“She’s gonna need some kind of guidance,” I said, then stopped talking as an orderly rolled a gurney down the hall. An ancient-looking man lay on the bed. To me, he looked to be one minute away from death. Once they turned the corner, I added, “I know you said you don’t want to jump to conclusions, but you guys are gonna have to have a plan in place. This girl, if she has been turned, doesn’t have a lifetime of knowledge. She wasn’t raised as a shifter. She’ll need to know the rules, protocol, hierarchy, all that shit.” I rubbed a hand over my face. “Fuck,” I hissed. “Not to mention she’ll lose her mind during her first shift. What if your alpha decides she’s too much of a risk and just kills her then and there?”
Ollie’s head snapped around, an angry gleam in his eyes. “Hang on,” he growled, still keeping his voice low. “You know that executions are rare?—”
“But not unheard of,” I cut in. “You know how fucking jumpy everyone is when it comes to our secret getting out.”
“Yeah, yeah, but this isn’t the same. That woman is innocent. This isn’t like this fucking feral or that drunk dick back in the bar last week. Alphas who go around killing anyone and everyone who cause the slightest problem end up dictators. Theyeventually fall when they lose the respect of their pack and are overthrown by another alpha. You know that.”
I snorted. “Right. I know how it works. You don’texecuteher. You decide to be gracious,” I said derisively. “Just deny her entrance to the pack, relegate her to being a lone wolf, and then wait for her to cause trouble. Then you can fuck off her with a clear conscience, right? That’s the—what would you call it? Oh, yes. Thediplomaticapproach.” I glared at him, pissed off at the situation rather than him.
Ollie sighed. “You’re cynical as shit, Nate. Always have been.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve seen the way the world works. You’ll probably end up calling me in to deal with her when she turns feral, huh? Well, if you do, you can count me the fuck out. If your precious pack wants to do a dirty deal, then you can clean up the fucking mess.”
“No one said that was going to happen.” Ollie jammed his fists into his pockets. “You’ll see. Just chill out.”
If Cameron did turn, and the Toronto-Ottawa pack turned their back on her, her life would be a slow descent into the madness of being feral. If she was one of the small minority like me, she’d keep her sanity but would forever be looked down on for being a lone wolf.
I knew full well what it was like to find yourself becoming something you didn’t understand. Cameron had been dragged into it by some crazed madman. Part of me pitied her if that was the lot she’d drawn. Another part of me felt empathy and kinship toward her—something I most definitely wasn’t used to.
If Cameron had been turned into a shifter, then she and I would have more in common than I did with anyone else. I’d grown up not knowing who my family was. My first memory was of a long, rainy road and loneliness, my small feet stumbling forward on the pavement, unsure where I was going or where I’d come from. From there, I’d bounced around foster homes,until one night, misery and pain had exploded inside me, and I’d turned. My first shift had been terrifying. I’d thought I was dying. No one to guide me, no one to warn me.
Deep-seated, visceral fear surged through me at the memories. I quickly tamped them down, shoving them into the farthest recesses of my mind. There was no time for fear or self-reflection. Those were things that would get you killed if you dwelled on them too long. That would make me weak, and a lone wolf could not allow weakness to creep in.
But while we waited for the nurse to finish with Cameron, my mind continued to drift. Unbidden and unwanted, the memory of my first meeting with Cameron came back to me. She was gorgeous, and a smartass. I could still remember the way her body pressed into mine when I pulled her back from the stairs. Her breasts against my chest, her breath on my neck.
My cock stirred, and I shook my head, trying to throw off the thoughts. Now was not the time to be getting the hots for some chick. As soon as Ollie and I had this feral shifter settled, I would be leaving town. I’d never see her again. No point in starting something.
Even if it was with a woman who might end up a lone wolf like me.
The door to the exam room finally opened. The nurse stepped out and surreptitiously slid the vial of blood into Ollie’s hand before turning back to Cameron.
“I’ll send this sample to the lab,” she told Cameron. It’ll take a couple of days.” She slid her hand into the pocket of her scrubs, pretending to tuck the sample away. “Your vitals are fairly stable. You do have a low-grade fever. You should be drinking more fluids. The blood draw took a while, and that usually means you’re a bit dehydrated.”
“Okay,” Cameron said, running a hand over her dark curls. It appeared her anxiety had returned while in the exam room with the nurse.
“Come with me real quick,” the nurse said to her. “Let me see if I have any samples of medicine I can give you for your nausea. That way, you won’t have to wait at the pharmacy for it. You can go right home.” She glanced at Ollie. “I’ll bring her out to the front door when I have her all set up.”
“Sounds good,” Ollie said, and the nurse and Cameron disappeared down the hall.
Ollie tilted his head to the door, then took his phone out of his pocket as we strode out the exit. A few seconds later, he began to speak to whoever was on the other end.
“It’s Vickers,” Ollie said. “I’ve got that sample we talked about… yeah, she did … she is… do you have one of the pack doctors lined up to do this test?”
“Is that your alpha?” I whispered.
Ollie nodded absently. “Yes, sir, I know… I’ll have it to you ASAP… yeah, I’m leaving right now. Depending on traffic, I should be there in less than forty-five minutes… okay, thanks. Bye.”
He shoved his phone back into his pocket as we approached his car.
“Listen,” Ollie said. “I’ve got to go. Now. JC wants this test done by the end of the day. You’ll need to give Ms. Torres a ride back to her office.”
Excuse me?
“No way. I’m not a fucking taxi service. You take her back and give me the vial and the address. I’ll take care of it for you.”
I did not want to be around Cameron alone. Not after the ridiculous thoughts that had been running through my head. The less interaction with her, the better.
“Uh…” Ollie broke eye contact and stared at the ground. “Not a good idea, Nate. It’s better if I do it.”
