Chapter Nineteen

Gabe shook his head at Dr. Lana’s serious expression. On a different day, he would have been flirting with her. She was slim and petite, and her almond-shaped eyes held a no-nonsense approach that would have been a challenge. But not today. Today he could focus only on Serena. The sooner he got out of this bed the sooner he himself could check on her and make sure she was all right.

“I’m fine. I don’t need x-rays. It’s just bruising from the damn airbag.”

He’d refused to be taken in to the hospital. He suspected he had a couple of broken ribs and his chest and shoulder would be purple for weeks, but they’d called in a doctor anyway from Ram’s Haven, two hours away.

“You should have gone to the hospital right away.” Dr. Lana glared at Rico’s mom, Maria, the ranch’s nurse practitioner. “I don’t think you’ve broken anything, there’s just severe bruising, but there could still be broken bones or internal injuries.”

He shook his head again and winced at the movement. His head ached. Hell, his entire body ached—but it would heal. “Just give me some more painkillers and let me be.”

She gave him a stern look but nodded at Maria. “Keep an eye on him. He has a slight concussion, and that bruising is going to really hurt tomorrow. Bruised ribs can hurt just as badly as broken ones. And if you see any signs of internal bleeding, don’t let him argue, call an ambulance.”

“Yes, of course.” Maria followed the doctor out into the hallway where Gabe could hear them discussing his case.

Relieved that they were letting him stay at the compound and not insisting he go to the hospital, he let his head fall back on the pillow. Maria came in and gave him some more pills. “Take these, chico, and get some sleep. I’ll keep an eye out for you.”

Rico came in and gave his mom a hug. “How’s the patient?”

Maria rolled her eyes. “Stubborn, but what did you expect?” She made sure Gabe’s water pitcher was full then walked to the door. “I’ll be right outside at the desk if you need me.”

Rico pulled up a chair. “How’s it going, partner?”

“I’ve been better. Did you go see Serena? Is she okay?”

Something crossed Rico’s face. “She’s fine.”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” He went to sit up, but moving hurt, and he groaned.

“Easy, man. Everything’s okay. She’s safe in her cabin and we have plenty of wolves all over the property. No one’s getting in tonight.”

Gabe fell back onto his pillow. “So, what’s wrong?” Rico pressed his lips together and Gabe lifted his hand, making a beckoning gesture. “Hey, I know something’s going on, I can tell by your face. Give.”

“I wish you’d said something, man.”

“About what?”

“About you and Sam and that dreamwalker.”

A sinking feeling opened in the pit of his stomach. “What happened?”

“I took Sam up there to check on her. He said he knew her and I thought it would go easier, since she’s new.”

“Hell, Rico, we’d just—”

“Yeah, I could smell you all over her. And so could Sam. He went ballistic. He nearly gave her the Bite right then and there.”

Gabe’s wolf rushed to the surface. Serena was his mate, not Sam’s. He forced his body up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “She must be upset. I have to go to her.” The room swam in and out of focus, and he had to stop to let his vision clear.

Rico stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. “I wouldn’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“She almost let him. I could see it in her eyes. She held back, but her wolf wanted her to go to him. For a woman who smelled like you she nearly took the Bite from your brother.”

“No way.”

“That girl is seriously confused. You need to give her some space.”

“Hell.” The room tilted. The drugs were starting to kick in. He got back into the bed. There was no way he was going anywhere like this. “So, where’s Sam? I notice he’s not checking in on me. Probably a good thing. He’d want to kick my ass about now.” Even drugged Gabe didn’t trust his own reactions to seeing his twin right now.

Rico moved his weight from foot to foot and looked up at the corner of the sick room.

“Ah hell, Rico, spit it out.”

“He’s gone, Gabe. He took off into the woods. He’s got it bad.”

The sick feeling in Gabe’s stomach churned. He swallowed it back down. “He can’t. He’s barely spent any time with her.”

At least that’s what he thought. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe there was more to Serena and Sam than he’d thought. But how could she have looked at him like he was her whole world and then done the same to his brother?

“He does.” Rico’s face was sympathetic. “Look, I’ve got to go. There’s a whole mess of work to be done over this log that took you out, and with Sam AWOL and you in bed, we’re running short of manpower. You need anything before I take off?”

“No, man. Thanks.” Gabe closed his eyes and listened to Rico walk across the room and shut the door.

Sam hadn’t smelled like the fever the last time Gabe had seen him, and Serena hadn’t done anything else with Sam.

That Gabe knew of.

In male shifters, the fever was triggered by two people kissing, touching, having sex. It didn’t always happen, and you knew when it was coming. You had enough warning that if things weren’t going that direction you could back off and make sure. At least that’s what he’d been told.

He’d had that with Serena, that rush and attraction. He knew, if he took it all the way, they’d be heading down that road—all the way to the mating Bite. He’d backed off and let her take the lead. And she had.

Now he had the fever burning under his skin. Not enough that anyone else had noticed yet, not with the stink of the airbag and the fumes from the accident layering over the blood and stress his body was putting out. But he knew it was there, throbbing under the surface.

And according to Rico, Serena had almost taken Sam, his twin brother, as her mate—right after she’d fooled around with Gabe at the pool. Right after Gabe had dropped her off, thinking about forever.

And, according to Rico, Sam had the fever.

Gabe passed a shaking hand over his face. What in hell was he supposed to do?

 

Serena walked into the small infirmary. Finally, she was here. It was nearly dawn, and it had taken her a while to get dressed and make the drive down here. She’d had trouble even getting through the roadblock, where the sight of the squashed front of Gabe’s truck made her stomach turn.

The waiting area was empty, but in the back hallway she spotted a light on a small table. A woman dressed in scrubs, her graying black hair tucked up in a bun, was working on some papers.

“Hello?” Serena walked down the hall. “I’m looking for Gabe Wulfric. Is he here?”

The woman’s brown eyes sparkled as she stood up and held out her hand, a wide welcoming smile on her face. “You must be Serena. Rico said you might come by. I’m Maria, Rico’s mom.”

“Nice to meet you.” She shook the woman’s hand without even thinking about it. “How is he?”

“He’s pretty banged up. Lots of bruising. Concussion. We have him heavily sedated right now so he doesn’t get up and try to go out to catch the people who did this. You know men.”

“Can I see him?”

“I’ll see if he’s awake.” She went into one of the doors lining the hallway.

Gabe’s voice rang out from the room, “Tell her to go away. I don’t want to see her.”

She reeled with confusion. They’d just made love only a few hours ago. How could he not want to see her? Yes, she’d been distant afterward, but not so cold he wouldn’t want to see her. Right? Or had she pushed him away with her indecision?

Maria came out, her forehead creased. “I’m sorry. Maybe later, after he’s had some sleep.”

Her wolf rose to the surface. “I’ll see him now. Thank you very much.” Somewhere inside she knew it wasn’t like her to push past the woman who was just doing her job, but she ignored that and entered Gabe’s sickroom. She needed to see him, and nothing was getting in her way. Not even him.

“He’s on some strong medications,” Maria called after her. “He won’t be able to talk long. He shouldn’t even be awake right now.”

The room was lit by a small night-light. Gabe was curled on his side facing away, but the moment she came into the room he rolled over, his nostrils and eyes flaring wide.

“Go away, Serena. You shouldn’t be here.” His face and neck were covered with vivid bruising that led down into the green hospital gown, and he had tubes hooking him up to a bag of saline.

“And where else should I be?”

“I don’t know. With Sam, maybe?” As he struggled to sit up she saw him wince with pain.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I know.”

“Know what?”

“Rico said you and Sam have something going on, and now Sam is running in the woods and hot with the fever. What the hell kind of game are you playing?” Anger flashed in his eyes. “Why would you let him get into that state and then come here to screw with me?”

“It’s not my fault.”

“Did you screw him too?”

It stung, and she sucked in a breath, anger welling up to fill the hurt. Yes, she’d met Sam first, but that was over. She’d told Sam. “We kissed. Is that what you want to know?”

“So, you were playing with us.” He crossed his arms over his chest, wincing with the movement. “Well, I hope you’re happy.” His face was hard, nothing like the man she’d gotten to know. This Gabe’s eyes glinted with anger.

“I wasn’t playing. He’s the one who’s pushed it further than it should have gone. Not me.” She didn’t think she’d led him on, but maybe she should have stopped him earlier? Maybe she should never have let Sam think there might be a chance once she’d known there wasn’t. Had she made a mistake? Had she underestimated his involvement?

“Have you gone hot and cold with him like you have with me?” Some guilt must have shown on her face because he turned away, back and shoulders stiff. “Damn it, you can’t play us like that. We’re not dormants—we have wolves, and it’s serious.”

“Don’t you think I know it’s serious? I treat people with issues like this every day.”

“How can you really know? Reading books and getting degrees is totally different from experiencing it. You don’t even have a real wolf.”

Pain welled up in her chest.

She wanted to yell at him, shout at him for dissing her and her field. Instead, she took a deep breath and smoothed out her voice.

“I kissed him a month ago, and I thought it was serious, so I moved my entire life out here. But when I got here, I met you. And I was so confused. So I let him kiss me one more time, on Saturday, but there was nothing there.” She backed away, heading for the door. “I’ve tried to not see you, Gabe, but you keep showing up like a damned curse. And yes, we had sex, but I thought it meant more to you than just screwing. It sure as hell meant more to me.”

She slammed out of the room, tears pouring down her face, ignoring the sound of him shouting her name on the other side of the door.

Maria went back into the room as Serena ran out.

Serena’s wolf, which Gabe didn’t think was real, pushed her to go back to him. He was the alpha and all her wolf wanted to do was roll over and give him anything he wanted. Instead, she went into the lobby and found a box of Kleenex.

The sounds from down the hallway quieted down and Maria came out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Coming down the hall, she caught sight of Serena and her lips pressed together in a tight line.

“Is he okay?”

“I gave him a shot. He’ll sleep for a few hours.”

Serena wiped the tears from her face. “Men.”

“They can be problems sometimes, no?”

“Yes, big problems.” She sank into one of the waiting room chairs. “He doesn’t get it. He thinks my wolf is inside me so I don’t feel her, but I do. I feel—” What was it this thing working under her skin? “I feel restless and angry. I want to go in there and tear him to pieces. And I want to curl up with him on that bed and make everything all right.”

“You’ve got it too.”

“Got what?”

“The fever.”

She stared at Maria. “I can’t. Lycanthroism is dormant in adult females.”

“Dormant until he gives you the Bite. Then the virus goes live again. But your wolf has its own equivalent. It knows it’s found its mate.”

“Oh, hell.” Suddenly, all the symptoms she’d been having made sense. Her wolf had been extra restless, less controlled, and more active in the daylight when she should have been asleep. “Hey, if my wolf thinks it’s found its mate, why doesn’t Gabe have the fever?”

Maria’s nose wrinkled. “He does, it’s just not that far along. I think if you decide not to mate with him, he can still back it up and go on with his life. Is that what you want to do?”

“If you’d asked me before I went inside his room, I would have said I wanted to be with him forever. But he was such a jerk.”

Maria stood up. “I guess you have some thinking to do.”

“I guess so.”

“Don’t take too long. He’s a good boy. So is Sam. But those boys have both been through a lot lately. Neither of them should have to fight the fever on top of everything else.” She gave Serena a soft, regretful look. “Or each other.”

“Thanks.” Serena stood up. She had a lot of thinking to do, and she couldn’t do it within touching distance of Gabe. Not when her wolf wanted her to throw all her practicalities aside and run back into his sickroom and tell him she’d be his forever.

Serena left the infirmary. Dawn was lightening the sky, and she was exhausted. She really needed to go and get some sleep and let her wolf run on the dreamscape, burn off some of this restless energy she had chasing down her bones, but it was almost morning. She wasn’t even sure she could get to sleep now. And she had to be at work in just a few hours and face Nancy.

God, what a first week. She’d had such high hopes coming out here. Now, her life was in turmoil.

Sam or Gabe? No, that wasn’t even the question anymore. Not for her. The question was: stay here or go back home to Maine? Tuck her proverbial tail between her legs and try to forget about Gabe, or try to stay here and make something out of this colossal failure? Could she stay if she didn’t mate with him? Did she even have anything here? Did she even have a job?

Bright light broke across the mountains, lighting up the wide stretch of valley that made up the Windy Gap Ranch.

New day, new opportunity.

She was going to go to work and put all this aside for now. Face Nancy. That was all she had to do for the next eight or so hours. Then she’d figure out what to do about Gabe—and the rest of her life.