Andromeda's Fall (Shadowcat Nation) (15 page)

Andie
woke up slowly. She was warm and cozy, tucked into a bed. Her mind was also
fuzzy, as if she’d been…

Drugged.

Her
eyes flew open, and she tried to sit up, except the room decided to spin
crazily around her. She groaned and lay back down.

“Take
it easy, wildcat.”

Jaxon’s
deep voice registered and relief flooded through her. Trying to look over at
him, she winced as several versions of Jaxon’s face started floating around.

“Why
does the room keep moving?” she asked. Her tongue felt swollen and fuzzy in her
mouth.

She
felt the bed dip as he sat beside her and then the cool touch of his fingers as
they smoothed her hair back. “You were shot with a tranquilizer. It’s still
wearing off,” Jaxon said.

Images
flashed in Andie’s mind. The snowstorm. The wolves. “Zac?” she asked.

“He’s
okay. We had our Healer work on him. The amount of drugs in his system was for
a large polar bear and could’ve killed him when he shifted back to human. You
shifted back on your own a few hours ago. We figured you were close to waking
up then.”

Andie
nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“He’s
the boy, isn’t he?”

Andie’s
eyes crossed as she tried to follow the change of topic.

“The
boy you dragged out of that house where your mom died in Canada. Zac’s the boy,
isn’t he? You saved his life?”

Oh.
That boy. “Yes.”

“And
you sent that rogue cougar – Shane – to him for asylum?”

Andie
sighed. “Yes.”

“I
thought so.”

Andie
caught a note of tenderness in his voice. Cracking one eye, she peeked in his
direction.

“You
look terrible,” she slurred. His hair was disheveled, and there were dark
circles under his eyes. “Didn’t you get the Healer to help you out too?”

“She
did. Funny thing though… apparently I have a hard time sleeping when you’re
lying here looking like death warmed over.”

Andie
felt a little glow of warmth.

“What
did I say about being in here alone with her, Keller?” Zac’s irritated growl
interrupted them.

“Don’t
leave her alone if you don’t want me alone with her, Montclair,” Jaxon answered
without looking away from Andie. He gave her a little wink. If she didn’t think
it would make the dizziness worse, Andie would have rolled her eyes.
Alphas
.

“Actually,
now that you’re awake, I have a little work to get done.” Jaxon leaned down and
kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

Andie
nodded, and her eyes followed him as he left the room.

Hannah’s
head popped around the door, a grin splitting her face from ear to ear. “Hey,
sweetie. I figured I’d wait until Zac had his say.”

She
moved around the big polar bear shifter, who hadn’t left. “He refused to leave
and hasn’t let Jaxon come near you,” Hannah continued and chuckled under her
breath. “I thought Jaxon was going to blow a gasket. I have no idea how he got
past Zac this time. How do you feel?”

“Like
I’m on some freak circus ride.”

Hannah
nodded. Reaching into a bowl on the nightstand, she placed a cool cloth on
Andie’s head. “Better?”

“Mmmm…
Thanks.” Andie gave her friend a wan smile. Then she looked over to where Zac
waited patiently.

“Hey,
kuluk,” he said, using an Inuktitut term of endearment as he took Jaxon’s place
sitting beside her.

“Hey,
Papa Bear.”

He
grinned as he watched her try to focus. “The room should stop spinning pretty
quick.”

“How
would you know? You had a Healer fix it for you.”

“True.”

“So…
you won’t let Jaxon near me without you in the room?”

He
grinned again and gave his rusty imitation of a laugh. “He’s like a bull with a
red flag.”

She
giggled in return, though she cut it off when it made the world tilt more.
“Good for you. People don’t say no to that man often enough.”

“Jaxon
said you’re willing to join the dare?” Hannah asked.

“Yeah.”

Hannah
raised her eyebrow. “Why’d you leave in the first place?”

Andie
grimaced. “I left to protect him. And you.”

“Huh.
And that turned out to be a damn fool idea, didn’t it?” Hannah said. Zac nodded
his agreement.

Andie
closed her eyes. “You won’t get an argument from me about that.”

She
felt the bed jiggle as Zac stood. “I’m off to my room now that I see you’re all
better, and Hannah is here to chaperone should Keller show up again.”

“Thanks,
Zac,” Andie mumbled groggily and heard him leave the room.

“You’ve
got to tell me all about how you met that hunky man someday,” Hannah murmured.

“Excuse
me?” a male voice interrupted.

Andie
cracked an eye to see a blond-haired man enter the room. She recognized Nick
Jenner, Hannah’s husband.

Hannah
gave him a blissfully sweet smile. “No one’s more hunky than my mate.”

“I
should hope not.” He grinned and pulled his wife close to kiss her. “How’s our
patient?”

“Awake.”

“I
hear it’s you I have to thank for getting us out of Carstairs last year,” Nick
said with a smile.

Andie
scrunched her nose. “Nothing Hannah wouldn’t have done for me.”

“Nevertheless,
we’re in your debt,” he insisted.

Why
did men always feel the need to repay a debt? In Andie’s opinion, people should
just help people. But she knew he wouldn’t drop it, and her head was too fuzzy
to argue right now anyway, so she just nodded.

Nick
leaned down and kissed the tip of Hannah’s nose. “I just came to grab my
computer. Gotta run to a meeting.”

“Okay,”
Hannah said.

Andie
closed her eyes again, but Hannah wasn’t going to let her go back to sleep. “So
what changed your mind?” Hannah asked. “About joining the dare, I mean.”

“Jaxon.
He’d have followed me wherever I tried to go. Kinda defeats the purpose if my
leaving is supposed to protect him.” In her mind she kept going. It hadn’t been
any one thing he’d done or said, but all of them together. Talking to her
leader-to-leader and reminding her that she would’ve done the same as he had in
keeping his identity from her. Offering her asylum without the added pressure
of mating and marrying him, but still being clear that he wanted her. She
didn’t know why that last part had helped. Well, actually she did. She
did
want to marry the Alpha of the Keller Dare.

Andie
peeled one eyelid up and was happy to see that the room wasn’t spinning nearly
as badly as it had been a few minutes ago.

“Have
some water,” Hannah said. She held a cup with a straw up to Andie’s lips. She
took a tentative sip and then another. It felt good, and the room seemed to be
getting more and more stable.
The drugs must be wearing off,
she thought
gratefully. Cautiously Andie inched up till she was propped against the
headboard.

Hannah
took a seat on the bed beside her. “Feeling better?”

Andie
nodded slowly and was pleased that the room had finally stopped spinning and
stayed still.

“So
are you going to marry my brother?”

Andie
nearly choked on her water. “Jeez, Hannah. Way to lead into that one.”

Hannah
grinned. “Are you? You’d be an awesome sister-in-law.”

Andie
sent her a warm smile in return. “Same goes. But I don’t know.”

“What’s
tripping you up?”

Andie
plucked at the blanket covering her legs. “I won’t trap him into a relationship
for life just because he has an overblown sense of protectiveness.”

Hannah
narrowed her eyes. “You’re falling for him, aren’t you?”

Andie
blushed. “Is it obvious?”

“Only
to me, because I know you.”

“Thank
goodness,” Andie muttered. If Jaxon figured it out, she’d be mated and married
to him before the day was out. No way would he let her go then. But she wanted
more from him. She’d gotten greedy. She wanted everything.

Hannah
sighed. “My brother can be dense when it comes to feelings. Just like all men.
Except Nick, of course.”

Andie
smiled.

“But
I can tell you this,” Hannah continued. “He’s only ever been this crazy
protective about you. Even I’ve never received this level of obsessiveness and
attention, and I’m his sister.”

Andie
hid her pleasure at hearing those words.

“And
he would never let lust drive him to mate, let alone marry. He’s had plenty of
girlfriends.” Hannah held up her hands at Andie’s glare. “Nothing serious, and
you’ve had your share of boyfriends, so don’t scowl at me, Andromeda Jaci.”

Andie
grimaced. She’d never been a jealous person before. Or an insecure one. She
usually went after what she wanted.

Both
Zac and Hannah had pointed out that Jaxon’s offer to marry her shouldn’t be
taken lightly. And what she knew of Jaxon told her they were right. He was too
responsible, too much the Alpha to offer such a permanent and important thing frivolously.
Maybe the time had come to start trusting him.

Mind
and heart made up, a weight seemed to lift from her shoulders. “Okay, Hannah.
You’ve made your point.”

Hannah
grinned. “I’m glad. And welcome to your new dare.”

I
have a dare,
Andie thought. She’d agreed days ago to join it, but it hadn’t had time to sink
in before she was running for her life. Of course, she’d had a dare with
Carstairs, but she’d never felt safe or valued or even all that proud to be
part of them. This felt so different. Andie knew that Jaxon Keller – the man he
was, the Alpha he was – was the entire reason why.

“They
put Zac in the room next to you. Mike’s on the other side, and the others are
directly across the hall.”

“Wait?
Mike’s here? I thought he went back to Carstairs.”

Hannah
shook her head. “Jaxon insisted they stay. Offered them asylum.”

Andie
felt warmth fill her heart. Jaxon had kept her surrounded by her people and
them safe. He couldn’t have been clearer in his message to her if he’d said it
directly to her face. He trusted her. He trusted them all. And he wanted her to
feel like this was home.

And
that made Andie’s decision feel that much more perfect. “I need a shower,” she
declared.

“Uh,
honey, give yourself a little time to recover first.”

“Nope.
Recovery is for wimps. I need a shower, and a dress.”

“A…
dress?” Hannah looked a little stunned. Her friend was a tomboy in every way.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress.”

“Exactly.
I’m going to send your brother a signal that even the densest man on the planet
couldn’t miss.”

Andie
pulled back the covers and swung her feet to the floor. She stood up on
slightly shaky legs. “Shower. Food. Bling. In that order.”

Hannah
grinned. “I’ll get you a dress while you’re bathing.”

Andie
returned the smile. “That’s my girl.”

A
solid twenty minutes later, just as Andie was getting out of her heavenly
shower, warmed and clean, she heard a telephone ringing in her room. She
hurriedly wrapped a fluffy towel around her and rushed to answer it.

“What’s
up, Hannah?” she asked breathlessly.

“Sorry
to disappoint you.” Jaxon’s deep tones made her shiver, even down a telephone
line.

“Not
at all,” she said. “Did you need something?”

“I
was just checking up on you. How do you feel?”

Andie
smiled. “Well, the room is staying still, so that’s an improvement. Thanks.”

“That’s
good,” he said. Then he was quiet so long that she wondered if he’d hung up.

“Jaxon?”

“I’m
still here. I was hoping we could talk tonight? Maybe have dinner together if
you’re up to it?”

Andie
blinked. “Are you asking me on a date?”

“Yes.
You asked for proof, and I’m trying to give it to you. I’ve decided to court
you the old-fashioned way.”

Andie’s
heart skipped a beat. He’d listened. And cared enough to try. She mentally
revised her plan a bit. If he wanted to try to win her, she’d let him. “I’d
like that.”

“Good.”
She could hear the smile in his voice. “Can you be ready in about an hour?”

“I
think so.”

“I’ll
come get you then. Bye, Andie.”

“Bye,”
she murmured, and hung up.

She
danced a little jig, the happiness bubbling through her too much to contain.
No
time to waste, girl. Better get ready.

Andie
turned around and discovered that Hannah had left her some snacks along with
the dress. She ignored the food and held up the dress, which was bright red
with a sweetheart neckline. It would skim her curves in a sexy way without
being too crazy. The skirt would end above her knees, showing off her toned
legs. And, bless her, Hannah had left her a pair of sky high heels, black satin
with a sexy strap around the ankle. Also on the bed was an assortment of
makeup, hair products, and jewelry.

“Guess
she approves,” Andie murmured with a smile.

She
popped a piece of cheese in her mouth and then grabbed the hair stuff and
makeup and started to prepare for her date.