Ariel (16 page)

“You are an unnatural alpha. You don’t belong here. Matt deserves someone better than you warming his bed, ” she said.

Ariel glared at the dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty giving her the evil eye. “Isn’t it Matt’s decision about who warms his bed? He’s twice my age and your pack alpha. I figure that means he knows his own mind.”

“Matt cannot be blamed for giving in to a typical male weakness for a female. You have deceived his senses. He does not see beyond your magic.”

Ariel huffed, more indignant about the female’s word choices than her threats. “
Magic?
What the hell are you talking about? Get a grip on yourself. This is not Salem, Massachusetts and I’m not a freaking witch.”

“No one knows what you are. You reek of strangeness, even though you are a werewolf. Leave with the Black Wolf Alpha—the ancient one who created you. You do not belong here with us.”

Ariel glared defiantly. The woman was merely pretending to be clueless. Hadn’t she seen her loading her stuff in the truck to leave? She was minutes from heading out with Reed, but didn’t want to confess it.

“Look—I don’t have anymore time to waste arguing with you. If you have a problem with what Matt told me, or our relationship, you need to take it up with him. Now I think you need to get out of my face before I lose my urge to be polite. My wolf is getting upset.”

“Your wolf must never be freed again. Receive my gift so the world can be done with you.”

It didn’t occur to her to back up when the woman stepped close. But she did flinch when the woman blew black dust into her face. She coughed when she got a mouthful, and then inhaled to try and get a breath. But she couldn’t. It was like someone had pulled the breath right out of her. Without breath, the world turned dark in moments. Ariel sunk to the ground, glaring at the woman’s smile.

***

“
Ariel.
” Brandi yelled her name as she watched Ariel’s body hit the ground with a thud.

She turned to Heidi. “
Go. Get Matt. Run, Heidi
.
Now.
”

Heidi spared one tortured look at the fallen Ariel before bolting.

Brandi jumped in front of Ariel before she’d even realized she’d run to guard her. The five who had stood with the confronting woman took off running in fear. But the woman stood looking at Ariel’s fallen body with a pleased smirk lighting her face and gaze.

“What the fuck did you do to her?” Brandi demanded. Turning back to Ariel, she stooped and checked her pulse.

“Her heart is still beating, but her breathing is shallow,” Brandi said aloud, needing to hear the words to believe them.

“Death will eventually find her. I bound her unnatural wolf in her body. She will now forget who she is and what she is. Normally, this sort of punishment was only done to those who had committed pack treason. It was my idea to use it on the abomination.”

Before the woman could blink, Brandi was beside her, her talented thumbs pressed against the woman’s throat cutting off her air. “Don’t even think about it. I’ll kill you before you manage to shift,” she warned.

The woman didn’t struggle against her grip, but Brandi didn’t think she was quite right in her mind at the moment. Her eyes were wild-eyed and dancing. She needed to make sure the woman understood how serious she was.

“Before I was turned into a werewolf, I used to kill people for a living. I did it as a human—often with my bare hands. Killing someone like you won’t bother me a bit, lady. Now I’m going to ask you again and you’re going to give me specifics—what the hell was in the dust you blew at Ariel?”

“Stop. I will tell you. It was wolfsbane, mountain ash, and mistletoe. It doesn’t matter if you know what was done. It’s far too late to stop what is happening to her.”

Brandi loosened her hold, but just enough to grab the woman by the hair. She drug her forward with it just as Matt and Gareth came running outside. She threw the woman at Matt’s feet, pleased when she screamed in pain as she hit the dirt.

Seeing Ariel’s body on the ground, Matt’s growl shook nearby building windows as he lifted the groveling woman up by the front of her clothes. His anger brought people running outside to see what was happening.

“I don’t know why I ever thought you might be worthy of mating anyone in my pack. Your heart is black with envy and you hate what you don’t understand. I have been patient in hopes you would change, Cheryl. My patience has now ended.”

“What wrong have I done to you, Matthew Gray Wolf? She is an unnatural creation of the ancient one. The blonde alpha is not worthy to be your mate,” the woman protested.

“She is my choice. If Ariel dies, you and your friends will follow her quickly—I promise you that,” Matt said fiercely, his gaze going to where Heidi was working on Ariel. “Gareth, lock Cheryl up. I want a guard on her until the other five turn themselves in for what they helped her do. Everyone involved is going to be punished—openly—so the pack knows I will not tolerate this kind of interference in my choices. There will be an official pack meeting about it as soon as the others are found.”

Imitating Brandi, Gareth grabbed the woman by the hair of her head and made her call out again.

“Wait,” Brandi said. She peeled off her coat and then her shirt. Grabbing the woman’s arm, she wiped the remainder of the black dust from her hands off on the shirt. Maybe Eva or Heidi could use it to find out what the shit really was. “I don’t know why the stuff she used on Ariel isn’t taking her down too. It’s all over her hands. You’d think it would have the same effect.”

“Cheryl’s training is in herbal remedies. She’s probably shielded her skin with some kind of protection,” Matt said, moving forward to where Ariel was lying.

Brandi followed Matt to where he knelt. She held her shirt out to Heidi. “This is a sample of what she used. It looks like coal dust. She said it was a mixture of wolfsbane, mountain ash, and mistletoe.”

Matt’s vicious swearing over what he heard had him rising and pacing away. His anger was making his whole body shake.

Heidi glanced Matt’s way once, then back at Brandi. “I think Matt is about it to lose it, but I can’t afford to get emotional. Now don’t judge me for what I’m going to do. I’m following my instincts…I think.”

She morphed into her wolf, and pushed Ariel to her back. She put two paws on Ariel’s shoulders and lifted her chin to howl. The eerie sound she made was piercing and seemed to vibrate forever. Everyone in human form grabbed their ears and bent forward from the pain.

Heidi looked down at Ariel and growled, pawing at the front of her. Then she hopped twice, letting the full force of her wolf land on Ariel’s chest. Suddenly, Ariel seized and coughed up what looked like a ton of black smoke. Heidi backed off just in time for Ariel to turn her head and start retching up the rest.

Brandi looked at Heidi. “Nice howl you got going on there, party girl. I don’t even sound like that when I’m hitting the high notes with Gareth. Maybe I should have chosen Ryan. The man obviously has some serious mojo in his juju.”

Heidi snarled at the offensive comments, but still leaned against Brandi’s leg in relief. They watched as Ariel kept coming around, the more she got the vile concoction ejected from her system.

Brandi rubbed Heidi’s head and laughed when Ariel sat up and swore viciously.

“What the hell did the stupid ass she-wolf blow on me? Next time I see her, I’m going to kick her butt to hell and back. Then I’m going to carry her beat up wolf body around town in my teeth just to embarrass her in front of everyone she knows.”

Matt looked at Brandi and Heidi in disbelief, then walked forward to drop to his knees besides Ariel. “Do you know who you are? What you are?”

Ariel shook her head. “What do you mean? I have a bad headache from whatever the hell just happened, but I don’t think the fall gave me a concussion.”

Matt snatched Ariel up in his arms and held tight. His relief about her being alive had no words. He knew many full-bloods who had been killed by the mixture Ariel had just coughed up.

“I thought you were gone. It scared me to realize it could actually happen.”

“Yes, well, I might have been gone with Reed, if your old girlfriend hadn’t gotten her panties in a wad about the two of us. Now I don’t think I can drive until this headache passes. The trip is going to have a wait a day. In case you didn’t get to hear the argument, some of the females in your pack think I’m not purebred enough to be your current friend-with-benefits. By the way, how do you say ‘go to hell’ in werewolf? The deceitful she-wolf didn’t seem to respond to any of my human threats.”

Matt looked at the black powder covering both their shirts now. He peeled his off, then peeled off Ariel’s. The powder covered clothing was no longer safe to wear and would have to be burned. And the ground where it happened would have to be cleansed.

“My head is spinning like crazy. Why are we getting naked? After today, I’m all about making our relationship public, but I don’t think I have it in me to do you in the middle of the street in broad daylight. Plus, I just threw up. I’d really like to go somewhere and brush my teeth.”

Chuckling, Matt lifted a weak Ariel in his arms and stood with her clutched to his chest. He couldn’t imagine what he would have suffered if she had died. Those few minutes of fear still had his insides quaking.

“When you come back from visiting the Black Wolf pack, we’re going to have a little talk about you moving in with me as my full time friend-with-benefits…or something.”

“Because I’m better in bed than the she-wolf?” Ariel asked.

Matt laughed. “That’s not the reason I want you in my life, but it is a perk. I’ve decided I like you more than any female I’ve ever known. I’d like you to live with me and keep me company. I’ve never felt that way about anyone before you.”

Ariel laughed. “Two weeks ago I was a dowdy divorced scientist who thought her love life was over. Now the hottest guy I’ve ever met wants me to live with him. This werewolf thing might be okay after all. And I like you too, Matt.”

“Brandi? Tell Reed the trip has to be postponed. Explain what happened. I’m going to get Eva to check her.”

“We’ll take care of everything else. You just take care of Ariel,” Brandi replied.

“Count on it,” Matt vowed, carrying Ariel to the passenger side of his truck.

***

Eva was waiting at the house when they got there and held the door open to let him carry Ariel inside. She had the microscope and the blood-drawing kit laid out on his kitchen table.

“Ariel still has some of the dust on her. We need to shower it off first,” Matt explained, as he continued walking Ariel slowly up the stairs.

In his tiled walk-in shower, he stripped the clothes from both of them and tossed them into a pile to be burned. Ariel didn’t fight him when he washed her completely, including her growing mane of hair. He shampooed it several times and then poured a healthy dose of conditioner into it.

“I can’t remember the last time I was this relaxed. It’s a bit like being drunk. I feel like I could sleep for hours and hours,” Ariel said.

“No sleep yet, babe. We have a little bit of work to do first,” Matt said. “Eva is waiting downstairs to help.”

Ariel nodded. “Okay. But don’t be taking my complete obedience tonight the wrong way.”

“I’m not challenging you—I’m just taking care of you,” Matt whispered, toweling her off and kissing little trails down her clean face and throat.

Every flutter of her pulse sent alarm skittering through his cells again. He couldn’t seem to forget how close he’d come to losing her.

“Dr. Jones the scientist needs to let Eva the healer make sure she’s doing as well as we think she is. I know how important it is for you to know all the facts.”

Ariel patted Matt’s jaw. “Listen to you. You’re being all scientific. That’s so cute. Okay, I’ll behave while Eva looks at me.”

“Good. Now before I start kissing you in ways I’m not going to want to stop doing, let’s wrap you up in the butt-ugly robe Mother Gray Wolf gave you.”

“Nanuka gave me a robe?”

“Yes. It’s hideous,” Matt declared. “I didn’t tell you because it’s ugly and far too big.”

“I think it was very thoughtful of her to give me a robe,” Ariel declared, holding out her arms.

Sighing, Matt wrapped the miles of fluffy, furry, white fabric around Ariel’s supple body. He crossed the massive front flaps and tied the belt to hold it closed.

Ariel looked down at herself. “Even as out of it as I am, I can see why you didn’t mention it now. This is a real libido killer, isn’t it?”

“Not really,” Matt said, grinning at her concern. “I just hate covering up the best parts of you. I’d rather see you wearing my old pajamas or sweats.”

“I think I’d rather be wearing them too, but I have to admit the robe is keeping me warm.”

Holding his hand for support, Ariel padded down the stairs a step behind Matt.

Eva was washing her hands at the kitchen sink in preparation to work on her. Ariel slid into a chair at the table, fighting the dizziness that just wouldn’t go away.