Chapter Twelve

When Bree offered to stay the night, I thought it was so she could bunk with her brother, not sleep alongside the edge of the sofa in her pelt. She promised it wasn’t because I was in any real danger. She swore it was so her wolf could get to know me a little better. Honestly, it was probably a little bit of both, but she said those things to keep me calm.

It would’ve worked as well if not for the loud crash in my bedroom that woke me up around two in the morning.

Bree’s hand on my arm stopped me from making it the entire way down the hall. “It’s Jackson,” Bree said in a low whisper. “Or his wolf, to be exact.”

I stared down the dark hall when something banged against the closed door.

“This is when it gets hard,” she said in a thin whisper. “He’ll shift erratically until he can get the pain under control.”

“I thought that was the shaman’s job,” I said.

“It is,” Bree agreed, “but now that the magic has worn off, he’ll have to detox, hence the wild shifts. Healing an injured wolf isn’t an exact science. We all react differently.”

I winced when something smashed against another wall, followed by a whimper, then a curse when Jackson shifted back. “Isn’t there something we can do?”

Whatever was inside that room could be replaced, but her brother was already such a timid individual. I hated to think of what the isolation would do to him if he was left alone for too long.

“It’s better if you don’t do that,” Bree warned as I reached for the door. “At least in there, the only things he can damage are the walls and furniture.”

“You’re saying he won’t recognize his friends?”

“He can,” she said gently, “but his wolf might not.”

“And how do you get after being cared for by a Silverback?”

She pressed her back into the wall, then slid down until she was sitting on the floor beside the bedroom door. “Groggy. Restless. I get insomnia, basically. I shift in and out, but I don’t have enough energy to do much else.”

“I guess that’s good,” I said as I took my place beside her. “And you’re sure there’s nothing we can do?”

“When it comes to Jackson, it’s better to give him his space, or at least a safe space for him to run around. He should calm down in an hour, but I’m going to wear my pelt so he can smell something familiar.”

“His wolf doesn’t recognize your scent?” That didn’t sound right at all.

“He does,” Bree began as she got up to a crouching position, “but not when he’s like this. The pain is clouding his judgment, but that should pass soon.” With that, she removed the few articles of clothing she’d managed to put on between our run from the living room to just outside the bedroom door and changed back into her pelt, flopping beside me a moment later.

When I didn’t say anything, she lay her chin on my leg and let out a low whimper.

“I really wish you could talk normally when you’re like this.”

She wagged her tail, then lowered her ears. I wasn’t sure what she was trying to say, but I appreciated it anyway.

Unlike her brother whose pelt I’d seen many times before, I’d never had the chance to look at her coat. Not without losing myself in her wolf’s silver eyes or distracted by her pointed ears and fluffy tail.

But there, sitting in the hall with darkness surrounding us, I was able to make out the few light patches on her sides and stomach. She wasn’t dark, but she wasn’t light, either. She was a gray wolf, same as her brother, but her coat was lighter.

“At least I’ll be able to tell you apart,” I said to her as well as myself, absently stroking behind her ears as I spoke. “I’ve seen Jackson’s wolf running around before, but I never saw you. Was that because of his anxiety?” I asked, smiling when she wagged her tail. “I’ll take that as a yes. So, my being here hasn’t made you anxious at all?”

She let out a low whine, then wagged her tail again.

“It did make you anxious,” I decided, filling in the blanks the best I could. Then, realizing Jackson had stopped moving around, I said, “Is he okay?”

Bree lifted her muzzle, sniffed the air, then placed her chin on her paws.

“He’s asleep.” It wasn’t a question, and as soon as I went to get up, Bree shifted beside me.

“He should be out until the morning,” Bree said as she quickly gathered her things, putting them on once she was able to do so. “I should probably take him home once he does. His wolf will be more comfortable in a familiar place. There are too many smells in here. Human smells he isn’t comfortable with.”

“And your wolf?” I asked, waiting at the end of the hall so she could join me back in the living room.

“They’re strange to her, but still familiar because they’re you.”

Heat filled my cheeks then, and I couldn’t decide if it was because of the way she looked at me once we sat back down or because her wolf was comfortable around me.

As though she could read my thoughts, Bree said, “It might also be because I’m not injured. I might get groggy and restless, but I can’t say I’ve ever tried to lick my wounds in a new place. Jackson and I always stay home when we’re hurt, but because this happened so far away…”

“What about work?” I asked, sitting down on the sofa when she patted the cushion beside her.

“Work can wait.” This time, the voice belonged to Jackson.

I’d been so distracted by Bree and her wolf that I hadn’t heard the bedroom door open.

Bree was much of the same, shooting up from the sofa and spinning on her heels before facing her brother again. “You’re up and—”

“Lucid?” Jackson asked with a soft chuckle, holding a blanket around himself to conceal his otherwise naked form.

Glancing at his torso, I was surprised when the gash I’d seen earlier was no longer there. He still had a wicked scar, but the damage the wolf had caused had already begun to heal.

“Man, you guys heal fast,” I said as I made my way into the kitchen to make him some tea. “Tea?”

“No thanks,” Bree said.

“I’m good, thanks,” Jackson replied, shuffling to the front door before stepping outside.

“Where’s he going?” I asked. Shouldn’t you go after him?

“Probably just to get the clothing he has stashed behind the barn. Like I said, we have stuff stockpiled everywhere,” Bree explained, smiling when her brother returned. “See? What did I tell you?”

“Excuse me for being a little jumpy,” I said, breathing in the scent of chamomile as the ceramic mug warmed my hands.

“Thanks for letting us crash here,” Jackson said as he took his place beside his sister. “You didn’t have to.”

“You were bleeding out in my front yard,” I told him. “What else was I supposed to do? Call an ambulance? I think we all know how well that would’ve gone. Jackson would’ve shifted in the back of it, then all hell would’ve broken loose. At least inside my bedroom, the worse thing you could break was the mirror.”

“Yeah. Sorry about that.” He rubbed the back of his neck, then came around the island to join me. “You wouldn’t happen to have any leftovers, would you? I’m starving.”

I laughed at that, then dug through the pantry for the handful of supplies I’d planned to leave behind. “I don’t, but that doesn’t mean I can’t whip something up.”

“Is there meat?”

“We tend to lean heavily on the carnivorous side after a hit like that,” Bree explained from her place on the sofa. “If not, I can run home and get some. Seeing as Jackson’s out of the woods, you two should be fine for a few minutes on your own.”

“You’re leaving?” I looked between her and Jackson who was more than happy to sit at the counter.

“I’ll be right back. Promise.” Then, to her brother, Bree said, “Play nice. She’s the only friend we have around here.”

“Fine. I won’t eat her. Yet,” he said when he looked at me again. Thankfully, his smile gave him away. “Seriously, you didn’t have to do any of this.”

“I’m glad I did,” I said, taking one of the stools across from him.

“And I’m sorry if she pushed you away. We can never be too careful, but seeing as you haven’t called the authorities on us and I’m still sitting in front of you, I guess I was wrong. We both were.”

“About what?” I asked, closing my eyes as I took my first sip of tea.

“You. Your intentions.” He shrugged and left it at that. “Those who come out this way usually do so for one reason.”

“To hunt.”

“Yeah. How did you—”

“There are only two things I can think of that might upset a wolf. Lack of food and stolen territory. Bree said something about living off the land, and considering the way you acted when I mentioned changing some of the woods behind the house, I can kind of put two and two together. As for that other wolf, have you ever seen him before?”

“Unfortunately, yes, but never up close. We usually keep our distance, but he and his kin keep roaming inside our territory. They haven’t killed anything that we’ve seen yet, but that doesn’t really make us feel any better.”

“Do you know why he was stalking me?” I’m not a wolf. Heck, I wasn’t a shifter at all.

“Easy prey,” Bree said, quickly closing the front door behind her. There was a hunk of something in her hands, and it looked fresh.

“Please tell me you didn’t do that on my property.” Just thinking about an innocent animal getting jumped on by Bree made me sick to the stomach.

“Relax,” Jackson said as he went to take the meat from his sister. “At least the killing we do is merciful and quick. I can’t say the same thing about most of the hunters that live in the area. Here.” He paused in front of the cutting board I had placed beside the sink and set the meat on top of it. “I don’t know how you want it cut up so…” He trailed off and went to sit down again.

“It’s fine,” I assured him, forcing back the nausea in my throat when I looked at the meat again. “You shouldn’t be on your feet, anyway.”

“Don’t tell him that,” Bree said with a laugh, “otherwise, you really will have to deal with a wolf.”

“But it’s true.” He just suffered a major injury, didn’t he?

“It’s a challenge,” Jackson cut in, sticking his tongue out at his sister when she glared in his direction. “What? You’re the same way. If you so much as suggest Bree’s acting weak in any way, she’ll shift, bare her teeth at you, then do everything in her power to prove you wrong.”

“You two must’ve had quite the childhood,” I said with a shake of my head, dropping the diced meat into a pan as I got the pasta going in another pot. It might not have been one of my heartier casseroles, but it was quick. Considering the fact I had two hungry wolves looking at me… “It’s the best I can do with the supplies I’ve got.”

“So long as it’s warm, I don’t care,” Bree said with a kind smile.

“Same,” Jackson agreed. “Our wolves might not care about the temperature, but I could really go for a heaping pile of comfort food.”

“Which is exactly what I’m planning to do,” I said.

Just as soon as I got over their intense eyes and the fact that whenever I looked at Bree, my heart dipped into my stomach.

Everything’s fine, I assured myself.

There were two wolves sitting at my table. What could possibly go wrong?

I guess I’m about to find out.