Chapter Twenty-One

Serena hadn’t been able to get back to sleep that morning. She’d tossed and turned and finally given up when the alarm went off an hour later. Four cups of coffee and one very hot shower later, she’d shown up to work, jittery and stressed and so not ready for dealing with her boss.

She’d spent the first few hours with Nancy going over the rest of her terrible test results. As she headed for a quick break before whatever torture the woman had next in store for her, she passed by Vince’s desk.

“Hey, hang in there,” he called out. “Don’t forget I’m taking you to lunch.”

“I’m counting on it.” She gave him what she could muster for a smile. He was a nice guy, and she was grateful to have made a friend, even if he seemed to want to monopolize every spare minute she had here. She’d barely been able to get to know the other dreamwalkers working in the office. And now, maybe she never would.

Nancy came out of the records room with a stack of files, heading for Serena’s office. “Ready, Lowell?”

“Ready.” She followed Nancy in and watched as she set the heavy pile down onto Serena’s desk. There was a puff of dust and the odor of old paper filled the room. “What are those?”

“Files that need going through.” She started to leave.

Anger rushed through Serena. “What am I supposed to be looking for?”

“Discrepancies. I’ll let you know if you find anything worthwhile.”

Whatever the hell that meant. It was just another case of Nancy not giving her enough instruction and then whatever Serena did, it would be considered a screw-up.

“No.”

“What did you say?”

“You heard me. No. I wasn’t hired to go through your back paperwork on a snipe hunt. I was hired to work with clients. I’m good at my job, Nancy, and if this is what it’s going to be like here, I’m better off working elsewhere.”

Nancy scrunched up her eyes and rubbed her fists in the corners. “Boo-hoo. Your boyfriends are both pissed at you, and now you want an excuse to run home to mama.”

The stress and anger that had built up for days in Serena burst through. She was at Nancy’s side in seconds, before the other woman could blink. A growl rose out of her throat.

She pressed close into Nancy’s face, the smell of the other woman’s perfume making her wrinkle her nose in disgust. “You’ve made this job a misery, Nancy, and kept me from taking care of the members of this pack like I was hired to do. I’ll make sure before I leave that the council knows how you’ve treated me.”

Nancy’s upper lip curled. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh, yeah? Watch me.” Serena walked out of her office, heading for the main door. She passed Vince sitting at his desk, his mouth dropped wide open in shock.

“Serena, wait.”

She paused, and turned back, crossing her arms and glaring at Nancy hurrying after her.

“I’m—” Nancy’s face was pinched, and she seemed to be struggling with getting her next words out. She glanced side to side at the other doors where their fellow dreamwalkers were coming out of their own offices.

Serena took another step toward the door.

“I’m sorry,” Nancy said, her voice low. “Why don’t you head off early to lunch? In fact, take a two-hour lunch. And then, when you’re back, we’ll go over some case files for you to take over.”

Serena cocked her head at Nancy. “Vince was going to take me to lunch. Can he come too?”

Nancy’s cheeks reddened. Serena put her hands on her hips and waited. She had nothing to lose now and everything to gain.

Finally, Nancy huffed out a breath. “Fine. Whatever.” She headed into her own office, turning around at the last minute. “But only two hours, not a minute more.” And she went in and closed the door.

There were cheers from the rest of the staff. A few people high-fived her and gave her hugs. She hugged back, relieved, knowing the smiles on their faces were a reflection of her own victorious grin.

“Way to go! I’ll be a minute. I have to shut a few things down.” Vince’s fingers flew over the keyboard a wide congratulatory grin on his face.

“I’ll meet you outside.” She grabbed her purse and burst out of the building into the heat of the summer sunshine. The sky was a bright blue, only a few pure-white clouds scudded across its surface. From down in the valley she heard sheep bleating and the sound of men laughing.

She took in a huge breath of the fresh mountain air. It felt so good to put things straight with Nancy. She might not be a wolf on the outside, but inside, you’d better watch out. Her wolf was just as powerful on the inside as any physical shifter’s.

The next time she saw Gabe, she would make sure he understood—this was her home, and she was staying. And he’d better understand what she was, inside and out, because she wanted to stay. And she wanted to stay with him.

 

Gabe stood in front of the chief’s office, kicking his heels and staring at the closed door. It had been three days, and he was going crazy. He needed to get back on duty so he didn’t have to sit at home staring at the accounts and thinking about how he’d screwed up everything with Sam—and with Serena.

But even here, he couldn’t sit still. His wolf paced inside, driving him to move. He stood up and went back around the corner to the receptionist’s desk. “How long is she going to be?”

Cheryl rolled her eyes and popped her bubble gum at him. “I told you, she’s busy.”

“But I’ve been sitting here for twenty minutes.” He rubbed his arms. “Who the hell is in there with her?” But Cheryl just shook her head and went back to sorting files.

He headed to his spot and slumped back into the hard, plastic chair. Maybe he should shift and go for another run. But he’d tried that earlier in the day and not only was he too sore to run very far, but just being in wolf form exacerbated the fever.

Everything smelled sharper, colors stood out, and all he wanted to do was run up the cabin road and sniff out Serena, which, given how mad she’d been at him, was a very bad idea.

The door opened and Anna Truewater, seventy years old and head of the Windy Gap Pack Council, emerged, and right behind her Chief Wendy Howler. Their heads were bent toward each other, in intent deliberation, the contrast of the dark blond and the gray standing out to his extra-sensitive eyes. “It’s a big concern, Chief, but we need to keep it quiet. There haven’t been any issues…yet.”

Gabe jumped to his feet, trying to hide the wince of pain from his body protesting the move.

“No worries. The council can count on its enforcers. I’ll make sure the team knows what to look for.” Wendy’s face was grim.

Gabe’s extra-sensitive instincts went on alert. Wendy Howler was young to be chief, only forty, but she’d always carried her authority well. He respected her, the whole force did. Something was very wrong if Wendy had that face on. He’d only seen it on occasions when they’d had a death in the pack.

They both caught sight of him at the same time and their faces went professionally blank. “Thank you, Councilwoman, for bringing this to my attention.” Wendy shook hands with Anna, and the two women exchanged shuttered looks.

“Thank you, Chief. I’ll be in touch.” Anna turned her laser sharp attention to Gabe. “Are you feeling better, Gabe?” She’d visited him right after his accident, making sure every member of her pack was taken care of, and even though he’d appreciated it, he’d been relieved when she’d left. The council was the judge, jury, and lawmakers of the pack, and Anna Truewater ruled the council.

“Yes, ma’am. Much better and ready for duty.”

She sniffed the air around him and frowned, giving Wendy a significant look. “I have full confidence in your chief’s ability to decide if you’re ready for duty.”

Gabe’s hackles went up, and he stiffened. “Thank you, ma’am.”

She nodded and went down the hallway in the direction of the front door.

Chief Howler frowned at him. “Come on in.” She went back into her office, and he followed her. “So, Wulfric, I thought we’d decided you should take at least a week off. By my reckoning, it’s only been a few days. And don’t you have to take care of your restaurant now that Sam’s AWOL?”

“The staff has pulled together and is covering his extra shifts. I can’t sit at home; it’s driving me crazy. I need something to do. And with Sam gone, I know you need extra help.”

She sat behind her desk and stared up at him, her eyes boring into his as if she could see his secrets. “There’s no way you’re ready to go back on patrol.”

His wolf rushed to the surface. “I have to get out!” He growled and started forward. At the last minute pulling himself back from leaping over the cluttered desk top and making her submit to his needs.

“Wulfric!” she barked. “What the hell is going on with you?”

He clenched his fists and forced himself to take two steps back. “Sorry, Chief, I’m a little on edge,” he said through gritted teeth.

“A little?” She sniffed the air. “Fuck, you are in the fever. What the hell are you doing trying to go back on duty? Who’s the lucky wolf? You should be with her taking care of this, not here.”

Yes, he should be with her. He should be touching Serena, feeling her under his body, the nape of her neck under his teeth. He wanted to rip all of her clothes off, stroke every inch of her. Kiss her mouth so deeply she’d never think of anyone else but him ever again.

“Wulfric!”

He jerked himself back into the present moment. “Sorry, ma’am.” He gave himself a good shake, but there wasn’t anything he could do about the state of his arousal except hope she couldn’t see it from her side of the desk. He took a deep breath and tried to think of his accounts, anything to get his body back under control.

Chief Wendy sighed. “I can’t put you back on the rota. You aren’t too far gone, though. Go find your girl and lock yourself away with her and get this taken care of.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but she shook her head. “You’re off duty until further notice.” She hit a button on the phone on her desk.

Cheryl’s voice came over the speaker. “Yes, Chief?”

“Take Gabe Wulfric off the rotation until I say he can go back on.”

“But, Chief, with both Sam and Gabe out we’ll be shorthanded, and with that attack—”

“Stop right there, Cheryl.” Wendy cut off whatever Cheryl had been about to say and gave Gabe a hard look. “Take him off. I’ll authorize some paid time for a few of the other volunteers. That should beef up the roster.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Wendy’s face sagged, suddenly leaving her looking tired and much older than her forty-five years. “Go find your girl.”

He nodded and backed out of the office, unable to trust himself to speak. Go find Serena, who sounded like she’d never wanted to speak to him again and who was likely off with his brother Sam.

Gabe’s heart pounded in his head. His wolf throbbed with the beat. They wanted, needed, to find Serena, but that wasn’t an option. And now he couldn’t work here. He couldn’t stay at the deli, wondering and worrying about Sam. Was his twin okay? Was he out in the wild, frustrated and angry and feeling like this? Like he was crawling out of his own skin?

He couldn’t do what he wanted to do, but his wolf was right there with a good substitute. We need to get out—take someone down—hunt someone down. He stalked down the hall, and out the front door, ignoring Cheryl’s wave goodbye.

The day was hot, and his clothes were stifling. He went to the covered side porch where there were benches and lockers and stripped out of his clothes and shifted. It was time to go wild. Time to hunt.