Ariel (7 page)

“I think we’ll get Celeste to give us a couple rooms at her bed and breakfast. She’ll make sure we aren’t disturbed,” Gareth said calmly, not all surprised by the turn of events. Most mated males grieved long and hard, but eventually got over it. Ryan had grieved more than enough already. Temporary relief was how you got going again. He should know. He’d lost two mates over the last couple hundred years.

Brandi snorted. “Great. It’s not bad enough that I’m a wolf. No—now I’m checking into a sleazy hotel for a couple hours of boinking. This day just keeps getting better and better. The only good thing I can say is that it beats being dead.”

“Are you always so negative about everything?” Gareth asked, studying the frowning female who had held his interest since the moment he’d seen her.

“Yes. It’s called being a realist,” Brandi declared, shaking her head over Gareth’s complaining. Sex should be lots of fun with Mr. Always Calm, she thought. Gareth probably didn’t have an original move in his sexual arsenal. She imagined that a woman probably had to tell him what to do every step of the way. But the idea of getting rid of the fire between her legs overrode her disappointment in the two remaining choices being the hyena brothers who were still snickering about Heidi choosing Ryan. And really—did it matter whose hose she used to put out her fire? Not really. Heidi had already made the best choice of all the males in the room. She supposed she’d take Gareth over either of the remaining hyena brothers.

Brandi heaved out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I just want to get this over with.”

Gareth rose and nodded. “Okay. Let’s go then. With luck we’ll be back by the time Matt and Ariel get done helping Reed. I still don’t know what he plans to do with the three of you…or with Reed. I guess Matt is still thinking about the situation.”

***

The black wolf on the table was still and unmoving. Ariel swallowed hard. She couldn’t let Reed die. She just couldn’t. His blood had created her. Perhaps her blood could save him. It seemed a viable risk to take given all they’d suffered together at Crane’s hands. She didn’t want to deal with this nightmare alone. She needed the creature on the table to help her survive what had happened to her.

She looked at the medic, a native woman with a kind face. “Can you hook up a direct transfusion? I’m one of Reed’s…family members…and his alpha in training. My blood stands the best chance of helping him.”

“He has lost more than we can take from you, Alpha,” the healer said softly.

Ariel shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. I have to try. Take what you safely can. My blood is special. I should build it back quickly and it should build quickly in him. After you’re done though, you will not be allowed to take my blood or Reed’s again. You’re better off not knowing why.”

Ariel turned her sincerest gaze to Matt.

“If you trust me at all, see that the transfusion equipment is destroyed after we do this. Incinerate them completely if you can. I’m telling you this in case anything happens to me.”

“What could possibly happen to you?” Matt demanded.

Ariel shrugged. “I don’t have any idea about the long term effects of what was done to Reed, me, or the other women. My wolf turning was not natural. There’s no time to go into the whole story, but what I’ve become is the result of a science experiment. Now do as I say and protect your pack, Matt. I don’t want to die knowing I’ve harmed you or anyone connected to you.”

Ariel watched the native woman walk around Reed’s bed and stop in front of her. “I see the Great Alpha’s life in your determined eyes, which look so much like his. I will do as you ask. There is no need to charge Matt with watching me. My brother knows my word is good.”

“Brother?” Ariel said in surprise.

“We have different mothers, but similar hearts,” the healer said.

Ariel sighed. “Okay. Let’s do this then.” She turned to Matt. “It’s too cold to sit without clothes. Can you split this sleeve for me? I’d do it myself, but it’s too awkward a reach, and I don’t want to get naked.”

Matt waited until Ariel had climbed up onto the gurney Eva had wheeled close to Reed’s bed. “Eva, shouldn’t Ariel shift to her wolf to make her stronger?”

Eva studied the floor for long moments. Finally, she shook her head. “No. Something valuable will be lost if she shifts. We will try the transfusion with her in human form.”

Matt stepped to the side and ripped the sleeve of the coveralls up to her shoulder. He flinched when Ariel saw the size of needle Eva brought to insert into her arm. She looked away while it was being done.

“Damn. That was worse than the injections I got just before I was turned,” Ariel said. “I’m going to hate needles for the rest of my life now.”

Matt grabbed her free hand. “Me too. Try thinking of something you like. That always helps me. Maybe you could think of a nice hot fire and how much fun it would be for us to put it out.”

Ariel’s snicker made him feel marginally less helpless in the face of her pain.

Eva opened Ariel’s fingers and put a hand pump into them. “Squeeze this to get it going. The pump will take over after the blood begins to flow.”

Matt saw Ariel’s jaw harden in determination as she did what Eva told her to do. He tightened his grip. “You are one of the most unselfish, determined people I’ve ever met.”

Ariel snorted, her fingers squeezing the pump. “Now I know why all those women are chasing you. You’re just an incredibly nice guy in werewolf’s clothing.”

Matt gripped her hand tighter. “That was a terrible joke. And I am not always nice. You just bring out the nice in me.”

“Well, we are friends-with-benefits now,” Ariel joked, hearing the pump finally kick in and take over. “Listen Matt. Seriously. If anything happens to me, take care of Brandi and Heidi. Okay?”

Matt nodded. “I will, but nothing is going to happen to you, Ariel. I’m the alpha of this pack. I forbid it.”

“Crazy Crane—the guy who did this to me—was an evil SOB. Anything is possible. And last time I checked, you weren’t God, though you did make me see heaven today,” Ariel said, feeling herself getting sleepy.

From far away, she heard Matt calling her name, but sleep beckoned too strongly.

Chapter 6

Ariel woke in the dark. She was warm, dressed in soft flannel, and being held by a pair of strong arms. She sniffed, relaxing when she smelled a now familiar, sexy male. She whimpered when he rolled against her and nuzzled her throat.

“I want another taste of you so bad. You have no idea what a torture it has been letting you sleep. Eva threatened my life if I didn’t take proper care of you and let you rest.”

“Glad you listened to your sister. Can I have some water? And maybe a little space until my mind clears?” Ariel asked.

Sighing, Matt raised up over Ariel and reached out to touch the lamp on her side of the bed. The resulting brightness had them both hiding their eyes. “Sorry. I keep meaning to get a lower wattage bulb for the lamp. I never have overnight guests, so I keep forgetting.”

Ariel stared up at his chest and let her eyes trail down the front of him. “You have to be lying. Do you torture all your overnight guests this way just to come across as some caring guy?”

“Don’t be rude. I never let a female stay here with me. I go to her place,” Matt said firmly, plopping a glass with straw on her stomach. “Eva said to drink this awful smelling stuff. It’s a native remedy—a blood builder. Smells awful, but she’s usually right about what medicine does.”

Ariel slowly slid backwards until she sat up in the bed. She took the glass, sniffed, and then frowned. She took a sip and was thankful it only tasted half as foul as it smelled.

“How’s Reed?” she asked, making a face with every sip.

Matt scooted up in the bed and looked into her concerned gaze. He wondered what it would be like to have her be so worried about him. “Eva thinks Reed’s recovering, even though he can’t shift yet. She said it was you who saved him. The spirits were already calling him home.”

Ariel sighed. “Is he mad at me for saving him? He seemed like he’d been through a lot.”

Matt shrugged. “You’ll have to ask him yourself tomorrow. He’s up and moving. Eva took Reed home with her. Her children treat him like a big dog and hug him to death.”

“He is not a dog. Reed is
canis lupis
,” Ariel declared, lifting the horrible drink to her mouth again and drinking a big gulp. “Been there—took that class. Think I got an ‘A’ when I shifted on his command.”

“Your wolf is quite large for a female, even an alpha. I find that interesting…and sexy as hell,” Matt said.

“You forgot magnificent,” she teased, tipping the glass and draining the contents. “The guy I killed called me that. Here—it’s gone. Can I have some water now?”

Matt leaned and snatched a bottle from his nightstand, handing it over.

“Thanks. And you said you weren’t prepared for guests. I think you were teasing me.” Ariel sighed as the water tumbled down her throat. “Wow, that’s good. Thank you.”

“I haven’t been prepared before, but there’s a whole box of condoms in the drawer of my nightstand now. I don’t suppose the fire has come back yet, has it?”

Matt sounded so forlorn, Ariel laughed and choked on her water. “No. I think the loss of blood may have dimmed the fire to a few flickering cinders.”

“Oh. Well, okay. I just wanted to be sure,” he said.

Ariel snorted. “You know, I figured an alpha would have just thrown me down on the bed, demanded I please him, and taken what he wanted.”

“Would you like me to do that to you?” Matt asked, grinning at her twinkling eyes.

“Only if I asked you to. Otherwise, I’d probably rip your throat out. I did that to a guy who just slapped me on the ass. Call me spoiled, but I like sex to be my idea.”

Matt sighed in resignation. “Then I guess I will wait for the fire to blaze again and hope I get another invitation. Do you mind that I brought you to my home? Your beta is with Gareth—at least for now. I’m not sure what happened with them, but she’s sleeping in the spare bedroom in his house. He refused to let her be alone at the bed and breakfast. Heidi is with Ryan, still where they started their fire extinguishing. He said her fire is nearly impossible to put out, but that he wasn’t leaving until it was done. He said if she would just let him kiss her, he felt it would be much more effective.”

“I really, really don’t want to know why I care about any of this. But I do. I want them as functional as possible. Text him. Tell him to tell her I said to let him kiss her. She’ll obey me. And then the man can get some rest. Tomorrow, I’ll test you and Ryan both and see if nanos travel out through saliva. And I’ll need to test Gareth too, if Brandi slipped up with him, though I doubt that happened.”

Matt laughed as he reached for the phone on his nightstand and began typing. “So do you want something to eat?”

Ariel smiled. “No. What I want is to be held again while I sleep. That may not be good friends-with-benefits etiquette, but you asked.”

Matt reached out and pulled her to his side with one arm. He was surprised as hell when her head slid down his chest and into his lap. Before his fantasies could race ahead, she quivered and shuddered out several little stressful breaths. His wolf whimpered in sympathy and wanted to ease her worry. His hand went to pet her hair before he could stop himself. Ariel was an interesting blend of vulnerability and strength. But the only two males she ever showed her vulnerability to so far were Reed and him.

“Everything is going to be okay, Ariel. You did good in saving Reed,” he said.

“Thank you, Matt—for everything. I’m sorry I’m too tired to pay you back for all your help.”

Rolling her face, Ariel kissed his erection through his clothes. When his wolf whimpered in happiness, it made Matt want to laugh.

When Ariel had fallen back asleep, he lifted her to the pillow beside him. He watched her sleeping for a little while, then reached over and touched the too-bright lamp until it went off.

He put the empty water bottle back on his nightstand and tucked himself around her body again. Doing as Ariel asked, he held her while she slept, feeling oddly content to be needed.

***

In the morning, Matt woke to no female in his bed and lost his mind. Jumping up, he ran down his stairs, skidding to a stop as he found Ariel in the kitchen talking with an unexpected visitor.

“Mother Gray Wolf?
What are you doing here?”

Ariel’s smiling face turned his way. Her smile faded as her gaze fell straight to his straining crotch.

Matt looked down and saw himself tenting. He swore then realized how disrespectful it was. “Sorry. Let me get dressed. I’ll be right back,” he said, stomping back up the stairs.

Ariel stared for a while at the place where her…what the hell was she supposed to call him? Her coitus buddy? Her werewolf friend with benefits? Her fellow alpha—when she found out what an alpha was? Boyfriend was too inane to even be added to the mix, even if they had already had marathon sex once and slept together after a crisis.