To Tempt the Wolf

Chapter 8

HUNTER WOKE TO THE CLOYING ODOR OF HOSPITAL antiseptics with a roaring headache and his shoulder feeling like it was on fire. But Tessa had been right to bring him here. He would heal much more quickly after the surgery, enabling him to fight the grays again. The room was dark and quiet, and Tessa was sleeping in the chair, a blanket from the car wrapped around her. She looked like an angel. Not the kind of woman he thought he would want to have for his own.

He wanted to pull her into bed and hold her close.

He closed his eyes. Hell, he had bitten Rourke. It wasn't the human bite that did it either. Already Rourke was aware of the change, although they hadn't been able to talk about it, and he wouldn't realize exactly what he was. His senses would be on higher alert. The urge to shapeshift hopefully would come on more gradually. But Hunter's gut clenched as he thought of how he'd changed Rourke. Damn it.

The nurse walked into the room, a gray lupus garou itching to make trouble where Tessa was concerned. The woman's eyes rounded when she saw Tessa sleeping there. When she reached out to wake her, Hunter growled low, "You touch her and you'll regret it."

The nurse folded her arms, her dark hair coiled into a bun, her amber eyes challenging him as she gave him a wicked look. "How did an alpha like you become so badly injured?"

"Don't you have nursing duties to perform?"

"You can't have her. So what's the deal? Got anyone else lined up that you're interested in? I need a mate."

"What are you doing working in this place?"

"I wouldn't put up with my pack's politics. What are you doing with the woman and that other man?"

"Don't mess with them."

Her eyes sparkling with deviousness, she bowed her head slightly and then left the room. He didn't trust her. But he knew if he breathed one word of leaving to Tessa, she would have a conniption. Rourke would understand. Somehow he had to solicit his help. Ashton would agree because of the perceived thrill of adventure. Rourke was bound to him as a newly appointed member of his pack. Of course, Rourke wasn't exactly aware of pack traditions yet, but he was instantly gifted with a wolf's wariness. The part about self-preservation of their species and keeping their secret was tantamount.

Hunter let out his breath in exasperation. Damn Rourke for poking that pill down his throat. Chomping down on the intrusive finger had been instinctual, but what a mess. Thank god he hadn't bitten Tessa. Teaching Rourke was going to be enough of a pain. This was why wolves didn't change humans. At least with lupus garous who were born that way, all the rules were known from day one, while their lupus garou parents reinforced the lessons from the beginning.

"Hunter?" Tessa whispered, her eyes trying to study him in the dark.

"Tessa, why don't you get a hotel room and get some sleep?"

In fact, that was the solution. Ashton could take her there and stay with her. Then Rourke could sneak Hunter out of the hospital in the morning, and they could say the hospital had released him.

"Would the stalker have followed us?" she asked.

"In this storm? I doubt it."

But then again, what if he and his brothers had? The three who had watched them from the woods when they were trying to get the truck unstuck from the snowdrift were different. Yet... familiar, somehow. He thought he recognized their scent, but not their appearance.

Hunter took a steadying breath. If the brothers had managed to follow them here, Ashton wouldn't be any match for them. Although the one wolf's leg shouldn't have healed this quickly either. Hunter ground his teeth. Maybe staying put for a while longer was for the best.

With the blanket wrapped around her shoulders, Tessa drew the chair over to the bed. "Rourke's upset with you for biting him. I told him you didn't mean it."

Hunter grunted. "He shouldn't have had his finger in my mouth."

"He was trying to help you. Would you have bitten me?"

"If I had, you'd have given me hell for it."

Looking wiped out, but as beautiful as ever with her long red hair in tangles around her face, she sat in the chair. "Do you know that nurse?"

"No."

"But you both seemed to recognize each other."

He noted a hint of jealousy, but he didn't want her believing he knew the woman when he didn't--just that she was a lupus garou. "I thought she seemed familiar, but I've never met her before."

"What about Meara? Who's she?"

"Meara?" He frowned. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't recall.

"You said her name when you were delirious with fever. Is she your sister maybe?"

"Maybe, I can't remember."

Tessa reached her hand out to him. "Hunter, don't get mad at me, but Rourke realized our cover story wasn't true. I don't know what made him suspicious, but now he knows about your amnesia and how I found you on the beach. About the fact someone may have tried to murder you, too. He won't tell anyone. He's promised."

Rourke would know a hell of a lot more in a little while. "I figured he'd learn of it before long."

Her posture relaxed a little. "What about Ashton?"

"Not a word to him. I don't want to shatter his image of me."

Tessa smiled and rested her head on Hunter's lap, pressing against his groin and instantly he hardened. Despite the way his shoulder felt, she stirred his loins. Not only that, but her scent and the feel of her set his blood on fire.

"I wish we could snuggle together."

Just what the doctor ordered. Hunter patted the mattress. "It's small, but if we get really close, we should be able to manage."

She raised her head and looked at him. "But I don't want to hurt you."

"I'm feeling much better."

"If we get caught--"

"They can throw us out of here." He gave her a devilish smile.

"Yeah, but you need their help."

"I need you--more."

The smile on her lips said he won. She climbed onto the bed, one knee posed on the right side of him before she raised her other leg to cross over his waist. "Are you sure?"

"The anticipation is killing me, Tessa." With his good arm, he helped her get settled, groaning when her sweet body sank on top of his rigid erection.

"Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

Hunter wrapped his arm securely around her, holding her hot little body tightly against his before she bolted from the bed. "Pure torture, but not in the way you mean."

She chuckled softly against his chest and relaxed.

Feeling Tessa's heated body against his, he had the overwhelming desire to screw convention and turn her, claim her. Had he ever felt this way toward a woman? He couldn't remember.

But he wondered how he could ever give up the minx. And yet he knew he had to. No woman in her right mind would willingly become a lupus garou. He wasn't sure how he was going to cope with Rourke's change, let alone a female he'd make his mate. It wouldn't be fair to her, any more than it was to Rourke. But the deed was done and there was no going back.

She took in a deep breath and kissed his chest covered in the thin hospital gown. Her lithe body pressed against his heavy groin. He moaned inwardly. Already, he wanted her again, when he had no business coveting her. But everything about her made him desire her, the way her soft body felt against him, her fragrance, the way she cared so about his welfare.

Her breathing soon grew shallow, and he sensed she had fallen asleep.

Maybe he could take her to Rourke's place for a while. At least until he healed up sufficiently. The stalker's wound wasn't as severe, and he would be back to Tessa's house soon, probably with the brother who wasn't injured badly either.

Knowing sleep would help his body to heal more than anything else, Hunter willed himself to shut down his concerns.

But he didn't realize he had even fallen asleep until sometime later the sound of footsteps entered the room, waking him. Hunter opened his eyes and stared at the man dressed in scrubs, his dark hair curling down to his shoulders, his face covered in a shadow of a beard. He looked way too scruffy to be a male nurse. Hunter expected him to come closer, to make a comment about the sleepy redheaded goddess in Hunter's arms, to check his vital signs. But this wasn't a medical call.

Hunter got a whiff of the man's scent. One of the stalker's brothers. The one who hadn't been injured too badly, probably now completely healed. If he'd thought to slip in and steal Tessa away while Hunter was drugged and asleep, he was going to have a fight on his hands.

"Why does your brother want her so bad?" Hunter hoped to learn more about these men before he had to eliminate them. Maybe he could still convince the brothers to give up the deadly quest.

"You have to ask?" The man snorted. "She's as close to one of us as we can find, and my brother, Yoloff, will have her. If I'd seen her first, she would've been mine."

"Had he followed her to California?"

The man's grim face brightened a little. "He almost had her there. Several times he's nearly taken her. The hunt is as appealing as the mating. Then you came along and he had to solicit our help."

Hunter could envision how frustrated the lupus garou was, but the previous comment stuck in his craw. "What do you mean by she's nearly one of us?"

"Hell, you can smell her pheromones."

Which didn't make sense, but there wasn't any way she was one of them. "She's not a lupus garou."

"Say what you will, but she's garnering a lot of lupus garous' attention in any event. Only she'll be my brother's mate. You can either give her up nice and easy or we'll take her the hard way. You don't want her in any event or you would have already turned her, so you might as well just let us have her."

"Then there's only one way this is going down." Hunter reached for the nurse's call button.

Before he pressed the button, a female nurse suddenly entered the room. "Who are you?" she asked the faux male nurse.

"I work on another floor." He gave Hunter a sinister smirk. "Just checking on my buddy here."

She glanced at Hunter, her eyes rounding when she saw Tessa asleep with Hunter. "What... you can't--"

The stalker's brother gave Tessa another long look. "Just remember what I said." Then he left.

"She can't sleep with you in the bed. I can get another bed for her."

"The man who just left has been stalking Tessa. He'd planned on grabbing her while I was knocked out on pain medication. She's not moving from here."

The woman's face paled. "I'll call security and report him." She whipped out of the room and shut the door.

Hunter must have fallen asleep after that because the next thing he heard was Ashton's chuckle near the doorway. Hunter opened his eyes, his arm still wrapped securely around a sleeping Tessa. His shoulder was stiff, but not half as painful. Although the medication dripping into his veins could have had something to do with that.

"You have style, Hunter. Real style."

"Where's Rourke?"

"He's still sleeping at his apartment down the road. He was pretty wiped out, but before I left, I checked and his fever was gone. We were going to take Tessa with us, but found the two of you like this before we left. Guess Nurse Godzilla didn't bother you any longer. I asked about her schedule and she's gone home, but she comes back on duty tonight."

Tessa stirred. Her eyes opened and she would have jumped from the bed if Hunter hadn't held on tight. He kissed her good morning on the lips and wanted more, but she was squirming in an attempt to bolt, stirring him to high heaven, and he released her.

He gave her a smile, then said to Ashton, "I'm starving. When do they serve food around here?"

Tessa climbed off the bed, her cheeks blushing beautifully.

Ashton cast her a conceited smirk. "Never knew you had it in you to break the rules, Tessa."

She glowered at him and headed for the bathroom.

"My breakfast?" Hunter asked Ashton, before he ripped off the I.V. and wiped the smirk off his face.

"Food's on its way."

"I want sausage, bacon, and a mess of scrambled eggs. Biscuits, too. And three pints of milk."

"I'm not sure what they ordered for you last night," Ashton said.

"Tessa told me you were a real prankster in school. I'm starving. I need solid food to build up my strength. Go get me--"

Rourke poked his head in the door, his eyes blurry, his hair mussed up, dark whiskers covering his chin, not the look of a reporter on his way to work. "You could have woken me, Ashton."

"You needed your sleep."

"I'll get your breakfast," Rourke said to Hunter, and he headed down the hall.

"Wait up, Rourke! I've got to see this." Ashton rushed after him.

Tessa stepped out of the bathroom. "I'm taking a hot shower. Don't let anyone in the bathroom."

"I'll join you."

"Ha! You can't get those bandages wet."

"We could manage." He started to climb out of bed.

"Don't you dare or I'll call a nurse." Tessa ducked back into the bathroom, shut the door, and started the water.

Hell, wet bandages wouldn't bother him. He was about to remove the I.V. when Rourke and Ashton walked back in the room, each carrying a covered dish.

"Ashton said you wanted both sausages and bacon. They came with one or the other. So we had to procure a couple of dishes to accommodate you." Rourke glanced at the bathroom and sniffed. He smiled and then frowned. "Surprised you're not in there with her."

"I would have been if the two of you hadn't returned with the food."

"You shouldn't get those bandages wet anyway," Ashton said.

Rourke gave him a get-real look. "You think that would have stopped Hunter?"

"Probably not." Ashton uncovered the dish of eggs and sausage. "Two poor patients will be without breakfast."

"The kitchen staff can make them more," Rourke said. "Come on, Ashton. Let's go to the cafeteria."

"What about Tessa?"

"She probably won't leave Hunter's side." Rourke gave him a pointed look.

Enough with the innuendos. Hunter knew she was becoming way too attached to him. But what could he do about it? He had to stay with her until he got rid of the gray threat and helped free her brother. Of course, his human side said to cool it with her. His wolf instincts told him she was the one for him. But those were deeper, more primal needs. They didn't take in account the horror she would most likely feel if he changed her. She could hate him. Probably would. She was close to her brother. How could she not tell him what had happened to her? Why she had to become a wolf for a jaunt in the woods sometimes during the moon's appearance, how she aged so slowly? Yet, if she were changed, she couldn't tell a human soul.

The shower shut off and Rourke grabbed Ashton's arm. "Let's get something to eat before anyone catches us in here with the stolen food and blames us for it."

Ashton laughed. "Hell, I thought you were as straight-laced as Tessa."

The two hurried back down the hall.

Tessa came out of the bathroom, wearing a towel on her head.

"Come," Hunter said, patting the bed. "Share breakfast with me."

"How'd you get two breakfasts?"

"Courtesy of Rourke and Ashton."

"Oh, brother." She peered down the hall. "Here come the food trays. Now you're in for it."

"It's your show." He grinned at her.

"Oh, great, so I have to explain this? The two Stooges left me with the evidence? I should leave you alone here to explain it yourself."

"I'm the innocent patient. I couldn't have left the bed." He shook his I.V.

She whipped the towel off her head, tossed it on the bathroom floor, and then stepped into the hall. "Here, I'll take Mr. Grey's breakfast for him."

Hunter smiled with satisfaction. If the circumstances had been different, they would all have made pretty decent pack members.

Tessa closed the door and carried the tray in to Hunter. He sniffed the air. "Do you like pancakes?"

"Sure."

"Why don't you eat them then."

She opened the lid. "How did you know?"

"Excellent sense of smell. Did the doctor talk to you about my condition last night?"

"Yes, he said it might take months of therapy to recover the full use of your shoulder."

"Won't take that long. What did he say about my release?"

"You just got here."

"I'm ready to leave."

She poured syrup on her pancakes. "You're not going anywhere, Hunter. You were in terrible shape when we brought you in. Even the doctor said so."

"All I need is you to take care of me. I'll heal ten times faster. Fever's all gone even."

She looked up from her pancakes and frowned. "Your face is still flushed."

"Nearly all gone then. I was thinking we ought to go to Rourke's place until I'm healed."

"He's got a studio apartment. No bedroom, couch makes into a bed. Kind of cramped."

"Oh. What about Ashton's place?"

Tessa licked the syrup off her lips and laughed. "He lives with his dad. Big house, but somehow I don't believe he'd appreciate it if we moved in with him."

"Still lives at home?" Hunter shook his head. "He does need to join the Navy."

"He's never held a job long enough that he could afford to live on his own."

"I wish I could remember where I live. That would solve the problem." Footsteps sounded down the hall headed in their direction. "Someone's coming. Probably the nurse."

Tessa flew into action. He hadn't planned on hiding the evidence, but Tessa took his empty dishes and stuffed them in the clothes cabinet. She sat back down on the chair, her face crimson.

"Good morning, Mr. Grey. I'm here to take your vital signs," the nurse said, smiling broadly at him, her long, dark curls bouncing as she walked with a spring to her step.

"I'm ready to leave."

She gave a breathy little laugh. "We try to get patients out of the hospital as quickly as we can, but--"

"Good. I'm ready. Just sign the papers."

"I'm sure you'll be here a couple of more days at least."

Hunter wasn't waiting that long. Not with the lupus garou nurse itching to destroy his relationship with Tessa and the rest of the grays still a real problem.

"The fever's come down quite a bit. The doctor will be here after a while to check on you. Do you need anything?"

"Just the release papers."

She chuckled. "We need more male patients like you. Just push the button if you need me." She wiggled her butt a little too much as she left the room.

"You can't leave until the doctor says so. Enjoy all the pampering. You deserve it," Tessa said.

Hunter was surprised she wouldn't be upset with the way the nurses were making fools of themselves over him. "Food's not as good as yours."

"Yeah, but you get three times as many dishes here." She motioned to the leftover pancakes.

Ashton and Rourke returned looking well fed. Rourke sniffed the air. "When did you get pancakes?"

Ashton laughed.

"Yeah, very funny, guys. I had to hide the other dishes," Tessa said.

Hunter pointed to the clothes cabinet. "I'm ready to go. I was trying to come up with a safe place to stay, but..."

"Snow's melting off the roadway," Rourke said. "Temperature rose to forty-five degrees."

Tessa shook her head. "He has to stay here until the doctor says."

Ashton folded his arms. "Yeah, I agree."

"My place is kind of small." Rourke rubbed the back of his head. "But you and Tessa could stay there for the time being. Place is well stocked. The electricity's back on all over the county. And phone service has been restored."

"What about the stalker?" Ashton sounded disappointed.

"Hunter can't mess with him for a while," Tessa said.

Hunter considered his options. But only one seemed viable. "All right. We return to Tessa's house. We need new locks, a window, and lots of food."

"And medical supplies. Bandages, tape, gauze, antibiotics. But you're not leaving here until the doctor releases you." Tessa gave Hunter a hard look.

"You've got your mission," Hunter said to Rourke.

Ashton's face brightened. "You've got it!"

The two vacated the premises pronto. Hunter took Tessa's hand and kissed it. "Want to snuggle some more? All that food made me sleepy."

She rolled her eyes. "I can just see the doctor catching us."

"Now there's an idea. Then he would release me, figuring I was well enough after all." But when she didn't make a move to join him, Hunter smiled and let go of her hand. "Wake me when he comes, if I don't get up before then."

Although it didn't matter if he got the doctor's permission or not. He couldn't stay much longer before someone discovered he was healing too fast for it to be normal and wonder why.

Wake Hunter when the doctor came? No way. Tessa was determined to keep him right where he was. Rourke should have had better sense. Ashton was being Ashton, impulsive, devious, loving to go against the rules whenever he could.

The time dragged on and she knew if the doctor didn't hurry, Hunter would wake. She didn't want Rourke or Ashton returning either and trying to convince the doctor to let Hunter go. Then again, she figured at least someone on the medical staff would say no.

When the doctor arrived, she wanted to shove him into the hall and talk to him privately. The blond-haired man looked like he had barely finished high school.

"Hi, I'm Tessa Anderson," she whispered. "Hunter wants to leave, but he needs to stay for a couple of more days, don't you think?"

"After being torn up by that Rottweiler? I'd say so."

"Rottweiler?"

"Yeah. His friend said the dog had attacked Mr. Grey, but that they were so close to the edge of the cliff, the dog fell to its death. Tide washed him out or we would have been able to run tests on him to see if he had rabies. But Mr. Grey and Mr. Thornburg are receiving the rabies shots anyway as a precaution."

"The dog looked more like a--"

"Rottweiler," Hunter said. "Ready to release me, Doc?"

"Where's the man who was bitten by a wild dog?" Sheriff Wellington asked down the hall.

Hunter's expression darkened. Tessa took a deep breath. Now what story would Hunter tell?

The sheriff stalked into the room like he owned it, glanced at the doctor, and then at Tessa. His eyes widened. He whipped his head around and stared at Hunter.

Hunter gave him an arrogant smirk.

"You were the one bitten?"

"It's me."

"Where's my son? He said he was coming to see you. If anything happened to him--"

"He went into town to get some supplies for Tessa's house. Doc's releasing me and we're returning to her place."

The doctor cleared his throat. Good, he would set Hunter straight. Even if he did look like he'd just graduated high school. The doctor took a look at Hunter's injury. "Hmm, looking better, Mr. Grey, but you'll be here for a couple of more days as bad as the wound is."

Tessa smiled at Hunter. She was glad at least the doctor had enough sense.

He wrote something in his chart. "I'll be back later to check on you."

The doctor walked out and the sheriff folded his arms. "I don't want you filling my son's head with glorified stories of how wonderful serving in the Navy SEALs is."

"Wouldn't think of it. The notion of joining them is all his idea, not mine."

"You could have told him why you quit. The downside of being in the Navy." The sheriff shook his head. "So what's the story about this wild dog? Are you sure it's dead?"

Hunter repeated the farfetched tale that Rourke had made up. Tessa couldn't believe it. Was he trying to protect the vicious animal? Or was it like Ashton had said? Hunter wanted to take care of the menace personally?

She watched his facial expression--the amusement in his lips and eyes--even though he was trying to keep a straight face while he told the story. What did she really know about him? Nothing. Except that he was super-protective of her, dependable when it came to survival instincts, a great handyman, a born leader, a damned good cook, and the greatest lover she'd ever had. But she still didn't know who he was, where he had come from, or how he had gotten there. What if he was a bad guy, but didn't remember being one? Could a person forget a past life of crime and become someone new? But when the memories returned, then what?

"Is that what happened?" the sheriff asked Tessa.

"What?"

He frowned at her. "Did it happen like Mr. Grey said?"

"Sure." She gave Hunter a scathing look. She didn't lie, normally, and she didn't appreciate being forced into one when she didn't have a clue as to the reason.

"We got the..." Ashton said, walking into the room, but quit speaking and stopped dead when he saw his father. "Hey, Dad."

"What did you see concerning this dog incident?"

"Nothing. When I arrived, the damage was already done. I just drove Hunter and the others here so he and Rourke could get medical treatment."

"When are you coming home?"

"We've got a job to do. Rourke and I are replacing Tessa's broken window and door locks. Then we'll scout around for that thief."

The sheriff grunted. But Tessa could see a hint of admiration in his face. He cast Hunter an ill-boding look, but again, it was more like it was to cover his true feelings. "You keep my son safe. He's a good shot with a rifle, but he's no ex-Navy SEAL."

"We picked up enough provisions to last a week," Rourke said. "When are we leaving? Some of the stuff needs refrigeration, although for now it's in cold storage in the truck."

"The doctor said a couple of days at least," Tessa said with great satisfaction.

"Call me and let me know what's going on with this intruder," the sheriff said to Ashton. "With car accidents and cases of asphyxiation due to the misuse of generators during the power outage, my investigators are spread pretty thin. But if you need anything, call me." He looked at Tessa. "And file the report on the gun as soon as you can."

"How about now, Tessa?" Hunter asked. "We're here, I'm stuck at the hospital for now. Ashton can run you in and bring you back. By then, we could share lunch." He smiled. The look was totally faked.

"I will, only because I'm afraid the thief might use my gun to commit a crime, and I don't want to be in trouble for it."

"What about the food?" Ashton asked.

"You can pick up Rourke in a little while and take it to--"

"Drop by my place after Tessa files the complaint. We can store the food there. No sense in driving the two hours to her place and back here again." Rourke looked at Hunter for approval.

He nodded.

"Good, let's get this done." Tessa figured when they were at Rourke's place, she would question him about this new dog story. Hell, the animal had knocked him unconscious. How would he have known what it was?

When she started to leave with the sheriff and Ashton, Hunter smiled. "No good-bye kiss?"

She gave him an annoyed look. He grinned. Stalking across the floor, she meant to give him a peck on the cheek--show him. He grabbed her with his good arm, kissed her thoroughly--mouth to mouth, tongue to tongue--which melted her insides, and she wanted a hell of a lot more. Her face suffused with heat, she pulled away.

He gave her a sly smile. He knew what he did to her, damn it! "Don't be gone too long."

"I won't be," she whispered, "because I don't trust you."

He laughed. "Good. Best to be alert always."

Ashton grinned, but Rourke looked annoyed. The sheriff had already left.

"Watch him," she said to Rourke. "Don't let him sneak out of the hospital." Then she thought about the food incident and added, "And don't you help him do that either."

Then she left, but she had a very bad feeling about the situation.

For a human, Tessa had pretty good wolf instincts. As soon as she was a little way down the hall with Ashton, Rourke got Hunter's clothes for him. Hunter pulled out the I.V. and then hurried to dress. "I take it you have a way to get us to your place until we rendezvous with Ashton and Tessa and head to her house."

"Taxi." Rourke got on the phone and called for one. He took the knife from one of the breakfast dishes and sawed through the hospital tag around Hunter's wrist.

"Can you occupy the nurse while I go to the lobby and wait for the taxi?"

"Got it." Rourke left the room.

Hunter waited until Rourke asked the nurse when the doctor was releasing Mr. Grey. Then Hunter stalked down the hall, found the stairs, and bolted down them. When he reached the lobby, he paced. Rourke soon joined him.

"It won't take long for them to realize you're gone."

"They can't hold patients against their will." Hunter glanced out the window. "Taxi's here."

"That was sure quick." Rourke raced after Hunter.

"Mr. Holloway?" the driver said.

"Yes." Hunter climbed in and Rourke shut his door and then ran around to the other side.

"Five-twenty-two Sycamore, right?" the taxi driver asked.

Rourke smiled as he entered the cab. "Take us to 1032 Redwood."

"You got it."

"I hadn't thought of giving an alias," Hunter said to Rourke.

Rourke motioned to an old guy standing in front of the hospital, leaning on a cane. "I told you I thought it was awfully quick for the cab's arrival. I think we took his."

Another cab pulled up.

Hunter watched out the back window. "Good. He took ours then."

"Hope he tells him a different address than my place."

When they arrived at the brick apartment complex, Rourke paid the driver and Hunter headed toward the front door.

"You've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do." Rourke fumbled for his keys as he joined Hunter. "Like why I can see in the damned dark? And why I can see things in the distance when I used to have to wear glasses. And hell, why that nurse smelled like a gray wolf--you, too. But also why I knew what a wolf smells like in the first place."

"Yeah, well, you shouldn't have stuck your finger down my throat."

"You tried to spit the pills out. I was trying to push them down farther so you'd swallow them. Wish I hadn't. Well in a way. I mean, I like some of these abilities, but I want to know what I've gotten myself into." Rourke shut the door behind them and turned on the heat. "Here, I'll make the couch into a bed, and you can lie down before Ashton and Tessa show up."

"The couch is fine. I'm feeling better already."

Rourke removed the bandage from his finger. No sign of a bite. "Okay, start talking."

Hunter meant to sit on the couch, but he was wearier than he thought. He reclined instead.

Rourke frowned. "Hell, I thought you were nearly healed."

"Not for a few more days. But I'm healing too fast to stay at a hospital any longer."

Rourke got him a pillow and blanket. "Need any pain medication?"

"Yeah, but this time, keep your fingers to yourself."

"Deed's already done, but believe me, I'll be careful when I'm around you from now on." He left and then returned with a glass of water and two white pills. "Start talking."

"We're lupus garou. Werewolves."

Rourke collapsed on the leather chair in front of the coffee table. "Holy crap. You can't be serious. But damn, you can't be making it up either."

"It's true. When we shapeshift we're like real wolves, except we still have our human reasoning. When we're humans--"

"We have the increased senses of the wolf. I already got that part since I smelled women's scents, pine needles, the shift in the weather from snow to drier conditions." Rourke rubbed the newly sprouted whiskers on his chin. "The antiseptics in the hospital were nearly killing me, they were so strong. And I heard people talking way down the hall--not just talking, but heard what they were saying when I shouldn't have been able to discern a thing. Then my finger began tingling like crazy, and it felt like it was healing at the speed of light. But I couldn't figure out what had happened to me--only that it had to do with you. You really don't remember who you are?"

"No. Only that I have a sister. I'm sure I lead a pack. And three grays pushed me off a cliff north of Tessa's place."

"Because?"

Hunter shrugged. "I might have deserved it. I don't know."

"So," Rourke said, easing back in the chair, "if we bite someone, we turn them?"

"Not always. And we can't when we're human. It would put a damper on our sexual relations with human women if we had to worry about changing them by accident."

"But you bit me! And gave me your condition."

"I bit you, yes. But I'd tangled with the stalker before that. Our mouths clashed a couple of times and I tore his ear. I bit the other two wolves also. Either it was their blood or the stalker's blood or saliva that transferred the genes. We'll never know."

"So you're saying, technically, one of them changed me."

"Technically yes. Because as a human, I couldn't bite you and transfer the condition, but since my teeth opened your skin, it helped the transmission."

Rourke relaxed. "Good, because I thought... well, I worried about Tessa."

"I won't turn her."

"But the stalker--he's a gray and he plans to, don't you think?"

"That's what Yoloff plans. I'm not giving him the chance."

"Yoloff?"

"Yeah, and he has two brothers. The one paid me a visit in the middle of the night, figuring he could slip Tessa out from under my nose. I broke the one's leg. He'll probably heal in about the same amount of time it takes me to get back to normal."

"Shit. They're not going to give up." Rourke combed his fingers through his hair. "So what are the negative aspects of being a lupus garou?"

"Having the uncontrollable urge to become a wolf when the moon is out, particularly strongest when it's the full moon, although it's not a constant craving. Once we fulfill the urge to hunt, we can manage several weeks without changing again. On the other hand, I've never personally known anyone who was changed by a bite, so it might be a little different for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Most of us were born lupus garou."

Rourke's eyes widened. "How many of you are there? I had the impression that a wild wolf had some kind of a weird virus and infected a few people."

"We have no idea how many there truly are of us. Since we live in secret, most of us only know about our local packs. Sometimes we learn of others while we're searching for a mate."

"A mate." Rourke perked up.

"Yeah, and that's one of the more important rules we have to live by. We don't turn humans."

Rourke made a disagreeable face. "Right. Very important to remember that."

"Yeah, otherwise we have to deal with the consequences." Hunter raised a brow.

"Like me."

"Exactly. That's another thing. You're part of my pack now."

"Just curious, but why wouldn't I be part of the pack of the ones who actually turned me?"

"Just a gut feeling, Rourke, but I don't think they're soliciting newly changed lupus garou pack members. I doubt another male would be accepted."

"Okay, not that I was interested since they'd tried to murder you, but I just wondered."

"Another thing--when we take a female for our mate, it's for life. We don't have marriage rituals, wear wedding rings--or any other jewelry for that matter--too hard to change into our wolf form quickly. We don't believe in divorce. It's for life. And we live very long lives."

Rourke's expression brightened. "For how long?"

"After we reach eighteen, our aging metabolism slows down. We age one year for every thirty we live."

Rourke whistled. "Man, oh man, what a deal."

"We can die early."

"Silver bullets?"

"Supposedly, if they're in the heart or brain and not extracted quickly enough. But we can drown, die in a fire, a snapped spinal cord at the base of the neck will do it. Probably other ways. Old age eventually, too. Although our bodies have an unusual capability to heal quickly, as we grow old, the ability wanes. So we're not completely invincible."

"Good enough for me. So what are you going to do about Tessa?"