Page 50 of Rough

I tipped my head toward the truck. “How soon will he heal fully?”

“Oh, shortly. A teen in perfect health? It’ll just be a mark tomorrow. And then nothing by the next day. His pride’s probably hurt worse. Come on, I’d better get him to Rob.”

I frowned. “Rob, your brother?”

“Yep. As you can guess, he’s a wolf, too. All of us at the ranch. Rob, he’s the pack alpha. My dad before him. James is going to have to answer to him for this.”

I had a lot to take in. And I wanted to know all of it. I was thrilled by it all. Definitely excited. And titillated. Awed. Confused. Intrigued.

We walked back to the truck in silence, then climbed into the front seat. James was in the back—the truck was a huge four door behemoth. I couldn’t help checking in with my patient again, even though I knew he had to be fine if he walked all the way from the waterfall. Boyd had been worried about him when he’d been unconscious, but his concern slipped away once I cleared his lungs. I had to believe Boyd wouldn’t be so relaxed if James’ life was still in danger. “You feeling okay? Any dizziness, nausea, anything else I should know about?”

“He’s fine,” Boyd assured me. “James, this is Dr. Ames. You be respectful with her or you’ll have even more to answer for.”

The young man nodded in awkward agreement. “It hurts, ma’am, but I’ll be okay.”

Boyd nodded, clearly satisfied with the answer, started the truck and pulled out. It seemed that teen boys were stupid over girls, wolf or human.

“Did you actually tell Jett Markle he shot yourdog?” I asked, laughter bubbling up now that the major crisis was past.

“I did,” Boyd chuckled. “And then I took his shotgun and bent the barrel, so it’s unusable. What an asshole. I mean, aside from shooting a wolf, which of course, I takeverypersonally, he’d have ridden his horse by my truck to get above the waterfall, meaning he knew there were people around. And he still fired? I seriously should’ve shoved that shotgun up his ass instead of just giving him a black eye.”

He bent the barrel of a shotgun?

“I thought no one lived on that property right now,” James spoke up from the back seat. “I mean, Shefield died, right?”

“That’s no excuse for you running around in wolf form in broad daylight,” Boyd said sternly. “But yes, Shefield died. I don’t know, Markle says he’s buying it, so maybe he thinks it’s already his, but I’ll be damned if I’d let that happen. I gotta figure out if he’s full of shit or not, and what I can do to stop it.”

“You’re staying then,” I commented.

He turned to look at me, as if he didn’t need to stare at the road to drive.

“Those words mean you’re staying, that you’re not picking up and heading off to the next competition.”

He nodded, then looked away. “I hadn’t said it aloud, that I was retiring. That this was where I now belonged. I told you I wanted a reason to stay. That it was you. You’re mine, Audrey Ames. I’ve told you that from the start. As for being a wolf, as for being a member of the pack, I have a purpose here. If it’s to finish Jett Markle, then so be it.”

I stole a glance at Boyd’s profile. His jaw was set with new determination. He appeared far more serious than usual, although our conversation was pretty hefty. While I missed the boyish grin, I also admired this Boyd. He wasn’t just a playboy. He was a leader. He handled crisis situations with confidence and ease. Better than some doctors I’d been in surgery with.

Boyd pulled up in the circle drive in front of the ranch house. The memories of my first trip here, how he’d seduced me in his barn in about five minutes flat came flooding back but mingled with so much more pleasure now. I was sore between my legs, a constant reminder of what we’d done. Of how he’d ensured I would never forget he’d pretty much ruined me for anyone else.

Because now I knew what he was. We shared a secret. Trust. This wasn’t a quickie. It wasn’t just sex.

“Audrey, stay in the truck, darlin’. I’m just gonna deliver James to Rob, and then I’ll drive you home. I want to stay with you.” He looked at me with a gaze so fierce it made me hold my breath. “But if I do, I won’t let you sleep, and you need your rest.”

“I need to up my vitamins if I’m to keep up with you… and your wolf.”

21

BOYD

A lotof shit went down, and I knew Rob was going to blow a gasket. My brother was grouchy at best. With what I suspected was moon madness starting to plague him, he was even less patient with people, specifically me.

I hadn’t exactly caught him up to speed on the Audrey situation, so that was going to add fuel to the fire. I didn’t want to leave her side, not just in the truck while she waited but tonight. Her work was important. She helped people. Saved lives. Brought babies into the world. I couldn’t be totally selfish and fuck her all night long, no matter how much I wanted to. But I sure as fuck would be waiting for her after her office closed tomorrow.

James shuffled down the drive beside me with the blanket around his waist. I could offer him a pair of jeans, but I let him suffer a little. He definitely deserved it. Dumb teens and their hormones. Although, I knew just how he was feeling.

I put my fingers between my teeth and whistled loudly. Yeah, we used cell phones and all, but some old-fashioned methods still worked just as well on a ranch. If Rob heard my signal, he’d come out to find out what was going on. He did, not a minute later.

Rob stalked out of the house, characteristic annoyance in his expression. He set his hat on his head as he took the steps down from the porch. When he got an eyeful of James in nothing but a blanket, then Audrey sitting in the passenger seat of my truck, he scowled even deeper. Crossed his arms over his broad chest.