A Mate Beyond Their Reach (2 page)

In this state, the beast wouldn’t be dangerous, not even to a newborn, but Drew couldn’t very well carry it in his car. For one, it would never fit, and Drew had Paulie to think about. He considered calling the vet, but the two of them didn’t get along. Poaching was not unheard of in these parts, but to Drew’s knowledge, wolves didn’t represent a member of the area’s fauna. As such, the veterinarian would probably suggest killing the animal. For whatever reason, Drew couldn’t accept that.

Paulie cracked the car door open and peeked outside. “What is it, Dad?”

“I told you to stay inside,” Drew said in a chastising tone. “Don’t make me ground you.”

Paulie huffed and closed the car door. Once his son was back to safety, Drew retrieved his cell phone. Thankfully, they were close enough to the town to have reception. He dialed the one number he could think of. Deputy Daniel Lawson might be sleeping at this hour, but Drew’s friend Dan would jump to the rescue, as he always did.

A sleepy voice answered his call. “Lawson here,” the man said.

“Hi, Dan, it’s Drew.”

“Oh, hey, man. What’s up?” The sound of sheets rustling came over the connection. “I thought you were in Denver.”

“Don’t remind me,” Drew replied. He rubbed his eyes tiredly.

He’d have preferred to skip the customary Denver visit altogether, but Chad and Judith always claimed they were too busy or too old to make the journey to Tennington and needed to see Paulie anyway. As much as Drew disliked them, they were his son’s grandparents, and they could cause him trouble again if he didn’t oblige. The mere memory of the custody battle that ensued after Paula’s death made Drew sick to the stomach.

Dan’s voice shook him out of his musings. “Hey, Drew, you there? Everything all right?”

“Yes, I mean no.” He took a deep breath, hating this sudden outburst of feeling. “I found a wolf in the woods. It’s injured, badly.

Gunshots, broken bones, you name it. There may be internal injuries as well, but I won’t know until I look him over better.”

Dan cursed. “Poachers again? But a wolf, Drew? Since when do wolves show up in Tennington?”

“No clue,” Drew answered. “Maybe it escaped a circus or something along that line. Anyway, I need your truck to carry him.”

“Sure, man, coming your way as we speak. On the road toward the Interstate?”

Drew nodded. “Yup. Twenty miles from Tennington, near the river bank.”

After thanking his friend, Drew closed the connection and put his cell phone back in his pocket. He threw one more gaze toward the car to make sure Paulie wasn’t going to rebel in his typical teenage fashion, and then knelt next to the wolf.

As he caressed the wet fur of the animal, he whispered, “Who did this to you, boy? Just hang in there. Help is on the way.”

* * * *

The soft touch in his coat felt good, too good. A tantalizing scent invaded his nostrils, drawing him out of his pain-filled world. Trent cracked his eyes open and looked up. A human sat next to him, speaking in a gentle voice. Even in the darkness, Trent could distinguish the beautiful, elegant features of his face. The human’s deep eyes scanned Trent’s body with concern, and for whatever reason, the emotion in that gaze comforted Trent. One word rose in his mind, one instinct.
Mate. My mate.

The rational part inside Trent told him such a thing couldn’t be.

Spirit wolves couldn’t have human mates. Lovers, yes, but never true bonded hearts, never the one thing all of them hoped and waited for all their lives. After all, a bitten human would turn feral. How could a spirit wolf claim his mate if he didn’t do so by biting? It was a logical impossibility.

And yet, everything inside him ached with the truth of it. He allowed himself to just enjoy the human’s touch. He’d worry about the rest later.

At one point, he must have drifted off, lulled into sleep by the human’s gentle touches. He awoke when another male approached.

Trent’s mate got up and greeted the new arrival. “Dan, thank God you’re here. I really need to get him to the clinic.”

“Did you call George?” the man, apparently named Dan, said. “He might be able to deal with this better.”

Trent’s mate shook his head. “George will just kill him. Come see, Dan.”

Dan approached Trent, and much to Trent’s dismay, began to feel for injuries. Having his mate touch him was one thing, but this strange individual who seemed far too friendly with Trent’s mate didn’t have his permission.

Trent twisted against Dan’s hand, the motion managing to get Dan’s exposed hand within reach of Trent’s claws. Stupid human.

Didn’t he know he never should approach a wolf unprotected, not even a wounded one? Better said, especially not a wounded one. This famous Dan seemed to be taking survival lessons from Trent’s mate.

Once Trent recovered, he’d make sure his human never made such mistakes again.

His abrupt motion jostled his wounds and made renewed pain course through him. He let out an involuntary whine of pain, but couldn’t help a small pang of satisfaction when Dan retreated, narrowly escaping having his arm torn into.

“Whoa, there, boy,” Trent’s mate said. His hands landed on Trent’s side, holding him down with gentle care. “Dan is a friend.

He’s just helping us. Stay still or you’ll hurt yourself.”

Trent obeyed, but still growled a little at Dan. “That’s odd,”

Trent’s human said to the other man. “He never once moved or did anything violent. I sat next to him here for half an hour before you came.”

“I’m beginning to have my doubts whether you should leave him here or not,” Dan said morosely.

“Come on, man, help me out. You don’t mean that. He’s clearly scared.”

“Sometimes, Drew, I really think you have a heart that’s too kind for your own good.”

Drew. Drew was his mate’s name. Feeling safe and accomplished, he pushed closer to Drew and licked his palm, conveying his gratitude. The taste of Drew’s skin exploded on his tongue, awakening the age-old desire to possess.

Oblivious to Trent’s thoughts, Dan went on to say, “Okay, so it seems he likes you, but not me. Great. Just great.” Sighing, Dan got up. “Well, seems you were right about one thing. It was certainly a two-legged beast who did this.” He threw another gaze toward Trent.

“Listen up, wolf, we’re going to carry you to my truck. Don’t go biting me, because Drew or no Drew, I’m taking off.”

Trent disliked being ordered around, and his fangs ached to tear into some Dan flesh. But Drew’s voice cooled his temper. “Please obey,” Drew said. “We’re taking you someplace safe.”

So, Trent didn’t move when the two humans maneuvered him toward Dan’s truck. As they went by Drew’s car, a human teenager peered out the window. “Come on, Dad, tell me what’s going on.

What’s up with the wolf?”

“Stay inside, Paulie,” Drew answered. “We’re going home in a minute. The wolf is none of your business.”

Drew had a son? Trent’s heart fell. In Trent’s experience, a son meant a wife, or at least a girlfriend, which clearly showed Drew to be straight. There went his hopes for a mate. No. He needed to think clearly and beyond the instinct that seemed to be clouding his mind.

He’d acknowledged Drew’s bond to him, but in truth, they were only strangers, and Drew was a human. There must be some mistake, some other explanation. Some humans had a connection to the spirit world and the paranormal. Drew could be one of them. Or the feral bite could be making him hallucinate. That would most likely be his best bet.

“You shouldn’t keep the wolf next to Paulie,” Dan said as they loaded Trent into the back of the truck. Dan’s words made Trent dislike him even more. A wolf he may be, but he didn’t attack kids.

Of course, Dan wouldn’t know that, but it was beside the point.

“I don’t plan to,” Drew answered. “I’ll keep him locked in the back of the clinic.”

Dan sighed in obvious irritation. “Drew, he’s a wild animal, not a pet. You can’t keep him.”

“I know. And if Paula’s parents find out, they’ll take my son. But I can’t just abandon him out here. In his state, he’ll die.”

Trent was touched by Drew’s concern and the chance the human intended to take. Still, he understood Drew felt torn over helping him and keeping his son safe, so in a strange way, Dan’s next words relieved him. “Maybe we can take him to my shed,” the man said.

“He’ll be safe there.”

Drew turned to Trent, his deep eyes troubled. “What do you say, boy?” he asked almost absently, caressing Trent’s fur.

Trent hated the idea, but he couldn’t have Drew’s family in danger because of him. After all, the ferals might still be out there. So, he whined and licked Drew’s hand. “How strange,” Drew noted.

“Looks like he agrees.”

Dan clapped his hands together. “It’s settled then. We go to your place to give him some treatment, then take him to my shed.”

Drew nodded. He didn’t look pleased, but clearly, he couldn’t come up with a better solution. He covered Drew with a blanket and whispered, “Don’t worry. I’ll save you.”

Trent would have been happy about his mate’s show of concern, but the moment Drew left his side, pain invaded him once again.

Every inch of his body seemed consumed by it. His back felt like it was on fire, and Trent distantly recalled the feral biting him. Bites might not transmit the feral virus into spirit wolves, but they did spread their poison. When coupled with other injuries, it could very well be deadly.

Trent’s last thought went to Drew. He wished he could have known the mystery behind the other man and understood where a human mate could possibly come from. Before surrendering to unconsciousness, he prayed that Drew would never find out who he’d really been, especially not at the hands of the ferals.

Sometime during the trip, the wolf’s condition had taken a turn for the worse. The original plan of taking the animal to Dan’s shed was left on hold. Hell, they didn’t know if the wolf would last the night, let alone another transport.

Drew asked Dan to help him carry the wolf into the back of his clinic, and then rushed back to the car and his son. Time was of the essence for the animal, so as much as Drew would have liked to stay with Paulie, that would have to wait. “You go on with Dan,” he told Paulie. “I have some work to do.”

“With the wolf?” Paulie asked. “Is it going to die? What happened?”

Drew smiled at his son’s concerned tone. Paulie inherited Drew’s love for science, and to top it off, intended to be a vet one day. Any moment now, Paulie would offer to help, but Drew couldn’t allow his son next to a wolf. Sick or not, the wolf remained a wild animal. “Not if I can help it,” he told Paulie. “Now, go. It’s way past your bedtime.”

Dan gave him a knowing look. “Don’t worry about it. He’s in good hands.”

“I’m right here, you know,” Paulie muttered under his breath,

“and I can take care of myself.”

Drew laughed at his son’s put out tone. He hugged Paulie good night and thanked Dan for his help. Dan had been very helpful ever since he’d moved here. Drew didn’t know what he’d have done without the other man’s aid.

Fifteen years back, Drew had been the quintessential mad scientist, only focusing on his research and studies. Then, suddenly, a newborn entered his life. At first, he’d tried to balance both, but in the end, he’d been presented with a choice. So, a little before Paulie’s seventh birthday, Drew abandoned all his career dreams for the benefits of a regular schedule, exchanging them with the office of a general practitioner here in Tennington.

Unfortunately, Tennington didn’t come without flaws, and the town vet ranked high on the list of things Drew disliked about the town. As such, he assigned himself to deal with the poor injured wolf.

Of course, he was more than qualified to do so. He hadn’t been one of the top scientists of Denver’s CDC for nothing.

As Dan took Paulie inside, Drew rushed to his clinic and into the back examination room. The building he’d chosen for a clinic held three such areas, more than enough for a town the size of Tennington.

Drew would have put the wolf someplace else, but his house was out of the question, and any other spot he could think of wouldn’t be sterile enough.

The wolf remained in the same position on the hospital bed. The artificial light from the bulb cast a pale glow on his black fur. He was truly a magnificent animal, and Drew didn’t understand who could have hurt him so.

As he proceeded with his examination, Drew spotted something out of the ordinary. Oddly, the bullets seemed to have burned through the skin, as if they held a substance the animal was allergic to. As it turned out, one of the bullets remained inside, and when Drew extracted it, he realized it was made out of silver. Judging by the gunshot wounds and the rest of the injuries, Drew thought a human to be behind the attack on the wolf, but to further increase the strangeness, the body of beautiful creature bore distinct claw and fang marks, mostly on its back. In fact, this injury seemed quite severe.

Drew had seen many animal bites in his past experience, but none quite like this. Who or what had been behind this monstrosity?

As Drew’s watch on the wolf went on into the night, the disease seemed to worsen. The wolf’s muscles became stiff, paralyzed, and Drew could feel the heat the animal’s limbs radiated even through his surgical gloves. A peculiar substance that looked like black ooze began to seep out of the bleeding wounds. At the first sign of it, Drew knew he had something very serious in his hands. He needed to get Paulie out of the wolf’s proximity as soon as possible, and get some help here, pronto.

Drew’s heart hurt upon seeing the beast suffer like this, and the knowledge that he was, for once, ill prepared for a patient tore at him.

He didn’t have a clue as to why this wolf seemed so special to him, and he hated not knowing. But he needed to be a professional about this. The wolf should be kept in strict quarantine. And before Drew could get anyone to take him seriously, he needed to know what he was dealing with. With luck, he might be able to save the animal.

He collected a small sample of skin and of the black ooze and analyzed it with his microscope. His lab here didn’t have the equipment he’d benefited from in Denver, but this would have to suffice until he could get someone to help him.