Silver Mine (26 page)

“You’re being an asshole, aren’t you?” he asked Shaun.

Shaun tapped a drum roll on the wall. “That was payback for the little
fucked-up wireless reception
trick you tried to pull on me. Nobody dropped you. You’ve been flat-out on your ass for a long time, though, so you’re bound to feel like crap.”

Chase took a moment to use the new toothbrush waiting for him beside the sink. The man in the mirror wasn’t pretty but looked a lot better than he expected. There were faint bags under his eyes and fading bruises all over, as if fresh skin covered healing wounds. He twisted to check his shoulder and back, but they were both covered with thick bandages and he didn’t want to muck with them right now.

He eyed the shower enclosure. “Do I have time for a quick rinse?”

“You expect me to scrub your backside or something? Dude. You’re a grown up. Wash ’em if you want to.”

Chase moved cautiously to avoid landing on his ass, but he managed to keep the bandages dry. He dried off, pulled on the pants he found on the counter and stepped out the door to nod at Shaun. “I feel like crap, but walking crap. I’ll be fine.”

“Hungry?”

The mere thought of food triggered a rumble so loud he swore his internal organs shook.

Shaun gestured to the right. “And that answers that question. Come on. We can grab some burgers.”

Food was one motivator, but it was getting to see Shelley that sped his steps.

She turned from where she stood at the front counter of the vet clinic. He glanced over her quickly, making sure she was okay. It was crazy how unsteady his feet felt as she moved forward to give him a hug.

A large furry object stepped between them and blocked his path.

Jones?

The surprise of spotting the wolf was the only thing that kept him from kicking the beast out of the way. “What the hell?”

Shelley sighed. “Look, Jones. I appreciate the gesture and all, but this is Chase. He’s not going to hurt me.”

Oh God, no. Chase stared at the troublesome shifter in disbelief. “Have you finally flipped your last—?”

“Jones likes watching out for me.” Shelley squatted to push the shifter aside. “He’s been rather charming, actually. I’m sure you can understand how much I’ve appreciated having him around.”

She glared up at him, and Chase rolled his eyes.

So it was like that, was it? No mentioning to the crazy boy that he was crazy? Tenderhearted females. “Gee, Jones. Thank you for taking care of Shelley while I was unconscious. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to give her a hug. I seem to remember that was on my agenda before someone knocked me out.”

Shelley flushed. “You had it coming.”

“The hug or the jab in the ass?”

Warm arms slipped around him, and she pressed up close. “Both. You scared me.”

“Sorry.”

He leaned down to touch their lips together, and that made a lot of the remaining aches and pains ease away. He might not know completely what the heck was going on, but he knew this.

He’d given up during the fight. Planned on lying down and dying when the strange wilderness attack was over because he’d thought she was gone forever.

He no longer had any intention of giving up anything, anytime. While he still had breath, he was going to fight to live. And if there was some way to have Shelley a part of that life he would make it happen.

“Shaun said I’ve been out of it for a while.”

Shelley leaned her forehead on his chest. “Ten days.”

“Really? Shit.” That would explain a few more things. Like how he’d healed so much from the fight. A flash of worry struck, and he twisted her carefully, tugging at her shirt to try to get at her arm.

“Hey, stop it,” Shelley complained, pulling out of reach and adjusting her clothes. “Not now.”

Shaun snorted.

Shelley stuck out her tongue at him. “Dirty pervert.”

Shaun threw his hands in the air in resignation. “I’m just saying I have no complaints if you want to strip, but if you’re going to be long I’ll leave you two to it and come back with takeout or something.”

Oh
sheesh
. Chase’s brain must still be half-asleep. “I’m not trying to get you naked, I want to see your cuts.”

She flushed even redder. “Oh.”

Shaun snorted again. “Man, Shelley, you’re cute. I thought my buddy Tad was the shyest shifter in the country, but you got him beat.”

“Do you mind?” Chase glared across the room. He didn’t care if Shaun was the local Beta, he wasn’t going to let Shelley be teased.

The man sat in a nearby chair and shut up, just grinned as he picked up a magazine and flipped pages. “Pretend I’m not here. I’ll take you for grub whenever you say the word.”

Shelley had her stethoscope out and tugged him toward the side examining room. “I won’t keep us long, but I want to double-check you.”

Chase went willingly, but he wasn’t the only one going to get examined if he had any say. “Ten days, huh?”

She nodded, pushing him into position and wrapping a blood-pressure cuff around his arm. “You were thrashing around a lot for a while. After you nearly hit the floor, I suggested we strap you down. I hope you don’t mind. You didn’t seem to mind.”

Chase caught her fingers and lifted them to his lips. “You’re babbling.”

She nodded, stealing her fingers back. “I know.”

He let her have a moment’s peace. She listened to his chest, took his heart rate. When she peeked under his dressings, he let her without bothering to look himself.

“Now, you.” He caught her hand before she could run away.

“I’m fine. Really.”

Chase twisted until he had her pinned between his legs and locked in position. He undid her buttons one by one, patting her fingers away when she would have protested. “I want to see.”

“Shaun is in the waiting room,” she protested.

“Good. He can practice waiting and tell us how much he enjoys it.” Chase slipped the material from her shoulder. The pretty blue bra with lacey sheer material that totally let him see her nipples registered—he’d have to be really dead for it not to—but he was more concerned with her arm.

He slipped his fingers up her smooth skin carefully as she willingly turned to show him two faint lines on her skin, the wounds almost completely healed.

“Damn. Did you say I slept for ten days or a month?”

Shelley brushed her cheek against his in a move that totally toppled his defenses. “Your wounds are nearly healed as well. I can leave off the bandages if you’d like.”

Chase wiggled his shoulder and back to try to sense any of the pain he’d become so familiar with. Nothing. It felt wonderful. Well, achy and bruised, but not like he was being eaten by fire ants.

“I left the gauze on to protect you while you slept—”

“Healed? How is this possible? You must have found out what was wrong with the shifters.”

She grinned at him. “Well, thank you for the vote of confidence. Did I not head north with you to find a cure?”

Chase slipped his hands back around her waist. “I never doubted you. But how?”

She snuggled close. Rested her cheek on his chest, her hands clasped around his back as if she was afraid to let him go. “You were the cure.”

“Me?” Chase stroked her hair and let the heat from her body warm him. “More information, please.”

“Your wolf. Remember when we first met I threatened to let you sleep for a good long time and let your cat heal itself? It’s not common, but it’s been a well-accepted last-resort cure over the centuries. Put an animal into a nearly comatose state. The lack of movement gives their body a chance to heal. Your system was fighting to stave off the infection, but with the cougar and the man, your metabolism must have been accelerating the mutations.”

He didn’t want to admit that most of that had gone way over his head. He held on to her until she moved away and stared up into his face. His confusion must have shown because she smiled and spoke again.

“Let me put it this way. Your cat tried to heal you, then your human. They ended up fighting as to the best way to do that, and if their argument hadn’t stopped, your shifter would have basically come undone, not knowing which form to take.”

“The miner.”

She nodded sadly. “I don’t know if the disease started from another wild animal, or was a reaction to something they found in their mine. But while your cat and human fought it out and effectively tried to kill you, your wolf went into hibernation and healed itself. When you shifted, you inoculated yourself.”

“And you don’t have the germs anymore? You’re not infected or contagious?”

She shook her head. “When we got back to Whitehorse, I made contact with my mentor. Between the two of us we came up with the idea of making a serum using your blood as a starting point. It seems to be working—we’ve passed materials and information along to all the other shifter medical facilities so they’re prepared if they see signs of an outbreak. We’ve been in full production here in Whitehorse with one of the shifter-owned pharmacies to make enough to inoculate basically every shifter we can, including all the outcasts. Shaun knows someone who’s adapting a wildlife management pistol so we can dose the reluctant ones from a distance.”

Damn. “Everyone I touched during the fight, hell, even Taylor back at Rachel’s cabin. He’s going to need to be looked after—”

“Already done. Well, Taylor at least.” She grinned. “I hear he wasn’t too cooperative. The medical team sent from Calgary snuck up on him to get the injection done. Not that I usually approve of underhanded methods, but the disease needs to be checked before it spreads farther.”

And he agreed. To a point. “Don’t like underhanded methods, huh? What you call stuffing me on the helicopter when I was unconscious?”

She blinked innocently. “Oh, did you have different plans? I was sure you’d told me we would be catching the chopper out.”

There was a whole lot more to ask about, like if she knew what had caused the attack in the first place. Like why Jones was wrapping himself around her legs like an overgrown house pet.

Like where did they go from here?

Only when he opened his mouth to begin, the most embarrassing noises gurgled forth, his stomach loudly protesting the lack of food.

She kissed his cheek and wiggled away. “Let’s track down some nourishment. I had you on an IV for long enough you’ve probably forgotten what food tastes like.”

“But we will talk as I eat?”

She tossed him a T-shirt from off the counter. “Yes, of course.”

“And do we have a chaperone for a reason? I mean other than Jones.”

“Shaun?” Shelley shrugged. “There’s been someone around from the Takhini pack constantly since we brought you to the clinic. Not sure if it’s at Evan’s or my sister’s insistence. More details than that should probably wait for a full stomach, I think.”

He didn’t insist. He pulled on his shirt, snagging her wrist before she could run away. “Fine. But before we go? Thank you. For healing me.”

Chase kissed her, one hand firm on the nape of her neck in case she decided to run. The willing flutter of her mouth opening to his, the tease of her tongue over his teeth—damn.

It was good to know all the parts of his anatomy still worked.

Food, information. Then privacy. In that order, and as soon as possible.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Shaun pulled up in front of the pack house, and all the horrible memories from the past rushed in to hogtie her. Shelley sat in silence for a moment, not moving, just thinking. After the past couple weeks she would have thought little could make her freeze, but it seemed her bout of bravery had been short-lived.

Jones, who had refused to be left at the vet clinic but also refused to shift and get dressed, nudged his furry wolf head against her arm. They’d crawled into the backseat leaving Chase to sit shotgun.

Chase held her door open, staring down with concern as she hesitated.

Jones nudged her again.

“Yeah, yeah, give me a minute. It’s like preparing for a trip to the dentist or something.”

Chase squeezed her fingers as he helped her out. “That makes two of us. Pack houses. Hmmm, even the word settles like the sweet sound of nails on a blackboard. Shaun, you sure know how to show your guests a good time.”

The Beta grimaced but continued walking, grabbing the front doorknob to let them in. “Not many other choices, dude. Not since we’ve got the furry beast with us, and there’s no fresh food in Shelley’s fridge to feed you since she’s been basically living at the clinic. This is simpler. Trust me. You’ll be fine.”

“You’ll be better than fine.” Caroline stood in their path, arms spread wide.

Shelley accepted her sister’s hug eagerly. Chase refused to release her fingers, Jones sat on her feet, and she was completely good with all of it. For a moment she just soaked it in. The love, the caring. Her sister’s arms around her, the man she cared deeply about holding her as if he didn’t want to let her go.

Maybe this would work out with a happy ending easier than she thought.