said, walking slowly from one of the back offices, using another picture to fan himself.

“What the hell are you doing? Where did you get these pictures?” she asked.

“Did you know that I've worked here for sixteen years?” Martin asked.

For the first time since she'd taken over as the head doctor of the clinic, Caroline really looked at Dr. Martin Woods. He was a tall, thin man, in his late thirties, his face sallow, eyes bulging slightly. His hair was graying at the temples, and the earring in his left ear that at one time might have given him an edge of sex appeal just looked odd on the otherwise nondescript man.

“Yes, I read your résumé, Martin,” she replied in a stiff tone.

After she was hired, Caroline had the option of keeping the existing staff or hiring new people—her people. She opted to keep the existing staff because she hadn't had the heart to fire anyone. She also figured it would help her make more friends in town if she remained friendly with those who had worked for her.

As far as Martin was concerned, that philosophy had never worked. She had a feeling today was a prime example of that fact.

“I've been living here in Blackbriar all my life. We're good people here. We take pride in our land, and we love our animals,” he told her, slapping that picture down on Olivia's desk. “Then you come along, and all hell breaks loose!”

Caroline was already shaking her head because she had an idea of what he was thinking.

“Where did you get these pictures, Martin? Who gave them to you?” she asked, still keeping eye contact with him, but backing up until she was closer to the door.

“Nobody gave them to me,” he told her, his face twisting with disgust. “I took them myself!”

“What? Why?”

“Because you're a whore and a slut, and I knew it from the first time you stepped into this clinic,” he spat. “Oh sure, Dr. Willoughby thought you were hot stuff coming from that fancy school back east with all those recommendations from other doctors. But he had no idea what you really were. You hid it from him, but not me. Not for one minute.”

Had the lycan that was at her apartment last night taken Martin's camera and then developed the pictures? Why would he have done that? Just to get her to bring Malec to him?

Caroline felt her cheeks heating, her fingers clenching and unfolding at her sides as she struggled to keep her composure.

“So you followed me out to someone's private property and took personal pictures of me. Now what's your plan, Martin?” she asked, wondering how that lycan had gotten the pictures if Martin had taken them.

“My papa always used to say that karma never forgot an address. What goes around comes right back around,” he said with a sickly chuckle. “I snapped the pictures, but my camera got stolen before I could have 'em developed. It's so damned creepy out there in the woods. I thought a damned dog or wolf was howling behind me, and I decided to get the hell out of there quick. That's probably when I dropped my camera. Anyway, when I got home last night there was my camera and my pictures, and I knew I had you then.”

Caroline was shaking her head. “You're sick,” she told him. “Sick and delusional. Who I choose to have sex with has nothing to do with how I perform my job.”

“Oh, you're a performer, all right, and I'm going to let everyone in this town know just what kind,” he told her, moving to the desk and pulling out even more of those pictures.

At that moment Nora came through the door, almost knocking Caroline down as she pushed past her.

“You!” she shouted, and Caroline wondered what the hell was going on now.

“You must be one of them! Abomination! Atrocity! Animal!” Nora yelled, pointing her finger at Caroline, as if that were really necessary.

It was obvious she hadn't come in there to accuse Martin of anything. Of course that wasn't possible because he was one of them, and Caroline was not. And she was beginning to think that she never would be.

“My goodness. What is this?” Nora asked, turning around to see the pictures. “You are one of them! Just look at you!”

“Yeah, they're all filthy heathens,” Martin added.

“And they're those shifter things like they said on the news. All of them! Jeb heard them yelling and howling and carrying on over in her apartment. We went over there this morning, and it's got the wrong door on the hinges and it's a foul smell, like something died in that alley behind her place,” Nora announced. “We all know it now. We know just what you are. Poor Olivia couldn't even come in here today to face you. She feels so betrayed. I told her not to be—that's how you things work. But I won't have you here. Not in my town!”

“That's right,” Martin chimed in. “Whatever you are you need to go and take those others out with you.”

Caroline's head was spinning.

Was this really happening to her again?

Were these people actually standing there judging her for things they knew absolutely nothing about?

“We don't want your kind here!” Nora had just yelled and lunged.

Caroline had been standing there not really sure of what was going on, but she looked up just in time to see the crazy platinum blonde coming at her. She pulled an arm back and punched Nora the second the woman was close enough, knocking her straight back onto the floor.

“Bravo!” Caroline heard from behind and whirled around to see Channing walking into the office.

“Oh shit! He's one of them! He's … I gotta call the police … he's one of those shifting things,” Martin was mumbling hysterically.

Channing shrugged and reached over the receptionist desk to pull the phone cord from the wall.

“You can call them after we're gone,” he said, baring his teeth to Martin and causing the man to fall back into the desk chair, letting loose a high-pitched scream.

Channing turned to Caroline, extending a hand and asking simply, “You ready to go now?”

Caroline hadn't spoken a word in response. She first put her hand in his and walked out of that clinic, knowing she'd never step foot in that place again.

*   *   *

Channing had just pulled his shirt over his head when he heard the door to his bedroom open. A deep inhale told him exactly who it was, and he continued to snap his jeans and slip his feet into the boots that had been sitting beside his bed.

He'd returned to the house hours ago after taking Caroline back to her apartment and packing up all her clothes and belongings. She'd left the furniture and some pictures on the wall that she'd said were ugly. Other than that, all she had in life had fit into Channing's second mode of transportation, a shiny black Escalade. When he'd decided to go back to the lodge and switch vehicles that morning, it had been with the intention to come right back and watch her while she worked at the clinic. He wanted to be sure that the danger of the Solo was definitely over. He'd had no idea what he was going to return to, but was damned glad he'd made the decision to return to town.

They hadn't spoken much on the drive back to the lodge. Channing had suspected Caroline needed time to wrap her mind around all that had happened and the huge step she was taking in deciding to move into the lodge with him and Malec.

The huge step they were
all
taking.

“You went back to the clinic to watch her,” Malec said, stepping into the room quietly.

Channing tied his boots and sat up straight in the chair. He looked at Malec, his pack mate and best friend. Then he stood, going back to his dresser to slip his watch onto his wrist.

“You were able to convince her to move back here,” Malec continued. “I knew you would. I was going to talk to you about what our game plan should be when we got back.”

“You shouldn't have left her alone,” Channing replied. “Those people were vicious assholes to her. You knew that there had been witnesses last night, that our secret was out, and yet you left her alone.”

Through the mirror he could see Malec standing with his hands thrust into the front pockets of his jeans. He looked so cool standing there, so aloof and in control, the way he always looked.

Malec nodded slightly, holding Channing's gaze. “I got Blaez's text message about some of the townspeople trying to come out here last night. So, yes, I knew that someone had seen something and that now the humans were reacting. That's why I was trying to convince her to come back here this morning.”

“Is that the only reason why?” Channing turned to him and asked. “Are you only trying to protect her from the backlash of the situation? Of our fucked-up situation?”

Malec inhaled deeply as Channing crossed his arms over his chest. To a passerby they might have looked like they were in a standoff, two strong and virile men, facing each other with the fate of their future hanging like a weight between them.

“We've already fixed the sensors that the Solo damaged when he was out here. Phelan's commissioned more intricate software from some of the people he's still connected to at the Department of Defense. The people from town don't know exactly what they saw; they're thinking we're just Shadow Shifters, just as Caroline had thought,” Malec informed him.

Channing gave a tight nod before saying, “That takes care of the fact that they now realize they've been living close to shifters, but what about the fact that one of those nosy-assed townspeople was also out here taking pictures of me, you, and Caroline?”

Malec's hands came out of his pockets as he took a step closer to Channing. “What are you talking about?” he asked, the tone of his voice shifting immediately to that of ice-cold rage.

“That's right! Pictures that were plastered all over the clinic walls when she got there this morning. Two of them verbally attacked her right there in the receptionist's area, calling her names and doing everything but holding some type of ritual to cast her out of this damned town!”

Channing knew that his tone of voice had changed as well. He'd felt his heart rate rising as he spoke, remembering what he'd witnessed just a couple of hours ago. He'd wanted to break that guy named Martin's wrists for daring to spy on them. Who the hell did that, taking pictures of others having sex in the privacy of their own home? And these humans dared to call their pack savages? They were possibly more fucked up than the other species roaming the earth that they were so afraid of.

It was Malec's turn to yell now. “What the hell? Pictures? Dammit!”

“That's what convinced her to move out here, Malec. Not anything I said or you did. She had no other choice. They were going to physically remove her from the town or possibly treat her like they did those others during the witch trials. I got her out of there as fast as I could,” Channing said, his temples throbbing with the memory.

Caroline, on the other hand, had looked so calm. She'd told him to take her to her apartment so that she could pack, and she'd done so with steady, organized motions, speaking as if she'd been planning the move for months. Channing hadn't seen her since they'd arrived at the house because Kira had whisked her away somewhere. All of Caroline's bags and belongings were still stacked in the living room.

“Ignorance,” Malec sneered. “This is exactly what Mason predicted. What he knew would happen eventually.”

Channing shook his head. “We've been watching it unfold for the last year, Malec. Since that fiasco in Washington, D.C., when the Shadow Shifters were unveiled. It was just a matter of time.”

“That had nothing to do with us,” Malec countered. “Those shifters were fighting a totally different battle than we were.”

“Sure,” Channing said, drawing a hand down his face, the hair of his beard prickling his palm. “They may not be up against the god of all gods and all his mythological powers, but they didn't want to be outed either. So now the government's forming task forces and armies to find and capture all the cat shifters they can, while Zeus has commissioned an all-out hunt for Blaez. And Caroline has just been swept onto a side of this supernatural war that she's not prepared to deal with.”