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When was the last time I vomited? Two days ago?
Come to think of it, I feel better this morning.
Deciding to test it, I take another pill and spend another day in bed.
On the fifth day, I feel well enough to drag my ass out of the bedroom.
Wolf hasn’t left my side since Leo and Kody departed. But today, he’s nowhere in sight. Beyond the window, a dim glow rests along the horizon. It looks like dusk, but I know it’s only mid-morning.
Soon, the sun will set for a month. Maybe two. Eternal darkness. I can’t fathom it.
Before heading downstairs to find Wolf, I shower and brush my teeth. Upon exiting the bathroom, I run into Wolf in the hall.
“Whoa!” He hustles me into the bedroom and closes the door. “Back in bed.”
“It’s okay. I feel better.”
“No. You’re still sick.” He gives me a severe look and lowers his voice. “You’re. Still. Sick.”
“Why?” The hairs on my nape rise. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain.” He points at the bed with a sternness that brooks no argument.
I climb onto the mattress with a rush of unease.
“To prepare for winter, the most important thing is our food.” He sits beside me and rakes a hand through his shoulder-length black hair.
I’ve never seen him this serious. “You’re scaring me.”
“Leo and Kody couldn’t wait for you to recover. They’re chasing the herd.”
“I know. I get it. How can I help?”
“Stay in bed. Stay sick.”
“How does that help?”
“You need to remain indisposed. It’s safer.”
“Safer for whom?”
“For everyone. When they left, they demanded I keep you sick, by any means possible, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t.” He makes a sound of distress. “Frankie, I can’t watch over you day and night.”
“I can take care of myself. Just tell me what’s going on.”
“Shit, I’m fucking this up. Listen.” He glances at the door and back at me. “I have to leave to gather the last harvest of blueberries. I’ll be gone all day. I need you to stay in bed. Please.”
That’s when I notice his clothes. Normal, outdoorsy clothes. Hiking pants, heavy sweatshirt, boots. He’s not fucking around. It’s weird.
“What are you worried about? That I’ll be alone in the cabin with Denver? Oh, my God, that’s it, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” He swallows. “I’ve delayed as long as I can. I have to go.”
“What will he do?”
“I honestly don’t know. But he won’t go near you if you’re sick.”
“Why not?”
“He just won’t, okay?”
“Okay.” A shudder wrenches down my spine as I lie back and clutch his hand. “I’ll convince him I’m contagious, spreading plague, whatever. Don’t worry. I’ll stay in bed.”
“Until my brothers return.”
“For another week? Maybe two?” I flinch at the incensed expression hardening his gorgeous face. “Fine.”
It’s not fine. I need to find out what’s freaking him out. I’ve spent time alone with Denver. Not on purpose. But nothing happened. After I lost the baby, he took care of me, bathed me, and never took advantage.
Doesn’t mean I trust him. He kidnaps women and children.
But that’s all I know.
I still don’t know what he intends to do to me.
“Wolf?” I pull his hand closer, squeezing it. “What does he want from me?”
He opens his mouth to respond, but the door opens.
As if caught doing something wrong, he rips his touch away and stands.
“How are we feeling this morning?” Denver strolls in, looking hotter than Brad Pitt in Fight Club.
It’s deceiving, his handsomeness. He’s rich in gentle smiles, eyes always glinting and misleading. His intensity overwhelms the room, but it’s a quiet intensity. Insidious.
My subconscious knows something isn’t right with him, but there’s nothing on the surface to suggest he’ll kill me. His easy grin, sexy charm, nonviolent demeanor—all of it proclaims he’s harmless. Mild-mannered. He seems too smart to resort to aggression, too charming to abuse a woman.
He’s a trap I would’ve fallen into if I hadn’t been hogtied and tranquilized by him on day one.
That memory clings.
Maybe that’s why I’m never at ease in his presence.
I lie motionless in the bed, my heart flapping like a trapped bird against my rib cage.
“She’s not improving.” Wolf lights a cigarette, looking for all the world like he doesn’t give a shit.
“I want to hear it from her.” Denver pulls up a chair and sits across from me, his eyes fixed on my wet hair. His smile, both entrancing and unsettling, sends shivers across my skin. “What’s your professional diagnosis, Frankie?”
“Virus.” I shrug listlessly.
“No one else is sick.”
“Stress makes the body more susceptible.”
“Are we causing you stress?”
“What do you think?”
“I’ll stay with her.” Wolf blows out a stream of smoke, sounding as if he’d rather do anything else but babysit me. “If you’ll gather the berries—”
“I will not.” Calm and collected, Denver slides a thumb along his bottom lip. “I’ve picked up your slack for the past five days. There are things I need to do around here. I’ll keep an eye on her while you’re gone.”
