Chapter 4 Nico
NICO
The wolf within me erupted with need. It was more possessive than I’d ever known it to be in my life.
It was all I could do to keep myself calm as I walked into the room.
I could practically feel my pupils dilate as I looked at her.
It was the first time I’d seen her awake.
Her own eyes had widened in what I assumed was surprise.
I gritted my teeth as the wolf tried to release a growl of desire.
Doc stepped over and put a hand on my arm, stopping me. “Take it easy, Nico. She’s been through a lot. She doesn’t need an alpha scaring her,” he said with a grin.
I knew he was trying to sound calm, but I could see something in his eyes.
I must have had a strange look on my face.
The look on his face told me I must have been radiating an aura of menace or anger.
The problem was, that wasn’t what I felt.
I truly had no idea what had come over me since I first saw the woman.
I swallowed and took a breath as I nodded. I wasn’t trying to scare her.
I gave my wolf a mental scolding, then patted Doc on the shoulder. “All good, Doc. I just want to make sure the patient is okay.”
The woman, who was sitting up in bed, watched me as I crossed the room.
Her eyes were taking in my every movement.
Part of me thought she kind of looked like a prey animal, scared of the big bad wolf coming toward her.
On second look? She was no prey animal. Her look was so intense that I had the feeling she was trying to dissect me with her eyes.
“Who are you? What the hell is going on here?” she asked.
I grinned and bobbed my eyebrows up. “I was hoping you’d help me with that. By the way, my name is Nicolas Lorenzo. Call me Nico.”
“What do you mean, you hoped I could help? I was attacked by shifters. You’re a shifter. Shouldn’t you know more about all this than me?”
Her distrust towards me was coming off in waves.
There was something else there as well, though.
A look I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
My throat felt dry, and even though I was putting on a brave front, she was making me feel strange.
I needed to figure out what the hell was going on, but that was going to be tough.
Just being in the same room as her, and smelling that scent?
It was almost too much. It was worse now that she was looking at me with those eyes.
“You still haven’t answered me,” she said. I realized I’d been standing there for several beats, not saying anything.
“Did you know the shifters who attacked you?” I asked.
She let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. “No. We get them in pretty frequently. Not those exact guys, but shifters. That night was the first time I’d ever seen any of those guys.”
“Okay. Were they…I don’t know…rowdy? Causing trouble? Did they threaten you during the night before coming back after closing?”
“No. Honestly, the guy in charge was”—she rolled her eyes—“kinda hitting on me most of the night. Or at least I thought he was.”
“Do you think that’s why they jumped you? Pissed off they got shot down?”
The look she gave me could have peeled paint off a wall. “I don’t think six dudes would try to murder me just because I didn’t want to bang one of them.”
I held my hands up in an attempt to ward off her fury. “I get it. Okay. Can you describe them?”
“Probably. Yeah. At least a little bit.”
“All right, hang on a second.” I turned and pulled the door open. “Luis, I need you to hear this.”
Luis appeared around the corner and made his way down the hallway.
When he came into the room, I could see the suspicion in the woman’s eyes darkening.
I left the door open to make things seem a little less closed in.
The last thing I wanted was for her to think we were ganging up on her with no escape.
That was the exact thing that had happened to her the night before.
“This is my friend, Luis Ruiz. He’s cool. One of my best friends and my second-in-command in the pack. I’m the alpha, he’s the beta. Are we good?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
She chewed at the inside of her lip, glancing between me, Luis, and the open door. After a few seconds, she nodded. “Yeah, sure. It’s fine.”
“Okay, can you describe what these dudes looked like? We’re trying to figure out if we know them.”
She thought for a second before starting. “The main guy was…younger? Maybe early to mid-twenties. Dark hair.” She absently tugged at her earlobe. “He had an earring. Like a gold stud. He also had a tattoo—I think it was a crow—across his forearm.”
She described the other guys in less detail, but she didn’t need to. I glanced over at Luis as she spoke. He caught my eye and nodded almost imperceptibly. His shoulders tensed as the realization hit him. My own body was probably reacting the same way. The description matched some of Javi’s guys.
“Does that help?” she asked when she finished. “Do you know those guys?”
I nodded. “I think we do know the wolves who attacked you.”
Her eyes brightened. Not in excitement, but in relief. “Then what the hell is going on? Is it some kind of, I don’t know, shifter gang war? Something like that?”
I winced. “It doesn’t really work that way. Well, at least not usually. What else did they say when they came back?”
“That’s the weirdest part. It made no sense. Maybe you guys know what it’s supposed to mean. It could be some sort of shifter thing. He told me—and he was freaking pissed when he said this—he said I shouldn’t exist. That my bloodline was supposed to have been wiped out. Whatever that means.”
After she was done, she shivered. Her mind was obviously dragging the memory back up.
My instinct was to step forward, sit on the bed, and wrap her in my arms. I wanted to protect her.
My wolf was actually egging me on, trying to get me to do exactly that.
I had to clamp my hands into fists to stop myself.
I’d only met her five minutes ago, and she’d been attacked by shifters less than a day ago.
That type of close contact wouldn’t go over well.
“So, you have no idea what they meant?” I asked. “Do you have any other girls who work for you who are shifters? Could they have you confused with someone else? A case of mistaken identity?”
She shook her head. “No. They for sure wanted me. They even, like, sniffed the air, like I smelled funny or something. They definitely wanted me for some reason.”
The hairs on my arms stood on end, and I could see Luis taking a slight step back.
She did have a smell unlike anything I’d ever encountered.
Shifter noses were just as good as the animals we shifted into.
I smelled millions of different pheromones, odors, and chemicals each day.
As soon as I caught a whiff of something new, my brain stored it away for later.
And she was something totally new. Not just a new person, but something I’d never encountered before in my entire life, which was pretty difficult to find.
Luis caught my eye and his brows knitted together, his eyes flickering with unspoken question. I wasn’t sure what he was trying to get across. I’d have to ask him when we got back into the waiting room.
“Listen…shit, I don’t even know your name.” The realization made me feel like an asshole.
“Maddy Sutton. Maddison, but I go by Maddy,” she said.
“Okay. Listen, Maddy. We’re certain these guys belong to a different pack.
It’s run by a guy named Javi. He’s…” I looked at Luis, who gave me a lopsided, humorless grin.
“He’s not a very good dude, let’s put it that way.
If his guys attacked you and didn’t finish the job, then there’s a pretty good chance they’ll come back to… try and finish.”
She stared at me for several seconds, her face impassive and emotionless. Then her eyes grew moist and her lower lip started to tremble. Her whole body began to shake, and she pulled the blanket tighter around her. “Why is this happening?”
She wasn’t asking me, just whispering the question to herself as she cried, but I stepped closer to the bed, wanting to console her. “It’ll be okay. I’m not sure why it’s happening, but I promise I’ll help you figure this thing out.”
Her teary eyes flicked up to me warily. “Why? Why do you even care?”
That was a good question. One I couldn’t answer.
Whatever I said in response had to sound logical.
No matter what, I didn’t want to scare Maddy off.
I had to figure out what was going on with this weird attraction I felt to her, and I couldn’t do that if she was on the run.
“Javi and I are rivals of a sort, if that makes sense. Now that I’ve involved myself, he’ll be gunning for me.
I’m sure his guys saw my pack. He’ll know I stopped the attack.
We’re connected now. In a sense,” I added quickly.
“So I’m offering you the protection of the Lorenzo pack. ”
“So, you have no idea why? This is a mystery to you, too?” She looked equally confused and irritated.
I shrugged a shoulder. “No clue. But like I said, Javi’s pack is after you for some reason.
Whatever plan he has, he’ll want to see it through.
I fucked those plans up, so now there’s going to be trouble for me.
He’ll assume I’m involved somehow. It’s a long story, but we’ve got a bit of history.
I need you safe until I can figure out what Javi’s planning, and I can put a stop to it. ”
Her eyes went cold, and I could almost feel the chill in the room. Luis seemed to notice it as well and took a second step back, his eyes growing wary of Maddy.
“So, you’re just going to use me? Furthering your own agenda? Am I bait or something?”
“It might seem that way, depending on how you look at it,” I said.
“Though, are you really going to refuse help when it’s clear that Javi’s crew is trying to kill you?
Don’t you want to know why you’ve been targeted?
You could call the cops, sure, but what are they really going to do?
Maybe get the few guys who attacked you, if they’re really lucky.
Then Javi sends more guys after you. Not a great plan, from where I’m sitting. ”
Her lips pinched together, and I was certain she was making the same connections in her mind. She slumped back against the pillows, huffing out a pissed-off sigh. “Fine,” she said to the ceiling, then tilted her eyes toward me. “What does protection imply?”
Luis cleared his throat, holding up a hand to get her attention.
“Two options, really. The first is that you’ll come stay with the pack.
I’m head of Nico’s security, and we have a plot of land on the outskirts of the city.
We’ve turned it into our own little gated community.
If you choose that option, you’ll always have someone around to keep an eye on you and protect you.
We’ve got incredible security there, and there’s almost no way anything will happen to you there.
“Option two is we have an around the clock guard tail you. Sounds less intrusive, but for it to be real protection, the guy would have to live with you. Crash on your couch or whatever.”
“Okay, no,” Maddy said. “I’m definitely not sharing my house with some stranger. Christ, how do I know he won’t piss on the bathroom floor or something? Hard pass.” She frowned and sat back up. “I’m not super fond of the first option, either. I have a life. I already have a place to live.”
“You’re totally free to reject both offers and try to protect yourself,” Luis said. “The problem is, I know Javi, and I have to question how long you’ll stay alive once he knows you’re unprotected. I’m going to go wait for Nico out front. Think about it.”
Luis turned to leave, and Maddy watched him go, her eyes narrowed into slits. “He’s a real dick,’’ she murmured under her breath.
I laughed, unable to help myself. Luis was honest to a fault and never sugarcoated things. I could see why he could look like an asshole to someone who didn’t know him. It was still funny to hear her say it, though.
“This is all for your well-being. I hope you can trust me when I say that. But Luis is right—you can reject both options. You’ll be all on your own, though.
” My wolf didn’t like the sound of that.
The beast was actually snarling at me. I thanked God only I could hear him.
“Get some rest. I’ll stop back by later tonight.
You can tell me what you’ve decided then. ”
Maddy nodded absently, seeming lost in thought when I exited the room. My wolf whined, wanting to go back in there. To just see her. I fought the urge and forced myself to walk out the front doors of the clinic.
Luis was leaned up against my truck, puffing away on a cigarette. He flicked the butt off into the shrubs. “What the fuck is going on, Nico?”
All I could do was shake my head. “I don’t know, man.”
Luis pointed back toward the clinic. “Something is off about that chick. I can’t put my finger on it, but…
there’s something weird going on here. Every time I get around her…
I don’t know. When she talked about Javi’s boys sniffing her and saying all that shit?
I can smell it, but I have no fucking clue what she is. ”
I knew exactly what he meant. “She’s human, Luis. A human who needs our help. That’s all we need to know.”
Human, yes, but there was something else there. Something that was niggling at my mind right beneath the surface, if I could only see what it was. I was determined to figure it out, and so was my wolf.
For now, all I could hope for was that Maddy was smart enough to accept my protection. I didn’t want to think about what would happen to her if she refused. I hadn’t lied when I said Javi would be back to finish what he started.