Beasts Within (7 page)

             
“Some people are into that sort of thing. Cougars, you know.” She had seen a lot of that on television when she’d been able to watch it.

             
Karic snorted and shook his head. “I think I much prefer lions.”

             
Their eyes met when he said that, both seeming shocked that those words had come out of his mouth. Camilla opened hers to say something and then closed it again, unsure. Because that was definitely flirting, wasn’t it? And it felt right to want to respond, but it was also wrong because she was leaving, and… It was all so complicated.

             
Before she could figure out what to say, Karic was clearing his throat and getting up, wheeling the x-ray machine away. “Um…yes. Well. You’re all done here, and I’ll just…go get the wrap for your ankle and get that in place and then I need to go check in with the doctor. So. Yes. I’ll be right back.”

             
“Okay,” Camilla replied, voice barely above a whisper. “I’ll just wait here, then.” Her heart was racing, and it was good that Karic had left the small room because she was pretty sure that he would have been able to hear it had he stayed. It was so random and so…dumb to be feeling like this about someone she had known for less than twenty four hours. He was nice and kind and handsome, yes, but that shouldn’t have been enough to have her acting like a teenager around him. But it didn’t help at all that she had seen inside his head a bit and knew what kind of person he was. That sort of derailed a lot of the mental arguments she wanted to have with herself.

             
She tried anyway, though. When he came back in the room and took her ankle, wrapping it up with the utmost care, she tried to convince herself that he would have done the same for any patient, that she was the same as he old women he treated. But the look in those green eyes when he finished and patted her knee definitely said that she was wrong about that.

             
He helped her to her feet and down the hall to the office in the back. “This is where I usually hide out when I’m on my breaks,” he said. “There’s stuff in the mini-fridge and a little cot back there if you want to take a nap or something. I’m gonna be here until at least midnight, but let me know if you want to get out of here before that, and I’ll take you back to my place when I go on break, okay?”

             
The office did seem stocked with things she could use to entertain herself; there was even a small television on top of the bookshelf. “I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she said. “I’m probably just going to sleep anyway. I’m still worn out from yesterday. You go take care of sick people.”

             
His smile was bright. “Will do. I’ll come back and check on you when I can.” And then he was gone, heading off in the direction of the other rooms in the building.

             
Camilla let out a sigh of relief and went to sit on the cot. She wasn’t used to spending her days like this, and she hoped that wherever she ended up, she found a place like this one with people she could call her friends and places she could hang out in without being worried. Habit had her looking around, making sure the place was secure. Of course, Paul or whoever he sent would have to get through the rest of the building to get to her, and she’d hear the commotion and be able to…well, probably not hide, but do something.

             
She had already made up in her mind that she wasn’t going back with him or anyone else for that matter, and she wasn’t going to be swayed or taken or anything like that.

             
“So there,” she muttered under her breath and could barely stifle a yawn when she stretched and leaned back on the cot. She really was still drained from her escape the night before, and a nap sounded amazing. With a quiet sigh, she made herself comfortable and then closed her eyes.

Paul Westin was very, very unhappy. In fact, unhappy was putting it mildly to an absurd degree. It would have been more accurate to say that he was livid, anxious, and downright pissed off. He did so hate it when things that belonged to him went missing. It was bad when they got stolen, but it was even worse when they got up and walked away. Or fled in the middle of the night like the little
rat
the she was.

             
He took a deep breath and made himself focus. Getting angrier wasn’t going to fix anything. It wasn’t going to get the traitorous little bitch found any faster, for certain, and that was the only thing that mattered right then. Later, of course, there would be the matter of punishing his wayward charge. Making sure that she knew better than to ever try to leave his side again. He would put a collar around that pretty neck of hers and keep her chained to him at all times if he had to, but she
would learn.

             
The door to the spacious room he has designated for his audiences banged open, and Paul looked up impatiently. “Well?”

             
Thomas and Adam, two of the older members of the pride exchanged wary glances. “There’s no sign of her, sir,” Adam said. “We followed her scent out of the house, but then…”

             
“But then
what
?”

             
No one liked giving him bad news when he used that tone of voice. It was the same tone that he used on people who weren’t going to be living much longer, and it was clear that neither of the two wanted to answer that question. Paul was not above having one of them killed to make the other work harder if it would send the right message. They were the best trackers in the pride, and if they hadn’t been able to find her then they were going to have to come up with a different plan.

             
“…but her scent disappears just short of the woods, sir. It rained heavily last night, so that makes sense,” Thomas continued. “We searched the area, but there weren’t any footprints or anything close by.”

             
“So, what you’re telling me is that she has disappeared?” Paul asked, voice deceptively calm. “How could that happen?
Someone
is always supposed to be watching her! She’s not supposed to be able to slip out and run off like this!” And alright, maybe he was losing his calm just a little, but things like this were not supposed to happen. Camilla knew too much to be allowed to roam lose in the world. She had seen too many of his dealings, had been witness to too many of the less than legal trades that kept the pride going and living in this manor. If she went to the police, there would be no stopping them from coming to investigate, especially since all crimes involving shifters were taken very seriously.

             
He hoped that he had instilled enough fear in her over the years that she wouldn’t talk to anyone about the pride and instead go straight for trying to get as far away as possible. Eventually, he
would
find her, but if he had to deal with a police investigation first, then it would take longer for him to be able to search for her.

             
“We don’t know what happened, sir!” Thomas insisted. “She was here for dinner, but then she was just…
gone.
”

             
“She was not just gone. People do not just vanish, Thomas. They sneak and hide like rats, and then they are found and caged. And we will find her, do you hear me?”

             
They both nodded immediately.

             
“Good. Search the entirety of the woods. Leave nothing unchecked. More than likely she went across the bridge into the town proper, and we can only
hope
that the rain delayed her escape. She is likely still there, and I want her found and dragged back here, is that understood?”

             
“Yes, sir,” the said in unison and then turned to leave quickly. Good. They should be afraid. If Camilla got away, then there would be hell to pay. It had been annoying when Chris, one of the former members of the pride had gotten a strange woman pregnant and then run off with her, but when he’d turned up three years later with a toddler with amber eyes and a strange power, it had been a blessing.

             
Of course, he’d had to be killed. Paul had known that Chris wouldn’t have allowed them to use his daughter like a tool, but with him gone, Camilla had then had no one but the pride to look after her, and Paul had been able to manipulate her into all sorts of things from a young age. She knew nothing else but them and the things he made her do, and he was going to get her back before she could get any more ridiculous ideas about freedom in her head. He needed her, and he was going to have her back no matter what it took to make sure that happened.

             
There were only so many places she could hide in the town, and someone would have seen her, surely. She’d gotten that infernal job, so she had a little money, he knew (and that was going to be nipped right in the fucking bud when she was returned to him), but she couldn’t have gotten far.

             
“You will regret this, Camilla,” he murmured under his breath as he looked out the window, watching Thomas and Adam and a few other members of the pride head for the tree line. “You will regret it and you will never get this chance again, so I do hope you enjoy your little adventure, my pet.”

Karic had never had so much trouble concentrating before when it came to his job. Usually he was focused and charming, making sure older women and even the men took their medicines on time and followed whatever treatments had been outlined for them. But tonight his mind was thoroughly with the girl he had left in the back office, wondering if she was doing alright, if she was worried about her pride finding her here, and what he would do if they did.

              “Are you alright, Karic?” Dr. Dearborn’s voice cut through his thoughts, making him look up in surprise.

             
“Oh. Yeah. Definitely. Why do you ask?”

             
She smiled at him mildly. “Because you just filled out Mr. Hampton’s prescription for two hundred and fifty ten milligram tablets instead of the other way around?”

             
Karic looked down at his pad and then sighed. Yep. He was definitely losing his mind. He tore off the prescription and balled it up, tossing it with impressive accuracy into the nearest trash can.

             
“Is this about the young lady?” Dr. Dearborn asked him.

             
His face got hot, and Karic just
knew
he was blushing. Awesome. “I…don’t know what you mean.”

             
“Well, Carmen has been informing everyone that there is a pretty young lady asleep in the back office and that she came in with you, so I just assumed.”

             
Karic couldn’t help but groan at that. He wanted them all to leave Camilla
alone
, and there was Carmen, sticking her nose where it didn’t belong at all. She’d probably hoped to catch Camilla awake so she could extol his virtues and try to find out what they were to each other and how Camilla felt about him. “If it’s about anything, it’s about how your nurses can’t mind their own business,” he muttered.

             
Dr. Dearborn cracked a smile. “Yes, they do seem to have a problem with boundaries, don’t they? When I first came and took over here, I was single, and they went out of their way to try and talk me up to every attractive male patient we had, even if they were your age. Of course, then they found out that I wasn’t attracted to men, and that set them back for a good two weeks.”

             
“And then what happened?”

             
Her smile grew. “And then Lydia walked in for a physical.”

             
Lydia was the doctor’s girlfriend, who she had been with for as long as Karic had known her pretty much. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought that the nurses had actually managed to successfully do the matchmaker thing. “Well, I’m pretty sure that’s not going to be the end of this story for me, so I wish they would butt out.”

             
“It’s only because they care about you, Karic, you know that. We all just want you to be happy.”

             
“I
am
happy,” he insisted, wondering why nobody ever believed him when he said that.

             
The rest of his shift had passed quickly enough, and miracle of miracles, he’d been able to call it a night before midnight rolled around. Apparently it was a quiet night for accidents in the town or something because at eleven p.m. Dr. Dearborn was telling him he was free to go for the night.

             
“Take your young lady home,” she said with a smile lurking in the corners of her mouth.

             
“She’s not
mine,
” he insisted.

             
“She’s your friend and clearly your responsibility for whatever reason right now. That’s enough to make her yours for the moment.”

             
Karic just sighed because apparently it literally did not matter what he said to these women. They were going to have their own ideas of what was going on, and they were going to stick to them. So instead of arguing, he went to collect Camilla so they could leave. He was starving, and there were the fixings for the massive sandwiches that were the only thing he really knew how to make back at his house.

             
He tapped on the door to the back office and then pushed it open when there was no response, peering in to see Camilla curled up on the cot just like Dr. Dearborn had said she was. It felt a little creepy to be watching her sleep like this, but he couldn’t really help it, considering he had to go wake her up.

             
Her face was peaceful as she slept, one hand curled up next to her face as she lay on her side, and the other hanging over the edge. Karic crept closer and smoothed an errant brown curl out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. “Hey,” he said, shaking her shoulder a bit. “Wake up, sleepy head.”

             
She groaned and then opened her eyes, peering up at him. “Oh, s’just you,” she said. “What time is it?”

             
“Yep, just me. No need to alarm or excitement.” Karic checked his watch. “Just after eleven and I’m done for the night. You ready to go?”

             
Camilla smiled and sat up, rubbing at her eyes in a way that was too damned cute. It made her look younger than she was, but when she stretched, her curves were on display and it was impossible for Karic to forget that she was a woman. “Mm, yes. I didn’t mean to sleep so long, but I guess I was just worn out.”

             
“Makes sense after all you’ve been through.” He held a hand out to her. “C’mon. Let’s get out of here. I’m making messy sandwiches when we get back to the house.”

             
She beamed at him but didn’t take his hand, instead sliding off of the couch on her own, putting her weight on her wrapped ankle slowly. “Alright, let’s go,” she said, and the two of them headed out to the car.

             
It was a clear night, and Karic tipped his head back to look at the stars, breathing in the warm summer air. He glanced over at Camilla to see her looking around at everything.

             
“This place is really nice when it’s not pouring down rain,” Karic remarked. “Not a lot to see, but it’s friendly and a good place to make a home.”

             
“Is that why you stay here?”

             
He nodded. “I like being settled. Dr. Dearborn wants me to go on some grand adventure to be a doctor in New York or something before I get too old to enjoy something like that, but I don’t want that. I’m happy here.”

             
“Happy is good,” she replied. “How old are you?”

             
“Twenty-six.”

             
“So not too old,
yet.
”

             
Karic grinned at the teasing tone of her voice. “Older than you, whippersnapper.”

             
Her laugh was clear and bright, and suddenly Karic couldn’t be in denial anymore. They had known each other for an absurdly short length of time, but he was interested. She made him feel like he had known her for ages, and he’d never had a reaction to anyone that was as strong as this. When he looked over at her again, she was looking back at him, those amber eyes big and open in her pretty face.

             
“I’d like to find a place like this to end up in,” she said with a little smile. “You’d think that with how I grew up I’d want adventure and to travel and stuff, but really…all I want is somewhere to belong, you know? Where I’m not a tool, but a
person
and people like me and want me around. That’s all I want.”

             
“You’ll get it,” Karic told her. “I mean, I can’t see anyone not liking you, no matter where you end up, and there are places like this all over. You just have to find them.”

             
The conversation stilled for the drive back to the house, the radio providing the only sounds in the car. Camilla was looking out the window as the night zipped past, and Karic focused on the road. It was better to do that than to focus on how good she smelled and how soft her hair and skin looked and how much he wanted to tell her that she could belong
here.
Even if nothing ever came of the strange attraction he had to her, she would be accepted and wanted here; he was sure of it.

             
But he couldn’t say that to her. It wouldn’t be fair. She needed to get away to feel safe, and as long as her pride was just across the river, that wasn’t going to happen. He could tell from the way her eyes darted to the side every so often that she still wasn’t completely comfortable, and that more than anything kept him quiet until they were back at the house.

             
He put on more music and went into the kitchen to pull out all the things he had bought for sandwiches: thick sliced ham and thin cut roast beef, lettuce, pickles, chipotle mayo, tomatoes, honey mustard, potato chips.

             
Camilla was leaning against the opposite counter, one hand pressed over her mouth, seemingly to hold in her giggles as she watched him construct the sandwiches.

             
“What is so funny?” he demanded as he spread mayo on one half of the thick French bread he had purchased just for this.

             
“Nothing, nothing. Just…if I were going to imagine the sandwich a werewolf would make, it would definitely be something like this. Messy, sort of every kind of food thrown together on a piece of bread.”

             
He snorted at her. “And what, you’re too good to eat it because you’re a cat?” he teased.

             
“Oh, no, I plan to eat one. I’m starving, and it looks good.”

             
Karic grinned and quickly constructed two sandwiches, plating them and sliding them onto the table along with massive glasses of root beer. “This is my favorite thing to do after a late shift,” he explained. “Just eat way too much food and then pass out in a stupor. Plus, I have the next two days off, so I get to relax and not have to worry about setting an alarm.”

             
“That does sound nice,” Camilla agreed, turning her sandwich this way and that. “How am I supposed to get this in my mouth?”

             
“You just have to go for it,” he replied. “Don’t over think it or you’ll never be able to manage.”

             
“I feel like this sort of thing should come with a warning label,” she said, but she lifted the sandwich and took a large bite, pickles and mayo splatting onto the plate where they had been displaced. “Mm,” Camilla hummed, grinning at him.

             
“See, I told you.” Karic took his own messy bite and then washed it down with a swig of root beer, sighing happily as he leaned back in the chair. “This is nicer with company,” he said.

             
Camilla licked mustard from her fingers. “Yeah? I’ve never done anything like this before.”

             
“You should do it more often,” Karic pointed out. “It’s fun, right?”

             
“Right.” She smiled at him, and he noticed that she had a smear of mayo right on her cheek that led from the corner of her mouth. His heart beat faster, and he was suddenly seized with the need to lean over and kiss it away. He could imagine that she would taste like root beer, that her lips would be pillowy soft and warm, and that her hair would feel good under his fingers.

             
She was shorter than him by a good eight or so inches, so she’d have to go up on her toes to kiss him properly if they were standing up, her arms around his neck and those glorious curves pressed against his front. He wondered if she would breathe little sighs into his mouth as they kissed, if she would yield to him or if she would give back as good as she got. If she would let him set her on the counter and slide his hands…

             
“Uh…Karic?” From the amused tone of Camilla’s voice, this was not the first time she had said his name. “Is there something on my face? Because you’re staring?” Her cheeks were flushed a bit, and Karic wanted it all so desperately. “Um…yeah. You’ve got some mayo, just there.” He pointed to her cheek with a finger that shook.

             
“Are you alright?” she asked him, brow furrowed.

             
“Yep. Just um…tired, you know. Long day and all. I…I’m fine.” He would have put his head in his hands if he could.

             
“Karic,” Camilla said, and her voice was quiet in the kitchen. “I…give me your hand.”

             
He frowned. “Why?”

             
“Just…please.”

             
“Okay,” he said slowly. Karic wiped his fingers on a paper towel and stretched out a hand to her. Her fingers were warm when they touched his, and she clasped his hand in a firm grip and closed her eyes. There was something so familiar about the gesture, and he tried to think of where he had seen this before. “This…you did this when we first met,” he said. “When I found you beside the road.”