7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

O nce I was safely deposited in my room and hooked up to my first IV treatment, Dr. Bennett left me in Lucas’ care.

“I only had the one isotonic saline solution left.” He checked the clear plastic bag hanging from a makeshift IV stand consisting of a luggage cart and coat hanger one more time. “I need to go back to my office to pick up some more. Lucas, make sure she stays put until I get back.”

“I can’t stay with Lucas. I can’t go home. I can’t go into the woods.” I grabbed the TV remote and surfed the channels. “Where else am I going to go?”

“Lack of options never stopped you before.” Dr. Bennett clasped the latch on his medical bag.

“Touché, doc. Touché.” I fluffed the spare pillow and patted the empty side of the bed, inviting Lucas to join me.

“I want her resting, Lucas.” Dr. Bennett pointed at him. “As in actual rest.”

The door clicked shut behind him.

“I thought he’d never leave.” Lucas crawled into bed beside me.

“Sorry, lover boy. You heard the doctor. I’m supposed to be resting.” I teased and continued to flip through the channels. “How are there like two hundred channels and nothing to watch?”

“He didn’t say anything about resting your mouth.” Lucas grabbed the remote and tossed it on the foot of the bed.

“Excuse me?” I asked, choking back a laugh.

“We need to talk. What did you think I meant?” Laughing, he reached over and grabbed the brown bags his mother packed from the nightstand. “You’ve got a dirty mind, Caroline Redford. A dirty, dirty mind.”

“And you would have me believe that’s a turn off?” I asked with a wry smile as I rummaged through one of the bags and came up with a sandwich baggie containing three homemade oatmeal raisin cookies.

“On the contrary.” Lucas reached for the baggie. “Are those oatmeal raisin?”

“If you want to keep that hand, you won’t touch the cookies.” My threat was only half-empty. Eliza’s baked goods were solid grounds for murder.

“If you want the cookies, you’ll talk.” Lucas snatched the bag out of my hands before I knew what happened. He pried open the zipper seal, inhaled the delicious oats and cinnamon aroma, broke a chunk off one of the soft, chewy cookies and shoved it in his mouth.

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk.” I grabbed the bag, careful not to smoosh the cookies, when he held it out to me. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

“Good. Tell me about the scars.” Lucas pulled a buffalo-chicken wrap from one of the bags.

“Your mother really should open a restaurant.” I said around a mouthful of cookie. “Or a bakery.”

“Agreed, but don’t try to change the subject.” Lucas settled into the bed with his wrap sandwich like he was attending dinner theater and was waiting for the show to begin. “Now spill.”

“There’s not much to tell, really. I mean, it’s pretty much what you would expect.” Parched, I reached for the glass of water on my nightstand. “It wasn’t as easy to shift as I thought it would be outside of the pack lands.”

“What do you mean?” Lucas asked before shoving the last of his sandwich, which he gobbled up in three bites, into his mouth.

“Small town America has gotten a whole lot smaller.” I shrugged. “And a hell of a lot less rural. There’s less places to run.”

“Is that how you ended up so close to home, in Hell’s Hollow?” He grabbed the last bagged lunch and rummaged through its contents.

“Yeah, there was plenty of cover and people wouldn’t think twice about a red wolf sighting.” I moved the clear plastic tubing protruding from my arm and readjusted my position on the bed. “It was either risk being caught or risk being moon crazed. After what I thought happened to my dad, the latter seemed like a better option.”

“You should have called me, Lina.” Lucas turned on his side to face me and propped himself up on one elbow. “I would have helped you.”

“Your dad would have found out. There’s no way you could have kept that from him.” I sighed. “Besides, my wolf and I worked it out.”

“Is that what you call working it out?” Lucas pointed to my stomach.

“She let me know, in no uncertain terms, how she felt about not shifting.” I felt for the scars, which were barely noticeable through the cotton shirt. “The short of it is, I came up against a knife and was victorious if not a little worse for wear. My wolf didn’t appreciate only being let out when it was convenient for me. It was the first time I ever healed on my own. In case you were wondering, I don’t recommend it.”

“I think I have an idea of what that would be like.” Lucas hiked up his pant leg and pointed to a row of dots, barely visible, that encircled his calf.

“You have scars.” I exclaimed.

I lunged forward for a better look and almost ripped out my IV.

“There must have been a trace amount of silver in my system when I shifted or I wouldn’t have scarred, right?” Lucas asked as if I had any answers.

“I mean, it makes sense.” I ran a finger over the shiny scar tissue, noting the difference in texture from the rest of his leg. The slight imperfections added to his allure.

“I think they’ll earn me a few points with the ladies.” Lucas teased. “I’ve heard chicks dig scars.”

“You must not have a lot of experience with the ladies around here.” I said, teasing him right back. “They’re only interested in the biggest, baddest wolf around. Not one that’s all scarred up. It’s genetics. Darwinism. Can’t be helped.”

“Darwinism, huh? I survived silver. I think that proves how bad ass I am.” Lucas huffed a breath of hot air onto his knuckles and brushed them against his chest. “I guess it doesn’t matter though. There’s only ever been one woman whose opinion matters to me.”

“Oh, is that so?” My heart felt like it was about to thump its way out of my chest.

He nodded and traced a finger along my jaw.

“And who might that be?” I asked, with a breathy voice that proved how much of an effect he still had on me.

“Oh, I think you know the answer to that.” Lucas tucked a few stray hairs behind my ear as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’m glad you and your wolf worked it out and you didn’t go crazy.”

My rekindled attraction and feelings for Lucas became harder and harder to resist. The fact that I’d been on my own without my pack or any sort of companionship didn’t help.

“That last part is debatable.” I tilted my head back just enough to align our mouths and pressed the barest hint of a kiss to his lips. “I came home, didn’t I?”

“Doesn’t count.” He nuzzled into the crook of my neck. “I didn’t give you much of a choice.”

“Oh, I think we both know you gave me a choice.” I tilted my head back, exposing the length of my throat in a show of submission.

“Lina.” Lucas let out a low growl; desire swirled in his eyes.

He licked the hollow of my neck and worked his way up to the tender spot just beneath my windpipe. Wolves took down prey with a crushing bite to the neck. Offering my throat up to Lucas showed trust, commitment, and a desire to mate.

A soft rap at the door, followed by Dr. Bennett clearing his throat and announcing his presence broke the sexual tension and ruined the moment. Which, much to the disappointment of my wolf, was probably for the best. I had a meeting with the council to attend. One bar of hotel soap wouldn’t hide anything if Lucas and I mated.

The next growl that escaped Lucas was born of frustration. He rolled off the bed and adjusted himself before opening the door for Dr. Bennett—who much to his credit did his best to ignore the suffocating amount of pheromones in the room. I turned my head to hide my smile and pretended to admire the view from the sliding glass door.

“Nice to see you following your doctor’s orders.” Dr. Bennett set his bag on the dresser and retrieved a new roll of gauze, stainless steel scissors, a bottle of iodine, and another bag of saline for the iv drip.

“Is that sarcasm I detect, Dr. Bennett?” Lucas asked, feigning shock.

“Well, it’s certainly not the truth. Since the two of you seem to think bed is code for …” He waved his hand in a circular motion. “Whatever I just interrupted.”

“We were just talking.” I brushed a few crumbs off the bedspread.

“Oh, is that what the kids are calling it now? Talking?” He made air quotes. “Was that my lunch?”

“He ate it.” I pointed to Lucas at the same time he pointed to me and accused me of eating the doctor’s lunch.

“Some things change.” Dr. Bennett rolled his eyes. “And some things never do. Perhaps I should have a word with your father and have someone else assigned to Lina’s room.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Lucas sobered up, taking the situation more seriously. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“Yes, well.” Dr. Bennett checked my IV before setting the gauze and other supplies to change my dressing on the bed beside me. “All things considered, it’s probably not a bad idea. With the announcement for the challenge about to be made, the less time you two spend together alone the better.”

“You know, I’m feeling much better.” I sat up, resting against the headboard. “One IV and I’m almost as good as new. I really don’t need a babysitter.”

“Security guard.” Dr. Bennett wiped the wound on my shoulder with iodine and taped on a fresh bandage.

“Same difference.” I grumbled.

“Despite what you may think, Benjamin wants the best for you.” Dr. Bennett swapped out the saline bags. “For both of you.”

“I know he does. Which makes this whole thing suck even more.” I crossed my arms over my chest, but straightened my right arm back out when I kinked the IV line.

“Why don’t you head home, Lucas. I’ll keep Lina company until your father sends someone to replace me.” Dr. Bennet scooped up the brown paper bags from the bed and rummaged through the leftovers. “What, no cookies? I suppose I should be grateful there’s a sandwich in here.”

Dr. Bennett called Benjamin and discussed replacing Lucas as my security detail in between bites of his chicken salad sandwich.

“I’ll swing by and pick you up for the council meeting tomorrow.” Lucas tossed me the remote. “Don’t keep gramps over there up too late watching TV.”

“I heard that.” Dr. Bennett cupped his hand over the speaker on his cell phone. “I’m not that old.”

“Try and get some rest.” Lucas bent down and kissed the top of my head. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“It’s not even two o’clock.” I stifled a yawn. The moment he suggested rest, my eyelids felt heavy. “Maybe I will take a power nap.”

The last forty-eight hours hit me like a ton of bricks. Things went downhill damned quick after Lucas showed up at the Watering Hole. My first instinct had been to run when I saw him. He gave chase and then broke the news about what really happened to my father. Everything spiraled further out of control from there.

Lucas was injured and poisoned with silver nitrate. I brought him home only to wind up suffering the same fate myself. My family despised me and yet, my entourage kept growing.

Lucas was back in my life just in time for the challenge. I enlisted the help of Gabe, a relative stranger and lone wolf that I trusted almost instantly. And my stalker. Not that I could forget him. Add the security detail Benjamin planned to assign and I was a regular Hollywood celebrity.

I was exhausted just thinking about it and passed out with the remote in my hand in the middle of surfing channels. I fell asleep fast and hard, but didn’t stay that way for long. The inky blackness of REM sleep was disrupted by a nightmarish highlight reel courtesy of my subconscious. It consisted of what I imagined my father’s death was like, Lucas succumbing to his wounds instead of healing them, more vitriol from my mother, and of course my stalker.

He tracked me through the woods, just like before except this time it was night. I couldn’t shift. Silver coursed through my veins like liquid fire, but my skin felt ice cold. He was closing in on me. I felt the warmth of his rancid breath on the back of my neck. Claws raked down the length of my back. Again, I tried to shift and again I failed. The silver weakened my connection to my wolf and the pack.

I was alone and the only thing I could do was run.

I woke up gasping for air in a cold sweat with the sheets drenched and clinging to my skin. Several excruciating seconds passed before I realized where I was—safe in my hotel room at the lodge. Dr. Bennett reminded me of his presence with three consecutive snores. I checked for my wolf, relaxing when she responded and padded to the forefront of my mind. The connection to the pack was there too, as strong as ever.

I wasn’t alone. Not anymore. And I was tired of running.