Ariel (10 page)

“You don’t,” Gareth answered flatly. He studied the steady smile of the most unusual female he’d ever met. “But they were ordered by their alpha not to get attached to us. Perhaps you need to be more appreciative of a female who shares herself without requiring anything but pleasure in return. There are not many of those in the world, my friend.”

Matt’s senses went on high alert when he felt Ariel return. She drew everyone’s attention as she came out of the back of the facility. Wearing one of their stolen doctor’s coats over the clothes he’d bought for her, Ariel looked every inch the scientist she had claimed to be.

“Good news. The only kind of fluid exchange we have to worry about is blood. So no one has to worry about kissing…or other similar activities. Just don’t bite each other. No blood exchanges allowed.”

Total silence from everyone made her raise an eyebrow, until Reed’s laughter rang out. Ariel looked over at him. “Glad you still find everything I say so damn funny, but I bet that changes soon. You and I have to have a different sort of talk.”

Reed nodded. “I am properly chastised by your severity, Dr. Jones.”

Snorting at Reed’s flippant remark, Ariel turned her attention to Matt. “Can the three of us go back out to Eva’s place to talk? She said it was okay with her. The kids are in school and her husband is at work. Then I thought you and I might go back to your house and have our own private discussion.”

“Are you still able to think clearly?” Matt asked.

Ariel narrowed her eyes. “Would I have suggested doing things in that particular order if it wasn’t the case? If I remember correctly, I was the one talking you onto the desk in your office, not the other way around, Matthew. I told you I would ask for what I needed and I am asking, but I think the fire can wait a while. Talking to Reed is more important at the moment.”

“Well, I can’t wait any longer,” Brandi declared, happily interrupting their argument. “I need a fix now. Reed said the worst should be over in a week or so. I’m comfortable with Gareth, so if you don’t need anything from us, he and I will just be heading back to his place to take care of business.”

Gareth rose slowly from his seat and smiled at Brandi’s demand. “I guess that’s close enough to what I said I would do for you.”

Brandi narrowed her eyes. “Look—don’t do me any favors, buddy. You helped me, but Reed said my body won’t care about the male. Ryan can call one of his brothers as far as I’m concerned—well, maybe not the jackass one who made the stripper remark. Bottom line here—I’m good with whatever you decide. I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.”

Gareth narrowed his eyes in return. He opened his mouth, but Matt intervened.

“Don’t call Ryan’s brothers. Call Mark Lafayette. He’s seasoned and won’t mind helping Brandi. He keeps to himself too much anyway. He’d probably like some enthusiastic female company. And Brandi’s definitely his type.”

“No. She’s not…I mean I don’t…” Gareth glared at Brandi for making him swallow his pride. “Meeting your needs is not an inconvenience. I’m just not great with words. Don’t go with someone else. It’s not necessary.”

Brandi shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever. I just wanted you to know I’m not taking this personally. Hell, I never thought I’d be an ‘any man will do’ type of woman, but I don’t want to be anyone’s charity case either.”

“You’re not a charity case, so stop saying it. I’m going out to warm up the truck. Come out when you’re ready,” Gareth said, gritting his teeth. Sparing Matt one last hard look for the hell he’d started with the offer to call Mark, he headed out of the building into the cold.

Brandi crossed her arms as she watched Gareth go. “Thankfully, he’s not like that in bed. He actually drops the
I’m-too-badass-to-care
act there. That’s the only reason I’m going with him. Ariel, are you really as good as you seem?”

Ariel nodded. “Yes. So stop worrying. Tomorrow, see if Gareth will show you around. It would be helpful for us to know where we’ve landed.” She smiled when Brandi nodded, waved to everyone, and left.

Ariel turned then to Ryan and Heidi. “You two still good to hang together?”

Heidi looked at Ryan. “Ryan’s been great. I’m good with him. If it’s alright with everyone, I think I would like to see if Eva will let me help out here for a few hours. Ryan needs to check in with his work anyway. They keep calling him on his phone. I promise I will stay out of trouble. For some reason, I want…” She stopped and sighed.

“Don’t hold it in, just say it,” Ariel demanded. “Nothing can be stranger than turning into a wolf.”

Heidi nodded. “Okay. I think I belong here…like in this building. The urge is not explainable, but it’s very strong.”

Ariel looked at Reed, who was studying Heidi. “What’s your take on Heidi’s urges, Mr…what’s your last name, Reed?”

“Black Wolf,” Reed supplied. “My grandmother was a powerful Eyak Shaman. It is possible Heidi has inherited some of her healing talent. Each werewolf in a pack brings a gift which manifests shortly after their first shift. Except for alphas. Alphas are formed differently. I was quite surprised to find someone so cerebral like you had such a large amount of alpha in her.”

“Great. Damning praise from another werewolf named Wolf,” Ariel said, grinning when she earned a chuckle for her teasing.

“My name is Gray Wolf. Do you think that’s ironic too?” Matt asked.

Ariel turned her grin in Matt’s direction. “I think I’d rather answer your question after you’ve put out my fire.”

The vibrations of Matt’s chuckle travelled through her. His body talked to hers with great ease. It was going to be hard to say goodbye to the man when it came time to go on to whatever the next step was in her journey.

“Gray Wolf is my pack name. Black Wolf is Reed’s pack,” Matt explained.

“Oh. I thought you were the Wasilla pack.”

Matt shrugged. “That’s slang. The pack is officially named for the founding alpha’s family.”

Ariel sighed. “Is there some sort of textbook I could read about all this? Maybe a copy of
Werewolves for Dummies
or something? Like Reed said, I’m cerebral.”

“We keep our history in the oral tradition. It safeguards us from humans getting too interested. Let me walk Heidi back and talk with Eva for a few moments. We’ll leave when I return.”

“Can I accompany Heidi as well?” Ryan asked, a muscle in his jaw tightening when his alpha put a hand on Heidi’s arm.

Matt looked at him. “You can, but she is safe with me.”

“I never said she wasn’t, Matt. I just want a chance to say goodbye if Heidi gets to stay,” Ryan lied, crossing his arms.

Matt laughed and shook his head. “Maybe I should have issued the same warning to you and Gareth that Ariel issued to her females.”

“Well, it’s too late now,” Ryan said sharply.

Matt laughed again and motioned for the jealous male to come along.

Ariel looked at Reed when they were alone. “Are all werewolves so possessive of the females they’re having sex with?”

Reed smiled. “Yes. And it works both ways when the match is one leading to a mating. Ryan is pretty committed to Heidi already, though I’m not sure she returns the same level of interest. As for the other pair, Gareth doesn’t want to be involved, but he wouldn’t have intervened in Matt’s offer if he didn’t care for Brandi. I spent several months here when I first passed through. Gareth doesn’t keep company with females beyond a quick tussle. He’s lost too much and is determined not to care so much again. I share that trait with him.”

Ariel shook her head. “So are you saying it’s just going to be me and Brandi trying to figure out what to do with the rest of our lives? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

“You will always have a home in my pack, but not until I make sure my deceitful grandson has been eliminated. There is another who should be alpha, but he didn’t even compete for it. The younger generation has no sense of duty.”

“How old are your grandsons?”

“The current alpha is around Matt’s age, but with only half the maturity and wisdom. The other is younger, but only by twenty years.”

“Well with all those nanos running around inside you now, you might be nearer Matt in body age based on werewolf DNA. You seem to be getting younger—just one of the many things you and I need to talk about. There’s a click-off in the nanos to make sure they stop working or they’d burn out trying to keep us super young. I don’t know what it is though. Nanos were never my specialty, but watching just one of them under a microscope was illuminating.”

“Were you harmed by our blood exchange?”

“Not that I can tell. My size has altered so much in human form that I can’t measure the difference in myself. I’m both taller and bigger. Taller, I like. Bigger, I could have lived without. Brandi and Heidi said everything for them is just a lot perkier than before.”

Reed laughed and draped an arm around her neck. “Are all scientists so matter-of-fact?”

“Usually, but Brandi said I’m a different person from the one who asked Crane so many questions when he was getting ready to turn us.”

“I believe Brandi is correct. Does discovering your alpha side bother you?” Reed asked.

Ariel sighed. “If I told you the truth, you’d laugh even more.”

“Let’s see, shall we?” he demanded.

“The truth is that I could shift to my wolf and never shift back. Life in wolf form is very simple. Shifting back to human is what depresses me.”

Reed pulled her into his arms for a hug. “I don’t find it funny at all.”

He let her go when Matt pushed through the door and glared.

Reed smiled and wondered if the Gray Wolf alpha had any idea that his feelings were showing on his face.

Chapter 8

Ariel swung her long legs out to span down two full steps of the deck stairs. She was pleased they were so long now. Each day she felt stronger despite what she’d learned. She didn’t turn as she tried to explain things to Reed.

“Nanos are really molecular assemblers. Unlike what science fiction portrays, they do not create new things from nothing. It’s more like they reposition tiny particles of existing building blocks for optimal reaction in repair processes. This means if your body wants to use them to fix and replicate molecules, it can. But nanos can only work with what is already there. They do not really…create.”

She looked at the very fit, very handsome male beside her. “In you, new nanos are being born all the time. In each of the three blood draws I took from you, I saw more and more of them. Since you’re feeling vigorous instead of tired, only some of the nanos must be dedicated to the propagation task. Your body seems to have embraced the opportunity to reverse the aging process. My guess is the molecular machines will replicate their number to some pre-programmed stop point to avoid ecophagy, and then everything will go quietly into maintenance mode. Over time, some will die off, but most won’t for a good long while, short of a nuclear reactor going off around you.”

“Ecophagy?”

“Yes. Sorry for the big word, but I met the original scientist. He doesn’t like the term
gray goo
even though he coined it. Ecophagy is a theory that says if the nano machines inside us ever get too carried away with their programmed work they would turn our insides to
gray goo
in an effort to repair us and replicate themselves.”

“Doesn’t sound very promising. What is happening on the inside of you since the transfusion?” Reed asked, searching her gaze for truth. “I feel your trepidation, Ariel. You must always speak your truth to me, no matter your reservations. Am I going to become gray goo? Are you?”

Ariel picked at a piece of lint on her sweater wishing she had a real answer. “I don’t know what’s happening. The same level of growth I’m seeing in your blood is not occurring in my blood samples, though there does seem to be a little bit of propagation going on. Or at least, I wasn’t able to track much growth in the three samples Eva took from me today. Of course, half of two billion nanos, or whatever number is left in me after the transfusion, will still assist me during shifts. The feisty little suckers were able to make up the difference in my blood loss, so they’re obviously still functioning. We could live hundreds of years and die when the nanos wear out trying to fix us. On the other hand, one major illness could end everything. All I have is a bunch of theories.”

Reed looked off at the woods. “And yet you gave up some of that life you believe is limited to save me. I now owe you two life debts, Dr. Jones.”

“No you don’t—well, maybe one. If you hadn’t told me what to do in the lab, I would have let Crazy Crane get hold of me and we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Since I wasn’t ready to die, I’ll take my half of whatever Crane forced into my body and be grateful,” Ariel said. Then she saw the depth of Reed’s concern reflected in his gaze. “Look—if it ends one day—it ends. I can’t change what happened to us. But I don’t have a crystal ball either.”

Reed leaned his arms across his knees. “Have you shifted since the transfusion?”