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“You’re going to kill this wolf?” I whispered, taunting him more than anything.
He snarled, his beast coming dangerously close to the surface. “I will do what’s necessary in order to protect our pack. However, we might have a larger problem than simply a single rogue wolf.”
“That’s one reason I came.” Max the protector. Max the papa bear. I was getting weaker by the minute, the solid chill settling into my extremities frightening the fuck out of me.
“And the other?”
“The woman needs to be protected but first, we must find out the person responsible for her attack. There’s something much larger going on here, Max. I can feel it in my gut. I’m gonna need your help.”
“Yeah, and we’re going to talk about that, Stone, but after the doctor fixes you up. Just fucking rest. I need to make some calls in order to find out what we’re dealing with. Do you think you can do that?”
I’d tried to move into a sitting position but was instantly woozy. I finally managed to grab the glass after three tries, nausea rolling into my stomach. “I don’t think I can wait. I need to talk to… I need to talk to her.” I struggled to stand, the room spinning. As the drink dropped from my hand, the sound of shattering glass was nothing but an echo.
“Stone. Fuck. Stone. Can you hear… me…”
A wave of warmth swept over me and as my body pitched forward, all I could think about was Vanessa.
Someone meant for her to die.
* * *
“I don’t know what the hell to tell you, Max. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“But you’re a fucking doctor, Jonas,” Max hissed.
“That’s just it, Max. I’m a general practitioner, not an internalist. This isn’t my specialty and whatever is going on with him reminds me of whatever poison Stone mentioned, not a gunshot wound. Now, you tell me, how the fuck is that possible?”
“He thinks the bullets were coated,” Max answered. “I’ve heard of the military attempting to do something of this nature but from what I know, they were never put into mainstream circulation.”
“That would make sense to me,” Jonas said quietly. “Crazy as shit but it fits.”
I shifted, immediately moaning. Every part of my body ached and the moment I tried to open my eyes, I winced at the daylight streaming in. “It has to be the bullets.”
“Shit, buddy. Why don’t you take it easy?” Max moved closer, hissing as he adjusted whatever covering he’d put over me.
I tried to sit up, but the pain was immediate, forcing another groan. At least I could tell whatever the doctor had done was helping. “What the hell happened?” As the doctor walked over, I could see the look of concern on his face. Dr. Riker had taken over when my father could no longer practice, the illness my father had faced stripping him of his life far too soon. It was the very position that I should hold, the one my father had begged me to take years before when I’d wanted nothing to do with the pack. I’d been bitter, angry at what had been requested of me, but at this moment, I couldn’t care less about what had occurred.
I could barely breathe.
“This is the best that I can figure out without the test results. And don’t quote me on this. I’m just an old country doctor, for Christ’s sake. I think you’re right about the bullets and from what I can tell, the poison is fast acting. You were lucky they went clean through or in my opinion, you’d be dead by now,” Jonas said, shifting his gaze from Max to my direction.
“You said you don’t have any test results yet. Any idea of the substance?” I managed to sit up, grousing at the numbers of bandages covering my chest and arm.
“Not like I can run down to the local emergency room. I have some testing instruments back at my lab so I’m going to see what I can find by testing your blood first. I cleaned the wounds so if there was any residue remaining, there should be something to run under the microscope. If that doesn’t work, I know some people who won’t ask questions. Until then, we need to be vigilant in keeping a low profile. Whatever this is could terrify our people.”
The doctor’s answer wasn’t just disconcerting. It was infuriating. I nodded, realizing I was able to breathe much easier. “What did you do?”
Jonas grinned. “An old-fashioned concoction that just us country boys know how to do.” He rolled his eyes when I narrowed mine. “I gave you a round of steroids and antibiotics and you’re going to keep taking them for now. Took about three hours to work and you were out of it, even hallucinating. Didn’t think the shit was going to work at first. At least your fever is down, your heartrate more like a freaking human’s.”
“And if it doesn’t work?” Max asked quietly.
Jonas wiped his brow and grabbed his bag. “Then we’re going to have to rely on the test results. I’m going to go back now and start on them. I’ll call you as soon as I have anything.”
“Okay, Doc. Thanks for coming so quickly,” Max said quietly.
“Just make certain he takes the damn medication,” Jonas admonished before walking toward the door.
At least Max offered a waning smile. “You know how I can be, Doc.”
