Terry Spear’s Wolf Bundle (76 page)

“Who’s going to watch your driving?”

Ashton gave her a small smile. “It’s going to be slow going. This two-hour-long trip will probably be more like four.”

The blowing snow made for whiteout conditions and the windshield wipers swept away the building snow, but it continued to shower down on them—huge white flakes. Thank God the truck’s heater was working fine, and the cab was toasty warm.

Tessa closed her eyes and slept for a while. Until the truck jerked to a stop. Her eyes popped open. Ashton swore under his breath, yanked the door open, jumped out, and slammed the door shut. They were in the middle of nowhere still, surrounded by forest, no traffic, nothing but cold, wet snow and a gray bleakness. So what was the problem?

The truck was leaning at an odd angle. In the ditch? Great. Tessa pulled on her gloves to investigate.

Ashton threw open the door and jumped back into the
cab, shoving the door closed, his face ashen despite the chill in the air.

“How bad is it?” Tessa asked, afraid to know the answer.

“I left my rifle at your place,
damn it
.”

“What?”

“My rifle! I left it at your place.”

“What has that got to do with getting stuck in a snowdrift?”

“Rourke and I probably could get the truck out, but three gray wolves were watching me from the woods. They looked hungry. Maybe the one that attacked you was one of these?”

A shiver sped down her spine as she peered into the blowing snow, but saw nothing.

“They’re wild dogs,” Rourke said softly, peering out the window.

“I don’t see them,” Tessa said.

“Those are wolves,” Ashton reiterated. “Wild dogs, my ass.”

“We can’t just stay here. What if the snow piles up behind the muffler?” Tessa glanced behind them.

“It will,” Ashton warned.

“Okay, well, then we’d have to stop the engine, and we’d freeze.”

Ashton rubbed his gloved hands together. “After what happened to Hunter, I’m not sure trying to move the truck while those animals are out there is a good idea.”

“I’ll move it.” Hunter pushed the blankets aside and groaned.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Tessa gave him a look like he had better not even think of it.

His brow furrowed. “I told you not to take me anywhere. I would have been fine in a day or two.”

“Hunter, you’re sick. We’re taking you to the hospital and that’s that.”

“We’re stuck in the middle of nowhere and not going anywhere fast.”

“How are you feeling?”

Hunter glared at her. “Fine.”

“Right. You look like you’re still burning up with fever.”

“The dogs won’t attack us, will they, Hunter?” Rourke asked.

“They shouldn’t.”

“
Shouldn’t
is the key word,” Ashton said. “The wolf

shouldn’t
have entered Tessa’s home and bitten you either. Which means it has to be rabid.”

“I’ll try to move the truck,” Rourke said, albeit reluctantly. He cast Hunter a dirty look over the backseat. “You stay here. You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do.”

“Wait! Let me try my phone.” Ashton pulled out his cell phone. “Maybe we’ll have a signal here.”

Everyone watched as Ashton punched in a number. He shook his head. “Nothing.”

“I’ll help.” Tessa buttoned her parka.

“No, you stay and try to drive us out of the mess. Rourke and I’ll stack up some wood under the tires, and then we’ll push while you drive,” Ashton said.

“I’ll help,” Hunter growled.

“No,” Tessa said. “That shoulder of yours is too badly damaged. You’re not going anywhere.”

“We can’t stay here, Tessa. I’ll help. Then you can take me to the hospital and get me patched up. All
right? But without my assistance, we may not be going anywhere.” Before she could object, he added, “Three hulking men should be enough of a deterrent for the dogs. I don’t want anyone else bitten.”

“But your shoulder. You shouldn’t do anything physical. And the fever. You shouldn’t be out in this cold. What if you drove the vehicle, and I helped the guys?”

“No,” all three men said at once.

Hunter pulled on the ski cap. But she hadn’t brought Michael’s field jacket for him because she didn’t figure he could get into it with as bad as his shoulder was, and she hadn’t thought he would be leaving the truck except to be wheeled into the hospital.

Ashton tossed his parka back to Hunter. “You owe me.”

“Hell, he
really
owes me,” Rourke grouched.

Rourke didn’t elaborate, but she figured he was still pissed off at Hunter for biting his finger and worried he had rabies. He was sick with a fever, too. Working in these winter conditions couldn’t be good for any of them.

Tessa started to remove her parka. “Here, Ashton, take mine.”

“Size petite? Wouldn’t fit over my broad shoulders.” He rolled them back to make them appear larger. He wasn’t half as broad as Hunter.

The men headed outside while Tessa moved into the driver’s seat, wishing she could do more. The dogs must have been hiding or had run off. She didn’t see any sign of them, although the guys kept casting glances at the woods while they were working. As soon as the men had piled up enough branches under the tires, Ashton motioned for Tessa to drive out. With them pushing and
the truck tires finally getting some traction, she managed to pull back onto the road.

Ashton and Rourke whooped and hollered and she was glad, too, but afraid Hunter might have done more damage to his shoulder as quiet as he was.

With snow covering his long hair and sweater, Ashton helped Hunter into the truck while Hunter groaned. She knew he shouldn’t have helped with the truck. Probably did most of the work, too, knowing him. Rourke climbed in and Tessa moved over to the center of the front seat. Once everyone was settled, Ashton put the vehicle in drive and began the remainder of the slow trek toward the hospital.

Tessa peered over the seat. “Are you okay, Hunter?”

He buried himself in the blankets and mumbled, “I’m fine.”

She shook her head, imagining he could have broken every bone in his body and his response would be the same—I’m fine. “How about you, Rourke?”

“I’m fine.”

She raised her brows. “Good. Then the hospital staff won’t have much work to do when they check the two of you over. How about you, Ashton?”

He smiled broadly. “I’m frozen to the bone, I skinned my knuckle, and I pulled my calf muscle.”

“An honest answer for once. What about the dogs? Did you see any sign of them?”

“Wolves.” Ashton tightened his grip on the steering wheel as they plowed through another snowdrift. “They were watching. But like Hunter said, they didn’t seem interested in attacking. Just curious, maybe. Pray we don’t end up in the ditch again before we reach our destination.”

When they reached the hospital later that afternoon, barely any of the staff had made it to work and unless patients had an emergency—like a couple of car accident victims, a baby delivery, and an elderly man who’d had a heart attack—most people stayed away. Woe to the patients stuck in the hospital whose families couldn’t venture out in the storm to visit them.

Although Hunter hadn’t wanted to be taken in on a stretcher, the hospital staff felt otherwise as soon as they saw his condition. Poor Rourke had to wait longer to be seen, but once they thought a rabid wolf might have bitten Hunter, they took Rourke right in.

As soon as Hunter was resting comfortably in a room after surgery, Tessa, Rourke, and Ashton went in to see him.

“Only family can see Mr. Grey,” an officious nurse said, who had hovered over him ever since they had arrived. A striking brunette, tall, even more beautiful if she could manage half a smile.

Something about the woman irked Tessa. Maybe it was the way she cast Tessa condescending looks like she was beneath her, or maybe the way she’d taken charge of Hunter and dismissed them. Worse, a hint of recognition seemed to pass between Hunter and the nurse, and Tessa wondered if they had been lovers before. At once, she felt like an outsider.

“I’m his fiancée,” Tessa said, her chin up, her eyes glowering.

The woman tucked a curl of hair behind her ear that had loosened from her bun. “I don’t believe it.”

How the hell would she know?

The nurse pointed at Tessa’s unadorned fingers. “No engagement ring.”

Tessa offered a fake smile. “Left it at home. But I don’t really give a damn what you believe. The wedding’s scheduled for the spring.”

The woman laughed. “Right. And I’m the queen of England.” She looked at Rourke.

“I’m his brother.” He folded his arms. “Need any proof?”

“No. I believe you.” She considered Ashton.

“Another brother.”

Again, she laughed. “This is just too damned unreal. You’ve got fifteen minutes, and then visiting hours are over.” She squeezed Hunter’s hand like a lover would and brushed back a lock of hair from his forehead. Then she sneered at Tessa and left the room.

Hunter was sound asleep, and to Tessa’s relief, the doctor said Hunter would have the full range of motion in his shoulder once he had gone through months of therapy after it healed.

Rourke pulled a chair over to the bed for Tessa and then turned to Ashton. “Can you get Tessa a cup of coffee? She looks a little peaked.”

“Then I’ll miss my fifteen minutes with Hunter.”

Rourke raised a brow. “You don’t really think we’re going to allow that nurse to boss us around, do you?”

Ashton shrugged. “The thought had crossed my mind.” He left the room.

“He’ll be all right, Tessa,” Rourke said. “He’s a fast healer. And the rabies shots will ensure if the animal was rabid, Hunter will be fine.”

“What about you? How are you feeling? You still look feverish.”

“I received rabies shots and antibiotics, too. I’ll be good as new soon.”

“He didn’t mean it, Rourke. He didn’t bite you on purpose.”

“Yeah, but you never know when one little bite can change your whole life.”

She nodded and reached out to take Hunter’s hand. “He’s still awfully hot.”

“The antibiotics and fluids they’re giving him will make him feel like his old self before long. You were right to bring him here.”

“Do you think that nurse knew him?”

“I got that impression. How did you and Hunter really meet? I never saw him before.”

“The beach. We told you.”

Rourke stared at him for sometime and then looked back at Tessa. “Naked? Injured? Tell me the whole story.”

She hadn’t wanted to say anything about how they had really met, not when they’d had such a good cover—at least up until now. But Rourke seemed to suspect the truth, and she really was a lousy liar.

H
UNTER
WOKE
TO
THE
CLOYING
ODOR
OF
HOSPITAL
antiseptics with a roaring headache and his shoulder feeling like it was on fire. But Tessa had been right to bring him here. He would heal much more quickly after the surgery, enabling him to fight the grays again. The room was dark and quiet, and Tessa was sleeping in the chair, a blanket from the car wrapped around her. She looked like an angel. Not the kind of woman he thought he would want to have for his own.

He wanted to pull her into bed and hold her close.

He closed his eyes. Hell, he had bitten Rourke. It wasn’t the human bite that did it either. Already Rourke was aware of the change, although they hadn’t been able to talk about it, and he wouldn’t realize exactly what he was. His senses would be on higher alert. The urge to shapeshift hopefully would come on more gradually. But Hunter’s gut clenched as he thought of how he’d changed Rourke.
Damn it.

The nurse walked into the room, a gray
lupus garou
itching to make trouble where Tessa was concerned. The woman’s eyes rounded when she saw Tessa sleeping there. When she reached out to wake her, Hunter growled low, “You touch her and you’ll regret it.”

The nurse folded her arms, her dark hair coiled into a bun, her amber eyes challenging him as she gave him a wicked look. “How did an alpha like you become so badly injured?”

“Don’t you have
nursing
duties to perform?”

“You can’t have her. So what’s the deal? Got anyone else lined up that you’re interested in? I need a mate.”

“What are you doing working in this place?”

“I wouldn’t put up with my pack’s politics. What are you doing with the woman and that other man?”

“Don’t mess with them.”

Her eyes sparkling with deviousness, she bowed her head slightly and then left the room. He didn’t trust her. But he knew if he breathed one word of leaving to Tessa, she would have a conniption. Rourke would understand. Somehow he had to solicit his help. Ashton would agree because of the perceived thrill of adventure. Rourke was bound to him as a newly appointed member of his pack. Of course, Rourke wasn’t exactly aware of pack traditions yet, but he was instantly gifted with a wolf’s wariness. The part about self-preservation of their species and keeping their secret was tantamount.

Hunter let out his breath in exasperation. Damn Rourke for poking that pill down his throat. Chomping down on the intrusive finger had been instinctual, but what a mess. Thank God he hadn’t bitten Tessa. Teaching Rourke was going to be enough of a pain.
This
was why wolves didn’t change humans. At least with
lupus garous
who were born that way, all the rules were known from day one, while their
lupus garou
parents reinforced the lessons from the beginning.

“Hunter?” Tessa whispered, her eyes trying to study him in the dark.

“Tessa, why don’t you get a hotel room and get some sleep?”

In fact, that was the solution. Ashton could take her there and stay with her. Then Rourke could sneak Hunter out of the hospital in the morning, and they could say the hospital had released him.

“Would the stalker have followed us?” she asked.

“In this storm? I doubt it.”

But then again, what if he and his brothers had? The three who had watched them from the woods when they were trying to get the truck unstuck from the snowdrift were different. Yet…familiar, somehow. He thought he recognized their scent, but not their appearance.

Hunter took a steadying breath. If the brothers had managed to follow them here, Ashton wouldn’t be any match for them. Although the one wolf’s leg shouldn’t have healed this quickly either. Hunter ground his teeth. Maybe staying put for a while longer was for the best.

With the blanket wrapped around her shoulders, Tessa drew the chair over to the bed. “Rourke’s upset with you for biting him. I told him you didn’t mean it.”

Hunter grunted. “He shouldn’t have had his finger in my mouth.”

“He was trying to help you. Would you have bitten me?”

“If I had, you’d have given me hell for it.”

Looking wiped out, but as beautiful as ever with her long red hair in tangles around her face, she sat in the chair. “Do you know that nurse?”

“No.”

“But you both seemed to recognize each other.”

He noted a hint of jealousy, but he didn’t want her believing he knew the woman when he didn’t—just that she was a
lupus garou.
“I thought she seemed familiar, but I’ve never met her before.”

“What about Meara? Who’s she?”

“Meara?” He frowned. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t recall.

“You said her name when you were delirious with fever. Is she your sister maybe?”

“Maybe, I can’t remember.”

Tessa reached her hand out to him. “Hunter, don’t get mad at me, but Rourke realized our cover story wasn’t true. I don’t know what made him suspicious, but now he knows about your amnesia and how I found you on the beach. About the fact someone may have tried to murder you, too. He won’t tell anyone. He’s promised.”

Rourke would know a hell of a lot more in a little while. “I figured he’d learn of it before long.”

Her posture relaxed a little. “What about Ashton?”

“Not a word to him. I don’t want to shatter his image of me.”

Tessa smiled and rested her head on Hunter’s lap, pressing against his groin and instantly he hardened. Despite the way his shoulder felt, she stirred his loins. Not only that, but her scent and the feel of her set his blood on fire.

“I wish we could snuggle together.”

Just what the doctor ordered. Hunter patted the mattress. “It’s small, but if we get really close, we should be able to manage.”

She raised her head and looked at him. “But I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’m feeling much better.”

“If we get caught—”

“They can throw us out of here.” He gave her a devilish smile.

“Yeah, but you need their help.”

“I need you—more.”

The smile on her lips said he won. She climbed onto the bed, one knee posed on the right side of him before she raised her other leg to cross over his waist. “Are you sure?”

“The anticipation is killing me, Tessa.” With his good arm, he helped her get settled, groaning when her sweet body sank on top of his rigid erection.

“Oh, oh, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”

Hunter wrapped his arm securely around her, holding her hot little body tightly against his before she bolted from the bed. “Pure torture, but not in the way you mean.”

She chuckled softly against his chest and relaxed.

Feeling Tessa’s heated body against his, he had the overwhelming desire to screw convention and turn her, claim her. Had he ever felt this way toward a woman? He couldn’t remember.

But he wondered how he could ever give up the minx. And yet he knew he had to. No woman in her right mind would willingly become a
lupus garou.
He wasn’t sure how he was going to cope with Rourke’s change, let alone a female he’d make his mate. It wouldn’t be fair to her, any more than it was to Rourke. But the deed was done and there was no going back.

She took in a deep breath and kissed his chest covered in the thin hospital gown. Her lithe body pressed against his heavy groin. He moaned inwardly. Already, he wanted her again, when he had no business coveting her. But everything about her made him desire her, the way her soft body felt against him, her fragrance, the way she cared so about his welfare.

Her breathing soon grew shallow, and he sensed she had fallen asleep.

Maybe he could take her to Rourke’s place for a while. At least until he healed up sufficiently. The stalker’s wound wasn’t as severe, and he would be back to Tessa’s house soon, probably with the brother who wasn’t injured badly either.

Knowing sleep would help his body to heal more than anything else, Hunter willed himself to shut down his concerns.

But he didn’t realize he had even fallen asleep until sometime later the sound of footsteps entered the room, waking him. Hunter opened his eyes and stared at the man dressed in scrubs, his dark hair curling down to his shoulders, his face covered in a shadow of a beard. He looked way too scruffy to be a male nurse. Hunter expected him to come closer, to make a comment about the sleepy redheaded goddess in Hunter’s arms, to check his vital signs. But this wasn’t a medical call.

Hunter got a whiff of the man’s scent. One of the stalker’s brothers. The one who hadn’t been injured too badly, probably now completely healed. If he’d thought to slip in and steal Tessa away while Hunter was drugged and asleep, he was going to have a fight on his hands.

“Why does your brother want her so bad?” Hunter hoped to learn more about these men before he had to eliminate them. Maybe he could still convince the brothers to give up the deadly quest.

“You have to ask?” The man snorted. “She’s as close to one of us as we can find, and my brother, Yoloff,
will
have her. If I’d seen her first, she would’ve been mine.”

“Had he followed her to California?”

The man’s grim face brightened a little. “He almost had her there. Several times he’s nearly taken her. The hunt is as appealing as the mating. Then you came along and he had to solicit our help.”

Hunter could envision how frustrated the
lupus garou
was, but the previous comment stuck in his craw. “What do you mean by she’s nearly one of us?”

“Hell, you can smell her pheromones.”

Which didn’t make sense, but there wasn’t any way she was one of them. “She’s not a
lupus garou
.”

“Say what you will, but she’s garnering a lot of
lupus garous
’ attention in any event. Only she’ll be my brother’s mate. You can either give her up nice and easy or we’ll take her the hard way. You don’t want her in any event or you would have already turned her, so you might as well just let us have her.”

“Then there’s only one way this is going down.” Hunter reached for the nurse’s call button.

Before he pressed the button, a female nurse suddenly entered the room. “Who are you?” she asked the faux male nurse.

“I work on another floor.” He gave Hunter a sinister smirk. “Just checking on my buddy here.”

She glanced at Hunter, her eyes rounding when she saw Tessa asleep with Hunter. “What…you can’t—”

The stalker’s brother gave Tessa another long look. “Just remember what I said.” Then he left.

“She can’t sleep with you in the bed. I can get another bed for her.”

“The man who just left has been stalking Tessa. He’d planned on grabbing her while I was knocked out on pain medication. She’s not moving from here.”

The woman’s face paled. “I’ll call security and report him.” She whipped out of the room and shut the door.

Hunter must have fallen asleep after that because the next thing he heard was Ashton’s chuckle near the doorway. Hunter opened his eyes, his arm still wrapped securely around a sleeping Tessa. His shoulder was stiff, but not half as painful. Although the medication dripping into his veins could have had something to do with that.

“You have style, Hunter. Real style.”

“Where’s Rourke?”

“He’s still sleeping at his apartment down the road. He was pretty wiped out, but before I left, I checked and his fever was gone. We were going to take Tessa with us, but found the two of you like this before we left. Guess Nurse Godzilla didn’t bother you any longer. I asked about her schedule and she’s gone home, but she comes back on duty tonight.”

Tessa stirred. Her eyes opened and she would have jumped from the bed if Hunter hadn’t held on tight. He kissed her good morning on the lips and wanted more, but she was squirming in an attempt to bolt, stirring him to high heaven, and he released her.

He gave her a smile, then said to Ashton, “I’m starving. When do they serve food around here?”

Tessa climbed off the bed, her cheeks blushing beautifully.

Ashton cast her a conceited smirk. “Never knew you had it in you to break the rules, Tessa.”

She glowered at him and headed for the bathroom.

“My breakfast?” Hunter asked Ashton, before he ripped off the I.V. and wiped the smirk off his face.

“Food’s on its way.”

“I want sausage, bacon, and a mess of scrambled eggs. Biscuits, too. And three pints of milk.”

“I’m not sure what they ordered for you last night,” Ashton said.

“Tessa told me you were a real prankster in school. I’m starving. I need solid food to build up my strength. Go get me—”

Rourke poked his head in the door, his eyes blurry, his hair mussed up, dark whiskers covering his chin, not the look of a reporter on his way to work. “You could have woken me, Ashton.”

“You needed your sleep.”

“I’ll get your breakfast,” Rourke said to Hunter, and he headed down the hall.

“Wait up, Rourke! I’ve got to see this.” Ashton rushed after him.

Tessa stepped out of the bathroom. “I’m taking a hot shower. Don’t let anyone in the bathroom.”

“I’ll join you.”

“Ha! You can’t get those bandages wet.”

“We could manage.” He started to climb out of bed. “Don’t you dare or I’ll call a nurse.” Tessa ducked back into the bathroom, shut the door, and started the water.

Hell, wet bandages wouldn’t bother him. He was about to remove the I.V. when Rourke and Ashton walked back in the room, each carrying a covered dish.

“Ashton said you wanted both sausages and bacon. They came with one or the other. So we had to procure a couple of dishes to accommodate you.” Rourke glanced at the bathroom and sniffed. He smiled and then frowned. “Surprised you’re not in there with her.”

“I would have been if the two of you hadn’t returned with the food.”

“You shouldn’t get those bandages wet anyway,” Ashton said.

Rourke gave him a get-real look. “You think that would have stopped Hunter?”

“Probably not.” Ashton uncovered the dish of eggs and sausage. “Two poor patients will be without breakfast.”

“The kitchen staff can make them more,” Rourke said. “Come on, Ashton. Let’s go to the cafeteria.”