Pack of Her Own, page 5
“Red or white?”
She laughed. “I don’t even know. I’ve never had to choose the wine before. What would pair well with this?”
I laughed too. “I have no idea. I’m a simple gal. Beer is usually good enough for me.”
“I don’t really drink a lot of alcohol,” she admitted. She stood up suddenly. “Oh, never mind the wine then. Excuse me, I have to go grab something.”
She disappeared back to her bedroom, as I put the wine away and grabbed myself a bottle of beer and her a can of Coke. I poured a couple of glasses of water, too, and finished setting up the table. Natalie returned with a thin, almost sheepish smile on her lips.
She sat down and I followed. “I hope you aren’t allergic to anything.”
She shook her head “Thankfully not.” She glanced at the meal. “I really like shrimp, though. Excellent choice.”
“Thank you.”
She toyed her fork in the dish for a moment, as if she wasn’t sure what to do with the meal. I smiled and started eating, trying not to make her feel uncomfortable. She gave me a smile and took a bite. Her eyes widened in surprise.
“Wow, this is amazing.” She all but moaned and the wolf inside me panted in desire. “I don’t think I’ve had this before.”
I smiled. “I wanted something a little less heavy than your dinner last night and lunch today, so I went with the shrimp. It might not be the healthiest, but it’s a good meal.”
She nodded with another forkful in her mouth as she reached for her Coke and pulled the tab. I sat back and enjoyed how enthusiastic she was about the meal. Outside, I was all calm smiles, but inside, my wolf would not settle. She whined and barked and howled to be released, to get to run her muzzle against Natalie until our scent was all over her.
Want! She cried out inside me, but I pushed her back down. The full moon above us made it even more difficult than usual.
“So,” I said, breaking the silence, “you work with Rory at her clinic?”
She smiled and swallowed her mouthful before taking a quick sip of Coke. “Yeah, for a while now. I just finished my second year in college to be a vet myself.” She gave me a big smile. “What about you? Did you always want to be a diner owner?”
I shook my head, laughing. “It more kind of fell into my lap. I was twenty and had come into a bunch of cash and was looking for someplace to start fresh. I ended up putting a down payment on the diner, opening it back up, and having my first job…ever.”
Her eyes were wide as she listened, like she couldn’t believe what I was saying. “You just decided to buy a diner?”
I shrugged, my turn to look sheepish. “I could cook, I needed an income, I had some money, so that’s what I did.”
“Must be nice to have that kind of control over your life.” She sounded almost jealous. I looked up, but she refused to meet my eyes.
“It was a long time coming,” I said.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come off like a jerk.”
“It’s okay. I get it.” She gave me a wan smile and a companionable silence fell over us as we continued eating. Her scent was growing on me, making both me and my wolf want her even more with every sniff. I had to push my wolf back before she did something I wouldn’t be able to explain away.
I said a little prayer to the Mother of Wolves, knowing full well that I was truly getting hooked.
* * *
After dinner, we relaxed on the back deck, with our open drinks in hand, and stared out into the night sky. This close to the woods, my wolf should’ve been going berserk, but she was content to stay curled up near Natalie, listening to her low, somber voice.
“You don’t get to see how many stars are out there when you’re in the city,” she was saying. “If I’m lucky I can make out the North Star, maybe the Big Dipper, or Orion depending on the night, but that’s about it.” She shook her head sadly. “I used to dream of having a big, open sky like this when I grew up. I wanted a place outside the city, away from all the noise, all the light. But my girlfriend—” She cut herself short again, like she did every time she came close to talking about whomever had hurt her. From the little I’d been able to piece together thus far, I honestly wanted to disembowel the bitch. The breakup was fresh, and it must have been rough. She took a deep breath. “My ex-girlfriend. She wanted to live in the city. She wanted a condo in a high-rise nowhere near the ground.”
“Had her head up in the clouds, did she?”
Natalie snorted and I smiled as my wolf stretched out, wanting to get nearer to her and the noises she was making. “I never would have said anything when we were together, but yeah, that sounds like Misty.”
“Rough breakup?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t have anything else to compare it to. She was my first everything. Girlfriend, partner, roommate, all of it.”
“Sounds hard,” I said. “How long were you together?”
“Since high school, through the years after, and then into college. Seven, no, eight years. At least.”
I gave a low whistle. “That’s not easy.”
“I didn’t know anything else. She was…” She trailed off with a distant look in her eyes. “She rescued me.” The words were said so quietly I thought I’d imagined them for a moment. I followed her stare out into the trees and finally my wolf decided that she’d had enough. With a pull that sent cramps through my abdomen, she was ready to shift and run.
“Damn it,” I muttered. “Down, girl. Give me a minute.”
Natalie turned to me as I got up, downing the rest of my second beer. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, yeah, it’s just getting late, and I have some things to finish back at the diner.” It was an easy enough excuse. “I hate to leave already. It’s been a wonderful night.”
The smile she gave me flooded my senses with light and warmth. “You’re right, it really has. Thank you so much for dinner. We should do it again.”
I smiled. “I’ll happily be your cook for a while, as long as you supply splendid company.”
“Well, I can’t promise splendid, but I’ll try.”
“I’ll take what I can get.” With a simple hop over the railing down the few feet to the ground, I headed around the cabin. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”
Natalie hollered something that sounded like a farewell as I hurried to my Jeep. I started the vehicle and sped down the road away from the cottage before my beast could force me into a change.
“Hold on,” I said, trying to quiet the wolf. “A little longer. We need to get the Jeep out of sight first.”
It wasn’t hard. I knew the forest better than anyone at this point. I knew where to pull the Jeep off the road to hide it in the trees. I left my clothes on the front seat and let out a long howl as the change took over and the world went black.
Chapter Nine
Natalie
I listened to the growl of Wren’s Jeep, trying hard not to fall off the cliff of disappointment that her sudden departure created in my mind. I wanted to believe she had a good reason to leave, I really did. But it had to be because I’d done something wrong. Maybe I talked about Misty too much. I leaned back as the sound of the Jeep faded, fingering the can of Coke, and staring out into the trees.
Even Rory wanted nothing to do with me, shoving me into this cabin and out of her way. She probably asked Wren to look in on me only to make sure I didn’t come back early. I’d imposed upon her so much and she must’ve needed a break. When I got back, I’d have to look for a new place to stay, maybe a new place to work. Get out of her hair. It’s not like I hadn’t started over before. Never by myself, though.
I blew out a deep breath and choked on it when a wolf howl broke through the night. By the time I caught my breath, a second howl echoed the first, and I hoped maybe the wolf had found a friend. After a third howl, I realized all of them had been the same wolf. It sounded so lonely.
I reached over to collect Wren’s beer bottle and took it and my empty can back inside. The cabin seemed lonelier without Wren there. The wolf howled again, and I again resisted the urge to howl back. I wanted the poor thing to know it wasn’t all alone out here. Then again, I guess I was alone, too.
Puttering around the cabin didn’t make me feel much better, but at least the wolf seemed to have gone quiet. I guess most people would probably fear the wolf and its pack. Interest was at the forefront of my mind. And this wolf, sounding so alone, made me want to go out and find it, to take care of it. Though I didn’t know if the animal would see it that way.
Less than an hour after Wren left, I threw in the towel and allowed myself to go to bed. I hoped I’d dream of the sexy diner owner, and yet was terrified that I might.
* * *
A sudden crack jolted me from sleep like a bolt of lightning. Disoriented and confused, I floundered in the blankets until I toppled off the bed. Another crack broke the silence of the night but there was no rain pelting on the roof, no lightning illuminating the sky. I was up on my feet when a third crack echoed from the forest, and I pulled on leggings and a shirt before running out the front door.
Bent over the railing, I tried to stare into the trees, willing them to show me whatever was going on out there. There was absolutely nothing to see, even under the light of the full moon, but a fourth crack split the night and I finally realized what they were. Gunshots. Something powerful if it was echoing all this way. A second later, a pained howl cried into the night, and I clapped my hands over my mouth.
No! Not the wolf. Hunters maybe? Someone in town must’ve gotten scared of a lone wolf hanging around. Damn it, what had Vadi said? Something about the wolves knowing better than to come around here? This poor wolf! I searched around for my shoes, needing to run out there and find the wolf and bring it back. Help it. I needed to do it.
I’d barely gotten the sneakers on when something staggered out of the woods. I froze. A massive, silver-gray wolf tottered out of the trees. It was moving far too slowly. The wolf’s eyes swept over the clearing like it was looking for something before it focused on me. Its lips pulled back in a snarl, but it still moved steadily forward. A dark stain poured down one of its front legs and it favored the limb heavily, but still kept moving.
Then it fell, toppling onto its side. I gasped and leapt off the deck and closed the distance between the beast and me. It snarled as I approached, and I raised my hands. I tried to appear nonthreatening.
“Shush, shush,” I said, “everything’s going to be okay. I’m going to help you. It’ll be okay.” Slow, cautious steps forward brought me to the wolf. Its lips peeled back, showing teeth that could easily tear my throat out with one swift move. I crouched next to it with steady hands. “Come on, I can’t carry you, but I can help. Come with me. I promise I can help.”
It was the damnedest thing. The wolf almost seemed like it could understand me. I helped the animal back to its feet, and together we made slow progress back to the cabin. The steps up to the door were the worst part and I had to push the wolf up the last bit, getting a clear look at the underbelly while I did so.
Okay. Definitely a she.
I left the wolf in the entranceway and ran to the clinic truck. I opened the side storage around the canopy and pulled out everything I thought I might need.
Two years of vet school, less than that of actual practice, and now I’m going to perform surgery on a fucking giant wolf. I shook my head as I ran back to the cabin.
What the hell am I doing?
After that there was no time to hesitate. The wolf had fallen to her side once more and was breathing shallowly. I set everything down beside her and pulled on a pair of gloves. I said a silent apology to Rory about destroying the rug the wolf was on and got to work.
Chapter Ten
Wren
The world flashed in and out of focus, skipping time as I tried to shake off the pain. Stupid, Wren. Stupid, stupid, stupid. My front leg felt like it was on fire, but I had to keep moving. Something hit me and I couldn’t move properly or think properly. I should’ve been healing. Why wasn’t I healing?
The world went black, and when I could see again, the scene had changed. The trees disappeared and we were staring at a well-lit cabin in the middle of a clearing. Rory’s cabin. I stopped, hesitating, but my wolf pushed us forward and Natalie came running down the front porch.
No! We can’t involve her. My wolf ignored my growl and kept limping forward as we whined every time our leg moved. I fought it, but between the pain and the moon overhead, I was nothing but a passenger as my wolf moved toward something familiar and desperately desired.
* * *
A pitiful sound broke from our muzzle, bringing my mind back into focus. Something was touching our wounded leg and it felt like it was being torn off. I struggled and snapped and growled, but the wolf was still in control, and she was too busy staring up into Natalie’s face. Suddenly, something pulled away from the leg and the pain lessened, not entirely, but enough I could think clearly again and start communicating with the wolf.
“Okay,” I heard Natalie say. Something metal struck something else, the ringing lasting for only a second. “Okay, I got the bullet out.” She faltered for a long moment, and I shared my wolf’s view of her sweat-streaked face and frightened eyes. “I’m going to clean the wound. It’s going to hurt, but please don’t bite me, okay?”
We cried out as she did her job, but my wolf would never hurt this woman. She could do anything she wanted to us, and she would be safe. I never wanted to hurt her.
Pain seared itself into our minds and we both cried out for relief, earning nothing but an affectionate pat from the human above us and a slow, repetitive whispering. “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay.”
Desperately, I tried to focus my mind, tried to shift back. Doing it in front of Natalie was not a good idea, but I had little choice now. I couldn’t risk the change coming when I couldn’t control it, or worse, when I was unconscious. If she was going to see it, I was going to be in a headspace to explain everything. But as I grasped at the threads of my true self, the pain flared, and they evaded my numb willpower. I growled and tried again, but only got the same result. I couldn’t pull it together, couldn’t shift. Fear wormed its way down deep inside until my wolf growled at me to stop being fussy.
We were both too distracted to notice what Natalie was doing next. It wasn’t until we felt the prick of the needle that we realized. Sedation! I screamed at the wolf, but there was nothing we could do about it now. I could only hope she used too little, or that our system could beat it. I didn’t want to be unconscious right now. There were too many questions and not nearly enough answers.
Even as the thought went through my mind, I could feel everything slowing down. My wolf conked out quickly, not knowing how to fight it at all. I finally got a chance to take the reins and I stared out of my wolf’s eyes at Natalie. Her hand stroked our fur softly, and she hummed something under her breath over and over, as our eyelids drooped and the darkness engulfed us.
* * *
Minutes or hours, I had no idea how much time passed before I cracked open my eyes to see light again. It was the ceiling lamp in the living room, of course, but beggars can’t be choosers. I checked on my wolf, finding the inner beast still sound asleep as if Natalie’s tender care had sated her. Then I glanced down.
“Oh fuck!” I was naked—sort of. As I’d lain unconscious on the bloody rug, I’d gone through a partial change. Partial, meaning I still had silver fur covering most of my body, and a tail and wolf ears, but as I leapt to my feet, I stayed upright and brought my hands up to my face. Fingers were in their proper place, but at the end of them were sharp claw-like nails. Immediately, an ache began in my right shoulder, and I put a hand to it, then yelped with pain. It made no sense. Even a partial shift should’ve healed my shoulder like nothing happened.
My wolf and I shared a body, more or less, but what happened to one could be healed by shifting to the other. I’d come to terms with my wolf a long time ago, being born this way, but this was the first time I’d been injured like this. Not to say I hadn’t been shot before, but something was different this time. Something bad. Something I was missing.
I glanced down and saw Natalie curled up on the floor, sound asleep with her head on the hard floor. I searched my memory for anything from a few hours ago. She must’ve fallen asleep beside us. Was she worried about her patient or just exhausted? Either way, I couldn’t just leave her like this.
Oh, this is a bad idea. I went into the bedroom and removed one of the comforters. I brought it back and draped it over her body, careful to avoid touching the blood-stained rug I’d been lying on. A pang from my shoulder reminded me of the reason for the stain and I grimaced. I’d have to repay Rory someday.
I put a hand on the front door, ready to leave, when my wolf decided to wake up and start yapping.
Stay! she howled. Warm!
“We can’t, buddy,” I said under my breath. “We can’t let her know what we are. It won’t work out, you know that.”
But my wolf was as stubborn as I was, and we were both loopy from the sedatives. I swayed on my feet, then shook my head. I couldn’t make it back to town like this. And with Natalie still here, I couldn’t take the risk. She couldn’t see me like this. But I couldn’t shift either.
Back to the Jeep, I decided. I headed for the door again when something small caught my eye. A small jar with a mangled piece of shiny metal. My wolf growled, and the sound slipped past my lips as I picked up the jar and sniffed.
Silver. A silver bullet. It had to be the one Natalie pulled out of me.
I held on to the jar and opened the door, barely able to hold on to the anger coming from me and my wolf. Someone was out there with silver bullets. Someone was out there with the intent of taking down werewolves. On my land. It was my job to stop them.
