Raber Wolf Pack Book Two (11 page)

“And why’s that?”

“Because I walked in on my father fucking one. Then put two and two together…Mom knows. She doesn’t care as long as he doesn’t bring it into the house again. I’m sure Mom has something on the side too, whatever. They were pissed I wouldn’t go to med school and decided to get a degree in accounting. I even went to grad school just to make them happy. But I realized that nothing I ever did would make them happy. So, I stopped trying. After I graduated, I got my own place. They call every couple of months to make sure I’m alive, but that’s it.”

“What about holidays?” Surely she spends them with someone.

“My parents usually either work or go to Mexico for those weeks. But I always get packages in the mail. After all, money can buy happiness.” She spits the words out like they are toxic and they are. Who would tell their child that? “Of course, I don’t believe that shit. But as you can see, I haven’t had very good role models, which is why this whole mating-for-eternity thing is kind of freaking me out.”

“I can see that. You don’t have to worry. When was the last time your parents got ahold of you?” I lightly stroke her arm up and down, goosebumps forming under my touch.

“About three weeks ago. They were informing me that they were going to Cancun for a week.” She scrunches her nose. “Wait, they should be gone this week. How could they send Camp here when they aren’t in the country?”

“And a better question is, is who saw us.”

She gasps. “Someone saw?” Guess I left that part out.

“Supposedly, someone saw me take you away, but I think it’s a big pile of shit.” And that means we have an inside fucking rat who is feeding them information. “Gotta call Xavier really quick.” I pull my phone out and connect. I relay all the information to him and he says he’ll have Thor on it.

“Also,” I add into the phone, “I think we have a rat in house. We need to find out who it is. Can you have Zara work on that?”

“Got it,” Xavier says, before clicking the disconnect.

“Do you want me to call them?” she asks as I scrub my face with my hand. Everything lately has been shit piled on shit.

“Not yet. Let’s see what Xavier comes up with and then go from there. Did you get ahold of your grandmother?”

She sighs loudly, exasperated. “No, I’ve tried her four times and it goes to her answering machine. She’s probably out playing bingo or bowling or something. I left messages. She’ll call as soon as she gets them.”

“Keep trying, but until then...” I roll her under my body, keeping most of my weight on my arm, and kiss her deep, wet, and hard. I could kiss this woman all damn day. The way her lips move in sync with mine is a marvelous thing.

Kenly pulls away. “I’m hot.”

“I know you are, babe. Let me help you with that.” I begin to move down her body.

“No, Max, I’m hot. Like really, really hot in my skin.” Her voice trembles. She’s scared and so am I. It’s starting. Shit. I feel her forehead and sure enough, she is starting to burn.

I dial the phone. “Doctor, she’s burning up. Get the fuck up here now. It’s started.” I don’t let him answer. Instead, I call Lily and tell her to get here along with everyone else. We’ve designated Lily, Stella, Xavier, and Zara to be here when it happens.

“Babe?”

She starts tugging at her clothes. “Get em’ off,” She screams as if her clothes are on fire and she can’t get them off fast enough.

Fuck. I strip the bed and then strip her, turning on the ceiling fan just at the doctor bursts through the door followed by Lily, Stella, and Zara.

“She’s burning, doc,” I say, trying to pull Kenly into me, but she’s flopping around like she’s coming out of her skin.

He rushes over to Kenly’s side to check her. “The first stage is your blood accepting all of the wolves’ saliva. It causes it to boil in your veins, your heart, and your body. You will feel extremely hot, but we need to keep an eye on your heart. We need to make sure your insides don’t cook.”

“What? Cook my heart?” she moans, pulling away from me. “You’re too hot. Get away.” Sweat beads on her forehead and she reaches back, pulling her hair up off of her neck. “Lily, I need something for my hair.” Lily hands her a band and she puts her hair up in a mess on top of her head.

“Stella, try to ease her pain,” I practically beg the woman. She’s a body healer and I’m hoping to Heavens she can help.

“Hi, Kenly. I need your hands, please.” Kenly doesn’t seem to register her words. I move over and touch her shoulder and she screams out in pain. I instantly pull back.

“Kenly.”

She whips her head to me, eyes narrowed, extremely pissed off. “What?”

“Hold out your hands to the women. They want to help you get rid of the pain.” She breathes deeply, nodding once and turning to Stella. She holds out her hands and flinches when they touch her, but remains connected.

Stella closes her eyes and begins her process while Kenly continues to moan in agony. I want to comfort her, touch her. My wolf is whining too, but it will only make her pain worse. A glow radiates from the healer’s hands into Kenly’s. It quickly spreads through her body, lighting her up the brightest yellow possible. So bright it’s practically blinding. The light flickers and Kenly calls out in pain so sharp it’s agonizing to hear.

The yellow turns to a bright orange light that emanates from Kenly, pulsing in a round circle around her body. Suddenly, the light radiates so powerfully, so far out that it sends Stella flying across the room and smashing into the wall. She collapses to the ground as the light recedes. I move in front of Kenly and her eyes are wide in shock and horror.

“What did I just do?” she whispers. Lily rushes over and helps Stella up and out of the room.

“I’m not sure, but something pretty fucking big to send our healer flying across the damn room.” This shit happened with Zara and by her face she’s remembering it too. I turn to the doctor. “What the fuck is going on?”

“I...,” he stammers and his life is hanging by a thin thread. “I don’t know. The healer should have at least been able to take some of the pain away.” It has to have something to do with the witch magic in her blood.

“We need to get her into a cool bath. Now,” the doctor orders and I nod to Zara. Thank the Heavens there is an attached bathroom. Water runs, I stand and pick her up with ease.

“I told you, you are too hot. Put me down.” She’s practically growling from the pain.

“Hang in there.” The bath isn’t full enough, but I lower us both into the tub, placing Kenly in front of me. I splash the cool water on her stomach and chest as the tub continues to fill.

“That feels so good,” she murmurs, her head falling back and resting on my shoulder. I continue splashing until the water fills to just above her breasts. We lie here, Kenly not saying a word, but I can feel and hear her breathing.

“So hot,” she groans, “way too hot. It’s not right,” she moans. “This isn’t normal. I can’t do this.” I grab a washcloth, wet it, and glide it across her back, neck, and above her tits. “That’s nice.”

“How are you feeling, ma’am?” Doc asks, entering the bathroom.

“Hot. The water helps, but still so hot.”

“That’s exactly what we expected. This will go on for some time and you will need to get out of the water for about an hour then you can get back in. If you stay in, the water may not have the effect of cooling.” Fucking shit. Seriously?

“She needs to stay in here. I feel her. She’s boiling,” I argue.

“Max, this could last for hours. We can’t take the chance that the one thing that helps gets overused.” He’s right, but it fucking sucks ass. “When she comes out, we can give her ice water and a fan.” Dammit.

“Fine. Get the fan and water ready.” I pull her out, setting her on her feet so I can dry her off with a towel. She starts to bounce. “I know, baby.” I lift her and place her back on the bed. Lily springs in with the water. “Drink.” Kenly does and she keeps drinking until it’s completely gone. The doctor turns the fan directly on her and I move away, not wanting to add to her body heat. Pain spreads in her voice as she whines and I’d do anything to help take it away from her. “Tell us how you’re feeling.”

“Hot!” She screeches so loud the glass on a nearby table rattles, no doubt pissed I even asked. Fuck.

“Doc, what can we do to help her?”

He rubs his face in frustration. “Any meds I give her will burn off in seconds at the temperature she’s running. Even the wolf strength. None of it will help.”

“Fuck,” I growl. Kenly is in front of the fan, naked, sweat glistening off of every curve, but my dick knows she’s in pain and stays down. Why can’t I help her?

This has gone on way too long. My woman is in total agony and I’m not able to do a damn thing. Xavier stepped in a while ago, but stands off to the side. No doubt Zara filled him in on what has happened.

“What’s happening to me?” Suddenly, Kenly is shivering, wrapping her arms around her body. “Iit-tt’s…s-so…cold.” She shudders, the sweat on her body turning to little droplets of ice. I pull her into my arms and wrap her up in my warmth.

“Lily, we need blankets and a warmer. Her skin is like ice and her lips are turning blue,” Doc orders, but Lily stands stock-still, in awe of the woman in my arms. She shakes her head and darts off to find what we need. “This is what is supposed to happen, Max. I know that Lily and Stella should’ve been able to comfort her in some capacity, but she’s resisting and I don’t know why.” The doctor leans forward so he’s eye level with me. “She has to go through the fire and now the ice. It shouldn’t be long before the change happens now. We have to see where this is going to take us.”

“So, you’re telling me not to worry. Fat fucking chance of that happening.” Lily bursts through the door, handing off blankets to Zara. They quickly wrap them around Kenly and add warming pads. I absorb as much of her coldness as I can, giving her my heat and thanking the Heavens that our bodies always run at such a high temperature. The strange thing, though, is that my body is starting to grow cold from her touch. This has never happened before. “Doctor, why am I getting cold with her?”

His sharp eyes turn tense. “You’re getting cold?”

“Yes.” This is unheard of. Wolves can be out in the lowest of wind-chills and temperatures for days, weeks, and be perfectly fine. We don’t get
cold
.

“I have no idea.” He runs his hands through his hair. “Let me give a friend of mine a call and see what he thinks.”

“Only generals. No one needs to know she’s like this,” I demand before he places the call with a nod to me. “Baby, how are you?”

“C-cold,” she answers, her beautiful lips blue. I wrap the blankets around her head and face, only leaving her nose and eyes to be seen, hoping this will give her some relief. The doctor steps into the bathroom as I sit rocking her on the bed.

Doc walks back in moments later, disconnecting his phone. “Kenly is experiencing extremes. The other humans that tried to change were hot, but not scorching to this point, and not as cold either. And the fact that she warded off the healers is a puzzle. My guess is that it’s the witch magic. It’s strong inside of her, maybe it’s rejecting the change into wolf. I don’t know for sure, but it’s a possibility.”

“What in the fuck do we do about this?” Fuck. She has to turn wolf, dammit.

“I honestly don’t know. Do you know any witches that will come to your den?” the doctor asks, looking down at my girl.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me. Witches don’t associate with us or vampires. Getting one to come here is impossible.” He knows this shit. I shouldn’t have to fucking tell him. Hell, Marvin won’t step foot in here and he’s known our pack forever.

“Grand...mother,” Kenly’s soft murmur interrupts.

“Your grandmother? We need to try to call her again.” Damn, that woman may be our only chance. “I’ll have Thor and Gary go pick her up. What’s the number?” A splash of hope fills the room as Kenly rattles off numbers and I push them into the phone.

Seconds later it rings and I put it on speakerphone. “Yes,” a small voice answers from the other end. I feel Kenly’s body sag a bit, no doubt happy she answered.

“Grams. It’s Kenly.”

“I was just about to call you. Where are you?” Panic enters her voice at Kenly’s tone.

“I need you to come to me. It’s safe, I swear,” Kenly pleads through chattering teeth.

“Who has you and what have they done to you?” The small voice on the other end grows louder and insistent, demanding.

Kenly’s shivers rack her body and I take over. “Ma’am, I’m Max and I’m here with Kenly. We need your help.”

“What being are you?” she asks, catching me off guard. Not
who
but
what being
.

“What do you mean?” I tread lightly.

“Wolf or vampire. Your voice is too strong to be anything but.”

“Wolf, ma’am.”

“What’s happening to Kenly?” I snap my fingers, motioning for Lily to bring me Thor and Gary.

“I’ll be happy to explain everything to you as soon as you get here.”

“Tell me.” Furiousness booms through the phone, leaving me with no doubt that we’ve found the witch in Kenly’s bloodline.

Thor and Gary enter. “Kenly, where does she live?” Kenly rattles it off and the guys rush back out of the room. “She is going through the change into wolf.”

Silence on the other end of the phone.

“Ma’am?”

“What did you do to her?” Her voice is low and controlled, deadly.

“I didn’t do anything. She was attacked by four wolves. I found her, took care of the problem, and brought her here with me. I’m Beta of the Raber pack.”

“Holy shit,” Grams whispers. “How is she?”

“She’s in extreme pain.” I go on to tell her of the extremity of her transformation in comparison to the others that have been seen. She listens, taking it all in.

“I need to get to her. She has a spell on her.”

“What?” I growl, the word reverberating off the walls.

“When she was an infant, I cast spell on her that she wouldn’t be able to recognize any supernatural beings. My no-good son insisted that I cast it upon her. Because of the spell, she’s more than likely resisting the change.” Holy shit, the doctor was right.