Page 6 of Logan’s Acadian Wolves

Glistening with sweat, Logan stared down in disbelief at where his wolf had led him. Like a baby lamb, his lovely dream girl was curled into a deep slumber. After taking note of the busted gate, he knew how she got into his courtyard. Questions swirled in his head. Did she know who he was? Is that why she came to his home? But if she knew him, why run? And why would she lay on the ground like a common dog, sleeping in the shadows? None of what had happened tonight was making any sense.

Black patches of dried blood mottled her face. The tattered coat did little to cover her bare legs. Goosebumps covered her pale skin as the temperature had dropped into the fifties. Seeing little choice, Logan shoved the plants aside, and bent down to her. Reaching for her face, he cupped her cheek. Damn, she was hot; not just warm, but burning up. He’d been right in the alley; she was sick.

“Aw, sweetheart, you’re on fire. Now, why did you run? And more importantly, who are you?” he asked himself out loud.

Her unconscious response was to cuddle further into her makeshift mattress. Swiftly but gently, he slid his hands under her tiny body, lifting her into his arms. Logan cursed silently, angry that he’d let her slip away earlier. Even in the heat of the moment, the aroma of her intoxicating scent had caught him off guard. He stilled, taking a minute to lean into her neck; she smelled so good. Despite the sweat and blood, her underlying essence connected with his wolf.

Shocked and aroused by his reaction, he shook his head. What was he doing? His damn wolf needed to get his act together. The woman was sick for fuck’s sake. Now wasn’t exactly the greatest time to get a hard on. He huffed and took off toward his back door. It was turning out to be one hell of a day.

With one hand, he typed in the security code and awkwardly leaned into the retina scan, careful not to press her against the exterior wall. As the lock clicked open, he pushed the door inward and entered his home. He raced up the steps and headed toward his bedroom. It felt foreign, bringing a strange woman into his inner sanctuary, but there was something about her that told him she wasn’t a threat. His visions. She needed him, but her origin and motives remained a mystery.

Logan strode over to his bed and sat on the edge, still cradling the girl. He’d hoped that with his inadvertent jostling she might wake up and answer his questions. But true to his luck that evening, she remained unconscious. Picking up his phone, he called Dimitri.

“Hey,” he addressed his beta. “Listen up, I’ve got our runner. I need you to get Dana down here.” Logan looked to her innocent face, wondering what kind of mess this human was wrapped up in.

“Dana? What’s wrong with her?” Dimitri asked. If Logan needed Dana, he knew the woman had been injured. Dana was Fiona’s half-sister, a doctor. Since she was hybrid, she’d decided on a career of human medicine.

“Yeah, Dana. The girl’s sick. And tell them to get here as soon as possible. Listen, I’ve gotta go. Just get here, ’K?” Logan told him tersely, hanging up the phone. His patience was stretched thin. It had been one goddamned long day. And at this point, things looked to be getting worse, not better.

Unsure of how to proceed, Logan decided a cool bath would help bring down her fever. He knew she’d panic if she woke up with a strange, nude man in the shower, but he didn’t have many options. Unbuttoning the few buttons on her coat, he tugged it off of her arms. His stomach tightened in anger as bite marks on her otherwise beautiful skin were revealed. Shit, he hated vampires. Tristan may have been best friends with a couple of them, but not him.

They could be animals. Bloodsucking, vicious monsters who’d turn on you just to get their next drink. He trailed his fingertips over the half dozen bite marks that littered her body, all in various stages of healing. Whoever had done this hadn’t done it while lovemaking, ensuring the holes were sealed clean. Rather, it looked as if they’d bitten and retreated, as if they’d been inflicted to purposefully cause pain, debilitation.

He knew that feeding clubs existed. Some humans and shifters got off on pain. Others enjoyed the intoxicating rush of a vampire-induced orgasm. But even in those kinds of places, there were rules about sealing up wounds and they most certainly kept strict dress codes. No, something about this whole situation was off. Logan wasn’t sure what the hell was going on but he planned on meeting with Kade as soon as possible. This shit needed to stop but now. If there were more like her out there, they’d all be fucked.

Logan laid Wynter on the bed so he could prepare the bath. He needed to get her cleaned up and most importantly bring her fever down. It didn’t seem right that she wasn’t waking up with all the commotion he was making. Even though it had been a while since he’d tended to a sick human, he knew that her lack of consciousness could be a serious issue. But his acute hearing told him that her breathing and heartbeat were both normal. For a brief second, he thought that he should throw her in the car and take her to the ER. Under normal circumstances he may have given it further merit, but this situation reeked of supernatural. She had the answers to his questions, and he was determined to get them. As soon as Dana got there, he’d seek her advice about taking her to a hospital.

He glanced over to her threadbare underwear and bra and considered the best way to go about giving a frightened human woman a bath. He laughed in irritation. What could possibly go wrong? As much as Logan loved being naked, and with a woman even more so, he decided that he’d better don a pair of boxer briefs. The last thing he needed was her freaking out, waking up slippery and barely dressed with a naked man she’d only just met. He planned to get her in the tub with him and hold her up so she didn’t slip under the water. He figured ten minutes would be enough time to bring down her fever, at least until Dana got there. He’d let her decide what to do next. Being wolf, he didn’t keep even an Advil in his house.

Logan picked her up and moved into the bathroom. He stepped into the lukewarm water and lowered them both in so that she laid on him. Her back against his chest, he took the bar of soap in his hands and twisted it into a washcloth.

“Okay, baby. Here we go.” He spoke softly to her as if she heard him. She shuddered but never woke, so he kept going. “Just goin’ to clean you up a bit. Look at what they did to you. Don’t worry; you’ll be healed in a few days. What I’d like to know is how you got mixed up with vampires?”

Logan found that he was unable to stop talking to her as he carefully cleaned her arms and face. Even if she didn’t hear him, it was possible she’d wake at any second. He wanted her to know that someone cared, that she was safe with him. Logan gently washed her, avoiding touching her breasts. But he couldn’t resist slipping his hands around her waist, feeling the smoothness of her belly. Fully submerged, he threw the washcloth aside and simply held her. Pressing his cheek to hers, he could feel her body temperature was lowering.

“That’s a girl. You’re going to feel better soon. Then, we’re going to get to know each other,” he whispered.

In the quiet of the night, he focused on listening to her heartbeat. His own heart squeezed in response, hoping that the woman he held would heal soon. He thought about the fucking vision. It was possible that he’d averted her death. He’d saved her from a clawed vampire. Maybe that was the end of it. But a nagging suspicion lingered; something told him that this was just the beginning of trouble.

Logan pushed out of the tub, reaching for a towel and gently dried the woman. Her skin puckered in response to the cool air, yet she still made no show of awaking. As Logan rounded toward his bed, Dimitri, Fiona and Dana ran into his room. He caught the smirk on Dimitri’s face as his eyes dropped to his Alpha’s dripping briefs.

“What?” Logan asked.

“And they say chivalry is dead? Nice briefs, sexy beast,” Dimitri teased with a raised eyebrow.

“Fuck you, D,” Logan shot over at Dimitri. Without missing a beat, he addressed Dana. “Hey, can you come check her out? I had her in a cool bath but she’s still not conscious.”

Dana came around the bed and set her medical bag on the night stand. “A human, huh? How long has she been like this?”

“Yeah. I can’t be sure but I’d say she’s been out for at least forty-five minutes. A few hours ago she seemed fine. Well, awake anyway. When I touched her earlier, I could tell she was sick, warm.” Logan stripped and proceeded to towel off in front of everyone. Comfortable with nudity, the others barely noticed.

Dana continued the brief exam and checked her vitals. “This isn’t good,” she commented, fingering over the feeding holes riddling Wynter’s body. “Who did this?”

“Don’t know. But when I find out I’m going to kill them…if I didn’t already. Dimitri told you ’bout the vamps at the bar?”

“Seems viral. Fever. Sleep deprivation. Stress.” Dana pointed to the dark circles under Wynter’s eyes and her short bitten nails. She lifted a hand to her nose and sniffed. A look of confusion washed over her. “You said she was human?”

“Yeah, why?”