To my surprise, Chuck laughed.
“I said something funny?” I asked.
“You really did,” he chuckled. “Those beasts, as you so aptly refer to them, are exactly the problem.” He looked back to me from the window. “You know they’re werewolves, right?”
I was proud that I managed to stifle my shocked gasp as I shrugged. “I do now.”
“Well, those locals that I told you are bothering us?” I nodded and Chuck continued, “They’re Hunters.”
It took me a second to catch his meaning and then my breath caught, as well. “When you say Hunters, you mean that with a capital H, don’t you? As in, they are not drinking beer and eagerly awaiting deer season.”
“Exactly,” Chuck agreed with a slight frown. “They’re anti-shifter vigilantes, for lack of a better term. Since we aren’t susceptible to the virus that is running rampant through the human settlements, they’ve latched onto a fake story that the disease came from shifters. They’re encroaching on our back acreage.” He paused and then pushed on, “And the one thing we know is that Hunters will most likely bring silver bullets and other silver weapons, which all wolf shifters are highly susceptible to, werewolves even more.”
“Shit.”
Chuck nodded. “Exactly. Now you see why I need to get you some place safer.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to argue but I bit the words back, deciding Chuck was struggling with enough. “Well, in the meantime,” I changed the subject, “that still leaves Kade’s question of finding me different quarters.” I reached over to trace my finger along Chuck’s thigh. “As it turns out, I think I’m feeling pretty good. Any chance you know of a sexy Alpha who’d be willing to take in a roommate until I’m relocated?”
Chuck swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing as a grin spread over his lips. “You know, I think I just might.”
ChapterSeven
Chuck
For all of Jules’s swagger and big talk, all it took was the walk from the infirmary to my private quarters to make it clear that he wasn’t in any condition to do much more than talk a good game.
“Seriously,” he said, his words barely audible through a massive jaw cracking yawn as I helped him into my bed. “I just need a few minutes to rest my eyes and then I’m tearing that ass up.”
“Sure, you are,” I agreed, stifling a laugh as his bleary eyes drifted closed. “But I have a couple of things to take care of still, so I’ll have to take a raincheck.”
“Mmf,” Jules grumbled into the pillow, his discontent promptly fading into soft snores.
Laughing to myself, I tucked the covers in under his chin – Jules definitely ran cold when he was sleeping – counting on the residual pheromones in my bed to comfort him until I returned. I headed back out, carefully pulling the door closed behind me and then jumping when Kade’s voice from startled me.
“He’s still not bucking up? Should we be worried?”
I cocked a brow as Kade stepped out into the light. “About what, exactly?”
“Julian is an Omega, right?” Kade asked, waiting for my sharp nod to continue. “Then shouldn’t he be recovering faster than this?”
The weird internal itch that I’d been ignoring earlier came back in full force. “What are you getting at?”
“I mean, he didn’t suffer any real blood loss, so shouldn’t he be pretty much recovered by now?”
With the words out in the air between us, I didn’t really have the luxury of pretending I hadn’t been wondering the same thing. I sighed and shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. I assumed the doctor would say something if he wasn’t recovering on schedule, but the doc seems to think it’s fine.”
Kade fell in beside me and we walked in silence for several minutes before he spoke again. “Do you know what he is?”
“Species-wise?” I clarified, shaking my head when Kade nodded. “I don’t,” I admitted. “It hadn’t come up before and then after he was hurt..” I trailed off with another shrug.
“It wasn’t important at the time,” Kade finished for me.
“Exactly.” I drew in a deep breath. “I’ll talk to him when he wakes up. Have you given any more thought to packing Jeremy and the baby up and getting them out of here?”
Kade snorted. “Did you not hear my husband when he saidabsolutely not?” He grinned but I could see the worry in his eyes. “I can’t just ride roughshod over him,” Kade said softly. “That’s what everyone else did his whole life. I have to trust his instincts, man.”
“I get it,” I assured him, clapping my friend on the shoulder. “Hell or highwater, we’ll get through this.”
