River Wolf (17 page)

L
uc’s patience
with healing had apparently worn thin. The only thing keeping him in the healer’s house was the five foot nothing healer blockading him, her hands on her hips and her topaz eyes blazing. Owen’s absence was likely the only thing that prevented Luc from suffering a fresh round of broken bones for pissing off Owen’s mate.

“Your legs are
not
fully healed. The right one is in much better shape than the left, but the bones haven’t fully knit back together which means you could
easily
rebreak it and in a bad way. It’s why I haven’t let you shift yet.” Submissive or not, Gillian didn’t back down over issues of healing. She hadn’t with Brett, not even when he said he could live with his burns.

Descending the steps, Brett assessed the situation swiftly. “What’s the problem, Luc?” The other wolf wasn’t an idiot. He would only be on his feet if a genuine problem existed.

“Other than being strapped to a bed for weeks on end? I’m done. I’ll be careful little healer. Don’t worry, I won’t mess up any of your work, but I need to get out of here.” He was on his feet, the majority of his weight on his right leg. The left remained encased in a splint. Splitting his attention, he glanced at Gillian. “Today.”

“No.” The tiny dictator folded her arms and glared at him. “You are not ready. I don’t care what rationale you want to use. We just got rid of the infection, Luc.” Despite her stubborn stance, she coaxed with her tone. It was hard to tell a submissive no, hard to disappoint them.

Exasperation radiated off Luc in waves. “Brett?”

“Don’t look at him,” Gillian said, tapping her foot. “You look at me. I’m the healer. I say when you go, not him.” She paused and glanced over at Brett. “No offense.”

Not smiling, because it would totally rob Gillian of her authority, he inclined his head. “None taken.”

“Are you serious?” Luc scowled. “You’re going to let this…moppet order me around?”

“Hey, the
moppet
is the healer here. No offense, little wolf.” He may have to adopt the term permanently.

“None taken.”

Raising his hand to stifle the next wave of arguments, he said, “If you’ll give us a moment, I’ll talk to Luc.” No matter how much fun it was to pick on his friend, he would rather be with Colby.

“Of course, and before you go, I have some information on the issue you called me about this morning.” The careful wording didn’t slip by Luc.

“What issue?”

Not answering him, Gillian marched to the stairs and only paused long enough to give them a gimlet eye. “Remember, no stairs. No walking for any real length and sit down, dammit.”

Whether he realized it or not, Luc perched at the end of the bed. “Damn, she’s a real ball buster.”

“I heard that.” Her voice drifted down the stairs, and Luc smirked.

“You were supposed to.”

Shaking his head, Brett folded his arms. “What’s the problem?”

“Being stuck in the infirmary is the problem. I came home so I could get
out
of the hospital.” Scrubbing a hand over his face, he avoided Brett’s gaze.

“Uh huh. A partial truth is almost as bad as a lie.” Good mood notwithstanding, if Luc wanted to be here, he needed to
be
here. “What’s going on?”

“Like I said, just sick of being here.”

“Okay, when she says you can go, you can go.” No point in interceding if Luc wanted to be a dumbass. Pivoting, he headed for the stairs.

“Dammit. Wait.”

Pausing at the nearly sub vocal words, he said, “I’m listening.”

“Sam’s planning to leave.” He grit the words out between his teeth. Brett might be his best friend, but Samantha was his sister. “Simone, too. Though, to be honest, I think this is more Simone than Sam.”

Pacing over to him slowly, Brett studied his expression. “Where are they planning on going?” Having suspicions and knowing the absolute truth were two different things.

“Three Rivers.” Finally, Luc met his gaze. “Sam wrote me after the pack first formed, wanted to know if I was going. I told her hell no. Then Simone called a few weeks later, wanted to know if I’d checked it out. This was probably about the time you were in Willow Bend.”

His trip hadn’t been advertised, but a few key people knew. Apparently someone let the Danes know. Brett would deal with that issue later. “Go on.”

Leaning an arm on the end of the bed, Luc shifted his weight. Earlier protests aside, his leg obviously bothered him. Brett didn’t order him back to bed. Yet.

“I told her the same thing I told Sam. Three Rivers was a fool’s errand. Even if the Alphas voted to keep it around, they are years away from becoming a stable pack. Years away from prosperity. Years away from security. Hudson River is a good thing, you’re a good leader, why rock the boat?”

“Why, indeed?”

“Look, I’m telling you about this…”

“No, you’re confessing it to me because I didn’t let you blow me off.” There was a subtle, but key difference. “I appreciate the support, however you were not here. You left right after I became Alpha, so you can’t say for certain anything about my leadership.”

“You know, fuck you and fuck Sam. She said the same thing. I don’t have to have been your wolf to know you were a good leader, or that you can be again. I’m watching you wake up, dude, and you need to wake up.” The advice might have meant more if…

Brett shut off the thought. “When are they planning on going?”

“Are you going to stop them?” All trace of his familiar tone vanished.

“I won’t force anyone to stay who does not want to be here.” Whether they had a righteous grievance or not was another matter. “That’s not how pack works. Not how it should ever work. We have laws and a rules for a reason. I didn’t make you stay, and I won’t make them.”

“I get that.” Though the struggle playing out over his features decried his statement. “These are my sisters, Brett. They’ve never lived outside of a pack that’s always had their back. They have…” He didn’t finish the thought.

“They have issues. They’re pissed at me. I don’t really care if they’re mad.”

“They’re not
mad,
dude, they’re confused. They think you’ve checked out. Hell, Sam asked me to come home and take over the whole shebang.” The confession slammed onto the floor between them.

“Did she?” Though he searched within himself for even an ounce of surprise, he found none. Instead, he discovered hurt. Had his best friend come home to usurp him?

“Who the fuck are you?” Luc stood, his grave expression turning darker. “I tell you someone in your pack asked me to come home so I could take the pack from you and you just say ‘did she’? What the hell kind of response is that?”

“The only one you’ll be getting today. I do not answer to you, Luc. I don’t answer to your sister. If she wants to leave for Three Rivers, I’ll drive her to the border myself.” He ground out every word between his teeth. “Let me be clear on something here, you have no rights to demand anything.”

“I have the right of Alpha challenge.”

Upstairs, all movement ceased. Brett could practically smell Gillian’s distress. “You want to challenge me, Luc? Man up and do it, or sit the fuck down and do as you’re told. I am not playing a game with you.”

“I don’t want to challenge you. I want my best friend back.”

“Then grow up. Life moved on while you were gone. Be here. Be a part of the solution, but don’t pretend to tell me how to lead.” The quiet fury in his blood surprised him. Luc even intimating a challenge drew more than ire, it drew lines in his territory. Hudson River was his to take care of, dammit. If he had to remind every single wolf, then that was exactly what he would do.

Luc wobbled, and Brett caught him before he fell. The other wolf cursed then gave him a rueful look. “I need to be healed. I can’t be the voice of reason for you if I can’t stand on my own damn legs.”

Snorting, Brett lifted him into the bed. “What the hell makes you think you’re the voice of reason in this friendship?”

“Because every time I strike out, you sound like you again. You sound like the Alpha I’d bleed for, the wolf I’d follow into that fire.” Luc’s nostrils flared. “You really do like Colby.”

“Leave her out of this.” Command resonated through his words, and Luc bowed his head.

“All-righty, then.” He winced, then leaned into the pillows. “I don’t want my family to go. I don’t want them out there where we can’t protect them.”

As much as he wanted to offer, Luc had to say the words. He was too newly returned, too used to their friendship and frankly, so was Brett.

“Will you help me to help them?”

“Yes.” It wasn’t even a question for him. Grasping Luc’s shoulder, he met his gaze and trapped him. “You’re used to relying on yourself. You’re used to charging in…”

“Yeah, I think you could use some of that.”

“So do I, but not because you throw your weight around or challenge me for the pack.” He increased the pressure of his grip until the wince on Luc’s face grew more pained. “You’re here or you’re not. You swear to me, you follow me. You can make requests, you can ask me for help and you can even tell me how you feel but you do not give me orders. Are we clear?”

“Yes, Alpha.” His relief flooded him when Brett released his shoulder. “Will you let me help you by speaking frankly to you?”

“Do you know how to speak any other way?”

“No, not really.” They shared a rueful grin.

“Gillian,” Brett called, shaking his head at Luc. When she descended a few steps to check on them, she nodded with approval at Luc’s position on the bed. “How much longer till you can complete a speed heal?”

Instead of coming all the way down, she sat on the steps. “A speed heal will demand a lot from you, particularly because he’s so newly returned to the pack and I’m not actually a part of Hudson River.” The tether between him and Gillian had been reinforced during the debacle following Marco’s attack. With so many wolves down, she’d leaned on him and her own distant Alpha for power. They’d shared freely, but it left a tie to the wolf who belonged to Willow Bend. “Even if it didn’t demand so much, I’d be wary of it because it’s
not
needed. Speed healing can damage the body in other ways. Is it truly crucial that Luc be on his feet right now or can he afford to wait another few days? We’re making great progress.”

Luc growled, but it lacked any real heat. “I’m sick of being cooped up.”

“If I carry you upstairs and let you sit out in the sun, will you behave?” The offer included a glance at Gillian. Her faint nod approved the offer. Considering she was in charge of putting the wolf back together again, it was better to defer to her on this matter.

“Fuck yes.” The gratitude in the other man’s eyes humbled Brett. He’d be crawling the walls if he’d been caged by injury as long as Luc had been. “Think I can see Colby, too?”

Thwapping him the back of the head once, Brett said, “Keep it up, funny boy.”

Ten minutes later, he’d settled Luc out on the sun deck extending behind the house. The angle gave him a view of his place, but Luc wouldn’t be visible from the main windows. Face tilted to the sun, Luc sighed. “Okay, I can survive now.”

“You’re welcome.” Leaving him to enjoy the weather, he strode inside. Gillian sat in her kitchen with a cup of tea and a pot of stew slow cooking. She reached over and turned up the music without his asking.

“I talked to Emma,” she said in a low vocal which wouldn’t carry. “Then we did a conference call with all the healers we could get ahold of. The consensus is if she really is a wolf but not a wolf, she may be latent.”

Latent
. “That’s a myth though.” Latents were the children of wolves, unable to turn or even aware of their beast, even if they gained some of the skills.

“So are people who turn into wolves, but we can both do that. Latents are like Omegas, damn rare. I couldn’t find any healer who has even dealt with one, but…based on what you described, it’s possible Colby is one.”

“What does it mean?” His knowledge in the area was sketchy.

“I don’t know.” Gillian lifted her shoulders. “They may not be as rare in the human population because they seem so human. Did the drugs wake her wolf? Was it always present? Did she just come into maturity late? You said she was born in South Korea, didn’t you?”

He’d as yet not gone through the details Pierce put together for him. The more he grew to know her, the more of an invasion of privacy it became. Protecting his pack was everything, but protecting Colby… “Yes.”

“Maybe talk to a pack there? Is there one there?”

Drumming his fingers against the counter, he considered the information. “Not that I am aware of, but my dealings with foreign packs are primarily in the Western European nations and the Russians. Once.” He would never deal with the damn Russians again if he could help it. Not after the bloody toll their last go round entailed.

“What about Margo and Salvatore? He runs Italy. He might know.”

“I’ll reach out to him last, if necessary.” For Colby, he would do it.

Gillian frowned. “Why last?”

“Because it will involve an apology that I have no desire to make and admission of being isolationist that I am still wrapping my head around.” Ruffling her hair, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Keep researching for me. Anything we can find out will be helpful.” Her wolf settled his.

“Are you going to tell her?”

“I have no choice.”

Gillian clapped her hands together. “She’s a good match for you.”

“Shh, little wolf. Don’t jinx it for me. We’re still courting.”

Joy radiated from her and she held up both hands with her fingers crossed. “I have faith in you.”

Surprisingly, so did he.

A
fter Gillian’s
, all he wanted was to return to Colby, but an Alpha’s needs didn’t come first. He’d spent enough time in the corner, licking his wounds and avoiding his pack. It had been a mistake to indulge himself. Gillian had been after him for weeks since she’d returned from Willow Bend. While the healer was on loan, technically, she and her mate committed to spending several months a year with his pack, alternating with her own. The sacrifice on their part honored him. Yet, she’d not stopped pushing him.