Silver (16 page)

I sat up slowly, holding an arm across my
stomach to ease the pain.

“
I don’t think you should
be moving,” Nikki said worriedly; her hands moved helplessly in the
air as though she wanted to help, but didn't know how to without
hurting me.

I gave her a weak smile. “It’s okay,
werewolves heal quickly.” I slid slowly toward the side of the
small cot, noticing for the first time that I was still in the
gray-walled room that smelled of antiseptic and blood.

“
Not werewolves wounded
with silver,” she argued, but when she saw I wouldn’t be stopped,
she ducked under one of my arms and supported me with her
body.

“
Where are your parents?” A
shard of pain laced up my side from the knife wound and I gasped
the last word. I held my stomach tightly. I could feel the stitches
through the bandages that ran lengthwise across the front. It felt
like my whole body was wrapped up. Too bad it wasn’t Halloween, I
could have passed for a mummy.

We walked through a door, down a hallway
that smelled faintly of cat, and stopped at the doorway to the
living room. Nikki’s mom sat on the arm of a couch and her dad
perched on the edge of an armchair, their heads close together as
if they were in deep discussion. They both turned in surprise at
our appearance. Meg blushed slightly and I realized they had been
discussing me.

“
Nikki, what are you guys
doing?” she asked in alarm, rising to her feet.

I stepped into the room and Nikki helped me
into the armchair opposite her dad. Her mom and dad both stared at
me. “You should be resting,” Meg pressed. There was genuine concern
in her voice that I didn’t want to hear.

“
I need to know a couple of
things,” I forced out breathlessly at the ache in my ribs from the
brief journey.

Her dad rose and checked my bandages. My
instincts screamed at me to get as far away from the Hunters as I
could, but I forced myself to hold still. I must have been too
still because he gave me a strange look I couldn’t read, but it was
all I could do to keep from letting my fight or flight instincts
take over.

He tut-tutted behind me in a fashion that
was so doctorly and normal I could almost pretend he truly was a
physician, but my instincts demanded for me to phase and tear them
all apart, to end the danger to my life, my Mom's, Mouse's, and
those of Chet's pack. I bit my lip and allowed him to proceed with
his inspection. A few moments later he stepped back and gave a nod
of satisfaction. “Everything seems to be healing, slowly, but
healing. I’ve never seen a werewolf survive silver shards once
they’ve reached the bloodstream. They have a nasty habit of heading
straight for the heart.” He glanced at his wife as if afraid he had
gone too far. She pursed her lips and shook her head with a sigh.
He shrugged and went back to sit by her.

Nikki settled on the couch closest to me,
her eyes studying my face worriedly.

“
What do you want to know?”
Meg asked. At my guarded expression, her voice softened. “You
deserve that much,” she said.

I breathed in to clear my throbbing head,
then gritted my teeth at the answering pain. “You hunt werewolves;
you’re Hunters,” I said dryly.

Meg glanced at her husband as they both
nodded together. Her eyebrows rose. “You already knew that?” she
asked in surprise.

A sharp pain cut through my lacerated
stomach. “Nikki told me,” I forced out.

They both looked at Nikki. Her mom frowned
in disapproval. “Darling.”

“
Don’t darling me,” Nikki
cut her off angrily. “All you care about is killing werewolves. You
don’t even know I’m here half the time. Sorry for finding someone I
could talk to before I exploded with the frustration of not feeling
like I exist in my own home.”

Her mother’s eyebrows rose, but she replied
blandly, “Another Alpha, really?”

Nikki blushed slightly. “I know, a little
ironic, isn’t it?”

A smile touched her dad’s lips. He turned to
me. “Fortunate.”

I stared at him. He shrugged. “If Meg won’t
say it, I will. We owe you our daughter’s life. We never thought
Chet would react that way.”

“
Of course he reacted that
way,” I replied. “You hurt a member of his pack. A pack is a
family, whether they’re related or not. He responded the same way
you did when a member of your family was killed.”

They both looked taken aback at my strong
words. I regretted them, but they had been said. I opened my mouth
to soften the blow, but Nikki’s father cut me off.

“
You’re right,” he said
softly. Nikki’s mom set a hand on his arm, but he shook his head.
“No, Meg. He is right. Nikki is, too. Ever since Randy died, we
haven’t been able to think of anything but killing werewolves. But
they have lives, too, and families.”

Meg’s brow furrowed and I could tell she
wanted to argue, but she pursed her lips and kept silent.

I shifted on the armchair in an effort to
find a more comfortable position, but just moving hurt so I gave
up. “I needed a friend as much as Nikki did. I was lucky she found
me. Without her, I don’t know what I would have done.”

Nikki grabbed my hand and held it tight. Her
mom frowned. “What are you talking about?” she asked, her tone more
concerned than defensive now.

I held the words in limbo, feeling as if
every time I said them made it more real. Finally, I sighed. “My
dad was killed by Hunters.” I breathed quickly, more spent than I
wanted to admit. Dark spots danced before my eyes

Meg exchanged a glance with her husband.
“How long ago was that?” he asked gently.

I closed my eyes in an
effort to avoid the dancing spots, but they started to flash. A
ringing began softly in my ears. “February
15
^th
,” I
said. My words slurred slightly.

Nikki’s mom let out her breath in a
rush.

I swayed on the couch and it felt like the
world moved in a circle around me. Nikki’s hand tightened. “Roger,
catch him. He’s going to fall,” Meg said quickly.

Strong arms caught me before I hit the
ground. I was lifted up as though I didn’t weigh more than a child.
“You’re gonna be fine, son. Just hang in there and we’ll take care
of you,” Nikki’s dad said in a calm, reassuring voice that sounded
so much like my father's a sob caught in my chest. I faded to the
rhythm of his footsteps down the hall.

“
Jaze?”

I opened my eyes and was surprised to find
Meg sitting on a chair next to the bed. She sighed and her eyes
tightened with concern. “Jaze, I think I should call your mom and
let her know what happened.”

I shook my head, then put both my hands to
my temples to stop the headache that threatened to split my skull.
“No,” I said between clenched teeth. “She’s already been through
too much.”

Meg’s concern showed in her voice. “You
have, too. You need your mom.”

I turned slightly so I could look at her.
She sat on the chair Nikki usually occupied. She leaned forward
with her elbows on her knees so that we were eye level. I cleared
my throat. “She just lost her husband, relocated to a new city, had
to find a new job, and has been working hard to provide for us. If
she finds out that I went head to head with the local pack in an
effort to save a Hunter’s daughter, she’ll never sleep again.” I
took a testing breath and was relieved when it hurt less than
before. I let it out slowly. “She needs her sister right now and
the kind of medicine being near family can bring. If she’s here,
all I’ll do is worry about her safety and I won’t be able to do
what needs to be done.”

Meg nodded slowly, her eyes a little
bright.

A thought occurred to me and I tried to push
up to a sitting position. She held me down with one hand, a feat
which would have been impossible if I’d had my normal werewolf
strength. I tried to rise again anyway. “I can go. If it’s hard for
you to have me here, I can leave. I understand and I’m grateful for
all you’ve done.”

Meg shook her head quickly. “I won’t hear of
it,” she said firmly, cutting off my protests. “You’re welcome to
stay here as long as your mother is gone.”

“
I don't want to make
things uncomfortable for you,” I said. “I know werewolves killed
your son.”

“
And Hunters killed your
father,” she replied.

I settled back on the bed and looked at
her.

She met my eyes and gave a motherly smile.
“We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?”

I nodded, my throat tight. The pain I felt
echoed in her eyes. I swallowed and thought of something. “Do you
know which werewolf you hurt?”

She frowned slightly as she thought, then
shook her head. “It was one of the grays. We had our sights on
Chet, but the gray got in the way. Our bullet hit it in the
forearm; if they're smart and get the silver out quickly, it'll be
fine.”

I tried not to let show how much her talking
of them like game animals bothered me. “How do you feel about
that?”

“
That I didn't kill it?”
She gave me a searching look, a glint of humor in her eyes. “I was
disappointed; now I'm not so sure. Roger's taken your words to
heart. He seems to think it might be time to throw in the
towel.”

That surprised me. “How do you feel about
it?”

She gave me a frank look. “Old habits die
hard. I don't know what I'd do with myself.”

A laugh escaped me and I grabbed my stomach
when pain answered. “I'm sure you'll figure out something,” I
managed to get out. “Maybe keeping your daughter under
control.”

She laughed. “That would be a full time
job.”

“
And she calls me a rebel,”
I said wryly.

Meg patted my shoulder. “You just take it
easy and let those wounds heal. The more sleep you can get, the
better.” She gave me another motherly smile that made my heart
ache, then rose and left the room.

A few seconds later Nikki came in with a
bowl of soup that smelled impossibly good. She scooted the chair
closer to the bed. “Chicken noodle?” she asked with a smile.

“
Yes, please,” I answered.
My mouth watered.

She scooped up broth and a few noodles with
a spoon and tried to feed it to me. I laughed weakly. “I can feed
myself,” I said.

She shook her head. “Nope. He who risks his
life for a girl gets pampered by said girl until he is fully
recovered.”
I laughed again and clutched my stomach at the pain. “Is that a
quote?”

She nodded. “Shakespeare, I think. Or maybe
Elton John.”

“
Probably not Elton John,”
I said with a mouthful of soup.

She laughed. “Probably not. I might be
misquoting.”

“
Might?”

She laughed louder this time and the sound
healed my heart as much as her easy acceptance of my shattered
soul. “Okay, definitely misquoting.” She scooped up more soup and
put it in my mouth before I could tease her further. Her forehead
creased slightly. “You had a good talk with Mom?”

“
She wanted to call my mom
and tell her what happened,” I said. At Nikki’s concerned look, I
shrugged. “Then she said I could stay here as long as I needed. Not
what I expected from a pair of Hunters.”

Nikki touched my shoulder. “You’re not what
I expected from a werewolf. I guess we’ve both got something to
learn about judging before we truly know someone.”

I nodded and settled into the comfortable
silence we shared like a warm blanket. By the time the soup was
gone, I could barely keep my eyes open. Nikki left me with a soft
smile and promised she would be back when I woke up.

Chapter 16

“
Maybe he could help us,”
Meg whispered from the next room. I eased out of the bed, relieved
and surprised at how much better I felt after only a
night.

“
I don’t know,” Roger
replied. “He’s been through so much. We shouldn’t press it.”
I made my way down the hall and they both turned when I appeared.
“Press what?” I asked. At Meg’s frown, I pointed to my ears. “Can’t
help it. Werewolf, remember?”

Roger grinned, his eyes lighting up. “I
didn’t realize the attributes continued in human form. That’s very
interesting.”

“
And explains a lot,”
Nikki’s mother said, exchanging a glance with him.

I shrugged. “Only some of them, and my
hearing and eyesight aren't near as good in human form, just better
than a human's.”

Roger nodded as though noting that for
later. I leaned against the arm of the couch to relax my sore
muscles. “Ask me whatever you need to know.”

Meg hesitated, glanced at Roger, then said,
“We need to know why there aren’t any Alphas in this area.” She
held up a hand at the concern on my face and rushed on, “Not that
we want to kill them or anything, it’s just that something’s going
on here and we need to figure it out.”
Her words caught my attention. “So you've decided to give up the
hunt?”

Meg's brow creased, but Roger smiled. “We’ve
decided that we’ve thrown away too much of our lives trying to
avenge Randy, when each wolf we kill gets us no closer to bringing
him back.” I heard Nikki’s footsteps stop in the hall and was glad
she heard. Roger continued, “We figure maybe we can be some sort of
a liaison, you know, between werewolves and Hunters? Maybe we could
stop some of the killing on both sides.”

I stared at him and my heart pounded with
the sincerity of his words. “You mean stop killing werewolves
altogether?”
Meg nodded. “You’re right about them, or you. You have families,
mothers and fathers who care about you. What right do we have to
kill you?” She shifted a little in her chair and dropped her eyes.
“We almost killed that boy. We've always thought of them as
animals, but it's come a little too close to home.” She glanced
toward the hall where Nikki stood out of sight.