Full Circle (Central Florida Pack Book 1) (8 page)

"Yes, and he's a dominant lone wolf who isn't inclined toward the friendly." Doc rubbed at the redness of his arm is if reliving the attack.

"Shit."

"If we can't get him to cooperate, you may have to break him to keep him in line."

Drake frowned. Turning a dominant into a quivering, weakened mass wasn't something he wanted to do. Other Alphas would relish bringing another dominant to his knees. Some would even go as far as killing a wolf without a reason. "Find another way."

"I'm trying, but you're probably going to have to."

"Doc, do what you can. I'd hate to break a dominant unnecessarily."

Visions of another wolf squirming under his compulsion on a concrete floor filled Drake's mind. That wolf had fought with everything he had. Sweat had trickled down Drake's spine. In the end, Drake had won, but at the cost of a wolf who'd never been the same again. A shadow under his current Alpha, he was kept under constant suicide watch.

Doc donned protective gloves, then checked the sleeping wolf's vitals through the bars of the cage. "I know you don't want to. It's why the Pack accepted you as their Alpha. You don't go the easy route. Dominance for the sake of dominance was never your thing."

Drake headed down the hall to Doc's office. This wasn't how he'd intended to spend the night. Swearing, he dialed the number to the lab the Pack owned. "I need a full work up. Yes, I know you did one, but I need another. It may be something new. Check the databases."

Drake got up from the chair when Doc called down the hall. "He's shifted."

A fairly large male was hunkered down on the floor of the cage, clutching Doc's gloved arm in his mouth. Drake slowed his steps and stayed out of sight. The male had shredded Doc's specially designed gloves, so if Doc touched the bars while withdrawing his arm, he'd be in pain. The damage from the silver would be considerable.

Drake walked out into the open. "Let his arm go."

Startled, the man did just that. Doc withdrew his hand from the cage. Quickly, he stripped off the glove and checked the bandage beneath. Drake waited to see if any extra damage had been caused. When Doc shook his head, Drake switched his attention to the cage. The lone man was dazed, sitting in a half-crouch.

"Who are you?"

It took the loner a while to answer. It was as if he had to slog through whatever drug was pumping through his system. He shook his head as if to clear it. "My name is Patrick."

"Patrick, where are you from?"

He shook his head again, but didn't answer.

Drake checked Patrick's eyes. They hadn't gone wolf. He hoped that was a good sign. He tried again. "Why are you in my territory?"

He didn't get an answer. Silently, Drake cursed. Doc shook his head from the other side of the cage while he wielded a chip reader. Patrick wasn't chipped. Most packs were, though there were a few who held out against it. Shifting presented a unique problem, causing wolves to lose their ID along with their clothes. In order to identify a shifter, they had to rely on the same technology vets used for dogs and cats. Hell, they had a network of "vets" that specialized in unusual animals, which was what the chips read if a human vet discovered them.

Patrick smelled of desert, yet his accent denoted the south, which was confusing. Georgia's Alpha kept a tight rein on things. There was no way this lone wolf had come out of there. That left the Carolinas, an easy place to hide out. That could explain the accent, but it still didn't explain the scent of desert.

Patrick's legs gave out and he collapsed against the floor of the cage. There was no way Drake could question him now.

Doc moved to unlock the cage. "I'll let him out and get him into the room."

Drake reached out to stop him. "He just tore your arm open. You let him out and he attacks you again, I will break him or kill him. I won't have a choice."

Doc looked at his quickly healing arm, the skin knitting back together. "He's a patient. He's a man in need of my help. I can do my best with him in the cage, but the silver is not helping his recovery. In fact, it may be preventing it."

Drake took another look at the male on the bottom of the cage. He wasn't opposed to treating his captive as a human being. However, he also had to think of the Pack. "You may be a werewolf, but you can still be put out of commission. I'll do what I have to do to keep you safe. Let's get him out of there."

Together, they moved him to one of the few rooms Doc had outfitted for less dangerous wolves, with Drake cursing all the way because he'd gotten too close to the bars. The son of a bitch was heavy. Drake was ashamed to admit it, but they dumped him onto the hospital bed instead of moving him gently. Sweating, with his side stinging, he watched as Doc drew more blood and checked his patient's vitals. Doc looked up through his hair. "I told you we need a gurney in here."

Drake swiped at his forehead. "I'll increase your budget."

"Good, because I already ordered it."

"Taking advantage of your position again, Doc?"

"Hey, I've known you since you were in diapers, boy. Why don't you get back to your mate and leave this old man in peace?"

***

Ria tried going back to bed, but it felt empty without Drake. She didn't like not knowing what was going on. They'd have to have a talk when he got back about that—and about the mating bond. Ria could almost feel it kicking in. It was like a whisper, something that she could just barely glimpse out of the corner of her eye.

Her mother had spoken of it once. It'd been one of the few times Ria had come home during college. They'd had a movie marathon, just the two of them, while her father had run with the Pack.

"It's like love and knowledge all rolled up in one. You know when he's safe and when he's not. It ties you closer than you can imagine."

"Can he sense you, too?"

Her mother had smiled, popped another kernel in her mouth, and nodded before picking up the remote control. "One day, you'll feel it, and you'll realize it's indescribably beautiful."

Little had Ria known that her mother had been talking about Drake. That they'd purposefully kept Ria away from him. Oh, she understood now that their silence had been their way to give her a chance to see the world. To experience life.

It had been for the best, yet it had left her feeling horribly alone when her parents had died in the car crash. Sometimes she got angry that they'd left her alone.

She threw off the covers and headed for the shower, picking up her clothes as she went. The bathroom in here had always called to her. It showed the personality of its owner. Hedonistic, with a large walk-in shower dominating one side with a rainfall shower head and numerous massage jets. There was a huge Jacuzzi bath under what she knew were heavily tinted windows, but she drew the blinds, anyway.

She looked longingly at the bath, but turned on the shower. Her stomach had begun growling a few minutes ago. Sighing, she stepped under the water. Her heart hurt, and she should have told Drake she loved him. She still hid, though what she wanted was in easy reach.

He was out dealing with a potentially dangerous situation. She was worried, never mind that he'd told her not to worry. She knew he was dominant, powerfully so. Her father had always said it was better for all involved if they recognized him as Alpha. Drake had the ability to break anyone in the Pack, although, to her knowledge, he very rarely used it. It hurt him to use it, so he found other ways to steer the Pack in the direction he wanted.

Closing her eyes, she poured shampoo into her hand and began to lather her hair.

***

Drake growled in frustration as he checked his phone. Ria wasn't answering. He reminded himself that she was safe at the house. Someone would brave the Alpha's bedroom to let her know what was going on.

Drake and the sentries secured the warehouse. No one was to be allowed in or out. While they waited on James to call, he and Doc discussed the future of the sleeping lone wolf. An Alpha decided a lone wolf's ability to stay in his territory.

"We don't know the effect this drug will have on him in the long term." Doc scratched the back of his neck while he looked over the lab reports.

"If he's strong enough, I wouldn't want to hold him here." Drake folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. "I don't want a wolf in my Pack that doesn't want to be here. I can't hold a pack of this size together if I'm holding them by force."

Drake's vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and answered.

"James."

Doc turned back to the bed but no doubt he had his ears pricked for information. James had taken off to investigate the alert concerning one of their safe houses. There were several in the city, all within thirty minutes of each other and close to the highway.

Designated by numbers, this one was simply know as number three. Except for a few sentries, it didn't see much action, unlike Doc's. While it could have been a break in, it was more than likely a test. Though the lone wolves had only been sporadic, something in Drake's gut told him this was linked to the man who lay unconscious in the bed.

"Alpha." He could hear James' footfalls as he walked across the parking lot. Drake's wolf prowled within. Something was wrong. "It was a false alarm. Sheena sent the alert. Drake, she's alone at the house with Ria."

"I want my mate safe. Get to the house." Rubber pealing out on asphalt was the sound which met his command.

Drake took off for his own SUV at a run.

***

Ria groaned as hot water slid over her body. She was deliciously sore in some places, and memories of just how she got that way brought a blush to her face. The click of claws on tile caused her to look up. An unfamiliar shadow paused in front of the glass blocks. Ria fought to keep her breathing slow and even. Ria hoped like hell the sound of the water hitting the tiled floor hid her increased heart rate.

The wolf wasn't Drake. It was either playing with her or was too excited to care that it made noise. Ria kept her eyes on the enemy. She had one chance at survival. Humming as if she didn't have a care in the world she slid to the right as the shadow moved left. Out from under the shower, she used her momentum to move as far as she could and ended up just under the towel bar.

Ria grabbed hold of the only weapon she could and pulled, all the while praying that adrenaline and the wolf half of her genetics would give her just enough of an edge to pull the bar free. It came loose. Her hands stung even as she tightened her slick grip on the towel rod. Ria kept her back to the wall and an eye on the dirty blonde wolf that sat on the opposite side of the shower.

Drake's wolf was bigger, black as midnight. The blonde wolf rose from its haunches and closed the distance between them. Cocky, but damn sure not a male. She was smaller than any male werewolf Ria had seen. Ria gripped the towel rack and waited for her chance.

She'd only get one.

The wolf came closer. It passed through the stream of water Ria had left running. It paused at the edge of the shower with its eyes narrowed, head lowered. Ria waited and watched as muscles bunched under wet fur. She held her ground until the last moment. Ria got a set of stripes from the wolf's claws for her effort, but she brought the towel rod down, hard. She hit her target, but all it earned her was a yelp but not much else.

Ria backed away. Taking her eye off of her opponent wasn't an option. Ria hadn't managed to stun the wolf, but she'd drawn blood. At least she'd gotten a little of her own back. Panic crawled up her spine. One thought scared her more than any other. She was in a house full of werewolves, yet no one was coming to rescue her.

"Who are you?"

The she-wolf smiled. She, definitely she, there was no male genitalia in evidence. Ria wracked her brain to figure out which female would want her dead?

"You know this isn't exactly a smart move."

The she-wolf moved forward. Too late, Ria realized what it was doing. It was herding her into the closet.
Shit! Classic, stupid move.

"You know, attacking me means that Drake will come after you. He'll have help. James will be right at his side." Ria reached back. She moved her left hand blindly, in a futile attempt to look for something other than the bar she currently held. Nothing. Shoes. Shirts. She was on her own.

The wolf stopped advancing. Its ears swiveled. A horrible creaking filled the bathroom seconds before the solid wooden door splintered apart under the paws of a snarling wolf.

Ria flinched and dove to the floor. She threw her arms over her head and turned her body away in an attempt to shield herself from the shrapnel. That instinctive move had made her take her eyes off of the enemy.

Ria paid for it in blood. Claws ripped into her shoulders. Digging deep, they unleashed screams from her throat. Ria rolled and her back hit the tile as a mass of wet fur, claws and teeth followed her down. Ria pushed up and away, keeping the she-wolf from taking a bite out of her.

***

Drake couldn't stop the enraged howl that rose up his throat as Sheena bucked from Ria kicking under her. He sank his teeth into Sheena's scruff with deadly accuracy, yanking her off Ria. He threw her aside. Sheena hit the wall with a thud. He began his shift the moment Sheena's unconscious body hit the floor. Ria sat up and moved away from Drake as he shifted. His amber eyes glowed and held her own while his muscles shifted under fur that receded. His claws turned into fingers on the tile.

"Ria!"

Her eyes were barely open. Gently, he inspected her injuries, flinching when she whimpered at his touch. His heart threatened to beat right through his chest. She looked so small, crumpled against the wall. His wolf wanted to go back and tear Sheena apart limb by limb for touching his mate. Ria whimpered again and the wolf and the man were in agreement: Ria came first. Vengeance would come later.

Drake reached down. "Sweetheart, I'm going to move you."

He heard booted feet hit the tile. His backup had arrived.

"I'll get Doc," Tim said, turning and rushing out the way he'd come.