Wild Love (Wilding Pack Wolves 2) - New Adult Paranormal Romance (10 page)

It froze Noah for a split second, slicing like ice through his veins… then he grabbed Emily’s hand and yanked her away from the door.

“Go, go, go!” he shouted to her as he dragged her across the span of the room. She stumbled but caught herself, plus he had an iron grip on her. But there was nowhere for them to go, no rear exit, no door to another room…
just the bathroom.
“Get inside!” he yelled while shoving her through the door and toward the bathtub.

He barely got through the door to the tiny bathroom himself before the room blew.

Emily could hardly breathe with Noah’s weight on her, but that didn’t concern her… what was freaking her out was that he wasn’t moving, and he was
in his wolf form.

Something had exploded in the motel room, probably the door, but Noah had hustled her into the tiny bathroom and down into the bathtub before it hit—and the shock from the blast had thrown him in after her. He must have hit the tiled walls hard, and with his head, because it had knocked him unconscious and now he lay, inert, on top of her. Somewhere in the process, he had shifted into his beautiful white wolf form… but that didn’t make him any less heavy.

“Noah! Noah!” she whispered hoarsely in his ear, the fur of his face tickling hers. She wriggled out from under the bulk of his weight, trying to ease him gently to the floor of the tub while getting a better look at his head. She couldn’t see any blood in all that snow-white fur, but his eyes were closed tight and his tongue lolled out of his open snout. “Noah, please wake up,” she said, tears pricking her eyes as she gently shook him.

Shouts were coming from the room outside, and the air was thick with smoke and small, floating debris from the explosion, but Emily’s focus was entirely on the beautiful, noble wolf who had just saved her life. She dug her hands into his fur, searching for a heartbeat, but it was impossible—as much as she knew about shifters, she didn’t know anything about the anatomy of their wolf forms.

But someone else might.

“In here!” she shouted to whoever was outside in the room. “We’re in here! We need help!”

A pounding of footsteps was followed by Daniel, Noah’s brother, swinging around the corner and into the small room. “Noah?” he gasped then flew to their sides. He looked in horror at Noah’s wolf form, like he had never seen it before.

“He won’t wake up,” Emily said, her throat closing up. But even as the words came out of her mouth, Noah stirred in her arms. His eyes were still closed, but his muzzle leaned into her, rubbing against her arm. “Noah! Can you hear me?”

“I need a medic in here!” Daniel screamed at the men gathered at the door. One disappeared, calling for someone. Then Daniel turned back to Noah. “Noah, God… what’s happened to you?”

Then a miracle occurred—or at least it felt that way to Emily—and Noah opened those clear-blue wolf eyes and looked straight up into her face.

“Noah?” Daniel’s voice drew a growl out of the wolf in her arms, and suddenly, he shifted, leaving her holding a very naked, very gorgeous Noah in the bathtub.

“Oh, thank God,” Daniel said, rocking back on his heels where he was crouched by the side of the tub, but Noah ignored him, his eyes still locked with hers.

She put one hand on his cheek, holding his head as gently as she could with the other. “Say something.” She searched his face for a sign of injury.

He smiled. “You’re beautiful.” Then he touched her face with his fingertips—they were cold, but at least they weren’t shaking.

“Okay, you really did get a knock on the head,” she said, blinking back the tears that had been threatening to fall.

“Noah, please tell me you’re all right.” That was Daniel again.

Noah grimaced at his brother. “I’m fine.” Then he seemed to want to get up, to show Daniel he was okay, so Emily let him go, even though she thought standing up was a very bad idea. Noah worked his way up to his feet, but then wavered a little and braced his hand against the wall.

Daniel stood as well. “You’re not fine. You need to have Jace take a look at you.”

Noah peered down at Emily as she scrambled to stand as well. “Are you okay?” he asked her.

“Yeah.” She gave a small smile. “I think I cushioned your fall.”

Noah squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “God, what was I thinking, bringing you into this?” Then he opened his eyes and turned to his brother. “Make sure she’s okay, Daniel.
Please.”
Noah’s hand was rubbing his head like it hurt.

Emily frowned, but before she could say anything, Daniel was reaching to help her out of the tub. “Let me see you,” he said, raking his gaze over her, apparently checking for injuries. “Can you stand? Did you hit your head or bang up anything?”

“No,” she said, stepping out of the tub and dropping his hand to smooth down her shirt. “I’m fine, really. Noah’s the one who needs help.”

“See?” Daniel asked him. “Will you listen to her and sit down, please?” His voice was rough, but Emily could tell there was really concern behind it.

“What I need is some pants,” Noah said, but he eased down to sitting on the edge of the tub. His clothes were in a heap at the bottom. Daniel knelt down to scoop them up and hand them to his brother. He took them without a word and started pulling them on. Just as he was standing to zip up his pants, another wolf pushed through the onlookers at the door.

Emily recognized him as Jace River, one of the brothers who ran Riverwise.

Daniel gestured to Noah. “He got a knock on the head.”

“I’m fine,” Noah grumbled, but then winced. “Just a headache.”

“Sit down,” Jace said in a tone that said,
I’m your boss, don’t even think about arguing with me.
Or possibly it was his alpha voice. It sent a shiver through Emily, regardless.

Noah sat on the edge of the tub again.

Jace pulled out a penlight from a small, black kit and flashed it across Noah’s eyes. Then he held up two fingers.

“How many?” he asked.

“Two,” Noah said.

“Blurred vision?”

“No, just the headache.”

Jace felt around Noah’s head, standing to inspect his scalp through the mess of brown hair. Noah winced a little, which just made Emily wind her arms tighter around her chest. God, she hoped he was okay.

Jace stood. “All right, you’re going to be fine. That lump on your head looks like it’s already shrinking. Which is pretty damn fast, Noah Wilding. You couldn’t have been hurt too bad. I’m going to say no concussion unless your symptoms start to get worse.”

“See?” Noah peered up at Daniel. Then he looked back to Jace. “Can you check Emily, make sure she’s okay?”

Emily unlocked her arms and put her hands up. “I’m really fine.”

Jace smiled warmly at her. “It’ll make him feel better if we’re sure.”

She gave him a small, awkward nod. Daniel helped Noah get dressed while Jace repeated the same questions and routine with the penlight.

“Any pain or twisted ankles?” he asked.

“No,” she replied.

“Well, you two are damn lucky, that’s all I have to say.” Jace stuffed his penlight back in his black kit.

Noah was shaking his head as he pulled on his shoes. “That was too damn close.” He turned to her. “Emily, I’m sorry. I should never have brought you into this. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.”

“I’m okay,” she protested.

But he just shook his head some more, then peered up at Jace. “What happened?”

“The bomber must have slipped in as part of the couple in Room Twenty-Four.” Jace grimaced. “I can’t believe we missed that ploy. It was so obvious. Anyway, the woman left first. We didn’t think anything of it. Then the man left their room and headed toward the parking lot. We figured he was leaving as well, but then he stopped at your door. I swear to God, Noah, he only paused for a second. That’s all the longer it took to plant whatever explosives he used.” Jace hooked a thumb over his shoulder toward the room. “Damn near took out the entire room, though. And half of the neighboring ones on all sides. Which, thank God, were empty.”

“Did you catch him?” Noah asked.

“No,” Daniel said through gritted teeth. “We weren’t even onto the fact that he did something until he started hauling ass toward the back of the motel. Then the door blew and everything went sideways. We went after him, of course, but the woman must have been waiting for him out back. He was gone by the time we could follow.”

“Dammit.” Noah ran both hands through his hair and stood. He looked a bit more steady this time, which trickled relief through Emily. “All right. I’m getting Emily out of here. When you guys have a plan for what to do next, call me.”

Noah reached a hand for her, and it didn’t even occur to her not to go with him. He took her by the elbow, pulling her close, then hooked an arm protectively over her shoulders. Holding her tight that way, he walked her out into the room.

It was a nightmare.

Most of the room was gone. The explosives took out not just the door, but the entire front wall, half the side walls, and a good chunk of the ceiling. Emily could see all the way to the roof of the two-story motel. The bed was thrown against the wall of the bathroom, and there was nothing left of the sparse furniture but bits of floating dust and broken pieces on the floor. If she and Noah hadn’t made it to the protection of the bathroom, plus had the extra shielding of the bed thrown against the wall, they would both be in pieces just like the splinters of wall and shreds of carpet left hanging in the wounded room.

She coughed on the dust that choked the air. Noah pulled her closer, holding her tight against him as they picked their way through the wreckage. She heard sirens in the distance. There was no way Riverwise could keep this quiet… nor should they. The world should know there were insane people out there trying to kill shifters and the humans who wanted to be with them.

She held onto Noah as they left the room.

Her Prius had a two by four beam lodged through the windshield, somehow thrown from the room to stab her baby car. A small sob escaped her.

“We’ll have it fixed.” Noah’s voice was tight, and his arms around her tensed even more. “I promise you, we’ll make it right.”

She just nodded, unable to get words out. The car didn’t mean anything to her, not really, it was just… it could have been
her
with a giant hole. Or Noah. Somehow seeing the car like that sunk it home even more. Tears started running down her cheeks. She tried to hold them in, but she just couldn’t, not anymore.

Noah walked her toward the far end of the parking lot where his car was. On the way, one of the other shifters jogged up to them, asking Noah if he needed anything. He told them no, that he was taking her to his apartment, that they could find him there if they needed him. But that they were leaving.
Now.
Before the police showed up and detained them with all kinds of questions. She only vaguely noticed all this, as she focused on keeping her legs moving forward. A strange buzzing had taken up residence in her head, blurring out the sounds of sirens and shouting and the stares of people coming out of their rooms. Noah opened the car door and gently helped her into the front seat, then ran around the front to climb in.

The closing of his door snapped her out of her haze. “Are you sure you’re okay to drive?” she asked.

He was gripping the steering wheel hard and staring straight ahead. “I wouldn’t drive you anywhere, if I wasn’t okay to drive, Emily.” His voice was strained. Then he turned to her, and she could see the night lights sparkling in the shine in his eyes. His gaze roamed her face. “You’re crying.” His hands were suddenly on her face, wiping away the tears. “It’s going to be okay, Emily, I swear. You’re safe now.”

She nodded, moving against his gentle touch. “I know. I’m just… I’ll be fine.” She wiped at the tears to try to reassure him.

But it just seemed to cause him pain. “I shouldn’t have brought you here. I’m an idiot for involving you in this. It’s not safe. None of this is safe. And it’s not acceptable to me to endanger you in any way.”

“I’m okay, I promise.”

His eyes bored into hers. “Wolves can recover; you can’t. We have extraordinary healing powers—”

“I know.” She gave him a small smile. “It’s the magic in your blood. It enhances your metabolic rate, giving you extraordinary strength, as well as speeding your blood clotting and normal recovery processes about ten-fold.”

The tension dropped off his shoulders. He huffed a small laugh and gave her an even smaller smile. “Of course, you know.” He lifted his hand to touch her face again, this time just gently stroking her cheek. “What you may not know is that my white wolf has even faster healing. I’m uniquely able to survive pretty much whatever the bombers want to throw at me. But you, my sweet Emily, are soft and delicately human. And I’m not risking you in anything like this ever again. I like you way, way too much to lose you. And I’d never forgive myself if anything ever happened to you. All right?”

She nodded and tried to hold back her smile, but failed. The strength of his concern, the fact that he cared about her at all, his determination to keep her safe… all of it warmed her in a way she could hardly keep inside.