Chapter 9 #2
“I’d like to examine you if that’s okay.”
“And if I say no?” I asked without taking my eyes off him.
His hands were empty. No collar to be seen. Then again, I doubted they’d try putting a fucking collar around my neck when Levi was present. If they needed one for me at all.
“Nix,” Levi chastised softly, but the doctor just smiled patiently.
“You’re conscious and not mentally incapacitated, so it’s your decision. I can only urge you to let me make sure you’re okay.”
“I am okay,” I said. There was nothing wrong that he’d be able to change.
“Are you? I was told you fainted in the woods.”
I took another step back, my eyes still fixated on the doctor. “I overextended myself. Nothing a bit of sleep won’t fix.”
He didn’t need to know that wasn’t entirely true. No one needed to know. If they realized how weak I was at the moment, they might decide now was the perfect time to attack.
“You almost fainted back in the bakery too. That was weeks ago,” Levi said quietly, giving me a pointed look.
“I just need a bit of sleep.”
And a roof over my head. Steady meals. The knowledge that I wasn’t being hunted anymore. Safety. Peace. I wouldn’t find that here.
“Nix,” the doctor said, trying to get my attention, though I hadn’t ever let him out of my sight. “May I make a suggestion?”
I shrugged. Did it really matter if I said no?
“If you’re not up for a full exam, maybe we can quickly take your vitals—blood pressure, temperature, etc. Nothing invasive, and it only takes a minute. I’m sure Levi will feel better knowing you’re healthy. And then I’d like to draw some blood for a blood panel to…”
I reared back, shaking my head. Those nice words and logical explanations were nothing but a scam. Did they think I was so out of it that I didn’t know what they were planning? “I won’t give you my blood!”
Didn’t he know what he was asking?
No, he doesn’t, that fucking annoying voice in my head said. He seems sincere. Maybe he doesn’t know anything about magic.
The doctor sighed, his eyes darting from me to Levi and back.
“What about your vitals?”
I shook my head.
Now that I knew he had needles on him, there was no way I’d let him close enough to stick one in me.
They were after my blood. Already planning on a personalized collar.
I’d seen how those worked. My own fucking coven had spelled some of those.
Oh, they thought I didn’t know about that specific side business of theirs, but I knew everything.
When your own home wasn’t a safe place, knowledge was your best defence.
The doctor sighed, a defeated expression on his face as he looked to Levi for help, but my friend shook his head and mouthed, “Later.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow to check on my other two patients.
Very impressive work you did on them, by the way.
Of course, shifters are usually able to heal themselves, but they were at the end of their rope.
Our shooting victim wouldn’t have made it without your help.
Anyway… if you change your mind, I can stop by after I check in on them. ”
“I won’t,” I said firmly, ignoring the way Levi quietly seethed next to me.
Giving them my blood, my ass!
If they wanted it, they’d have to take it.
The doctor gave me one last, sad look, then headed out the door, leaving it open for the two wolves hovering outside to enter. The first one was a massive guy with sandy-blond hair and amber eyes, but it was the second one who held all my attention.
My heart rate spiked as I watched him duck his head to get through the door.
Holy shit.
He was huge, even by shifter standards. Powerful too, his wolf a bright force inside his chest. There was no escaping him. No way in hell could I manage to run away from him.
I’d only ever seen one other wolf that matched his power—the Alpha of a pack I’d worked for about three years ago. He’d been nasty to me. Fair to his pack, but resentful over me robbing them blind, as he’d called it.
I took multiple steps back until my back hit the wall, to create as much distance between us as I could, but the room was too small, his presence too big.
His aura tried soothing me, lulling me in, trying to give me a false sense of security, but I resisted. No matter what his aura might say, he wasn’t harmless. He was the most dangerous wolf I’d ever met. One bite and I was tied to him for the rest of my life.
And if he didn’t want to bite me, he could easily…
My heart lurched, and I frantically tried to get a glimpse of their hands. Did they have…
“Nix?” Levi stepped between me and the Alpha, drawing my eyes to him. “Everything okay?”
Nothing was okay.
Couldn’t he see how fucking huge the Alpha was? How his eyes were burning, the dark orbs boring into me, pinning me to the wooden wall?
I wanted to shrink back from under his scrutiny. Wanted to turn around and run. Chances were that they hadn’t found my hideout. I could go back into the woods and…
He’d find me.
I closed my eyes, the realization cold as ice.
He was my mate.
“Nix?”
My ears were ringing.
“Nix!”
Hands gripped my shoulders, and Levi’s fuzzy face appeared right in front of me as black dots further clouded my vision. My heart kept hammering against my ribcage, each rapid beat painful.
I was breathing, but there was no oxygen to fill my lungs.
I’d lost. Truly. For good.
There was no running from someone like him.
The hands on my shoulders started shaking me, and I startled, flinching away until I remembered who it was, realizing the touch was warm, careful. His magic brushed against my shield, trying to wrap itself around me in comfort.
The world tilted, and then I was sitting on something soft. The bed.
“Everything’s okay,” Levi whispered. “They just want to talk to you.”
Talk?
What about? The conditions of my surrender? My punishment? The debt I was quickly accumulating?
And how was I supposed to talk in the first place if my mate kept staring at me as if I were his prey and he was about to pounce? His aura was blazing with fury, making me want to hide under the blankets.
And then there was my magic, that traitorous, fickle thing. It wanted to reach out, wanted to brush up against my mate’s aura, but I stopped it.
Fuck. I hadn’t felt so out of control in ages.
Being near him felt like being torn apart in the middle. I wanted him to wrap his fucking huge-ass arms around me, yet I wanted nothing to do with him. For him to stay as far away as possible.
“Maybe we should talk alone?” His voice was a dagger to the chest, slicing me open.
The deep, scratchy bass wrapped itself around me like a soothing blanket.
I found myself wanting to hear his voice again, wanting him to talk more because I needed to feel that tingling sensation at the base of my skull again.
But his words… oh god, as soothing as his voice might be, his words sent another wave of fear through me.
“No,” I whispered, grabbing Levi’s hand. “Stay. Please.”
What would happen if he left me alone?
I didn’t want to find out.
“Of course. But if you want privacy, Rhett and I can leave.
I vehemently shook my head, begging Levi with my eyes not to leave me alone with my mate.
“Okay then,” my mate said, his words rumbling from deep inside his chest. To his credit, he hadn’t moved an inch, still standing exactly where he’d been ever since he’d entered, hovering close to the door.
To keep you from running, that tiny voice in my head supplied helpfully. Levi’s mate had taken a seat next to the window, effectively blocking the only other way out.
I swallowed.
“Let’s get this over with. I’m sure you’re exhausted. I, for one, want to go back to bed, but we’ve got a few questions we need to ask first… Nix. Is that right?” My mate asked, his voice caressing my name as if it were special.
“Yes.” I nodded, my fingers shaking. “Phoenix.” It wasn’t technically my real name, but I’d left the old one behind. Alexander Richelieu had died in that forest in Southern California six months ago. I wasn’t that person anymore and wanted no connection to my father and his coven.
The wolf smiled, expression soft, but eyes sharp. “Nice to meet you, Nix. I’m Gray. Grayson. I’m the Alpha of the Cedarwood Pack. Did you know you were hiding in my territory?”
Of course I knew. After all, I’d had to cross the barrier to get in. Every paranormal would’ve realized they’d entered pack lands as soon as they crossed the border.
Would I get away with lying?
Playing dumb?
His eyes said no; they were way too sharp, too scrutinizing.
The silence between us stretched.
Was he aware that I was his mate? He had to be, right? I could feel him, could feel his wolf pushing, trying to get to me.
Oh, fuck. Was this a test? Were they trying to catch me in a lie?
“Yes,” I admitted, shredding the silence with a single word. They had me trapped. I could either be caught in a lie or tell the truth and admit to breaking shifter law.
Levi squeezed my arm, and when I looked at him, he smiled encouragingly, his eyes bright, void of any fear. As if he had no idea what I’d just admitted to.
Maybe he really didn’t.
“I see,” Gray said, his jaw working, his aura exuding anger and turmoil, even though his body stayed still.
My eyes darted to the window, searching for a way out, but for that to happen, I’d have to get past Levi’s mate.
I couldn’t do that without hurting him. “That begs some follow-up questions. First, how did you get in without being detected? Why did you decide not to follow protocol and make your presence known to the resident pack? Third, how long have you been hiding out here?”
He sounded so formal, so cold and rational, but I knew his control was slipping already. Not long and he’d attack.
I pulled my legs up, contemplating my options.
If push came to shove, I could draw a shield around myself. Thanks to Levi, I had more than enough energy to keep me safe. Then, I could use a punch of energy to get Levi’s mate out of the way, another one to shatter the window and…
Levi squeezed my arm again, his aura never even hitching.