“Not that I know of, but…chances are good they’ll get wind of the story. The girl bit the ER doctor who tried to treat her. Sophia says the human is already toxic. I don’t know if we can keep that quiet.”
Sylvan snarled. “Is it Drake?”
“Yes.”
“Where are they?” Sylvan’s roar brought her guards to attention.
“Sophia got her out of the hospital. I couldn’t reach you right away, so I told her to bring the human here.” Sylvan’s wolf raged and howled in a protective frenzy, the instinct more potent than any she’d ever experienced. She couldn’t fight it, didn’t even try. The bones in her face angled and sharpened, her eyes flashed gold, and her claws tore through her fingertips. Her vocal cords thickened and her voice turned to sandpaper. “Sophia’s ETA?”
“Ten minutes or so.”
“We’ll be right behind them. Tell Elena to prepare an isolation room.”
“Alpha, the chances that she’ll even survive that lon—”
“Do it!” Sylvan closed her phone so violently she crushed it in her palm. She threw the useless device on the floor. Plaintive whines and growls rose from the rear compartment. Val and Max had shifted when Sylvan’s wolf had ascended, and now they paced restlessly behind her.
She twisted in her seat and they both licked her face. Then she glanced at Andrew, who gripped the wheel with rigid arms, fighting not to shift.
Sylvan commanded her snarling wolf into the shadows, and Andrew relaxed perceptibly. He and Lara had the strongest ability to resist the call when Sylvan’s wolf ascended, which is why one of them usually drove. Any less dominant wolf Were would have been powerless to resist when Sylvan was in mid-shift. “Get me back to the Compound. Now. ”
The Rover roared down the narrow forest trail and into the Compound. A dark SUV was parked in front of the infirmary. Sophia’s car, Sylvan surmised. Andrew had barely begun to slow when Sylvan bounded from the vehicle and raced toward the infirmary. Niki, naked except for a pair of black leather pants unsnapped at the waist, appeared from out of the shadows on the wide porch and planted herself at the top of the steps.
“Move,” Sylvan growled, canines flashing in the moonlight, her wolf ready to attack anyone who got in her way. She’d partially shifted again, her attack hormones surging.
Niki shuddered and her skin glowed golden red. “You can’t go in there like that.”
Sylvan snarled and pushed Niki back with a hand in the middle of her bare chest. Her claws pressed into but did not pierce Niki’s skin.
“Elena will shift, Alpha,” Niki panted, the pain of holding down her wolf nearly doubling her over. She’d never felt Sylvan’s fury this uncontrolled, and she’d never been pulled into the maelstrom so completely. Even when they hunted, she was able to stay in skin form if she needed to. She dropped to her knees as her bones battled to morph.
A trail of red-gray fur shimmered down the center of her abdomen and dove beneath the waistband of her leather pants. “Alpha…” She gasped.
“Alpha, if I can’t control myself, Elena…” Sylvan closed her eyes and pulled cool night air deep into her lungs. Once again, she battled down her wolf, by sheer force of will suppressing her most primal instincts to guard and possess. She had to see Drake, and Drake needed medical care. If her agitation and aggression caused Elena and Sophia to shift involuntarily, Drake would suffer for it. She couldn’t let that happen. A frustrated rumble rose from Sylvan’s chest as she finally overpowered her wolf. Niki’s breathing eased and the traces of pelt receded from her tight belly. Sylvan dropped a hand on Niki’s damp head. “Thank you.” Whimpering in relief, Niki tilted her head back and Sylvan cupped her jaw, her thumb brushing the corner of Niki’s mouth. “Stand guard for me, Imperator. No one comes inside.”
“Yes, Alpha,” Niki whispered.
Elena closed the door of the last room at the far end of the infirmary.
She regarded Sylvan storming toward her and held up one hand. “You can’t come in right now.”
Sylvan restrained herself from physically lifting Elena aside, but the effort taxed every bit of her control. “I want to see her.”
“It’s not safe. I had to send Sophia out a few minutes ago.” Elena backed against the door, her face blanching as Sylvan growled threateningly. Her luminous dark eyes were smudged with worry, the hollows below her bold cheekbones deeper, etched with exhaustion.
“The fever is progressing quickly. The human is irrational most of the time. She’s dangerous.”
“She won’t hurt me,” Sylvan said, gritting her teeth to keep her wolf at bay. She felt as if she were being pummeled from the inside out, her flesh threatening to tear from her bones. “She hasn’t hurt you or Sophia, has she?”
“We don’t know how this strain of fever affects a human,” Elena said, her expression imploring. “We don’t know if her bite is capable of inducing fever in us. We can’t risk the Alpha—”
“If it’s not safe for me, it’s less safe for you.” Sylvan braced her arms on the door on either side of Elena’s shoulders and leaned down so her face was level with that of the smaller female. “I could force you to let me in, but I won’t. Elena, look at me.” Elena tilted her head against the door and raised her eyes to Sylvan’s. She whimpered at the intensity in Sylvan’s gaze and wrapped her arms around Sylvan’s shoulders. She was tired and frightened, and she needed Sylvan’s strength. Sylvan kissed her forehead.
“I need to see her. I need to understand what we’re facing if this spreads to more humans.” Sylvan spoke the truth, but it wasn’t the entire truth. She needed to see Drake, touch her, shield her from whatever threatened her. Drake was human, but she felt like Pack. Sylvan didn’t question her instincts, couldn’t change the ingrained drives that ruled her life. She only knew what she must do. “The survival of our Pack depends on us containing this outbreak.”
“We can’t lose you,” Elena whispered, her fingers digging into Sylvan’s shoulders. “Misha is asking for you. She needs you. We need you.”Sylvan called her wolf and broadcast her strength and power throughout the Compound and far into the forest surrounding them.
A wolf howled outside on the porch—Niki. A higher-pitched howl followed—Lara. A deeper howl, then another, and another as Max and Andrew and Val added their voices. They were joined by others until the air was filled with sound of the Pack uniting in harmony and trust.
“I will never forsake you,” Sylvan murmured, her lips against Elena’s temple. “But I must do what is necessary. Let me pass, my wolf.”
Elena cleaved to Sylvan for a long moment, then stepped aside.
“Do not enter, no matter what you sense,” Sylvan said as she stepped through the door.
A single shaded lamp burned dimly on a narrow dresser against the far wall. Beneath the window, a naked form lay bathed in moonlight.
Drake’s dark hair lay in wet strands across her forehead and feathered against her cheek and neck. Her jaws were clenched, her chin tilted upward, accentuating the smooth column of her neck. Her back arched as if she was straining for a lover’s embrace, the long muscles in her abdomen tight, her arms and legs trembling. Her breasts, firm with small hard, dark nipples, lifted and fell with each quick breath.
Sylvan recognized the scent she associated with Drake—sharp and smoky, like aged red wine. But now there was more—a dark, tangy undercurrent that promised wild pleasures. Her clitoris lengthened, her sex glands swelled, and she growled. She smelled wolf.
Drake turned her head. “Sylvan?”
“Yes.” Sylvan knelt by the bed and rested the backs of her fingers against Drake’s cheek. Her skin was fiery, her eyes fever-bright. Sylvan noticed a plastic catheter taped to Drake’s left forearm. “Do you know how to treat this?”