Nikolai's Wolf (4 page)

“The council watches Rory like a hawk. They’ve always been a thorn in his side, but he can’t simply disband them. A lot of them feel he’s much too lenient with me. That he should have put his foot down and put me in my place a long time ago,” she finished tiredly.

Alex questioned her further about the Sparrowhawks, the council, and the men she’d fought, asking what type of reception she thought she’d receive when she returned. Then he explained how the Raven pack operated, its hierarchy, and the duties of the various pack members.

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In an effort to reassure herself and Alex, she questioned, “How bad can it get? I’m the alpha-fem. Magnus was my father. I’m supposed to be strong. The alpha’s my brother. He won’t let them do anything to me.”

“Don’t worry about it. I hereby formally offer you the protection of the Raven pack. No one knows that you’re here, and if you want to stay, you’ll be more than welcome.” He raised his right foot and propped it on the bed rail, then linked his hands around his knee, studying the floor as he continued. “I’ve never agreed with the practice of forcing our women to take mates. It’s archaic and distasteful. It sounds like your brother picked up the practice from your father. If you decide to accept our protection, I’ll make sure you have an escort when you go home to pack your things. I’m not asking you to pledge your allegiance to the pack. I would offer the same protection to anyone in your situation. By going back, you may be returning to a potentially life-threatening situation, depending on how much of an example your pack’s council wants to make of you and on which side of the issue your brother falls. At the very least, your life is going to become extremely difficult.” It’s one thing to think she might have FUBAR’d the situation. It was totally different to have someone else confirm it. Damn it, she didn’t want to stay here. She wanted to go home but highly suspected that was no longer possible.

“You don’t have to decide now,” Alex said, almost like he’d read her thoughts. “Take your time. If someone comes looking for you, we’ll assure them you are safe but only allow them to see you on your say-so, and that includes your brother.” Shannon didn’t need time to think about it. She’d already made her decision. With the Ravens, she wouldn’t have to hide how strong her wolf was. It wouldn’t be an issue.

She hated being the alpha-fem, hated the responsibilities and restrictions it placed on her life. She would be happy to be one of the pack. There would be no one looking up to her, no one holding her responsible for setting an example, and no one judging her because of her position. She would be giving up all that was familiar to her, but that could be a good thing.

After all, she was almost thirty years old and still lived at home with her brother.

Maybe it was time for a change.

“Staying here was not the course of action I was seeking, but a clean break is probably for the best. Consider me the newest member of the Raven pack.” They ironed out the rest of the details, and then Alex took her into the kitchen where Kiesha, Carol, and her mate, Mark, were waiting. Carol was tasked with providing Shannon with an escort when she went to retrieve her belongings. Kiesha just happened to need a CPA to handle the accounts for her consignment stores, which was fortunate since Shannon doubted she’d be allowed to continue to handle her former pack’s accounts.

As Alex and Kiesha were leaving, Kiesha pulled Shannon to the side. “I’ll get with you tomorrow with more information about the job.” Then she followed Alex out the door.

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Within a couple of days, Shannon moved into his parents’ house, which lay on the outer edge of the property. As far as she knew, there was only one other house farther up the mountain, though she didn’t know to whom it belonged.

Alex refused rent. He argued that the place needed a live-in caretaker. Since her new home was also the pack’s safe house, she could expect to occasionally share it with fellow pack members as the need arose. For the most part, she’d have the place to herself. That was fine by her.

When Shannon went home to get her belongings, some of the Raven pack, including a deputy sheriff, went with her. Rory watched the proceedings. He didn’t say a word the entire time she was there, nor did he offer to help. She knew this wasn’t over between them.

Sooner or later, they were going to have to work out their differences. She was willing to do a lot of things, but spending the rest of her life estranged from her brother was not one of them.

18 Zena Wynn

Chapter Three

For the last hour, Shannon had been poked and prodded by Alex and now sat in his office waiting for the results of her tests. She knew what they would reveal. Both she and her wolf were losing their collective minds.

A whole month had passed since the night of the hunt, and she still couldn’t remember what happened after she’d run from Rory. Neither Alex nor Carol would tell her who’d found her. Hell, she’d even asked Kiesha. They were mum on the subject, saying it was better that she remembered on her own.

Tired of pacing, Shannon began leafing through one of the health and fitness magazines when Alex breezed in. He dropped into the chair behind his desk and tossed her chart on top. “Have you ever heard of a condition called polycythemia vera?”

“No. What is it? Is this poly -- whatever you called it -- what’s wrong with me?” She was vaguely alarmed, and she didn’t even know what it was yet.

“PV is a blood disorder in which the body produces too many red blood cells, thickening your blood. It’s extremely rare, but it explains a lot of the symptoms you are experiencing.”

“Are you sure? I mean, if it’s so rare, how would I have it?” This was not what she was expecting. Shape-shifters didn’t get sick. Their rapid healing prevented everything from paper cuts to the common cold.

“I’m not a hundred percent sure. I would need to run more tests. Your red blood cell count is higher than normal, which caused your blood to thicken. I noticed it when I drew blood. In conjunction with your other symptoms, and after a little research, this is the diagnosis I settled on.”

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“So I have PV and that explains the problems I’m having,” she slowly repeated, trying to let it sink in that she wasn’t actually crazy. There was a medical explanation for what was going on inside her body.

“Not entirely. This is only a part of it. It would explain the tingling in your legs, itchy skin, and your lack of sleep. Insomnia wouldn’t normally be a major issue, not in its milder stages like what you have, but there are complications. Something has thrown your body into a second heat. You’re not mistaken. You are going into heat, and that’s going to create a problem.”

“Ya think?” Once a year was bad enough. Twice was mind-boggling.

“There’s more. Do you take birth control of any kind?” Alex looked downright grim as he asked the question. She suddenly had a bad feeling about where this was headed.

Many she-wolves took birth control to regulate their heat. That was when a female was most vulnerable. The instinct to mate and reproduce could have her, literally, acting like a bitch in heat, accepting any and all comers.

“Yes, I’m on the Pill.”

“You have to come off of them.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she bit back the urge to rail at him. Did he understand what he was asking her to do? “Alex, you know I can’t do that, especially not now.” If she did, she might as well lie down in the street naked and hang a sign around her neck that said FUCK ME.

“Shannon, I’m sorry, but you really don’t have a choice in the matter. I hate to sound melodramatic. It really is a choice between your virtue and your life. With the extra blood your body is producing, the Pill can dramatically increase your chances of forming a blood clot, which I don’t have to tell you is deadly. That’s not a chance I’m willing to take with your life. You need to come off the Pill and any other natural substances you’re taking. All of them have the same threat potential.”

She had never gone without some type of buffer. She didn’t know how. Only mated females went through the heat unmedicated. Wouldn’t Rory get a kick out of this? “If I can’t control the heat, I could end up mated to any wolf that was cunning enough to get to me, whether I want to be or not.”

“I know the risk, but would death be preferable? I don’t want your choices taken away from you any more than you do. This is serious business. Look, this is the problem: The thickening blood in your veins, the hormones in your birth control pills, and the surging hormones in your body caused by the heat all exponentially increase the likelihood of blood clots forming in your body. I can’t control the PV because there is no treatment or cure. All we can do is monitor it and take measures as needed. I can’t stop the heat because I don’t know what’s causing it. Of the three, the only factor in this equation that is in our power is the birth control pills you take. Anything we can do to decrease the potential for clotting needs to be done.”

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“Is there anything you can do about the pack? Make the unmated males leave me alone or something?”

He looked at her sorrowfully and shook his head. “Under normal circumstances, I could try, but your season is scheduled to hit its peak during the week of the blue moon.” She stared at him as the implications set in.

Oh shit!

A blue moon was a second full moon falling within the same month. It only happened once every two years. Weak shifters had little to no control over their beasts during a regular full moon. Blue moons were worse because they triggered a sexual frenzy. Males referred to the week of the blue moon as the fuckfest because the urge to mate was all-consuming.

Everyone was affected, even the alphas. There were always more pregnancies after a blue moon phase.

“It will be all right, Shannon. We’ll figure something out, okay? I promise. In the meantime, let me give you something to help you sleep at night.”

“Thanks, Alex,” she said as she took the bottle of pills. “I appreciate your help. Do me a favor. Don’t say anything to anyone about this, please?”

“I couldn’t. It would violate doctor-patient confidentiality. Try not to worry. The last thing you need right now is stress. At least now you know you’re not going crazy.” He smiled at her, but it wasn’t much of one. Shannon could tell he was worried.

“I would prefer crazy. I’d probably handle it better. I’ll see you later. Thanks for the sleeping pills.”

Shannon left Alex’s office and sat in the truck, trying to get herself together. Think, Shannon, think. This is no time to panic. She had a brain. She was an intelligent woman.

There had to be something she could do.

What was that serenity prayer? Something about not worrying about the things she can’t change. To focus on what she could. All right, what about this messed-up situation did she have power over?

She couldn’t do anything about her blood. Ditto the heat. The PV whatever took away any control she might have had over it. If she didn’t want to jump on the first penis she saw, she was going to have to make it difficult for the penises to get to her.

Leaving was out of the question. Shape-shifters were everywhere, and the last thing she wanted to do was be surprised by some out-of-area wolf-shifter. What she needed was a way to keep the males from getting to her. She might not be able to control them, but she could limit or prevent their access to her body.

Realizing she was on to something, she let that thought play out in her mind. If she could make it difficult enough to get to her, she might just make it out of this heat unmated Nikolai’s Wolf

21

and in one piece. She needed a secure place, like a panic room, ’cause Lord knew she was going to be in a panic when the blue moon rose.

She backed out of the parking lot and drove to the house. She was sure Alex wouldn’t mind. He’d probably help out if she told him what she was about to do. Now she needed to find a room that suited her purpose. She was grateful she’d spent so much time helping Rory with his construction business. Every bit of knowledge she’d gained was going to come in handy.

* * * * *

That night, Nikolai materialized next to the bed of the she-wolf he’d rescued after scanning first to make sure she was asleep. Fascination was quickly becoming an obsession. It was increasingly difficult to stay away from his wolf.

Just the mere thought of her essence was enough to cause his fangs to throb. He wanted to devour her, to gorge himself in her feminine cream, and then satiate himself with her blood.

Every night he came to see her, sometimes more than once. With each visit, he pushed the limits of his control. Merging deeply with her mind, he would psychically stroke and caress her body, arousing her mercilessly. He couldn’t seem to help himself. Every time she was close to the edge, her wolf took control. She’d start to shift, and he’d have to leave.

While the blood bond he’d formed with her gave him some control over her mind, he couldn’t control her beast. It was too strong.

Nikolai psychically pulled down the bedsheet, baring her naked body to his view.

Though he’d scrutinized her thoroughly many times before, he still could not determine what fascinated him so.

There was something different about her tonight. Something wrong.

He expanded his senses until he found the source of the problem. There was a faint metallic scent of medicine emanating from her body. With their mental link engaged, he searched deep. Whatever she took, it didn’t hinder his ability to connect with her subconscious mind, but it rendered her beast defenseless.

A wicked smile slowly crossed Nikolai’s face.

Her beast sensed him and tried to stir, but the medication was too powerful. It knew he was there but couldn’t do a thing about it. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he took advantage of the opportunity Shannon had unknowingly provided him with.

Using phantom fingers, he gently stroked the brow of her eye, gliding his hand down her cheek. Her full lips parted beneath his touch. He ignored her obvious invitation in favor of exploring elsewhere. His fingernail ghosted down her neck, causing her to arch in response. Goose bumps pebbled her flesh.