Amber Flame (The Flame Series Book 4) (3 page)

She kept moving the wand over his heart, and there it was—a small perforation, partially healed but leaking blood. “Well, here’s the problem. He was stuck with a metal implement, like a large needle, straight into the bottom of his heart.”

The atmosphere in the room changed, as surely as if electricity poured through the space. The air smelled harsh like heated metal and came from the wolves.

Warren’s voice dropped an octave as he said, “Are you saying Fergus was skewered?”

“Yes, that’s what he told me had happened, but he was lucky. If the puncture had been any deeper, he would have died instantly.”

Mary replaced the wand and turned off the machine. “What I don’t understand is how this happened. I mean, I’ve seen photographs of what you wolves wear during dominance fights, something like a pair of wrist guards and a leather loin cloth.”

“Gladiator briefs.”

“Right. I knew there was a word for it.” She felt her cheeks heat slightly. Fergus would look really good in a loin cloth. Or out of one for that matter. The man she’d met in the dreamglide was built.

That she could even think of him in those terms was a good sign he was leaving the danger zone. She still didn’t say anything to Warren, however, in case something else went wrong.

She cleared her throat. “With so few clothes, how could Sydon have had a skewer on him?”

Warren grunted, a rough wolf sound. “His wrist guards, if long enough, could have disguised hidden metal pieces. Jesus. Sydon must have done exactly that.”

Mary didn’t want to say anything, but because her sister had died as fall-out from a dominance fight, she wasn’t all that surprised at the treachery of secret skewers. It seemed in keeping with her opinion of wolves generally.

She had a deep prejudice against Savage Territory. She didn’t want any part of a culture so easily moved to violence. Now that she had a partial awareness of what she’d been doing with Fergus in the dreamglide, she also knew why she’d set up the memory blocks in the first place. If she’d allowed herself any real-time awareness of Fergus, she would have refused to engage in the affair.

She got out a bag of saline. Using another tube set-up, she hooked the needle beneath Fergus’s fur, the same way she would a dog or a cat. Hydration would help.

She checked his vitals. His blood pressure was low and heartrate too rapid, but she sensed he’d begun the long journey back. Other than cracking open his chest and suturing the wound, she didn’t have another option. She was convinced, however, that surgery would have been far worse than letting him self-heal.

“Will he live?”

She realized she’d been so intent on Fergus and consumed by her own fear for his life that she hadn’t shared enough information with the men in the room. “Yes, he’ll live.”

“Thank God.”

She finally made eye-contact with Warren, but gasped softly. She knew very little about the alpha of the Caldion Pack and hadn’t known he was partially disfigured. The left side of his head was partially bald, a few inches back from the scalp line. Though the area was heavily tattooed, she could see he’d been burned, badly. His face was scarred as well, all the way to the area around his left eye, especially on and over the socket. However, he had full use of both eyes. The same side of his face also looked as though it had been burned. The rest of his head seemed normal. He had long blond hair, very thick and straight not unlike her own. His eyes were an unusual emerald green and very beautiful.

The physician in her tried to understand what had been done to him. Some of the scars looked like a wolf had bitten him. But the rest was caused by either a fire of some kind or chemicals. “Any of that causing you pain?”

He shook his head. “It happened a few years ago.”

“Here, in Five Bridges?” He should have been able to self-heal.

“Yes. A dark witch’s spell made it permanent. Fergus pulled me to safety, otherwise the spell would have eaten through my entire body and I would have died.” His gaze drifted to the line of red connecting him to Fergus, then back to her. “I owe him my life.”

She saw in his features the extremely handsome man he’d once been. Despite the disfigurement, he exuded a similar quality as Fergus, the strength and power of the alpha wolf.

His gaze narrowed and his jaw worked. When his nostrils flared and elongated slightly, she wasn’t surprised that he shifted his gaze away from her. He even side-stepped to create distance, though he was careful to preserve the tubing.

Sniffing the air herself, she detected his mating musk, the same kind of scent all alphas released. She sensed that Warren needed to establish a boundary with her because of Fergus. By way of clarifying the situation for him, she drew close to Fergus and settled her hand gently on his wolf-shoulder. “I belong to Fergus right now.”

She watched him release a sigh of relief. “I can smell his scent on you. He’s spoken of you often, but you have to understand, until you’re bonded every unmated alpha will be attracted to you.”

She was surprised. “Because of your mating cycles?”

He shook his head slowly and met her gaze, the emerald of his eyes glowing slightly. “No, Mary, I’m afraid not. This is about you. You have alpha-mate capacity, a rare thing even in Savage Territory and something I would have never believed possible in a woman from Revel Territory. Yet here you are.”

She noted the slightly pale appearance of the skin around his eyes. “You’ve given enough blood, Warren. But Fergus should have more.” Wolf blood was one of the greatest healing agents in Savage Territory.

Because the hole in Fergus’s heart was small, he hadn’t lost a lot of blood. The surplus provided tonight was more about restoration and would go a long way to bringing Fergus back to full health within the next few hours.

A terrible chill went through her. For a brief moment, she could feel the entire landscape of Savage Territory and that the wolves would soon erupt in chaos and violence. Again.

Her gaze shot back to Fergus. She had a terrible premonition what was about to happen in his world would hinge on the decisions Fergus made over the next forty-eight hours.

Warren gestured for one of the other wolves to come forward. “Alessandro, you’re up.” The shorter male didn’t hesitate.

Though Mary didn’t understand why, she knew instinctively this wolf was a beta. He could also be an alpha-in-training, but he definitely served in a more supportive capacity within Warren’s pack.

She shook off her visit with the future and carefully created a new transfusing line with Alessandro.

Mary saw that Fergus’s breathing was much easier now. She used the ultrasound again and saw that the hole was completely healed. She told Warren the good news.

“Thank God.”

Mary?
Fergus’s voice entered her mind.

She gasped, then glanced at the black wolf. But he didn’t seem any more alert than before, though his eyes definitely weren’t as glassy. She touched his forehead and rubbed his ears very gently.
Fergus? Are you able to communicate with me now?

Not exactly. I’m in the dreamglide again since I’m still too weak to do this through simple telepathy.

Do you want me to come to you?

No, it’s not necessary. But right now I need you to ask Warren a few things.

Sure. Give me a sec.

She kept her hand on Fergus’s head but turned to Warren. “I’m able to communicate with Fergus. He’s alive but still deeply unconscious.”

“I don’t understand. Then how are you talking to him?”

Mary drew a deep breath. “It’s a fae thing. Actually, it’s through the dreamglide.”

Warren scowled. “That makes no sense.”

At that, Mary smiled. “I know it doesn’t. It’s a fae thing. But humor me, Warren. Fergus has questions. Is that okay with you?”

He nodded but looked skeptical. “Of course.” She sensed he didn’t quite believe her.

Mary, tell Warren to take the stick out of his butt.
When she hesitated, Fergus added,
Go ahead. It’ll help.

Mary knew her brows were sitting high on her forehead. “I mean no disrespect when I say this, Warren, because it comes from Fergus. But he said to tell you to take the stick out of your butt.”

Warren laughed, then lifted a hand. “Okay, now I believe you.”

“Is Fergus always saying things like that to you?”

“I’m a little, how shall I say this, inflexible.”

Mary reverted her attention to Fergus.
So, what do you want to ask Warren?

I need to know where my pack stands, what Sydon has done.

She relayed the information to Warren, adding, “Fergus can hear everything you say. I don’t need to pass it along.”

“Good to know.” Warren took a step closer. “Your beta told me on the phone that as soon as you were taken away, the representative of the Savage Pack Council pronounced Sydon the new Alpha of the Gordion Pack. You’ve never heard such silence before. Shortly after, however, some of the women began howling their grief.

“Sydon, by rights, had you hauled out to the Graveyard and left you there for the sun to do its work. I want you to know that your best men were in constant communication with me. I needed to know what Sydon’s first decrees as alpha were and it’s not good. He expects the youngest female wolves to form a harem and service his needs exclusively.”

What?
Fergus’s distraught voice punched through Mary’s mind.

She pressed her hand against his forehead to calm him.
Fergus, a little less forcefully, please, though I understand your distress.

Warren continued. “He announced to your wolves that he has plans to make the Gordion Pack more powerful than any other in Savage. He told the older unmated females to prepare to work Savage Strip, that he would expect them to earn money for the whole pack. The male wolves have been given a choice. They can either serve as drug runners or work in a local amber flame drug factory. Everyone in the Gordion Pack will work for the good of all.”

Were those his words?
Fergus asked.

Mary addressed Warren. “Fergus wants to know if those were his words or yours, the last part I think, ‘the good of all’.”

“His words.”

Fucking bastard.

Again, Mary rubbed his head.
Ease down wolf, you’re too powerful for my poor brain.

Sorry, Mary. But I need to get out of here.

When she felt the wolf move beneath her fingers, she immediately pressed a hand down on his neck. Hard.
Fergus stop this. You’re not going anywhere yet. You’ve only just healed the damn hole in your heart.
To her words, she added the force of her fae ability and felt Fergus grow calm once more.

You’re right. Again, I’m sorry.
He relaxed beneath her hand.

That’s better.
She felt a powerful affection for him in that moment. She barely knew him in real-time, but it would seem some of her experience in the dreamglide had already started slipping through her blocks. Besides, it was clear he spent his life protecting his pack wolves and she admired him for it. He was a force for good in Savage.

She added,
I’m going to send your friends away. You won’t be able to unseat Sydon until you’re on your feet again and that will require an entire day of healing. Understood?

She could feel his frustration as he battled within himself. Finally, he ground out a quiet,
Understood.

She shifted a little to face the wolves in the surgery. “Now listen up. Fergus needs time to heal, probably the entire day before he can even shift back to his man-physique. He won’t be able to do anything during these last few hours of the night except to heal himself. I’ll keep him here and I’ll tend to him through the day as well.

“No one knows he’s in Revel and certainly not that he’s alive. Except the dispatch operator at the Savage Border Patrol, so you might want to have a word with her.”

Warren nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”

Mary continued, “Because you’re from a different pack, you won’t have pack-based loyalty to Sydon, so you won’t be breaking any laws by keeping silent about Fergus’s condition. Am I right?”

“You are,” Warren responded.

“Good. I want you to head out. But Warren, I’d like you to pull some things together for Fergus since he won’t have anything here to wear once he shifts back. Bring whatever you think he’ll need in the way of clothes. He’ll probably want shaving gear, maybe his weapons. I know that’s important to all you border patrol men.”

She then gestured to the southern end of the house, down a hall that backed up to the garage. “There’s a side door that I’ll leave open for you, but I’ll expect you to return well before dawn with his stuff.”

Warren inclined his head. “Yes, Ma’am.”

Fergus’s voice intruded once more.
Mary, tell Warren that if he wants to risk it, I’ve got a stash of weapons in my compound—

Fergus, knock it off. Your only job is healing right now. And I’m not about to send Warren to your compound with a wolf like Sydon in charge. Get well, then you can go after Sydon yourself.

Right. Okay.

Enough talking.
But she petted his head.

She then moved to Alessandro and unhooked the line.

“You’re sure he doesn’t need more?” Warren asked.

“His heart is healed, and he’s on the path to recovery. But he needs to be quiet now and not stirred up about his pack. Do you understand?”

Warren nodded slowly. “I do. I’m distressing him.”

“Only because he’s anxious about his wolves.”

“All right then. We’ll head out.”

Mary watched Warren heave a deep, laden sigh. She could feel the concerned weight in him, the same one Fergus carried for his pack and for Savage. If tonight’s events hadn’t happened, she would never have believed that wolves existed who wanted good things for their territory. She’d thought them all a bunch of wild animals. Literally.

“Come with me,” she said. “I’ll show you to the side door so that you can bring his things back there when you return.”

She checked the garage first and was relieved to see that one of the wolves had already lowered the door. She took all three men out through the hall between the garage and her office space. She had a supply room and a small kitchenette as well as two examining rooms on this side of the house.