If it was the brother or cousin of the one who had bitten Carol, was he after her? Or Lelandi? Either would be a prime target for a disgruntled pack that had lost a battle with the grays. And both male reds could be dangerous.
Darien would ensure that Lelandi had the utmost security as the pack leader’s mate, and he stayed with her all night, so no problem there. But Carol… Darien couldn’t be serious about having the lame betas serve as bodyguards for her. And the notion that any of the others would stay with Carol during the night… hell, that got his blood pressure up.
But something more was troubling her. Something had been bothering her in the truck when they’d parked at the tavern. And she wasn’t sleeping, although Ryan hadn’t meant to upset her when he mentioned it. He couldn’t help but notice the circles under her eyes, and he wanted to know what was disturbing her sleep so much. After he mentioned it, he figured he hadn’t quite posed the question in a manner meant to solicit the truth. Instead, he’d antagonized her.
Might as well get this over with and ask what she thought she’d envisioned, while he tried to keep an open mind. He tilted his chin down slightly, and with his most—or at least what he hoped was his most—reassuring expression, he said, “I’m a reasonable man. Try me.”
She studied him for several long seconds, and he wondered what tale she’d come up with. She finally took a deep breath and seemed to come to the conclusion that she might as well talk. Humor him, maybe. “Darien shape-shifts but can’t shift back to his human form. Lelandi’s worried sick about it, but I haven’t a clue as to what to do.”
What she thought she’d envisioned wasn’t possible. He didn’t say anything, and the look on her face said she knew she’d wasted her breath on him.
“You’ve told them?” He wondered how they had reacted to the news. Not that it would persuade him to believe in something he truly couldn’t wrap his mind around.
“Of course not. I mean, not Darien. Lelandi, yes.” But from the bleak expression on Carol’s face, he assumed Lelandi hadn’t believed her. He wished that she had, for Carol’s sake.
“She didn’t think what you had to say had any merit.” Ryan folded his arms, suspecting Lelandi didn’t believe her for the same reason he didn’t. What Carol thought she saw just couldn’t happen. Probably nightmares brought on by all the changes in her life recently.
She finished her drink and stared at the table, and he figured he might have upset her, which he’d had no intention of doing, by bringing up the subject of recent visions.
Ryan let out a heavy sigh. “Carol, is this nightmare you’re having about Darien not being able to shift back what’s troubling you and keeping you from shifting? And consequently keeping you from sleeping nights? Because I’ve got to tell you that Lelandi’s case, where she was afraid her brother would die and she couldn’t shift back, is the only case I’ve ever heard of.”
Carol smiled as if he was so off base it amused her in a cynical way, and then she leaned back against her chair and promptly changed the topic.
“So if I needed a bodyguard, since you’ve got the qualifications, could I hire you? Since you don’t believe anyone here is qualified. Although it depends on your going rate. I can’t be too frivolous with my hard-earned income.”
He frowned at her, not liking that she switched the subject, so he had no qualms about changing it again, thinking about what Jake had confided in him about Carol not shape-shifting yet. He didn’t believe she could fight the change for five months.
“You have shape-shifted, haven’t you? Without anyone being aware of it. You’ve had to run as a wolf and haven’t had time to sleep to make up for it. Am I right?”
The corner of her mouth inched up. “Sure, I’ve shape-shifted. And you’re right. I’ve been running around in the woods at night, but I have to work at the hospital during the day and haven’t had any time to take a wolfish nap. You really are a great detective. But then I’m sure you already knew that.”
She was too coy and had switched too easily from being indignant to being complacent. He gave her a small smile. “You can’t be fighting the shift.”
“Nope, when you’re right, you’re right.”
He’d rather she’d continue to be indignant. Like this, she was too agreeable and toying with him. He took another tack. “I found no sign of your wolf scent in the woods. You haven’t been running through them as a wolf.”
“Right again. I run around the guestroom at night. Haven’t howled yet, though.” She shrugged. “Not sure how to do that.”
Ryan lifted a brow. “It comes with the shift. A natural part of who you are. Instinctively, if you’re to howl to let others know where you are, to gather the pack, to warn others away, you howl. If not, you don’t.”
“Of course. I haven’t needed to howl.”
He rested his arms on the table and leaned closer, unable to shake loose of what he knew had to be the truth. “You can’t be refusing to shift.”
She smiled. “Refuse to shift? Of course I can’t. That’s impossible. Everyone keeps telling me that.”
Hell. She couldn’t be stopping the shift. But then again, the woman was unusual. Intriguing. Maybe she did have the inner strength to fight it. He tried another ploy.
“How does it feel when you shift?”
“Furry.”
He chuckled and then grew serious again. “How are you keeping from shifting?”
She smiled just a little, her eyes, her lips. Something about that look made him think of a wayward wolf, full of mischief, impish, not to be trusted.
“Don’t tell me. Your visions are keeping you from…” His mouth gaped as he recalled another incident. “When Mervin grabbed you in the great room, he triggered your need to shift, didn’t he?”
Her expression froze, and she didn’t say a word.
Which gave away what truly had happened. “You changed clothes but not to compete with the other women. That wouldn’t be like you. Hell, you were stripping out of your clothes when Lelandi chased you down.”
Ryan should have been there, not that lame Mervin. Although if he’d seen Carol fighting the shift, he wasn’t sure what he would have done. Tried to convince her to shift, learned what he could about how she was fighting it, maybe.
“You didn’t have a choice. Somehow you stopped the shift, and to cover up the fact you were in trouble, at least to your way of thinking, you changed clothes. Did Lelandi recognize what you were up to?”
Carol shook her head. “I can’t get anything past you, can I?”
Ryan rubbed his chin. No way could Carol stop shifting because of having so-called visions. Yet he’d never heard of anyone so newly turned being able to control that aspect of his or her new condition.
“You’re a danger to yourself and others, Carol. You have to allow the shift to occur.”
“You’re right.” Indignant, she rose from the table. “Tom can take me home, and I’ll shift and run around the house for a while. Sorry I couldn’t enlighten you further, but—”
The tavern grew deathly quiet.
Ryan rose to stand in front of her, towering over her. She looked up at him, and he swore her gaze pleaded with him to believe her. She looked so vulnerable, a little pale, and the dark under her eyes seemed to show even more now. She seemed tired—tired of the grilling, tired of being made to participate in werewolf activities that she wasn’t used to—and now she had to be concerned that the red might be stalking her.
“What vision did you have that stopped the shift?”
“That Darien shifts to a wolf and can’t change back,” she whispered, tears in her eyes. “And I feel guilty because I believe I’ll have more freedom if he is stuck as a wolf for a while, but Lelandi’s so frightened, and I think of how it would be if all of our kind ended up in the same predicament. What then? If I shift, I’ll be doomed to be a wolf forever.” She bit her lower lip.