Half Truths (A Helheim Wolf Pack Tale) (24 page)

Antain pursed
his lips in a hard line. ‘Do you know the cause? Is she feeding enough?’

‘Yeah, she’s
been feeding fine. I’ve been there every time except for—’ No, he hadn’t been
there every time. Yesterday, he had walked in on her feeding from the wolf
who’d broken into her apartment. Raging, hot jealousy stung the blood in his
veins at the thought of seeing her bent over the guy’s neck, her teeth in him,
her mouth on him.
It should have been him she was feeding from.
Rhett
clenched his jaw so tightly it hurt. He couldn’t feed her. She’d become even
more addicted to his blood. He’d already had a sample of how that works out.

‘Except for
what?’

He licked his
lips. ‘Remember I told you that she drank from the wolf who broke into her
apartment?’ Antain nodded. ‘I only caught the end of that feeding, but she was
fine. She didn’t complain about feeling sick or anything.’

‘The blood she’s
had, has it been human?’

‘Yeah. It’s the
supply Laithe gave me from the hospital. Why?’ Rhett’s mind worked quickly; the
conclusion coming to him hard and fast—leaving his stomach twisting. ‘You don’t
think Laithe has been tampering with the blood, do you?’

Antain shook his
head. ‘No. Laithe knows how much Indi means to the pack, even if he made his
decision a long time ago to marry a human woman.’

‘But what other
conclusion can you reach then?’

‘I think it has
to do with how the blood is sourced, how it’s taken.’

Rhett frowned.
‘What are you talking about?’

‘Indi’s been
drinking bagged blood the whole time except for when she fed on the intruding
wolf in her apartment. What if—’

‘She needs to
drink from the source,’ Rhett finished. ‘I can’t believe I haven’t thought
about it before. Maybe you’re right. Maybe she needs to drink from the vein.
But how are we supposed to find a human willing to feed her?’

Antain shook his
head. ‘I have no idea how we’re going to feed her—only that we have to at least
try. I’m going to call Laithe and ask him to come around to check her over.
Maybe he’ll have an idea about what’s going on here.’

An hour later, Laithe pulled up in
his beat-to-shit pickup and got out. Antain and Rhett met him on the porch;
Rhett fighting the need to run up the stairs and watch over Indi again.

‘Alpha,’ Laithe
rumbled, placing a fist over his heart and bowing slightly.

‘Laithe. I
appreciate you coming all the way out here.’

‘It’s for the
pack,’ he shrugged.

Antain nodded.
‘She’s in Rhett’s room.’ He turned, walking back into the house with Rhett and
Laithe in tow. His uncle opened the door slowly, giving Indi time to get used
to them being there in case she’d just woken up.

‘Indi?’ Rhett
asked, sitting down beside her; taking her hand into his. Her skin felt clammy
to him, and that only made him worry more. ‘Indi?’ he asked again, brushing his
free hand over her forehead. Her eyes were scrunched together tight, but when
his fingers traced the arch of her eyebrows, her face relaxed. Dark circles
bruised her skin like she was sleep deprived, and dread settled heavily in his
gut. Rhett looked up at Antain.

‘She’s still out
cold.’

‘Laithe, could
you look at her please?’

‘Sure.’ Laithe
approached the bed, and Rhett’s wolf automatically didn’t like it. His need to
protect her flared. Fuck. He was acting just like a mated wolf. He swallowed
down hard on the urge to gut Laithe with his bare hands. He was only going to
touch her to check her vitals—nothing more—but Rhett’s wolf would have gladly
ripped out his throat even if he was a pack mate.

‘Ease off,
Rhett,’ Antain murmured, placing his hand on Rhett’s shoulder and tugging
gently. He blinked his wolf’s eyes away, standing up slowly without taking his
eyes from Laithe.

‘Are they
mated?’ Laithe asked, confused.

‘No. He’s just
very protective of her.’

Laithe gave him
a weary look before sitting on the bed next to Indi and taking her hand.
Rhett’s wolf snapped. There was a hum of a growl filling the room, and that
growl was deadly serious. Antain took him by the shoulders and forced him to
look into his golden eyes. ‘Enough!’

Rhett’s gaze
dropped, but his eyes edged back towards Indi and Laithe almost instantly. He
had a thermometer in her ear; the thing beeping after a few minutes of taking
her temperature. When Laithe looked at the thing, his expression was pinched.

‘What is it?’
Rhett demanded, taking a step towards the bed when Antain’s strong hands
wrapped around his bicep. Rhett looked back at him angrily.

‘Stay over this
side of the room.’ Rhett frowned at his uncle, but stopped pulling against his
grip.

‘Laithe, what is
it?’

‘Her temperature
is low.’

‘How low?’

‘Arctic.’

Rhett bit back a
curse. ‘What about her pulse? Her blood pressure?’ he asked through gritted
teeth.

Laithe picked up
Indi’s hand, sliding his fingers to her wrist to take her pulse, but not
lingering for any longer than he needed to. ‘Thready and weak,’ he told them.
He then pulled his blood pressure cuff out and slid it around her upper arm;
inflating the cuff by squeezing the black bulb. Securing the ear pieces of his
stethoscope in place, he took the reading. Seconds ticked by, but to Rhett they
felt like hours—agonizing, burning-in-hell kind of hours. Finally, Laithe undid
the Velcro and slid the cuff free.

‘Well?’ Rhett
snarled.

‘She’s
hypotensive.’

‘What does that
mean?’

‘She’s got low
blood pressure. I mean
really
low blood pressure—seventy-five over
thirty-five.’

‘Is that bad?’
Rhett asked, frantically. He didn’t actually get an answer—the look on Laithe’s
face was grim enough to interpret.

‘What do you
suggest then?’ Antain was forever the voice of reason.

‘When did she
last feed?’

‘About two hours
ago.’

Laithe rubbed
the back of his head with his hand. ‘I haven’t ever treated a félvair before. I
don’t know what to do. Maybe all she needs is rest?’ 

‘Rest? She just
threw up her weight in blood, and all you suggest is
rest?
’ Rhett tried
to keep his voice down, but his volume pitched wildly.

‘I’m sorry
Rhett. There’s nothing else I can think of to try.’

‘How about you
try feeding her a little blood, just a mouthful at a time?’ Antain suggested in
his calming voice. ‘If she keeps it down, we can try giving her a little more.’

Rhett chewed the
inside of his cheek. ‘Fine. I’ll get her some blood.’ His wolf pushed against
him, whining at him to stay. ‘Uncle, will you stay with her?’ he asked,
pointedly looking from Laithe to Indi then back at him.

‘Sure.’

Rhett left the
room; the murmured conversation between Laithe and his uncle a drone in his
head. When he pushed through to the kitchen, Brax was there fixing himself a
sandwich.

‘B,’ he said,
offering him a fist. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Nice to see you,
too,’ B grinned.

‘Sorry,’ Rhett
said. He was still too juiced to play nicey-nicey.

Brax sensed how
agitated he was. ‘I thought we could do some Eaton recon together. I feel like
I haven’t done a thing to help. Maybe it’ll take your mind off things too.’

Rhett looked at
his best friend. How did he always know? Rhett knew that his wolf had him
wired; wound so tight that even the slightest pressure would make him snap.
With Indi out of commission more than likely for the rest of the day, he felt
like he needed to do something worthwhile—namely beat the living shit out of
something.

‘Let me see if I
can get Indi to feed, then we’ll head into Dragos land for some recon.’

Brax’s grin
split his face in two. ‘And maybe afterwards we can head to the mall and chase
some tail?’ he suggested hopefully.

No fucking
chance
. ‘We’ll see.’

Rhett pulled a
baggy from the fridge, emptying it into a mug before nuking it. He was taking
the blood upstairs when Laithe and Antain came from the opposite direction.

‘She’s still
resting, Rhett. You could try and wake her, but I think it would be best if we
just let her sleep for now,’ said Antain. Rhett nodded his ascent, not pausing
to talk to Laithe. Rhett kind of felt guilty for snapping like he had, and the
only reason he saw for it was because he was so worried about Indi.

Indi was still—a
little too still—when Rhett sat down next to her. His weight made her body turn
towards him slowly, her head rolling to face him. She almost looked gaunt now,
her cheeks somehow looking hollower than when he’d seen her last. Placing the
mug on the bedside table within arm’s length, he pulled Indi into his lap to
wake her.

‘Indi?’ He
stroked her face gently with just the tips of his fingers. ‘Indi, wake up for
me. Please?’ She moaned softly, and his heart beat faster. ‘Indi? I have some
blood for you.’

Her lids cracked
open; her indigo eyes staring out at him. She managed an unsure smile before
her face turned into a grimace. She brought her hand to her head. ‘What
happened?’ she croaked.

Rhett’s jaw
tightened. ‘You don’t remember?’

‘I … I threw up
again, but I can’t remember anything else after that.’

‘You passed out.
You’ve been unconscious for a couple of hours now.’

She tried to sit
up, but he pushed her back down. ‘Lay still. I don’t want you to sit up just yet.’

‘Rhett,’ she
began, exasperated.

‘Indi,’ he
interrupted. ‘Don’t argue. Just do what I’ve said. Please,’ he added when the
muscles in her jaw started to jump. ‘Here. I’ve brought you some blood.’ He
reached out for the mug, bringing it to her groping hand. She sniffed at the
contents and scrunched her nose.

‘I don’t want
it. I’m just tired.’

‘Indi, please.
You have to. Laithe came by to check on your after you passed out. He said your
blood pressure’s really low and your pulse is weak. You need to feed, and then
you need to rest.’

‘But—’

‘And you need to
listen to me. I’ve got your back. So, please, just have a sip and then you can
rest again.’ He put the mug to her lips, lifting her head when she couldn’t do
it herself. She was so weak now, and that scared him to death. Indi took one
mouthful, refusing the second Rhett tried to force her to take. The blood
instantly came back up.

Indi couldn’t
get herself over to the side of the bed without Rhett’s help. He quickly
brought the trashcan to her bedside, holding back her hair and stroking her
back until the convulsions stopped. Indi collapsed back onto the bed, the
shadows under her eyes getting darker and darker even as he watched. He sat
with her for another half an hour to ensure she wouldn’t bring anything more
back up. Eventually, he extricated himself carefully and went back down to the
kitchen.

Rhett floored the Jetta, the wheels
spitting out gravel from the driveway as he tore down the small dirt road that
was the only access in and out from the pack house. Brax’s grin said it all.

‘You ready to do
a little recon? Where are we going anyway?’

‘Sabel’s already
checked out Marcus’s place and she’s not there. He said he spotted another
building a few miles from the house. I say we check that out.’

‘So after we’re
done here, you wanna come to the strip club with me?’ B asked around the wad of
gum in his mouth.

‘I’ll go with
you B, but I’m not looking for anything.’

‘Why not?’

‘Just because,
alright.’

He shrugged.
‘More for me then.’

Rhett
automatically began thinking about Indi sleeping in his bed back at the
farmhouse. He should have been there with her, to wake up with her. Laithe’s
words came back to him. Had he mated with Indi without even knowing it? Was
that even possible?

‘B?’

‘Hmm?’ he
replied, distracted. Rhett glanced over. He was texting on his phone.

‘Lauren?’ he
asked.

Brax shook his
head and grinned wickedly. ‘Sarah.’

‘How many girls
have you got?’

He began
mentally counting off names on his fingers. ‘Five. One for nearly every day of
the week,’ he grinned.

Rhett’s
expression sobered. Not that long ago, Rhett would have been doing exactly the
same thing. But he didn’t mourn that part of his life.

‘B?’ he tried
again.

‘Yeah?’

‘Do you know
much about being … mated to a girl?’

Brax laughed; a
deep, throaty sound. ‘No. Why?’

Rhett shook his
head. ‘No reason.’ He peered out the windshield, concentrating on getting the
right turn off. They were well into Dragos territory now, and he knew for a
fact that Marcus had eyes everywhere.

‘You are so full
of shit,’ Brax eventually said.

‘What?’ Rhett’s
head ratcheted back to his best friend. ‘What are you talking about?’ he asked,
his eyes switching between the road and B.

‘Being mated?
Really? Fuck, Rhett. Just admit it. You and Indi have mated.’

‘Ah, no we
haven’t.’

He cocked an
eyebrow. ‘No? I heard about what happened this morning. If you aren’t mated to
her then why do you go all psycho werewolf when anybody else goes near her?
Plus, I’ve heard you’ve been putting out some serious
don’t-fuck-with-her-or-you-fuck-with-me
vibes whenever anybody looks sideways at her.’

Had he?
‘Whatever you’ve heard is wrong, B. I’m her Guardian. That’s all.’ Not that he
didn’t want more. It was just better that he didn’t.

‘When are you
going to admit it? You love her.’

Rhett swallowed
thickly. ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ he answered dismissively.

‘Does she know?
Have you told her?’

‘I don’t love
her, B.’ Lies. Lies.
Lies
.