The officer wasn’t happy, but he backed off. Snake took a call, hanging up quickly. “Look, the ambulance is here to take Eve. She’s my daughter, these people outside and downstairs are her friends and family, and none of us really know anything. I heard Mackenzie yell GUN, there was a shot, and we got them up here and treated them. Now, I need you guys to stay out of the way, so we can pay our respects.”
The officers went downstairs, and a few moments later the elevator opened and a gurney was rolled out. Dumah and Haniel were in uniforms we’d copied from the local ambulance service, and temporary decals would make our old ambulance look like one of theirs. They rolled it into the clinic, lifting Eve’s bodybag onto it and strapping it down. Snake, Viper and Kelly followed them to the elevator, and a minute later I heard the silence broken by wails of grief as she was rolled out.
There was something different about these people, something they were hiding. I didn’t know what it was, but I was damn sure going to find out. There was no such thing as werewolves, much less former ones.
“Come on, you need to rest. I can put you in the room next to Gabriel, it’s got an attached bath and a bed big enough for you and your sister to share.”
“Just like old times,” Natalie said.
“I want to look in on Gabriel first. He saved my life.” If he hadn’t knocked me down, the bullet would have done a lot more than graze my neck.
He was sleeping soundly, and my hand cupped his face as I leaned down and kissed his forehead. “Thank you, Gabriel,” I said. “Don’t die on me.”
I let them guide me next door. I couldn’t get my mind off him while I was being bathed, and my dreams were filled with him as well. One vivid dream had us sitting in the grass, three daughters in our laps. The prospect of motherhood scared the hell out of me, but he was the first man I’d met in a long time that I saw as a potential husband and father. I woke up smiling, and my first thought was of him.
Meghan’s POV
This was not the wedding night I had hoped for.
We both were busy, me with my patients and paperwork, and Steven taking care of the arrangements for security and dealing with all the police and the Club. I was on my computer until four in the morning, stepping out every hour to check on Gabriel. I had kept an IV in place, a sedative keeping him under while his lung and body healed. It was a lot easier to deal with an injured werewolf when he was still unconscious. I had the monitors in place, and the alarms were sent to a remote I kept with me. I poked my head into Mackenzie’s room, she was resting comfortably, Natalie by her side.
I looked like I’d had a tough night, and when Steven came into the room, he looked just as worn out. I went to him embracing him as I ran my hands under his cut and his T-shirt, feeling the hard muscles of his back. “How are things?”
“It’s not fun,” he said. “The eight guys I sent north with Eve are almost to Duluth. It took a while to get through to Adam’s wolf that he couldn’t go with; we need to have a funeral, and he needs to be here. We all have to play our part and act like she’s dead.”
“Snake, Viper and Kelly?”
“They understand, and all they have to do is think of her being hurt and the water works start again. They’ll do their part. We also need to be here for Donut’s funeral. That’s going to be a big deal.”
“I bet, being a Deputy and all. How will the Club handle it?”
“However he decided he wanted his funeral, we’ll do it; he should have a will. We’ll bury him with his cut, whether he wears it or it is tucked in with him I don’t know. Snake is too bereaved at the loss of his daughter to do much, we might need you to pretend sedate him if the cops get too nosy tomorrow.”
“So much to do,” I said as I pulled away from his chest. I pulled my scrub top off, turning as I reached behind and unhooked my bra, tossing them both in the hamper as I walked towards the bathroom. I heard his low growl, his wolf was forward. I was playing with fire, and I loved it. I stopped just at the door, the mirror on it showing his eyes as the predator came forward. I untied my scrub bottoms, letting them fall to the floor, then pushed my lace panties off.
I never got a chance to open the door.
In a move so fast I didn’t see it, he was on me. I was pulled back into a hard chest, one hand under my breast, cupping the right one with his big hand. I felt his length hard into my back as his right hand went down, cupping my sex and pulling me towards him. “Let’s shower together,” I said.
He just picked me up, opening the door before reaching down and starting the shower. He kissed me, then pushed me into the walk-in shower. I swear he was undressed and next to me before I got wet, he was in such a state. I reached over for the shampoo, and he took it out of my hand. “Let me,” he said in a low voice that went straight to my core. He took the wand off the wall, wetting my hair and body as his off hand lightly caressed my side. When he put it back up, he took some shampoo and using his hands started to wash my shoulder-length hair. I moaned softly as his fingers massaged my scalp, then my breath caught as his hard length brushed my back. He took just as much care rinsing me off before he reached for the soap and washcloth.
“Put your hands on the shower,” he said as he washed my shoulders. He used both hands to wash away the sweat, blood and tension of the night. I was quivering as he made it to my waist, but he jumped right past and worked my legs instead. He was on his knees, finally back up to my center, and when he rinsed the water away, his lips replaced the sprayer.
“OOOOH!” My breath caught as his tongue split my lips, gathering my arousal on his tongue. He was soft, then aggressive; it felt so amazing, so right. I was building up for a huge one, and my legs started to shake as I got closer. He moved my right leg over his broad shoulder, and I hooked onto it to stay upright as his assault on my sex continued. “Oh god… oh shit… STEVEEEEEEEEEEENNNN!” I screamed my release as my body spasmed, then went limp. I would have fallen if not for his strong arms and the shower wall.
He put my leg back on the floor, waiting until I could stand before he got up and started getting his hair wet. He looked smug, happy but smug. “I take it you enjoyed that?”
I looked up at him like he was crazy. “A little, I guess, but I expected more from my wedding night.”
He smirked as he rinsed the shampoo out of his hair while I caught my breath. I grabbed the cloth and soap. “My turn,” I said as I started to move it over his broad shoulders.
Turnabout was fair play. We turned about three more times each before we fell asleep, exhausted and happy, just as the sun was coming up.
Mackenzie’s POV
I woke up with the sun, an old habit. Natalie would sleep until I forced her to get up, and I decided to let her. My neck hurt like hell, I got up carefully, trying not to move it or my arm as I sat up. I went slowly into the bathroom, doing my morning routine left-handed with the supplies that were left for me. The guest room had a good selection of unopened stuff and travel-sized products, clearly they were used to people like me crashing there. I smiled when I saw the note and the pill bottle next to the Dixie cups. “Mackenzie- take two of these for pain when you get up, and take it easy. No riding your motorcycle until the skin heals up. Ask any of the Club members, they’ll take you anywhere you need to go. Breakfast is downstairs between 6 and 9. -Doc Meghan”
I found some fresh clothes and new flip-flops in my size there as well. I pulled on the shorts and T-shirt, along with the panties. The sports bra was generic enough in size to work, though it was a struggle to put on. I finally left the bathroom, put on a pair of flip-flops, and walked down the stairs to the bar area of the club. One of the prospects was putting chairs down. “Morning, Ma’am,” he said. “I’m Tony, can I help you with anything?”
“Mackenzie. Is the gate open? I need to get some stuff out of our bikes,” I said. I had grabbed both our keys, and we kept a change of clothes and some other stuff in there.
“I can get it for you if you want.”
“No, I don’t like people touching my stuff.” It was harsh, but true.
“Would it be all right if I carried it for you? You’re injured, I don’t want you tearing out your stiches.”
He was right. “All right, can we go?”
“Let me grab a bag.” He went behind the bar and grabbed one of those cloth shopping bags, then led me outside. The crime scene tape was up, and the whole parking lot was off limits except a narrow path to the pedestrian gate. The crime scene unit was parked outside, working several scenes in the area. I walked with Tony to our motorcycles, parked in front of a White Bear Lake police cruiser. As I opened the saddlebags, the officer approached us. After assuring him my sister and I owned the bikes and he checked the registrations, he went back to the other scenes.