Go Fetch

Chapter Nineteen

Conall forced his eyes open, wincing at the pain in his head. He glanced around and realized he was in the back seat of some vehicle he didn’t recognize. He looked down. He was human. His shoulder hurt. The poison had taken hold and traveled around his system like a flame on gasoline. But his body fought it. He could feel the fever coming on. This would definitely get worse before it got better.

But he didn’t care. Not really. He needed to know if Miki was safe. Was she alive? He heard doors opening and felt hands on his body. He tried to fight, but he didn’t have strength left. He heard grunts as they hoisted him up and then he was moving.

Miki limped behind the wolves that had Conall. Her leg was killing her, but not from poison. If she’d been poisoned, she’d be dead by now. She wasn’t wolf and she would never be able to fight the effects. Conall was wolf. But whether he would live or not, well, no one could give her an answer on that.

When they arrived at Van Holtz territory, she was surprised at the size of Conridge’s home. It was huge but extremely modest. She liked that it wasn’t fancy. She saw Conridge’s husband at the front door. He was even more gorgeous than his picture. A typical wolf, too. Tall, broad and devastatingly handsome. His relief at seeing his wife was blinding. He swept her into his arms and lifted the woman off her feet, hugging her close against his body.

Miki thought about Conall and she felt that tightness around her heart again. The pain worse than the one in her leg. What if he dies? She stopped the thought. Of all the things she tortured herself with on a daily basis, this couldn’t be one of them. She’d never survive it.

They carried Conall into the house and Conridge motioned for them to go up to the next floor. Miki went to follow, but Conridge grabbed her arm.

“No, you don’t. I want to take a look at that leg.”

“I’m not leaving him.”

Conridge pulled her toward the back of the house. “Of course not. But the wolves have him now. Niles called in one of their own. He’s a physician. Give him some time with Conall. And while they do that, we’ll deal with you.”

Miki allowed Conridge to drag her to their spotless kitchen. Funny, Sara’s kitchen was spotless because apparently none of them used it. Conridge’s kitchen was spotless because someone in her family was obsessive compulsive.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but drop your pants.” Miki would have laughed if she had it in her. But she didn’t. She dropped her pants and Conridge gently forced her into a chair.

Conridge was on her knees, pulling Miki’s leg up to examine her wound when Niles Van Holtz walked into the kitchen. He took one look at his wife and raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t go there,” Conridge warned without even looking at the man.

“I didn’t say a word.” His gaze shifted to Miki. “Have you eaten?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“So no it is.” He went to a row of cabinets and pulled out a pot, a sauté pan, and fresh pasta from the stainless-steel refrigerator.

“He’s ignoring me.” Miki didn’t even recognize her own voice. There was no life in it. And until Conall recovered, if he recovered, she’d be dead inside.

“Of course he’s ignoring you. He’s wolf. That’s what they do when they don’t like what they hear.” Conridge cleaned off the wound, wiped it down with mercurochrome, and wrapped it in a clean white bandage. “It’s going to hurt like hell, but it will heal.”

“Thank you.”

Conridge looked up into Miki’s face. She wasn’t sure what the woman saw but her face softened to the point were Miki barely recognized her. She actually looked kind of pretty. “I know you’re scared, Miki. But they’re doing all they can for Conall. He’s wolf, he’ll fight.”

Miki nodded as Conridge got to her feet. “Let me get you some clothes.” She spoke to her husband. “And I’m stealing a few things from you for the rest of her Pack.” Miki didn’t bother telling them they weren’t her Pack. She was too emotionally drained.

“I’ll be right back.” Conridge squeezed Miki’s shoulder and walked out.

Miki watched Van Holtz at the stove. She was impressed. The man seemed to know what he was doing. And whatever he was creating did smell good.

“You’ll be safe until morning. By then we’ll know if Víga-Feilan will…” He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder.

“Survive?”

“I wouldn’t worry too much. He looks…well, really strong. And the fever has already taken hold.”

“Fever?”

“It’s how our bodies fight. The fever can last up to twenty-four hours. And you never know what will happen when you’re going through it. Sometimes nothing. Sometimes you shift a thousand times in twenty minutes. And sometimes you start flipping out. It’s a crapshoot.”

“I should be with him.”

“After you eat.” Van Holtz dumped some sautéed pasta onto a dish, added some extra cheese, grabbed a fork, and plopped it down in front of Miki. “You have to eat it. I usually charge fifteen bucks for that dish in my restaurant.”

It smelled great and her stomach suddenly roared to life. Taking a deep breath, she took the fork he held out to her and sampled the food. It tasted as good as it smelled.

“Thank you.”

He patted her on the shoulder then walked away. She ate while he cleaned up his kitchen. An obsessive-compulsive wolf. Odd.

As Miki took the last bite she could manage, a girl walked into the kitchen in shorts and a T-shirt, a soccer ball under her arm. “I’m back from practice, Papa.”

The girl reached up on tiptoe to kiss her father.

“How did you do?” he asked.

“Fine. But the rest of the team is holding me back.” The girl turned and looked at Miki. “Hello.”

“Hi.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Miki.”

“Kendrick?”

Miki blinked. “Yeah.”

“I read your dissertation.” Suddenly the girl looked just like her mother. “I found flaws.” The girl walked out of the room.

Miki stared at Van Holtz and he shrugged in answer. “She takes after her mother.”

Conridge pushed the kitchen door open, but she was yelling over her shoulder. “I said do your homework this minute, mister. And don’t you dare bare your fangs at me!” She came in with a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved tee. “Damn wolf children.”

Conridge handed Miki the clothes. Without even thinking about the fact that Van Holtz stood right there, she changed into them.

Just as she finished pulling the tee over her head, Billy Dunwich stuck his head in to the kitchen. “Miki, we need you.”

Miki moved. Ignoring the pain in her leg, she followed after Dunwich who was now wearing only a pair of jeans. He took her up the stairs and to a door. She could hear snarling and snapping, so she pushed past him and threw the door open. Conall as wolf was out of control. She could see the whites of his eyes as he spun in a circle and snapped at anyone who got too close to him. The one she assumed was the Pack doctor had a needle out and stood behind several Van Holtz wolves. The other wolves seemed at a loss on what to do.

She walked into the room. “Conall!” The wolf spun around at the sound of her voice. She sat down on the floor Indian style. “Come here, baby.” He ran to her. His shoulder had started bleeding again and he had a pronounced limp. He came to her and dropped in front of her, his head in her lap. He whined and then shuddered. “It’s okay, baby. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” She petted his head and waited until he’d calmed down. She looked up at the doctor. “All right. Do it.”

The doctor walked over, crouched down beside them, and quickly shot Conall up with whatever was in the needle. She glanced up at Dunwich. “Get him up on the bed.” Conall’s Pack lifted him up and placed him back on the bed.

“Everybody out.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded at Dunwich’s question. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

The wolves left. The doctor, the last to go. “You’ll have to clean off that wound again, but that shot should keep him calm. He’ll probably wake up, though, while in the throes of the fever. I’ll be taking care of the other wolves who were injured tonight, so I’ll be here if you need me.”

“Thanks.”

The doctor walked out, closing the door behind him.

Miki glanced around the room. It was a huge bedroom with an adjoining bathroom. She was thankful for that. She didn’t want to leave Conall at all. She never wanted to leave Conall. And that thought absolutely terrified her.