Chapter 7
Dressed in a fresh white uniform with long jacket, Marko stepped into the corridor that led to the infirmary. Halfway down the hall, he spotted Skin Walker Dominant, Monroe StoneCrow.
Arms folded against his chest, one thumbnail pressed to his lips, Monroe stared through the large glass window that looked into Thea’s room.
Marko approached silently and without a word, planted himself beside the Dominant to look into Thea’s room. The space was dark, with one small lamp lighting the interior. Thea slept, but it didn’t appear it was a peaceful rest. Sweat dotted her forehead, and her breathing was increased.
Monroe remarked casually, “Thought you’d be getting some sleep.”
“Just grabbed a bite and got cleaned up. Been a long two days.”
“Tell me about it.” Monroe lifted a hand to the back of his neck before rolling his head from side to side. “How is she?”
Marko shrugged. “According to Stoney, she still hasn’t come around.”
Monroe kept his gaze on the sleeping woman. “Was it bad?”
“Crow…”
“They may use it against us again.” Monroe turned to pin Marko with angry eyes. “I need to know how bad it was. Is it something our Walkers could control? Could one of us fight it off?”
Marko shook his head.
“Dell Blackbird says he’s never seen it in his territory, but he’s heard of its use. He knows an Alpha in North Carolina that’s had it used against a female in his pack. Shifter females can’t control themselves. I was hoping it was something our Walkers could fight.”
“I don’t know,” Marko stared down at the cup of hot coffee he’d brought for Thea. “She’s as strong as they come and she couldn’t…” He took a deep breath and sighed. “She fought hard. Hell, we both did.” He snorted and averted his gaze. “I think I was weaker than she was. Her scent was too much. My animals…my instincts took over. I literally could not control myself.”
“This could get bad.” Monroe clenched his jaw.
“I know,” Marko muttered.
He was alarmed at the sudden anger in Monroe’s voice when he snapped, “Do you? This is an attempt at a forced mating. Dell says the shifter female this was used on in Asheville ended up mating the male who…tended her. I don’t know if there was genuine affection involved or how those mutts work, but this could seriously fuck with the Skin Walker affliction.”
“We need more Intel.”
“Yeah.” In an out of place gesture, Monroe scrubbed a hand down his face. “Eleanor and Delano Bowden are the Alpha pair in Asheville. Eleanor was the one shot. I’m waiting for contact information from Dell. When I hear something, you’ll hear something.”
Without another word, Monroe turned and stalked down the hall, but instead of leaving the infirmary, he turned and quietly entered one of the rooms.
Tearing his attention from Monroe, Marko turned to Thea’s door and quietly entered. There were monitors hooked up to her that beeped and made a variety of other noises, but the screen they were attached to may as well have been in Greek. Taking the only seat in the room sitting just beside the bed, he placed her coffee on the stand beside him and folded his hands together before he rested his eyes on her flushed face. She seemed restless, and he wondered if Jenny or Stoney were aware.
Standing, he was just about to go summon the doctor when the door opened, and Jenny stepped into the room.
“Is she alright?”
Jenny frowned at his question. “It’s odd. She’s having spikes of…of…I have no idea what this is. She’ll be fine a few hours, and then her heart rate accelerates, and she starts sweating. I’ve got the lab working on her blood samples and the small amount of fluid we were able to salvage from the tranq dart, but as of right now, I’m at a loss. Dell tells us that with the she-wolf shifter in North Carolina, the effects of the tranq lasted one night. I was hoping it’d be the same with Thea, but the drugs keep making a resurgence in her system. I’m not sure if it’s because she’s human or if the Megalya altered the drug. Honestly, right now, Thea’s in a pretty scary place.”
Fear filled Marko’s belly until it felt like acid bubbling in his gut. Thea was in jeopardy, and it was all because she’d shoved him out of the way. Guilt bit hard as he agonized over why she’d seen the shooter when he hadn’t. Goddamn it! He knew why. He’d been too busy ogling Thea to be paying attention like he should have been. He was the Walker Sentry, and she was a damn human teacher, and she’d saved him! Thinking about it now, he wondered what would have happened if he’d have taken that shot instead of her. He wondered if he’d have gone feral and attacked the poor woman. Gritting his teeth, he realized that he had, in a way. He should have resisted her, told her no.
As if reading his thoughts, Jenny offered. “You did save her life by seeing to her needs, Marko. At least that much we do know. Don’t worry, Monroe’s looking into whether she was seeing anyone. We don’t need guilt swamping her on top of everything else.”
Without thought, Marko automatically replied, “No.”
Jenny’s brows dipped down as she faced Marko. “No? No, what?”
He swallowed hard and kept his gaze pinned on Thea. “No, she isn’t seeing anyone.”
Arms, covered in the glaring white of her lab coat, crossed under Jenny’s chest as she studied Marko. “And you know this how?”
He sure as hell wasn’t admitting that under the guise of his position, he’d requested her employee file and poured over it. Hell, he’d even shifted and flown over her truck to follow her home after her shift one night just to see where and how she lived. He’d decided that she had a lonely little life. Sure, her house was cute, but just like him, Thea went home to a place that housed no human affection.
He’d followed her in hopes of finding out that she was engaged or at least dating, but in the several covert visits he’d paid to her property, she’d always been alone. Instead of discovering she was taken and keeping himself away, her situation—much like his own—called to him and drew him to her. Honestly, taking her at the cabin after she’d been shot had been no hardship because he’d fantasized—on a near nightly basis—about doing those very things to her.
“Marko?”
Jenny’s voice pulled him from his reverie. “Work. I keep tabs on all human staff. It’s part of my job, Jen.”
The smirk on her lips said she didn’t believe a word of it. “Well, I’ve got other patients to check on. I suggest you go and get some rest.”
“What can I do?” he asked. “Is there any way I can I help her?”
Heaving a sigh, Jenny dropped her arms and faced Thea. “You mind being on-call?”
Marko turned his head to stare quizzically at the doctor.
“She could wake in the same state she was in after she was shot. She’ll have…needs and I don’t want a parade of men in here. This is going to be hard enough for her to deal with, so if we need a male to…to…service her, I’d prefer it be the same one.”
Marko’s ears flooded with the sound of his heart tearing into a sprint at the thought of other Walkers coming into Thea’s room to “service” her. When he finally got his rage under control long enough to answer Jenny, his voice was still tinged with the snarl of his inner beasts. “Call me. Any hour. Anytime.”
She nodded. “Thanks. I appreciate it. Now let’s give her some peace. She needs all the rest she can get.”