Alpha Pack 4 - Hunters Heart (10 page)

days.

She stared at one of the marks on her left arm in

growing dread. What kind of medicine speeded healing

like that? Nothing she’d ever heard of.

It was then that she noticed two faint puncture marks

inside her wrist.

Again, the memory of voices, the men shouting as they

worked to save her life, flooded in. This time came the

recollection of a slight, pinching pain on her wrist. Had

she imagined that? If so, why were there marks on her

skin?

Restless, she glanced at the chair beside the bed,

wondering where Ryon had gone. Her new protector had

been by her side off and on since his team had brought her

in, and at first she was relieved whenever he would duck

out. Then the stretches of time he was gone seemed

interminably long, when she was awake to realize it. Now,

she had to admit to herself that she missed him.

They had talked a little, though he avoided the subject

of the Pack’s specific missions and the paranormal world

they fought in. Instead, he made small talk about Wyoming,

his friends in particular, their strengths and idiosyncrasies.

They were an odd group, but close as brothers, and his

love for them shone with every word. As if her thoughts

had conjured him, Ryon stepped through the door carrying

a plastic grocery sack and approached with a tentative

smile on his sexy face. “How are you feeling?”

Her heart lightened just to see him, though she kept her

enthusiasm in check. “Almost human again.”

He looked away, his expression sheepish, and she

wondered what on earth was wrong with him. But then the

odd moment passed and he brightened again.

“Well enough to get out of here and have a bite to eat in

the cafeteria with me? The food there is awesome.”

“They’re springing me so soon?” she asked in surprise.

“If you promise to take it easy for the next few days.

Nick took the liberty of having one of the guests’ quarters

made ready for you, if you’ll do us the honor of staying

while you recuperate.”

“That’s nice of him.” It was. She also found it faintly

disturbing, being taken in just like that by a compound of

men she didn’t know and who didn’t know her, but she

knew her nerves were on edge. Anyone’s would be after

what she’d been through.

“Great,” he said, taking her words as acceptance. He

looked vastly relieved, more than he should at the news

that a stranger was staying. “I put your clothes and

camping gear in your room already. I hope you don’t

mind.”

“Of course not. Thank you.” She gestured to the sack.

“What’s in there?”

“Oh, these are some of your clothes. Didn’t think you’d

want to leave here with your butt hanging out of that gown.

Not that I’d mind.”

His statement and the impertinent grin made her laugh.

“You must be a handful.”

“I can be. Want to find out?”

He was so cute, she couldn’t possibly take offense.

“Not before you feed me. I was promised a meal, right?”

“You bet.” Handing her the sack, he backed away. “I’ll

get a wheelchair while you get dressed.”

“A wheelchair? I don’t think I’ll need one of those.”

“Trust me, you do. After what you went through it’s a

miracle you’re breathing.”

“And why
am
I breathing?” she asked pointedly,

gesturing to the pink scars on her arm. “Why am I

practically healed?”

“All in good time. Baby steps, huh?”

Frustrated, she watched him walk out and shut the door

behind him. Clearly, he was reluctant to get into many

more details with her, but given the way she’d reacted to

his delusion of being a wolf shifter, she wasn’t really

surprised.

But
was
it a fantasy on his part? She should be dead, not

getting ready to leave, even in a wheelchair. Her bizarre

recovery aside, she’d soon get the straight story on Ryon.

She was sure his teammates would clue her in that he was

suffering from some sort of mental illness and they

humored him. That was the only explanation, and it made

her sad.

Getting dressed took her longer than she had imagined,

and she was just slipping on the borrowed tennis shoes

Ryon had brought when he walked through the door

pushing the wheelchair. But he wasn’t alone.

“Daria, I’d like you to meet my commander, Nick

Westfall.”

Ryon’s boss was an imposing man with short, feathery

dark hair with the slightest bit of silver at the temples, and

steely blue eyes. He carried himself with his back straight,

his projected demeanor warning
don’t mess with me
even

though he had yet to open his mouth. When he did speak,

however, his tone was kind.

“Miss Bradford.”

“Daria, please.”

He nodded. “I’m Nick. I try to keep my team in line, and

sometimes I actually succeed. We’re glad to have you

here, even though it’s not under the best of circumstances.”

“Thank you. I appreciate your taking me in like this. I

could go to a hotel if it would be less trouble—”

“Not at all. It’s our pleasure, and we wouldn’t hear of

turning out a fellow nature lover after what you’ve been

through.” His lips turned up a bit. “You might want to hide

out here anyway, at least until the media frenzy dies

down.”

She stared at him. “I don’t think I like the sound of that.”

“We have some reporters lurking outside the first gate,

and they’ve asked to talk to the biologist who found the

body in the woods. If you want to speak with them, I’ll set

up a place for you to meet.”

Shuddering, she rubbed her arms. “And if I don’t?”

“I’ll make them go away.”

Simple as that. She had no doubt he would follow

through, and with pleasure. “I don’t want to relive what I

found for the media. Let the authorities talk to them.”

The commander’s expression reflected approval. “I

think that’s a wise decision. You will have to talk to

Sheriff Deveraux, though. Ryon told him your story, but he

wants a statement from you directly.”

“I guess that’s to be expected, but I don’t want to talk to

anyone else.”

“Then you won’t. Now, I’ll leave you in Ryon’s

capable hands.” He winked, turned and left.

“Nick is an interesting man,” she said to Ryon.

“He’s the best superior I’ve ever had.” His voice told

her of his real affection for the man. “He’d do anything for

any of us.”

“He strikes me as that kind of boss and friend.”

“Yeah.” He paused. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving.” Her stomach rumbled again.

He helped her into the chair, holding on carefully when

she swayed. Perhaps she did need the thing after all, since

she wasn’t nearly as steady on her feet as she’d thought

she would be. He didn’t say
I told you so
, just got her

situated and rolled her out by an adorable blond male

nurse who waved at them as they went past.

“That’s Noah,” Ryon told her. “He’s a fixture around

here.”

“Yes, I met him. He came in to check on me from time

to time. Very sweet guy. Does he live at the compound,

too?”

“All the staff does.”

That was so weird to her. “Why?”

“My team is required to live on base. We get

dispatched at a moment’s notice so it would waste

valuable time if we had to wait on everyone to get here

from town. Living on-site, we can train, plan maneuvers,

discuss ongoing cases, and generally be ready for

whatever comes our way. We get time off, though. We

relax when we aren’t busy.”

“Sort of like the military.”

“Exactly.”

“What about the doctors and other staff? Surely they

could live in town.”

“They could, but we’re kind of isolated. It makes more

sense to live here rather than driving to and from town.”

“Very logical, but why do I sense there’s more to it than

that?”

“There is. All of the traffic coming in and out of our

compound would attract too much attention. We definitely

don’t want that.”

“Because of what you do here,” she said, unable to

mask the doubt in her voice. “You’re out saving the world

from paranormal predators like vampires and such.”

“I know you don’t believe me yet, but you will. It’s

true.”

They would see about that. Her broken arm was still in

a sling—even some sort of new super-healing ability

couldn’t fix that overnight—and she examined again the

healing pink scratches on her arm. And the two mysterious

puncture marks on her wrist. Unbidden, something Ryon

had told her before popped into her head.

But I heal fast. All of my kind does.

Staring at the punctures, a question came to her that she

wasn’t ready to deal with. She wasn’t ready to know the

answer, and so she shut it down. For the moment, anyway.

Instead, she busied herself taking in the compound’s

interior as her companion rolled her along.

The décor was nothing like she would’ve expected of a

place where a military-style team was housed. Instead of

being stark and white with serviceable industrial-tiled

floors that had no personality, the walls were painted a

soft sandy beige, and the hallway was carpeted in a short,

smooth weave that allowed the chair to make easy

progress. There were nice fixtures on the walls, giving off

plenty of light instead of drab fluorescent ones overhead.

The place was homey. She was impressed, and that only

increased when they arrived at the cafeteria.

The area was really a large dining room. It was filled

with several tables that allowed the occupants to sit in

groups and chat, which many were presently doing. Food

was served in the middle of each table, family-style, and

they ate off real dishes and used actual utensils instead of

paper plates and plastic forks.

A wide door beyond the dining area gave her a glimpse

of the big kitchen beyond, where a number of cooks were

busy going about their tasks. The wonderful aroma brought

her attention back to the food, which consisted of

hamburgers with all the fixings, and fries.

Ryon rolled her to an empty spot, making sure she could

reach the table. “How’s this?”

“Fine, thanks.” She noted that some people were

watching them with interest, Daria in particular, and she

smiled at some of them. Nerves tried to get the best of her,

but she pushed them down.

“You okay?” he asked in concern, taking a seat across

from her.

“Yes. I’m just not used to being around so many

people.”

“I can imagine, being out in the woods so much. Do you

miss the interaction, or are you one of those who only

comes back to the real world when you have to?”

She looked at him in surprise. “That’s a perceptive

question. I don’t think anyone has ever asked me that.”

Reaching for a bun, she thought about it. “I do miss being

around other people, talking, laughing, and sharing stuff. I

love my job, but it’s so isolating that I sometimes miss

doing something as fun and simple as meeting the girls for

drinks or going to a movie.”

“Stuff other people take for granted. I totally get that.”

He did, and she found it was nice. “Do you miss having

a regular job?”

He smiled. “Honey, I wouldn’t even know what that

means. I’m happy here, doing what I do.”

Warmth slid over her, her entire body reacting to his

calling her
honey
. Even when her ex-fiancé had used

endearments, she hadn’t felt as though she wanted to wrap

herself in the man and never emerge. It was a good feeling,

and scary.

They piled goodies on their burgers and munched for a

while, and she took the opportunity to study him, trying not

to appear as though she was doing it. He was so

handsome, with those crystal blue eyes. And she had a

thing for blonds, always had, maybe in part because she

found her own black hair so plain and boring. She found

herself wanting to bury her fingers in those sunlight tresses

and do delicious things to his mouth.

She almost choked on a bite of burger.

“You okay?”

“Fine,” she said, coughing. In the next instant, she was

very glad she’d swallowed that bite of food.

From her seat she had a good view of the entrance, and

when she turned her head slightly to the right, something,

or some
one
, strolled in that she’d never forget.

“What the hell?” she whispered, burger plopping to her

plate, forgotten.

Just inside the entrance to the dining room stood a tall,

breathtakingly beautiful male creature. An otherworldly

being, not a man. He stood six feet tall, maybe a little

more, and was slender, jeans slung low on his hips. He

had a gorgeous face with high cheekbones and large,

golden eyes like an eagle’s that almost glowed.

But his most stunning features were his waist-length

jewel blue hair that cascaded like ribbons in water, and

the magnificent feathery wings of the same color that had