River Wolf (10 page)

Embarrassment swam through her. Who’d told the doctor about her community service?

“Oh, don’t feel bad,” Gillian’s voice filled with warm assurance as she reached over to take her hand. The squeeze did more to ease her chagrin than her words. “Luc wouldn’t shut up about you. So I heard all the details, and Brett’s a huge admirer.”

“Gillian.” Two syllables populated by heavy warning rode a hint of a growl.

“And he’s grumpy, too.” The
sotto voce
whisper and her unrepentant grin cracked Colby up. The whole group was crazy. Her laughter made Gillian smile wider and, for a split second, when Colby glanced at Brett, she found his expression intense. He stared so hard at her; she thought he could see right to her soul.

Yep. Cracked. The whole bunch of them
.

Laughter renewed, she covered her own smile with a hand to try and stifle the chuckles.
I’ll fit right in…

“Anyway,” Gillian continued, but Colby stopped listening as her amusement sobered.

I’m planning on staying. I as much agreed when he talked about tomorrow morning.
And damn if she didn’t
want
to stay. The doctor kept talking, but Colby had trouble tracking all the words. Covering her discomfort with another sip of coffee, she tried not to look at Brett or the doctor again. Better to get herself together first and figure out what it all meant.

“Wouldn’t that be grand?” Gillian asked.

“Sure,” Colby said then blinked. “I’m sorry I think my mind wandered. What would be grand?”

“I’ll reach out to my friends at SUNY, see what I can do to help speed your admission process. She can stay with you, right, Brett? Until she has her legs beneath her?”

“Of course she can.”

Um…what?
For the first time in her life, Colby had no idea what to say. She needed more coffee. A
lot
more of it if she planned to keep up with Gillian.

A
n hour later
, Hurricane Gillian swept Colby away with her to go check out the university. The healer found her absolutely fascinating and had asked him a half-dozen questions about her immediately upon her arrival earlier. It was hard to be in a bad mood around Gillian…or Colby for that matter. He’d not meant to wake her when he knocked on the door to the guest room. After pacing the house for hours after waking, he and his wolf had both been impatient for her to rise. Owen accompanied his mate, and Brett trusted him to look after both women.

Still…pressing the contact number for Pierce, he reached out to the Hunter. “Yes, sir?”

“Are you busy?” Asking instead of ordering seemed to throw the other wolf off his game.

“No…I’m actually having coffee while I go over reports from the other Hunters.” The answer made sense, especially as Brett had begun to reach out to Pierce more and more. The Hunter had a solid head on his shoulders.

“Anything interesting in the reports?” Hunters spent their days on rotation, scouting, patrolling and checking the borders as well as the pack members.

The Hudson River pack occupied a great swath of upstate New York, but also had smaller enclaves and groupings in western Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland with a handful of families choosing to live deeper in New England as far east as New Hampshire and Connecticut. Maine remained open territory, more because none from the pack wished to live there than it was unclaimed. Brett wouldn’t let another pack get a foothold that close to his territory.

“Not bad, actually. Things are calming down after the last exodus faster than we’d expected.” The surprise in Pierce’s voice didn’t increase Brett’s confidence in the subject. “Then again, the Roths and the Holts were looking to move west, you know, especially after their kids all mated into other packs.”

Understanding didn’t soften the sense of betrayal. “You make a fair point. Pierce, I want to talk to you about taking lead with the Hunters. It’s more or less what you’ve been doing, but I want to make it official.” Once upon a time, Marco had held the position. No other wolf had been given the spot after Marco’s rebellion and murders. When even the sound of Pierce’s breathing ceased over the line, Brett chuckled. “I should have let you come here for the conversation, but it’s the right move. You are loyal, competent, and the other Hunters trust you.”
More importantly…

“You trust me, sir.”

“Enough of the sirs. You lead the Hunters. You have the right to call me by my name.”

“Yes, si—Brett.” His chuckle held a note of disbelief. “I will not fail you.”

“I never thought you had.” No, the failure had been Brett’s. Owen liked Pierce. Respected him. He’d cleared him his first week back in Hudson River. Pierce’s directness was a point in his favor.

“Then, if you don’t mind me saying so, we need to host another gathering. The run the other night was great. It went a long way to reminding the pack why we’re together, but most of the wolves who came were locals. We need to bring in our stragglers.”

“Have a suggestion do you?”
Why else bring it up?

“At the risk of losing my promotion before we even finish the call, we need to see more of you, not less. The last year has been hard on everyone, not just you, and they need to see you out there, spending time among them and believing they can come to you…” Hesitation had him trailing off rather than completing the thought.

Large runs were harder to organize. Unlike other packs, Hudson River didn’t have as much access to open land, though they held ownership of vast acreages so they could run. Colby’s presence and lack of knowledge meant he’d warned wolves away from visiting him, yet that didn’t prove too hard. Few came to see him as it was and that did need to change.

“I’ll take care of it,” he said slowly, turning a few ideas over in his head. He’d rather concentrate on her than a large gathering.

Pierce’s long exhale spoke volumes for his relief. “Thanks for not taking that the wrong way.”

“You’re welcome.” He frowned. His wolves shouldn’t have to thank him for being reasonable. “I’m not a complete ass.”

“I would never say that.” Was he teasing?

Keeping his voice cool, Brett asked, “You would never say ‘I’m not a complete ass.’?” The silence echoed, so he let his Hunter off the hook and chuckled. “I’m aware of the issue, Pierce. Never hold things back. Even if they are unpleasant, I need to hear them.”

“Yes, sir.”

Not bothering to correct the sir, he circled back to his reason for calling him. “Do we have anyone at the SUNY campus?” Since only one was near them, he didn’t bother to specify.

“Um…Chad and Mick are there I think. Hang on a sec.” The rasp of fabric on the phone and a couple of clicks indicated Pierce verified the information he’d shared. Chad was a first year Hunter, and one who’d been in training before everything happened with Marco. Mick had been one of those hurt, taking three bullets courtesy of Marco’s gun. Irish to his core, Mick had been on his feet in two days decrying Gillian’s admonishments. Like Brett, he’d been furious about Marco’s deception and one of the first to begin investigating his fellow Hunters. His temper was the only reason Brett hadn’t considered him for lead Hunter.

“They’re in the neighborhood. Chad’s taking summer classes, so Mick tends to hang close while the kid’s there.” Another fact Brett should have known. Chad was barely twenty, and had begun his apprenticeship to the Hunters at fourteen. Thankfully, Marco had never been a fan of apprentices or Chad might very well have studied with him.

“Reach out and have them keep an eye on my guest for me. Her name is Colby Jensen, she is traveling with Gillian and Owen. They don’t have to approach, but a heads up to Owen when they are in the area is advisable. Just keep Colby in their sights if she breaks off from Owen and Gillian for any reason.”

“Anything specific you’re looking for?”

“Her safety.” He didn’t doubt she wouldn’t return to the house. Her willingness to discuss the next morning assured him of that. Though he’d tasted surprise in her scent when she readily agreed, he accepted her honesty.

“You got it. If you have a photo you can send over, I can use that to help them out. If not, we’ll make it work.”

“No,” he admitted. “No photo yet.” He would correct the oversight.

“Want us to get you some?” No disguising his intrigue or amusement.

Did he?
“For informational purposes only.”

“Of course.” A beat, then, “Thank you for the faith, Brett. I swear, I won’t let you down.”

“Thank you, Pierce.” Ending the call, Brett drummed his fingers on the desk. He had a half-dozen issues he needed to take care of, not to mention meetings to take. Though it was Sunday, his businesses had investments around the world and it was already Monday in Japan. It was barely noon, however, so he had a couple of hours.

Firing off a text to his assistant in the city, he gave her the rest of the day off after she canceled and moved his meetings. Her double question mark response amused him.

It’s Sunday. Go spend some time with your family. Route emergencies to Gerald’s office.

He only had to wait a moment before she replied.
Will do.
When was the last time he’d taken a day off? Probably too long for her to think his call was anything but out of the ordinary. Pocketing his phone, he left the house and jogged through the drizzle to Hatcher’s.

No matter who lived in the cottage at the side of the hill, it would always be Hatcher’s to him. Brett had grown up in and around his grandfather’s house, even after his grandmother died—Hatcher remained in the home they’d built. A whole floor had been converted into a miniature hospital, complete with two rooms for patients and another two rooms upstairs if necessary. Rarely had they ever filled them.

The last time we did…
. He cut the thought off.
Enough about fucking Marco.
Even Brett had tired of the thought chasing its tail through his mind. The bastard Hunter had discolored his interactions with everything—and everyone. At Hatcher’s, he let himself in and strode through the kitchen to the basement door. The patient rooms were downstairs. Taking the stairs two at a time, he followed his nose.

Luc called out before he cleared the last step, “It’s open.”

Pushing the door inward, he chuckled at the sight of Luc sprawled on the bed, his left leg in a splint and his middle finger raised in salute. “Good to see you, too.”

“Where the hell did you find the healer?” The wolf snarled.

“Willow Bend.” Then hardening his tone, he added, “Be nice to her or I’ll let her mate rebreak your leg.”

“How can I not be nice to her? She’s like cotton candy on steroids. My teeth ache from just talking to her.” Despite the gruff complaint, the man looked better. The hard, angular cut to his face remained as did his pallor.

“Just be nice to her,” he repeated, before hooking a chair and dragging it over to the bedside. “How’s the leg?”

“Right leg will be good in a day or two. She wants me off it for at least that long. Left might take a few more days. I need to shift.” His grimace decried the instructions, however. “She made me shift as soon as she got here so she could work on getting the pins out of my leg. Why the fuck did you let me shift while I had them in?”

Metal pins weren’t impossible to shift around; they just hurt like a bitch.

“You needed to shift more than you needed to be human and you were losing it.” Brett straddled the chair and leaned his arms against the back. Overall, Luc looked better. The stench of infection had been washed away. “You were unconscious when you got here, and completely unreasonable when you came to. The fever you were running didn’t help. So getting you out of the casts and into your wolf was the preferred alternative to letting you die.”

“Yeah, yeah. Colby didn’t see, right?” His knuckles whitened as he adjusted his position on the bed. Gillian had strung his leg so it was supported. Both arms looked completely healed. Even the road rash on his right side was gone. Brett didn’t offer him any assistance, Luc wanted to be helped about as much as Brett would in the similar circumstance.

“No,” he kept his tone neutral. “Colby saw nothing. You shifted, I put you to sleep, then Mom and Dad brought you here while she was distracted.”

Relief eased his grimace. “Excellent. And you didn’t let her leave?”

Instead of answering the question, he fired off one of his own. “Why don’t you explain why you want her to stay?”

“It’s good to see you, too, Brett.” Folding his arms, Luc smirked. “Thanks for the help, but I don’t answer to you.”

“No problem. Soon as Gillian signs off on your health, you can get dropped off at the border.” He didn’t flinch away from Luc’s gaze.

Teeth bared, his best friend snorted. “You’re not going to tell me are you?”

He didn’t bother to answer. The sooner Luc left, the sooner Brett had Colby to himself. Why encourage him to stay?

“God, you are such an asshole when you want to be.” The mock sigh didn’t sway him, nor did the half-grin Luc released when Brett continued to stare at him, waiting. “Fine, I’ll answer the question.” A sly gleam entered his eyes and he raised his eyebrows. “Have you checked out her ass? She’s one foxy chick.”

Dislike spread through him at the cavalier tone. “I’m not your pimp.”

“Don’t need you for that, but since she gave me a sponge bath already, I know what great hands she’s got.”

The urge to break Luc’s leg once more bloomed with a violent edge. “Luc.”

“Come on, old man. I get it. You hate the world. But have you
really
looked at her? Checked out her scent?” Lewd suggestiveness aside, no male referred to his mate in those terms. Not to another male, especially not an unmated one.

“She did you a favor and worried herself about you. What the fuck are you doing, talking about her like some cheap whore you picked up to entertain yourself?”

His best friend grinned slowly. “So, you do like her…”

Asshole.

H
aving
a best friend was a three-edged sword in Brett’s opinion. When they were younger, those blades had always pointed away. For damn sure, Luc had always been on his side, had his back, and would cheerfully wade into battle on his behalf. Brett had always done the same. They’d gotten drunk together. Scored with women the first time—together. Hell, they’d even taken an unplanned exploratory trip into Canada together—a wild road trip which had ended with an Enforcer picking their delinquent asses up and delivering them home to their Alpha.

By the time they’d reached adulthood, they’d been inseparable. Though Brett’s dominance edged out Luc’s, it had never been about follower and leader. The third blade of their friendship, however, came into play when Brett’s grandfather decided he was ready to step down. Change came difficult to wolves, no more so than to a young man who’d believed he had years before the need to fight for Alpha occurred.

In fifteen minutes, Brett’s grandfather surrendered to him and he ascended. He won the pack over, secured his family and lost his best friend in a matter of days. Luc’s declaration of Lone Wolf stunned him. At first he’d believed, as with all things, Luc had been joking.

It had taken him two years to accept that Luc’s play hadn’t been a prank, but a real desire to wander the world without the tether of pack. Over the years since, they’d gotten together on a handful of occasions, resuming old habits and familiarity with ease. The question of dominance never arose because Luc wasn’t his wolf—he was only his friend.

Only
.

“Dude, you have so mastered pissed face. It’s kind of scary.”
Pissed face
. The description they gave his grandfather when they’d earned his disapproval.

“I’m not in the mood.” The five simple words would have shut down his other wolves, but not Luc. He snorted.

“From what I hear, you haven’t been in the mood for over a year. How is that working out for you?” A man trapped by having his broken leg hoisted and under fighting weight shouldn’t offer a challenge he couldn’t support. “You’ve been in a bad mood for months, yet all you do is sit and brood. Who are you, and what did you do with Brett?”

“Luc, this isn’t a game or at least not one I’m interested in playing.” They’d been discussing Colby. “Why are you being a jackass about her?”

“Hey, you answer my question, and I’ll answer yours.” Settling against the upraised bed, Luc folded his hands beneath his head. Glib. Challenging.

“When Gillian says you’re fit for travel. You’ll be escorted to the edge of the territory and you can get back to your life.”
Such as it is.
“If you need anything in the meanwhile, let her or Owen know, and I’ll decide whether we can get it for you.”

Standing, Brett swung the chair back to its corner.

“Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Nothing playful lived in his tone.

“Dude, I’m Alpha. Not your buddy.” The words tasted like crap. “We’re not playing some kind of one upmanship here. You showed up on my doorstep with a problem. We’re fixing it. End of discussion.”

If fixing it meant sending Colby on with her life, so be it.

“You really don’t see it.” Luc shook his head. “What the fuck happened to you? Marco was a dick, but this isn’t you.”

“I am exactly who I need to be.” The discussion was over. “Gillian will be back in a few hours. I’ll ask my mother to check on you.”

Pacing away, he headed for the door. The pack needed him. Pierce was right. They needed to do more bonding events. As dumb as it sounded, he’d never had to plan them before. They had a habit of simply occurring.

“You’re not going to ask, are you?” The words halted him.

Turning slightly, he glanced at Luc. “Ask what?”

“Why didn’t I go to Three Rivers with the others. I know my sister is talking about it.” The delivery demanded a response.

“I don’t really care.” The lie echoed between them. Pivoting, he faced his oldest friend. What the hell did they really know about each other anyway? Luc left more than two decades—nearly three—before.

“Bullshit. You don’t want to care, and maybe that’s cool. But the last time I checked you weren’t a coward.”

“You want to challenge me, Luc? Stand up and do it. I don’t kick cripples when they’re down.”

Rage simmered in the air. Unsurprisingly, Luc jerked the tie holding his leg aloft and fought to sit. Pain etched into his expression and sweat beaded his forehead. When his right leg hit the floor, he stood, balancing on it. “Okay, asswipe. I’m on my feet.” Which lasted all of about three seconds before he wavered and began to topple.

Across the room in a heartbeat, Brett caught him and kept him upright. “You really are an idiot.”

“Yeah,” Luc’s grin wobbled almost as much as he did. “I missed you, too.” Then he gave Brett a hug. The embrace didn’t hold an ounce of fierce power, but something much more profound. “I should have been here for you when that bastard hurt all of you. I should have been here for my family.”

Accepting the hug, Brett kept his emotions in check.

“I want to come home—Alpha.”

He couldn’t stop the emotion slamming into him then. “You’re…”

“An asshole.” Luc agreed. “I know.” Then the son of a bitch passed out.

Balancing Luc’s bulk, Brett had a care with getting him back on the bed and then reattaching his leg to the pulley and raising it again. Gently as he could he made sure he was secure then checked his right leg. It was swollen and mottled in places. “Do not hurt yourself further,” he ordered the unconscious wolf. “Even if you did it to yourself, Gillian will kill us both.”

No response seemed forthcoming. Resting a hand on Luc’s head, he sighed. Though his skin remained damp, he wasn’t feverish. After drawing a blanket over him, Brett retrieved the chair and settled into place. It took a couple of hours, but Luc finally woke again.

Discomfort rippled across his face a moment before his eyes opened. “I’m in hell.”

“You bought the ticket.” The blithe reply suited him. He’d watched carefully, aware of every breath the man took. “Next time wait until you’re fully healed before you try to pick a fight.”

“You wouldn’t have hurt me,” the other wolf mumbled, before rubbing a hand to his face. “Though it feels like a truck hit me all over again.”

Speaking of which… “Exactly what happened that you ended up in the hospital?”

“You won’t believe me if I told you.” Bracing a hand against the bed, he tried to push himself upright. Brett caught his shoulder then used the bed control to ease him higher.

“Better?”

“Yeah.” Then, he added, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Tell me what happened.” The details he had were sketchy, more because the Enforcer didn’t know anything beyond Luc had been found badly injured and nude in a ditch off to the side of the road.

“I was tracking a scent. I couldn’t make sense of it.” The story came out in drips and drams, pain darkening Luc’s voice. Glancing at the side table next to his bed, Brett spotted the Norco. Most wolves burned through pain medication too fast for it to be all that effective, but they could help. Palming the bottle, he popped it open and counted out two pills.

Luc accepted them, then the water bottle with a grunted, “Thank you.”

“Welcome. Once we get through this, if you meant it—I’ll bring you into the pack and I’ll help you with the pain.” He couldn’t take it away, but he could help shoulder the burden by sharing his strength.

“Punishing me?” Genuine inquiry rather than challenge inhabited the question.

“No, but decisions made while you’re in pain may not be what you really want.”

Tipping the bottle toward him, Luc nodded. “Fair point.”

“I have them from time to time. You were tracking a scent…?”

“Yeah, I caught wind of…the only way I can describe it was pack, not pack. Wolf, not wolf. Does that make any damn sense?”

“Not really,” but he didn’t discount it. The other wolf had a good nose. “But go on anyway.”

He took another drink of water before continuing. “I kept picking it up in different places, sometimes outside a cleaners, once near a grocery store. It was always faint, like I was a day or two behind. Then I’d lose it entirely. I stopped for food at this great burger joint and there it was…fresh.”

“So, being the planner you are, you shifted and took off after it.” Luc really didn’t have to continue. “You were so caught up on the scent, you didn’t pay attention to traffic?”

Grimace turning into a snarl, Luc glared at him. “Hey, in all fairness that jerkwad didn’t have his lights on, and he didn’t slow down after he clipped me either.”

“You could have been killed, you know?” The growl rumbled through him.
Of all the idiotic, dumbass ways to die…
“All for some damn curiosity. It’s supposed to kill cats, not wolves.”

“I almost did you know.” The faint grin didn’t vanish. “And as luck would have it…I found it.”

Irked didn’t cover his feelings on the subject. “Found what?”

“The
scent.
Or should I say, the owner of the scent.”

Brett frowned.

“Come on, I asked you if you checked out her scent. Didn’t you notice it?”

Colby’s contradictory scents. The unusual, provocative nature of it. “You think Colby is a wolf?”

“Dude, I have no idea what she is, but I want to find out. From the moment she started looking after me, I felt better and clearer than I had in a while. Even the drugs they kept feeding me couldn’t compete with it.”

Chill fingers wrapped around Brett’s heart. A mate could do that for a wolf. Give them clarity and happiness even in the darkest of times. They could make the world brighter.

“I had to bring her here…get
her
to bring me. As long as I was with her, I was okay. Soon as you shoved me in that room upstairs…”

“You had an infection and needed to change. If she’s a wolf, you would have just shifted in front of her.” As soon as he was out of the hospital. His ride home would have been significantly easier, too

“I don’t know what she is, but we have to find out. You can’t let her leave…”

He had zero intention of letting her leave and not for Luc or some damn fool quest. “She’s not a prize at the end of a journey, Luc. She’s…”

“She’s amazing,” Luc’s knuckles whitened on the bottle. “And just like I know I need to be here, and it’s time for me to return to the pack, if you’ll have me. I know she needs to be here, too.”

Tapping his fingers against the back of the chair, he shook his head slowly. “Coming home means rejoining the pack, swearing to me—obeying me. Are you really ready for that?”

“Dude, I was ready ten years ago, but you didn’t need me then and I…” He didn’t finish the sentence, but the tips of his ears went red.

Brett raised his eyebrows. “And you…?”

After draining the water bottle, Luc crushed it. “I needed to be needed. You’ve always had it together, Brett. You’ve always been that guy. The one everyone went to—the one who took every challenge like it was going to the grocery store to grab a jug of milk. Nothing ever made you sweat. When your grandfather said he wanted to step down, you didn’t want to be Alpha then—but you did what had to be done. And you were…more. You still are.” Meeting his gaze, his best friend exhaled. “I wanted my buddy back—the dude who’d go drinking with me, but you didn’t have time for that because you had to be Big Kahuna. I didn’t fit. Not anymore.”

Shaking his head slowly, Brett scowled at him. “When you’re healed, I’m going to kick your ass.”

“Does that mean I can stay?”

“Can you follow orders?”

“Not really.”

“Will you always protect the pack?”

“Without a doubt.”

“Are you going to be a pain in my ass?”

“Every chance I get.” The earnest honesty in every answer made Brett grin. He’d missed Luc.

“This means you’re my wolf, Luc. No more wandering off. No more disappearing, and I reserve the right to knock some sense into you whenever the occasion calls for it.”

Luc extended his hand. “And on my lifeblood, I will die for you and this pack. Hudson River is yours, but it’s my home.”

Clasping the hand, the world seemed to stop swinging so hard on the uncertain axis it had ridden for the last year. Finally, something had gone right. “Welcome home.”

The silence stretched between them, and he had the sense of Luc. His wolf rose, snapping and snarling, but ready to welcome home their lost packmate. Like Brett, his wolf wanted to discipline the idiot for ever leaving in the first place. But they had to get him well first.

“So…about Colby.” And the moment was over.

T
he day spent
at SUNY involved a lot of talking to other students, and a handful of teachers. Though a Sunday in summertime, the campus had been hopping. Somehow, Colby ended the trip with a list of potential classes, a catalog, an application and the phone numbers of a half-dozen helpful individuals, including the head of the nursing program.

Gillian, it seemed, made friends wherever she went. Though her husband tended to be on the quiet side, he remained a rock steady presence throughout the whole escapade. By the time they returned to the sleepy little town, the rain had finally stopped and she got a better look at the hollow around Brett’s place. It reminded her of farm country—though the interstate didn’t seem as far away as it had when she drove through the rain, it seemed to drop them from a city feel to a country feel in minutes.

“You’re worried about something,” Gillian said, twisting in the front seat to glance back at her. Owen drove a large truck, and despite the interior comfort it seemed built for utility rather than looks.

Rubbing her thumb over the catalog, Colby shrugged. “Day before yesterday? I finished months of community service in a job, I’d actually come to enjoy. It was supposed to be the start of a new chapter.”

“You are starting one…” Gillian’s smile gentled with compassion as she motioned to the catalogs.

“Am I? Or am I just trying to recapture an old one? I blew my chance the first time because of impulsive decisions.” Chewing the inside of her lip, she glanced at the photo on the cover. Why did catalogs always feature grinning idiots on the cover? Didn’t they have assignments due? A job to juggle? Romantic woes?