Page 23 of Bad Medicine

I gave a full body shudder andlifted my nose to the cold night wind and his scent didn’t drift to me, itclobbered me over the head. He was close. Waiting for me.

The little village was quiet,despite the fact that wolves were everywhere. Some of them would be hunting inthe deep woods, some would be patrolling the perimeter, some of them wouldsimply be inside watching TV. The guard at the entrance gate had given me a nodwhen he’d let me through, a downright warm greeting compared with the first fewtimes I’d come into Shadowfield. I was accepted here now—mostly.

The Gray Shadow wolves had nottreated me well—ever—and I knew it wasn’t only because I’d attacked my ownalpha or gotten thrown out of my pack or been sired by a traitor who’d tried togather forces against his alpha. It was because they felt what I was, even ifthey hadn’t understood it.

I, too, was alpha. And deepdown, they were afraid I’d take them over. I’d forced their shifts—completelyunintentionally—and I’d forced Jared’s shift when he’d been too injured to doit himself. I could understand their worry, but I wished they could see thatthey had no reason for it. I didn’t want to be alpha of a pack, though at thesame time, it pissed me off that a pack’s alpha needed—and wanted—a mate whowas not as strong, powerful, or ruthless as he was. And that was where Jaredand I ran into relationship trouble.

I thought I saw a flash ofwhite to my right, and for a few seconds, it distracted me from the alpha’s scent.I hadn’t seen the angel Nicole—or her brutal stalker—for a little while, and Iwas glad of the respite. Angels were as troublesome as demons. Scarier, too.

“Jared,” I said, my voice low.And suddenly I saw him, standing back in the shadows, watching me. He didn’tmove, not for a few seconds, then finally, he walked toward me. More likestalked toward me, really, like the big, dangerous animal he was.

Both the bite marks he’d givenme began to tighten and tingle almost painfully, and my body reacted in ways Iwould rather it not have. Ways he could sense, absolutely. He knew how heaffected me. He knew my wolf wanted nothing more than her alpha.

He got in my space, standingclose enough that his heat would have warmed my suddenly cold hands if I’d beenbrave enough—or careless enough—to press them against him.

“Kait,” he said, his voice ahusky caress.

I closed my eyes and took adeep breath, hoping to calm myself. All I succeeded in doing was pulling hisscent deeper into my lungs, my brain, and my wolf.

And when he lowered his head tokiss me, I didn’t even think about resisting. The alpha and I were going to endup in his bed that night, so trying to resist a kiss seemed a bit…useless.

He didn’t touch me withanything but his mouth. His tongue. Oh my God, his tongue. And despite myself,I had to touch him then. I had to wrap my arms around his neck and bring himcloser, not only because I needed that closeness, but because I had to use himto hold myself up. My legs were weak and shaky, and I wondered for a second ifI affected him nearly as much as he did me. He certainly didn’t seem like heneeded help standing.

He snaked his arms around mywaist, then pressed his big hand against my ass to push me against him and theproof of his arousal. He pulled his mouth from mine, just enough to murmuragainst my lips, “Come to my bed.”

And probably I would have. I’dhave forgotten all about Zach until afterward, because I was on fire from theheat of that moment. I was fuckingmelting.

When it came to our bodies,there were no resentments, no worries, no fears about the future. There wasonly a fierce, primal hunger that we both wanted to satisfy.

But Eli loped toward us,calling for his alpha, and it was enough to dash cold water on the consumingheat. Jared immediately stiffened and turned toward his beta, already in alphamode. “Tell me,” he growled, his voice still husky and filled with sex.

I clenched my fists so hard mynails bit into my palms, and the pain helped me focus. Eli wouldn’t haveinterrupted if he’d had any other choice. Something was wrong.

“You need to come,” Eli said,then glanced at me. “He’s seizing.”

I ran through the woods atJared’s side, keeping pace, my adrenaline high. I didn’t ask questions—Eliwouldn’t have answered them anyway. He was still upset with me for Lennon’sbanishment, though it’d been her own betrayal that had caused her to be forcedout. In his mind—indeed, in most of their minds—she’d done it to protect thepack. She’d done it to protect her alpha.

But their anger had eased whenthey’d discovered she’d run straight to their enemy, and against all the rules,he’d taken her in. Still, Eli had been in love with her, and it would take hima while to forgive me completely. Love had no logic.

The tiny cabin where Jared hadstashed Zach had no exterior lights, but we didn’t need them. The light of themoon was plenty bright enough for a wolf shifter to see by—one of her gifts tous.

Eli rushed forward to shove akey into the lock and pushed open the door, and Jared let me walk in first. Hecame in behind me, but Eli remained outside. I’d spotted two guardians walkingthe clearing around the cabin, guarding the man inside, which eased my mind.Jared really was taking care of Zach. Not that I’d believed he wouldn’t bedoing everything he could for the human hunter he’d taken under his wing.

The cabin was two smallrooms—the main room, which housed the bed, a table, and a chair, and abathroom. There was a woodburning stove, an old black pot, and some shelveswhich held a few odds and ends, and various lanterns which kept the room dimlylit.

Zach knelt against the farwall, his hands restrained behind his back, a chain snaking from a cuff on hisankle. Zach was human. He wasn’t going to break his bonds. Still, he had themagic of a mad master inside him, and in the midst of the awful addiction thatconsumed him, he could not be trusted.

His hair hung over his face,and though the fire in the stove kept the little room almost too warm, at leastfor a wolf, Zach was dressed in a heavy gray hoodie, worn black sweatpants, andthick black socks. He knelt on a pile of quilts. He was being kept ascomfortable as possible.

Still… “His hands?” I murmured,looking at Jared, willing myself not to cry.

“He attempted to harm himself,”he told me gently.

“And the blindfold?”

He hesitated. “He sees thingsthat aren’t there. The blindfold seemed to help.”

“Kait?” Zach croaked.