“I’m JC,” the bearded guy said. “We spoke earlier.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I snapped. “Where’s Ollie? What do we know about Cameron?”
If JC was taken aback or insulted by my aggressive questioning, he didn’t show it. All he did was nod and gesture for me to follow him. He led me past the check-in area, which was as generic as anything you could possibly imagine—a single deskwith a laminate counter. Nothing about the room signaled that it was a medical facility. Once we passed the foyer, however, it looked more and more like a hospital. Exam rooms with privacy curtains, triage areas, even a few small rooms with private doors for overnight and extended-stay patients. A door at the far end of the hall had the word “Emergency” written on it in bold red letters.
“Where the hell is Ollie?” I demanded.
“Through this room,” JC said, pointing at the emergency room door. “He only got here about fifteen minutes ago. We had to get our team out to find him, and even then, he wouldn’t go until he spent ten or fifteen minutes trying to track down Cameron. The guy’s a hard ass, for sure.”
JC led me to the back of the room and pulled a curtain aside. Ollie lay on the hospital bed, shirtless and grimacing in pain. A doctor bent low over him, securing a bandage around his ribs. A heavy bruise covered most of his side.
My friend glanced up at us and raised his hand in a weak wave. “Hey, buddy. Didn’t think I’d see you so soon—fuck, Doc, be careful,” Ollie hissed.
“Got it,” the doctor said as he finished attaching the tail end of the wrapping.
“Holy shit, that hurts,” Ollie grunted. “I’m sorry, Nate. I tried. I really did.”
I’d never seen him look so miserable.
“What the hell happened, Ollie?” I asked.
Ollie sighed and winced. “We were on our way out. Maybe half an hour from the campground. Came across a car blocking the outgoing lane. This rich prick jumped us, crashed straight through the driver-side window, and damn near tore my throat out. During the fight, he busted the shit out of my head and knocked me out. He almost had Cameron by the time I camearound. We fought. He kicked me in the ribs and broke about three of them.”
“Jesus,” JC muttered under his breath. “And you’re sure it was Rick Masters?”
“One hundred percent,” Ollie said. “He took off into the woods. I chased after him. The guy must have doubled back, though. I couldn’t run as fast as I wanted to because of my ribs.”
“They’ll be pretty much totally healed by tomorrow at the latest,” the doc said. “The bandage is just to keep them secure until then. Mr. Vickers here also suffered a severe concussion, but his shifter healing will negate any long-term effects.”
“Ollie, I’m glad you’re safe,” I said. “But do we have any leads on Cameron?”
Ollie shook his head. “I told her to call the cops, then I took off after Rick. About two hundred yards into the woods, I thought I had him when he circled around to go back for her, but he was too fast. By the time I returned, he and Cameron were gone. I did my best to track her, but lost her scent down an embankment near a creek. It’s like she vanished. I was too tired, and by the time the reinforcements showed up, I’d limped back to the truck.”
“Ollie,” JC said, “you rest. I’ll have someone bring you something to eat, and we’ll get you cleaned up. Nate?” He inclined his head to the door. “Come with me. We’ll talk more.”
Grounding my teeth together, I followed. My wolf was thrashing like mad in my mind, raging at me to rush out the door and hunt for Cameron myself. It was all I could do to tamp down the irritation and the desire to bolt and go do my own thing. All that kept me here was knowing that with the power of the Toronto pack behind me, it might be easier to find her.
JC and I sat in what obviously constituted the waiting room. Several other shifters waited in the long row of chairs, varying expressions of worry on their faces. Ollie must have had quite afew friends in the pack. Despite that, I noticed a few accusatory looks cast my way. A lone wolf was a lone wolf, always would be. JC seemed fine with me, but old prejudices were deeply ingrained in our society.
“All right,” he said, “first things first. When I spoke to Cameron earlier, I could tell she’s got a good head on her shoulders.” JC heaved a sigh, and the muscles of his jaw rippled under his beard as he clenched his teeth in anger. “I’m really sorry her introduction to shifter society has been this fucked up. As you know, it’s incredibly rare for a human to be turned. I was hoping to make this process as seamless as possible for her.”
“Really?” I asked, unable to keep the bitter tone out of my voice. “Ollie made it sound like there was a chance you might toss her out on her ass. Force her to be a lone wolf like me.”
JC’s face twisted into a surprised frown, and he shook his head. “The possibility was there, yes. We have to keep the pack safe, no matter what, but I’m not a heartless animal. She fell into this life against her will after being bitten by a feral. The only way that she would have been rejected was if she refused to keep the secret and acted like she might be a threat to us. From what Ollie told me, and after speaking with her, I’m pretty confident that won’t happen. She’ll be part of the pack.”
“Sure,” I grunted, and glanced at the front door, my wolf whining. He wanted to tear out of here and go looking for Cameron.
“I’m serious,” JC said, leaning in close to get my attention. “I run a good pack here.”
Something in his eyes told me he was being honest. Not surprising. I knew Ollie well enough to know that he’d bitch and moan if the pack wasn’t doing things the right way. The problem was that some packs weren’t like that. Some were into illegal shit, others wereveryagainst any new members, and still more were too strict in the way they wanted their members to act.
At the back of my mind, no matter how much I said Ididn’twant to be chained down by a pack, I couldn’t deny that the thought of having a group of people to rely on was comforting. The idea of asking to join came trickling back in, like a water drip at the back of my head. This wasn’t the time, though. I’d keep my mouth shut for now. This was about Cameron. Everything else could wait.
“I believe you,” I said.
“Good.” JC nodded. “Can you tell me a bit about how she first turned?”
“I can agree with the fact that it was a pretty shitty way to be introduced to shifter life,” I began, leaning back in my chair, doing my best to suppress the anxiety threatening to overwhelm me and my wolf. “Some psycho feral named Lenny Nash was killing ladies around Toronto. He’s the one who bit her.”
