“But that wasn’t it, was it, Nora?” Gage asked softly. “The injury healed itself, didn’t it?”
She nodded. “Some of the fractures Lana had sustained weren’t as bad, either. The doctors couldn’t explain it and didn’t try. They took her in for exploratory surgery, only to come out a little while later and tell Hal and me that all Lana’s injuries were healed.”
“Is that when you and the deputy chief took her out of the hospital and arranged for private care at home?” Max prompted, remembering what Lana had told him a couple days ago.
Nora glanced at him, her blue eyes tired. “Yes. Some of the doctors started talking about doing tests and taking samples, so they could figure out how she recovered from injuries that severe so quickly. Hal and I didn’t want that, so we refused to okay the tests and took her out of the hospital as soon as possible.”
“How did you hide all this from Lana?” Max asked. “The fangs, the claws, the eyes—everything? Typically, a new werewolf has trouble controlling all those things.”
Nora gave Lana a small smile. “We didn’t know she was a werewolf. As far as we knew, she was simply unique. We had no way of knowing there were others like her. The only times we ever saw any of those things you described was after she experienced a horrible nightmare in the month or two following the accident. She’d wake up screaming in fear, her teeth and fangs out, her eyes glowing bright green. But once she got into therapy with Dr. Delacroix and stopped having the dreams, the fangs and claws disappeared, so Hal and I didn’t think about them. I never dreamed that we were living in a town with a whole SWAT team just like her.”
Max exchanged looks with Gage at the mention of Delacroix’s name. What were the chances that the psychologist who’d worked with Cooper was also the same woman who’d worked with young Lana Mason? What was Delacroix, a werewolf whisperer?
Gage merely shrugged and turned his attention back to Nora. Max had no choice but to do the same, wondering if maybe therapy was the reason Lana’s inner werewolf had stayed hidden until recently. He was about to ask Gage if he thought that was a possibility when Nora spoke again.
“Have the fangs and claws come back?” she asked, looking at her daughter.
Lana glanced over to make sure the guy with the headphones wasn’t looking their way, then put her right hand on the table and extended her claws.
“Well, I guess they have.” Nora eyed Lana’s claws with an expression of wonder on her face before glancing at Max. “And Hal is right. You’re like Lana…a werewolf?”
Max smiled at the way she whispered the word. In answer, he placed his hand on top of Lana’s and extended his much longer claws.
“You don’t seem very alarmed by all of this,” Gage pointed out. “Which makes me wonder why Hal went to such great lengths to try to keep Lana and Max apart. If you knew what my team and I are, why didn’t you want Lana to know there were other people like her in the world?”
Nora sighed. “That was Hal’s idea. I thought he was simply being an overprotective father, but now I realize he must have figured out you and your team are like Lana and was worried that being with Max would undo years of therapy and that the nightmares would come back along with the claws and fangs.”
Max would have liked to say he disapproved of what the deputy chief had done, but he probably would have done the same thing if he thought it would protect the person he loved.
On the other side of the table, Nora looked at Gage. “These men who assaulted Hal, the ones looking for Lana—they kill people simply because they’re werewolves even if they’ve never harmed anyone?”
Gage nodded, his jaw tight. “These hunters have killed dozens of werewolves. They’ve murdered others, like Lana’s roommate in Austin, simply because they’ve made a mistake or were looking for information. They’re vicious and cold-blooded serial killers.”
Nora frowned, her gaze going to Max. “But you’ll protect Lana and keep her safe?”
Max entwined his fingers with Lana’s. “I swear that I’ll never let anything or anyone hurt your daughter.”
“Good.” Nora looked at Gage. “And you’ll find the men who did this to Hal and make sure they never do it to anyone else again?”
“We’ll find them,” Gage promised.
Chapter 12
“I really don’t think I need this much protection,” Lana complained as Max, Zane, Brooks, and Trey followed her into her parents’ house.
She would rather not have come at all, but her mother needed a prescription she took daily as well as a few other personal items. Lana figured she could use some stuff, too, since now the plan was for her to stay at the SWAT compound until the hunters could be caught. She hadn’t packed very much when she’d left in a huff the other day, and Max said there weren’t a whole lot of creature comforts there. Brooks had volunteered to pick up what she and her mom needed, but Lana didn’t really feel like having the big SWAT guy going through her panty drawer. Besides, it wasn’t likely the hunters would come back here, especially in broad daylight.
“We’re not going to let anything happen to the newest member of our Pack,” Zane said in that charming British accent of his. “So you might as well get used to it.”
“Just think of us as the four big brothers you never had,” Brooks added.
“Well, three brothers and a boyfriend,” Trey clarified, his blue eyes serious. “Otherwise, the analogy is a little creepy.”
Lana couldn’t help but laugh. Maybe it was the whole Pack thing, but it felt like these guys were already her brothers. Really tall, really muscular brothers. Having Max around made her feel safe, but having these other guys wasn’t bad for backup.
Her sense of humor faded as soon as she stepped through the front door of her parents’ place and saw the crime scene tape and broken furniture. Max quickly hustled her upstairs, but it was too late. The signs of violence—and the smell of her father’s blood—were impossible to miss. Her fangs and claws strained to come out, though she had no idea what she would do with the weapons if they did. It wasn’t like the hunters were around for her to slice to ribbons.
