Raber Wolf Pack Book Two (5 page)

One thing is for sure. I know. “Yes.” I turn to the table, addressing all of the wolves. “She is mine. My mate. She will know it soon enough.” Some of the women gasp, no doubt hoping that I would be their mates, but come on. After this long of being around each other, if we haven’t scented the mating bond, it’s not happening. But most nod in acknowledgement. “I’m not sure how all this shit will go down, so I’ll be stepping back. Not out of Beta, just a bit so I can help her during this week.” She doesn’t know it yet, but I plan on being there with her through every part of it. Whether she wants me there or not. She will deal.

Thor’s phone rings. “Doctor,” he says, answering it. “I’ll send someone down.” He swipes the phone off. “He brought the bigger machines to do her blood here instead of taking it to the lab. He needs help bringing in the four pieces.” Shit, didn’t know he was doing all this.

“Gary, Sam, and Mal, go help the doctor,” Alpha X orders. The sound of chairs scraping back and wolves leaving fills my ears. I eat quickly, more like inhaling it than actually eating.

“I’m heading to the room. Will you have Thor bring down the doctor and all his stuff?” Xavier nods and I head to the bowels of the den.

I scrub my face, frustration kicking my ass. This entire scenario is fucked. A human as a mate. Her having to turn into a wolf, the chances of survival being slim. This shit just doesn’t happen. I turn the knob of the door and step in. Kenly turns to me, surprise clear in her expression as she sucks in a deep breath.

“Lily, can you give us just a moment?” I pretend to ask, but she knows it’s more of an order than a request.

Lily turns to Kenly. “You are perfectly safe. Beta Max would never let anything happen to you.” She rubs Kenly’s shoulder, doing her calming, healing stuff.

“Okay,” Kenly breathes out, so damn sexy my dick elongates in my jeans. Fuck. Lily steps out of the room, but not before giving me a pleading look to be careful with Kenly. It doesn’t piss me off. I like the fact that Lily cares enough about my mate to feel protective of her. I nod in response. She must sense the connection between us and that is a good thing.

Kenly looks nervously at me, biting her plump bottom lip, and my already-hard dick turns to stone. The wolf inside me is clawing with tremendous effort. It’s physically taking a toll on my body, but I hide it, chastising my wolf that he’s going to scare the ever-loving shit out of Kenly if he doesn’t stop.

“The doctor is here. He is one of us, but from a different pack.” One of the few we have left, but I leave that out. “He is totally trustworthy and their alpha agreed for him to come here and run some tests.”

Nerves rack her body and before I can stop myself, I have her small frame wrapped up in mine, sucking in all of that nervous energy. She tenses. I don’t move and hold her cocooned against me. Damn, she feels nice. After a few moments, she melts into my body, taking in my warmth. Her neck is covered in bandages and my wolf whines at the sight. We do not want her to hurt, ever. This will be probably the most difficult thing ever for either one of us to watch.

“I’m scared,” she admits, but she didn’t have to tell me that. Her scent did clear as day, but since I’ve been holding her in my arms, her scent is now laced with excitement and lust. Fuck yeah. I
need
her to feel that way about me.

“I know you are. You have every right to be, little one. We will do everything we can to help you. I have Lily and the other pack healer, Stella, is on her way back here from a run. She should be here after the doctor starts the tests. You’ll not be alone in this.” Instinctually, my hand moves up and down her back, and her body goes pliantly into mine. Even through the fabric, I can feel her heat and I crave more of it.

“What if I don’t see the purple light?” she whispers into my chest and I love that she is taking in my comfort. Part of me wonders if she even realizes she’s doing it or if it’s just on a subconscious level.

“You will. Lily, the doctor, Stella, and I will be there when you change. You will need to listen to our voices and we will help you pull through.” And I hope that I can pull you through.

“Do you know why whoever those wolves were did this to me?” I tighten my grip. Those motherfuckers are dead, they won’t ever hurt Kenly again.

“I have an assumption, but I don’t know if it’s true.” I try to disguise the fury, but it is futile. When her soft body tenses, I know she felt it too. “Right now we just have to concentrate on you. I won’t let anything happen to you that’s in my power to control.”

She pulls slightly away and looks up at me. Those ocean eyes have more blue than green at the moment, making her face glow. “Why are you doing this for me?”

Because you are my mate. Mine
. Dammit, Max, you’re going to scare the shit out of her and she needs to focus on the change right now. Still, I have to tell her something. “I feel a connection to you, Kenly. We’ll figure out what it is. But first, let’s get you where you need to be.”

Just then the door swings open and the doctor walks in, Lily and the guys on his heels. “Well Max, you sure don’t waste any time. Already claimed her, huh?” he says, chuckling, but stills when he feels the angry waves coming off of my body. He should have kept his damned mouth shut. “Sorry. I thought…”

“You thought wrong. Right now, we need to figure out what to do to help her,” I snap, staring daggers at him. If he didn’t have the means to help my mate, I’d rip his fucking throat out.

“What does claimed mean?” Kenly asks the room. “Is it like belonging to someone, being their husband or wife?” Damn she’s smart. I like that shit.

“Yes, little one. Don’t you worry about a thing.” I nod to Lily who touches her arm, but I don’t let her go. “Doctor, set up over there.” I lift my chin, gesturing to the side of the room, and he snaps out of whatever is going on in his head and gets to work.

“No. I want to know,” Kenly demands. Damn, she’s a spitfire and I fucking love it. My still-hard cock stiffens even more and she gasps, no doubt feeling it against her.

I bend down to her ear, no longer able to hold it in. “It means that you are my mate. Mine. I have claimed you to all of my pack. Once you change, we’ll figure everything out. But all I want you to do right now is focus on these next few days.” I shouldn’t have told her all of this. She has so much to focus on right now, but it’s out there and I’m a bit relieved for it. I’m not a hider. I’m a straight talker. Even keeping that shit from her for a few hours was too much.

“Have you gone mad?” She tries to pull out of my arms, but doesn’t succeed. Wolves have an abundance of strength and endurance, something she will find out really quickly.

“Calm down, little one. It’ll all work out.”

“I don’t even know you,” she hisses and Lily chuckles. I glare. Lily tries to hide it, but doesn’t succeed.

“Nor I, you. With wolves it’s all about smell. We smell our other halves and I smell you.” She licks her bottom lip again and it takes everything I have not to crush my lips to hers.

“I can’t smell anything and I’m not even a wolf yet. What is there to smell?”

Before I can answer the doctor does. “You have the wolves’ saliva mixed in with your blood. From the wolves that attacked you. That’s what the beta is picking up on.” I turn Kenly around in my arms, her back to my front, as we listen to the doctor. “My research over the past three hundred years is shaky, because we haven’t had many cases of human-to-wolf transformations. But from what I could gather, as soon as the wolf bites the human, they release their DNA or magic into their bloodstream. One bite will not allow a human to transfer. Two bites, either. We don’t have a specific number but in your case, from what I hear, you have forty to fifty bites. That is way too many
not
to transfer. The last two women I monitored, one had four bites and the other five.” He looks down at his feet. “And I’m sorry to say, they didn’t make it.”

Kenly’s shoulders shake and she sinks further into me. She takes a huge inhalation of breath, exhaling while words begin to form on her lips. “Okay. So there’s a strong possibility that I might die, or I could transfer back to human by finding a light and go about my normal life.”

Now is my turn to tense. If she thinks for one damn second she is leaving me, she has some enlightening to do. No way am I letting her go, especially if she pulls through this.

“Ma’am, the chances of you going back to your old life are slim. Wolves don’t last confined, that is why this place is so massive.” The doctor pulls out some needles, setting them on the bedside table along with some other medical shit. I have no idea what any of it is.

“I’ll be fine. I can bounce back from anything. I’ve got this.” Her smell changes and while there is apprehension still, there is also determination and strength. Two very good qualities in a mate. The doctor’s gaze meets mine and I shake my head no. This is not the time to push this shit. He needs to get on with whatever he needs to do so we can figure this out.

“Great. Can you sit on the bed, please?” the doctor asks and I reluctantly let go of her. The absence of her pains my heart like a fucking wrecking ball and she’s only a couple feet away. Fucking shit. “Now, I’m going to draw blood then put it into my machines over there. Then I’m going to do a full body exam, including all of the bite marks that you have.”

“I’m not a fan of needles,” Kenly states, as she visibly quivers. “I had a really bad experience with a nurse who used me as a pin cushion when she tried to pull blood out of me, leaving me black and blue.” Lily moves to her side and rubs her arm, sitting there while the doctor preps. He holds the needle up in the air and Kenly tenses. “It’s not working,” she whispers to Lily.

“What’s not working?” Lily asks my unspoken question.

“The calming. It’s not like it was before. My blood is still racing and I feel like I’m going to have a panic attack. Why isn’t it working?” Her words are so fast, they come out in a panicked, garbled mess. Lily turns to me, eyes wide with fear. If Lily can’t help her stay calm through this, Kenly will be in a lot more pain than we initially thought.

The doctor turns to her with the needle. “Take a breath and let’s do this.”

My heart squeezes as the fear slices through Kenly and saturates the room. Without thinking, I sit behind her on the bed, my legs on either side of her, her back to my front. Instantly, her breathing slows and the panic recedes.

“Holy shit,” Lily breathes out. “How did you do that?” Lily is as astonished as I am, but we have no time to dwell.

“No clue. Doctor, let’s do this so we can get it over with.” Kenly’s body jolts and I whisper in her ear. “You’re fine. I won’t let anything happen to you. I swear it. I’ll have to die before anyone hurts you.”

The drawing of blood seems to take forever, but it’s only mere minutes. I keep reassuring her, trying to keep her as calm as possible. I inhale deeply, sucking in the sweet smell from Kenly. There is only a hint of apprehension still present. I wrap my arms tightly around her body, one hand stroking her forearm. Her skin prickles under my touch. Kenly’s heartbeat slows and syncs up with mine. I’d bet anything in the world that she has no idea that our hearts are beating as one. With each thump together, the connection I feel to this woman only intensifies and burns deeper into my soul.

“All done. Let me get this into my four machines and then I’ll start the scan. You’ll want to take everything off, including the bandages.” The doctor rises from the bed, moving over to his equipment.

“In front of everyone?” Kenly asks. This is one of the many differences between humans and wolves. While wolves are open with their bodies, most humans are not.

“As wolves, our nudity does not matter. When we transfer, we strip before so we don’t have to keep buying clothes every other day. So, your nudity does not faze us.” I lean in close to her ear. “But considering I have this hard-on that I know you feel pressing against your back, it will be painful for me.”

She lets out a soft chuckle and it’s one of the greatest sounds I’ve heard. I vow to make her do that more often.

“Fine.” She climbs out of my arms and strips right in front of us. Her tanned skin glistens, but it’s hard to see all of it because of the bandages. Anger flares in me. I’d love for those fuckers to be alive again, just so I could turn around and kill them again. She begins taking off the bandages slowly. “What the hell?”

Her words have me jumping off the bed and rushing to her side. I stare at her skin, her unblemished skin. The wounds are completely healed. “Let me help you.” I begin to remove the bandages with her.

“I have no idea why I’m letting you touch me all over,” she mumbles, like she’s angry with herself.

“You’ll figure it out soon enough.” Her brain just needs to catch up with everything else going on inside of her, but right now I’m too damn astonished at her skin. Each mark has healed to the point of no redness or scars. At. All. Now, if she was a wolf I would think nothing of this because we heal fast. But with her being human, there is no way this could happen. “Doctor, all of her wounds have healed.” My confidence wanes through my words, but this is just way strange.

He turns from the vial of blood. “All of them?” he questions and I roll my eyes.

“That’s what I just said.”

“That is highly unusual. When the other humans were bit, it took at least two days for the wound to completely heal. And for her it’s been like hours.” His brows furrow as he takes it all in. “Lie down on the bed and I’ll check it out in just a second.” He turns back to do whatever it is he’s doing.

“Pull down the covers on the bed, Lily,” I order and she gets right to it. I pull Kenly’s hand and guide her to the bed, sitting next to her.

“This is all happening so fast.” Kenly’s words come out in a tremble and I can feel her fear creeping up. “I feel like I’m going to combust with all this information you’re giving me. And I really don’t have time to process it because any minute my blood is actually going to boil.” I lie beside her and pull her naked, sensual, and healed body into mine, and hold her tight. She doesn’t resist. “And this right here. I’d never let a man I just met hold me, naked. Never.”