Rebecca's Wolves (Wolf Masters Book 6) (22 page)

“Oh, I like it all right. I just don’t usually drink much when I’m training so hard. But after the week I’ve had, I think I’m entitled.”

Griffen smiled. “No doubt about that.”

The three of them took long draws off their bottles at the same time and sighed.

If Griffen could manage to ignore the insanity following them around everywhere they went, he’d be the happiest man alive. As it was, until they managed to escape whatever demon—human, shifter, or otherwise—that insisted on fucking with them, he couldn’t fully relax.

But he could give it his best effort.

As soon as they finished eating dinner, he intended to do just that.

Tomorrow reality would seep back into their lives. Rebecca had to go to work, and Miles had to return to the reservation to catch up on his rounds. He had rescheduled patients so many times in the last few days, his clients were growing restless.

Griffen imagined he would stay close to Rebecca and the hospital, keeping his errands local until she got off work. Thank God his parents had insisted on him taking some time off. His brothers would handle the hiking tours for a few days without him.

He tucked his lips under his teeth and fought a chuckle when he considered the workout she had planned for tomorrow afternoon. His mate was going to kill him if she kept up her current pace.

•●•

Rebecca entered the hospital at seven o’clock Thursday morning surprisingly well rested and calm. Thank goodness her men had taken pity on her the night before. After the amazing burgers, they’d whisked her to the bedroom, made love to her, and then let her sleep.

And she’d slept well.

She realized when she woke up she still didn’t have a car. Both men were nonchalant about it. Miles intended to head back to the reservation quickly in his truck, and Griffen intended to take her to work and pick her up.

Luckily, she kept several sets of scrubs in her locker at the hospital. Until she had a chance to deal with the mess of clothes from the apartment, she would need to rely on her stash.

She had just shut her locker and turned to start her day when the nursing supervisor for her department stepped in. “Ah, Rebecca. Good. Can I see you in my office before you get started?” The woman turned and left without waiting for an answer.

Rebecca took a deep breath. She was growing so accustomed to having the rug yanked out from under her, anything was possible.

But she also knew Marian Pierce was a reasonable boss, and whatever she had on her mind couldn’t be too bad. She’d smiled as she made her request.

Rebecca followed her boss out of the locker room and around the corner to the woman’s office.

Marian shut the door with a snick and tucked her thick, blonde, shoulder-length hair behind her ear. Her initial confident stance slipped a bit as she took a seat behind her desk while Rebecca lowered herself into a chair across from the woman.

Shit
.

“So sorry about your apartment. Have you been able to get in it yet?”

“Yes. I took out what I could salvage yesterday. Mostly clothes and jewelry. The rest is a loss.”

Marian’s brow furrowed. “I’m sorry. That really bites.”

Rebecca nodded. This is not what Marian called her in to discuss.

Marian grabbed the edges of the desk and glanced down while she took a deep breath.

Rebecca held hers. At this point, nothing the woman could say would surprise her. Would she fire her for taking a few days off? That didn’t make much sense since Marian was the one to call and offer the repose.

“It really sucks that I have to do this, but it can’t be helped.” Marian’s hands shook as she picked up a manila folder from the desk and held it. “Normally when I receive complaints regarding an employee, I’m very careful to decide whether or not the complaint was warranted and worth telling the nurse herself.”

Fuck
.

Rebecca was a stellar employee. She loved her job. She worked in the emergency room, so naturally there were occasional deaths and extremely sick patients, but to her knowledge, she’d never done anything that made a patient or their family unduly upset.

Marian remained guarded, hesitant as though she still wasn’t sure she should share what she held.

“Did I upset a patient?” Rebecca swallowed past the lump in her throat.

Marian shook her head. “No. Nothing like that. This is personal.” Finally, she set the folder in front of Rebecca and released it. She kept her lips pursed, and she nodded toward the file.

Rebecca closed her eyes for a moment and then tentatively opened the folder.

Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the single page in front of her.

Oh. My. God
.

“Marian…” She didn’t know what to say as she scanned the entire page, yanking her gaze from the huge picture front and center to the typed lines above and below. Her vision blurred as she refocused on the distinct photo taken of her Tuesday morning on the front porch of Miles’ house. She was wrapped in nothing but the sheet she’d taken from the bed, and she was sitting on Miles’ lap, her head tipped back into Griffen’s hands as he kissed her.

Her face heated as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Marian broke the silence, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m not here to judge, Rebecca. What you do in your free time is your business. You’re a fantastic nurse and a pleasure to work with.”

Rebecca lifted her gaze.
But…

Marian’s eyebrows were so close together they became one. “I only showed you this because I thought you should know about it. Clearly someone isn’t very happy with you.”

That’s an understatement
.

“Were you aware you had a stalker?”

“Sort of.” It wasn’t as though she could explain irrational paranormal phenomenon, including wolf shifters, to her boss.

Suddenly Marian gasped. “Was the fire an accident?”

Rebecca wished she could confirm it was. Instead she shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Marian leaned forward. “Rebecca, this is awful. Have you called the police?”

“No.” Until Marian handed her this file, she’d had nothing but a premonition to go on. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. “I mean, not here in town.” She pointed at the photo. “That was taken on the reservation. A few weird things did happen out there over the weekend. The local law enforcement came out.”

“Rebecca, this is serious. I think you need to go to the police here in Cambridge.”

“Apparently.” She shivered as she closed the file, unwilling to look at it another moment. She wasn’t sure about calling the cops, either. They were already involved in investigating the cause of the fire. If it was arson, they would find out.

Telling them she thought her apartment had been trashed before the fire would only distract them from solving the cause of the fire. Plus, she wasn’t in the mood to enlighten Griffen or Miles about the state of her apartment. And this e-mail? It would push them both over the edge.

Overprotective would be too mild a term to describe how they would react. They’d probably put her on twenty-four hour surveillance and make her quit her job.

Not gonna happen
.

Too bad the picture inside that folder was fantastic, a raw expression of all three of their open emotions. She cringed to think about it.

It was also a violation of her privacy, as well as Miles’ and Griffen’s. The men were going to flip.

She was quite certain angry spirits weren’t capable of sending e-mails, no matter what their aim was. And clearly someone or something was trying to get Rebecca’s attention.

For what purpose?

No real harm had been done—if she discounted the fire.

What was the point of shredding her shirt, tossing her apartment, and sending half-naked pictures of her to her boss?

If someone was trying to tell her something, the message was not loud and clear.

The entire day was spent scrambling around in her mind, trying to make sense of the illogical. Someone must have found her relationship distasteful or immoral. Did they intend to get her fired? And how the hell had they found out about her relationship with Miles and Griffen so fast?

Rebecca was lucky Marian was open-minded and didn’t make Rebecca feel judged.

And tossing her apartment and the house? Were they warnings? From humans, shifters, or spirits? Someone wanted to scare her. That was undeniable.

And they’d succeeded.

But why?

Griffen glanced at his mate several times on the way back to his apartment that afternoon. He gripped the steering wheel firmly.

Something was wrong.

She was distracted. She said very little and spent most of the ride staring out the window, chewing on her lower lip.

She had something to say. In fact, she’d been preoccupied the entire day. Every time he attempted to communicate with her, she put him off, saying she was busy. But he felt there was more to it. He knew her work was demanding, but he sensed her underlying stress at the same time. Miles did too.

He left her to her thoughts until they were safely ensconced in his apartment. Then he took her purse, set it on the table, and wrapped her in his arms. “Talk to me, baby.” He tipped her head back. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

She shook her head. “I’m just tired. And I need to go for a run.” She wiggled free of him and padded to his bedroom where her belongings were now neatly piled on top of his dresser.

When she saw her clean clothes arranged and folded, she spun around. “You did my laundry.”

He grinned. “Yep. Took me three products to get all the black out of almost everything you owned, but I succeeded.”

Tears filled her eyes, and her lip quivered as she threw herself in his arms and held him tight.

He threaded his fingers in the underside of her braid and held her tight. “Hey. Baby. You okay?”

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she leaned back, faking a smile. Then she gave up and buried her face in his chest again. And she cried. She cried for so long he grew nervous.

But he didn’t release her. He continued to cradle the back of her head with one hand and stroked up and down her spine with the other.

When she was spent, she hiccupped a few times and then pushed away from him and turned to grab a pile of tissues off the bedside table.

His shirt was soaked with her tears, and he didn’t give two fucks. All he cared about was making sure she was okay. He took her hand and led her to the adjoining bathroom, where he lifted her to set her on the counter and then grabbed a washcloth, wet it, and wiped her face.

She smiled wanly at him when he finished as he pushed her legs apart and settled against the counter between them. “Better?” he asked as he cupped her face and tipped her head back.

She nodded. “Sorry.”

“No need to be sorry. Tell me what this is all about.”

She shrugged. “I’m just overwhelmed, I guess. And stressed.”

“Can’t imagine why?” He grinned huge at his teasing.

She swatted playfully at his arm and closed her eyes as she set her forehead against his chest. “I’m tired. Work was busy. My apartment was burned down. I found out I have not one, but two men who intend to spend the rest of their lives with me.
And
, as if that isn’t enough, they’re both wolf shifters.”

She lifted her gaze. “Because everyone I know is mated to wolf shifters. It’s the latest rage,” she joked.

“You left out the phantom black shadow that’s out to get us.” He kissed her nose as he teased her again.

“Right. That too. Hell, that’s so out there I can’t even process it.”

“Baby, even
I
can’t process it. I’m not sure Miles has his head wrapped around it, either.”

“So, what do we do now?”

“We go for that run.” He hugged her tight.

•●•