Fox, Morgan - Craving Silence [Cowboys and Werewolves] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (3 page)

“Well, Mr. Hickman, welcome to Silent Falls.”

* * * *

Dr. Shadow Foster, the local MD in Silent Falls, and Silence’s temperamental twin sister, arrived with her team and in a flash had Lance Hickman stabilized and loaded into the back of the ambulance. Silence stood nearby as everyone Gavin had called began doing their part to erase the events of the night. Keeping the horrors of the evening under wraps was not exactly what she wanted to do, but she also didn’t want a citywide panic on her hands.

She felt the cold, hard stare of her sister prickling against the nape of her neck before she noticed her approach. “I’ve got Mr. Hickman ready to take to the clinic. Can I expect to see you soon?” she asked impatiently.

Glaring at Shadow, she told her, “You know you will. Give me some time to take care of this, and then I’ll be there.”

Shadow rolled her big blue eyes at her and flipped her shoulder-length, wavy blonde hair over her shoulder in an annoyed
you’re wasting my time
display. “We need to decide what do to with him. He’s been bitten, and there’s nothing I can do to stop the change.”

Shadow folded her slender arms over her chest and cocked her head back toward Silence, who simply nodded. “I’m aware of that.” Even though inside she felt the bubbling tension growing between them, Silence kept her voice smooth and calm.

Shadow hastily turned away, and the chill she left in her wake was becoming a ritual between them. Life at the Foster home had certainly been interesting these last several years. Shadow blamed her for everything, it seemed, including the reason she was never able to leave Silent Falls to pursue a medical career in a larger city. Shadow felt Silence was holding her back, which was complete and total bullshit. She only suggested that Shadow remain close during the time of month where the wolf was present because the danger was greater away from the pack. But Shadow had argued that the warning was her twin’s way of telling her not to leave.

Silence didn’t want to think about the friction between them right now, and she had other pressing matters to attend to.

Gavin strolled up alongside her and bumped his shoulder against hers in a teasing fashion. “Trouble in sisterly paradise I see.”

“Shut up, Gavin,” she said annoyingly. “I know you have a crush on my sister, but you work for me, so you of all people should stay clear of our family matters.”

He pinched his brow tight on his forehead before he tried to deny his feelings. “I don’t have a crush…”

Silence inclined her head to the side in a challenging expression and arched a devious eyebrow, cutting off his words with her stern, knowing glare. “Don’t even think of lying to me. I know how you feel about her, and if you had any balls, you might’ve already asked her out.”

He shrugged, and Silence simply shook her head.
Men…

Leaning in close so that her voice would only be heard by Gavin, she told him, “It’s time we go on the offensive. We need to start digging deep to discover the identities of these new lycans, and we need to find out where they’re hiding. I don’t want them in my town any longer, and it looks like it’s up to us to see that they get a permanent eviction notice.”

“Would you like for me to gather a few other lycans for a night reconnaissance?” Gavin’s chest seemed to expand at the thought of having a night to run through the woods wild and free in search of excitement.

“Yes,” she said sharply, grabbing hold of Gavin’s arm before he could turn away. “But recruit discreetly. I don’t want word getting out just how badly things have gotten around here. Alerting the humans would only bring hell down upon us, and that’s exactly what we need to avoid.”

Gavin nodded. His sandy-blond hair tousled slightly as a gust of wind blew through the trees. “I’ll track down Gaius, Declan, and Marcus. The four of us should be able to cover a good amount of terrain tonight without getting noticed. I’ll report back in the morning.”

She released his arm and offered him a subtle smile. “Thanks, Gavin, and be careful.”

“You got it.” He turned to leave, but hesitated, his dark gaze flickering with wicked intent. “Hey, boss, you know the real reason I never asked Shadow out, don’t you?”

She shook her head, eyes narrowed.

“I never wanted to know what you looked like naked. Let’s face it. I heard you were identical.” He shuddered. “That would just be weird.” Silence quickly shifted her booted foot to kick him, but missed as he scurried away with a hearty chuckle.

Her gaze quickly darted back to the bustle of activities that nobody present really wanted to participate in. She didn’t have to be psychic to know that either, just observant to the behaviors of those who knew so much was at stake. If word of this incident leaked out to the normal population, the buzz that it created would attract a lot of unwanted attention in the media. Silent Falls had been kept low on the radar for generations, and she wasn’t about to let that fact change.

Groaning, she knew it would take hours to clean up the mess and it had to be done before first light. A local tow rig had already hoisted and righted the overturned truck and trailer, and all that was left was to haul it off. Doc Brock and his crew were still in the process of picking up all the slaughtered cows. Her local deputies had blocked off the road several miles in either direction due to a car accident which involved an overturned cattle trailer. Most facts could be disclosed, just not all of them.

“Silence?” a familiar, raspy voice called out to her, startling her out of her thoughts.

She twisted around to see her trusted friend and favorite veterinarian, Doctor David Brock, standing behind her. His soft gray eyes and salt-and-pepper hair was a welcomed sight. “Hey, Doc,” she said.

He patted a gentle hand on her shoulder, a comforting gesture she deeply appreciated from the older man. “I know you have this terrible need to monitor everything, but you don’t have to stand and watch. I can handle the cattle removal just fine. I’ll make sure everything’s cleaned up before I head out.”

“It’s okay, Doc, really.”

“Silence.” His commanding voice was so fatherly it was like an echo of the past, as if her own father had spoken her name. “I’ve known you since you were a baby. You always put this town above everything else, and we all know it. Leave this cleanup to me. You are most likely needed at the clinic anyway. From what I could smell, that boy’s in trouble, and I’m sure Shadow’s none too happy about it. You know how she gets about lycan matters.”

Truer words were never spoken. She sighed heavily, knowing that Doc was right. “Is she ever really happy about anything?”

Doc Brock scowled at her, and it was another fatherly gesture that showed he wasn’t exactly thrilled about their sibling rivalry.

She shrugged her shoulders. “Sorry, I know you’re right.”

“Of course I am, child. Now get your ass out of here and take care of that man. I’m sure he’s going to need you more than these dead cows are.”

“Okay, I’m gone. Thanks, Doc.”

He smiled, but didn’t move until she did. Hopping into her truck, she had one location on her mind, and that was the clinic where Lance Hickman was being mended and stitched up for a possible execution.

* * * *

Shadow’s blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her lips were pressed tightly together as her arms folded over her chest. “What took you so long?” she asked with an irritated growl in her voice.

With a sideways glance, Silence told her, “I stopped to get my nails done on the way.” She flipped her hand over and extended her middle finger. “You like?” So much for being smooth and calm, she told herself.

Shadow, once again, rolled her eyes at her twin. “You could have made an effort to get here sooner. My staff would like to go home sometime before morning.”

Ignoring her whining sister, she got straight to the point. “What’s the status on Mr. Hickman?”

Shadow picked up his medical chart that was conveniently on top of the counter beside her and handed it to Silence. “He’s been bitten twenty-two times. His back was hamburger meat when I started cleaning his wounds. Right now he’s full of morphine, and he’s going to stay that way until he heals fully. I think it will help us avoid any unwanted questions until you figure out what you want to do with him.”

“Me?” she asked. “I’m not the one who has to decide anything. The council has that honor.”

Shadows darkening blue eyes narrowed. “But you’re on the council, so you get a vote.”

Silence ran a stiff hand through her loose-and-flowing blonde hair. Shadow was right. She did get a vote along with the other elders. Silence was the youngest member of the council and only appointed because she was the eldest in her family. Since the death of her father, Silence had been nominated to replace him, and that was another reason Shadow was more than pissed at her, as if she had a say in the fact she was born a few seconds earlier. “I’ll contact the council in the morning and tell them what’s happened. I’m sure they’ll want to convene shortly after, and then once I know, I’ll let you know.”

“Fine,” Shadow said sharply. “Whatever.”

Silence’s fist squeezed tight at her side. Her need to rap her sister in the head with the medical chart was beyond alarming. Inhaling a calming breath, she wondered if her sister would ever treat her like she wasn’t the enemy. Would she ever get that her life was even harder now that her parents were gone, leaving her with so much burden to carry? Probably not.

“Can I see him?”

“Why?” The look on Shadow’s face was one of deep curiosity and question.

Silence shook her head and scowled. “Does it really matter why?”

Shadow put her hand up as if to block her sister from sight. “Whatever. He’s in the last room on the left. Lock up when you leave. I’m telling my people to head home.”

Without saying good-bye, Silence stalked down the hallway, putting much-desired distance between her and her emotionally one-sided sister. But when she reached Lance’s door, a wild shiver raced up and down her spine, raising the fine hairs all over her body. Instinct clawed at her mind and had her nails and teeth lengthening in defense. The unique smell that was lycan blasted through her senses.

Hesitantly, she entered the room where the golden-haired guest was supposed to be drugged into sleep. She tensed at the shocking sight before her. Lance Hickman wasn’t resting and healing peacefully as Shadow had described. Instead his body flailed wildly on the bed. His sweat-soaked figure saturated the sheets beneath him as he shook and trembled violently. The alarming tumultuousness of his bloodcurdling screams left her frozen in place, fingers gripped on the doorknob.

The transformation was happening much faster than they had expected. Tonight, he would become the wolf.

Chapter Three

“What the hell is going on in here?” Walker Helmsley’s voice boomed from behind her, startling her so much she jumped with a yelp.

“Walker,” Silence gasped. “What are you doing here? You really shouldn’t have come. You need to leave.”

“The hell I do,” he retorted aggressively, moving to stand close to her. His gaze never drifted away from her face. “I’m not leaving you alone with him.” He pointed a determined finger in Lance’s direction, a deep, heavy scowl etched across his forehead. “I’m not leaving you alone with a damn crazed werewolf.”

Silence sucked in a sharp breath and spun around so quickly that her breasts brushed against the firm ridge of muscles on Walker’s chest. As she stared up at him, all six-foot-four of him, her eyes swelled at his words. Her breathing quickened. “Werewolf?” she asked, sounding both surprised and anxious that he would use a word so unique to her kind to describe what he saw happening to Lance.
How would he even know lycans existed?

He cupped her face in his hands, his golden-brown eyes softening as he gazed down at her. “Don’t look so shocked, Silence. I’ve known about werewolves”—he arched his brow—“lycans, since I was a child. I grew up in Silent Falls after all, and you’d have to be deaf and dumb not to know that things really do go bump in the night in this town. Besides, my grandmother told me stories. Before she met Dutch, she was in love with your grandfather, and from what she’s told me, they had quite the whirlwind love affair. More importantly, I know what you are, and I’ve known since we were kids.”