Silence of the Wolf

Chapter 20

Elizabeth had no intention of shifting right away when they entered the cabin. Her first thought was still that CJ’s brothers could appear at any time. She would protect Tom in case anyone showed up.

Carefully, Tom crouched and set the wolf on the floor next to the fire. “Stay,” he said to CJ, though she was certain he didn’t need to tell his cousin that.

Panting, the wolf laid his head down. Blood matted his fur, and his leg was bent unnaturally. He had to be in a lot of pain, but he bore it stoically.

Tom locked both the wolf door and the human one. He went to the bedroom and then the bathroom. “Place is all clear,” he hollered. “If the guys are wearing hunter’s spray to hide their scents, I had to be certain we had no uninvited visitors hiding in here.”

She’d forgotten all about that. No wonder he’d told her not to shift.

“I’ll get you a robe so you can shift, CJ, and redo the splint,” Tom said from the bedroom.

Before Tom returned, CJ shifted. He shivered on the floor next to the warm fire. He resembled Tom but was more wiry in build, with curly sable hair.

And he looked eerily familiar.

Elizabeth loped over to the sofa, grabbed a blanket with her teeth, and hauled it over to him. He mumbled thanks and tried to pull it over his shoulders, but he accidentally moved his leg and groaned in pain.

She felt for him and wished she could do something more to ease his suffering.

Walking into the living room, Tom gave CJ an annoyed look. Tom might not like that Elizabeth was scrutinizing his naked cousin, but she was serving in guard-duty capacity for the moment.

Tom helped CJ into the robe, then turned to Elizabeth. “You can shift if you want to. He’s not going anywhere. I’ll be right back with something better to splint the leg.” He grabbed the clothes that she’d left near the front door and deposited them in the bedroom for her.

She appreciated that Tom had offered, not commanded her. Especially since she’d do what she thought necessary. Not trusting CJ, she remained where she was while she tried to remember where she’d seen him before.

After a few minutes, Tom returned with a splint and something to wrap CJ’s leg in, saline solution, and towels. He slipped a piece of plastic under CJ’s leg, then poured the solution over the wound. “Trap was new, not rusty,” Tom said, “but you’ll still need a tetanus shot when we get you into town.”

Gritting his teeth, CJ looked pale, but he didn’t say anything.

When Tom straightened the leg a little, CJ swore.

Tom dried the wound, bandaged it, and wrapped the leg in gauze before he splinted it. He cleaned up the saline solution, then elevated CJ’s leg with pillows and gave him a pillow for his head. “Why don’t you lie down?”

CJ nodded.

Tom helped ease him onto his back, then covered him with the blanket. “Will you be all right?”

“Thirsty, nauseated,” CJ finally said, wincing.

He was shaking, too. Tom covered him with two more blankets and got him a glass of water, setting it next to him.

“We’ll talk in a little bit. Just rest.” Tom rose, then said, “Come on,” to Elizabeth as he headed for the bedroom.

She growled at CJ, telling him she wouldn’t hesitate to bite him if he moved an inch.

CJ grumbled, “Tell your wolf-coyote I’m not going any-damn-where.”

“Come on, Elizabeth,” Tom coaxed by the bedroom door.

She growled again at CJ, not about to let him get in the last word, then loped into the bedroom. She saw that Tom had placed the rifle on the dresser. He didn’t shut the door to the bedroom, and she suspected he still didn’t trust the man and was listening to ensure he didn’t move from his spot by the fire. Tom had set her clothes on the bed. Then he headed into the bathroom and washed up.

She shifted and slipped on the sweatshirt while he put the extra medical supplies away.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take so long, Elizabeth. Nice fire, by the way. You’re pretty handy to have around, you know?” He looked around and shook his head. “I knew I shouldn’t have turned my back on you and missed seeing you shift.”

She smiled, loving him. “Yeah, well, you might get other ideas.” The sweatshirt was long but barely covered her buttocks.

“I always get those other ideas when I see you—naked woman, wolf, coyote, or otherwise.” He came to her before she could pull on the sweatpants and wrapped his arms around her.

“Oh, you’re so cold,” she said, trembling in his arms, the chill of the air outside clinging to every inch of him. Her skin was still warm from having been in her wolf coat. She took in deep breaths, smelling the crisp, clean air on him.

She noted she did not smell CJ on him. Hunter’s spray, camouflaging his scent.

“That’s why I came over here to hug you—to get warmed up.”

She curled into him, wanting to rub his arms to warm his icy body, but he chilled her and she folded into him instead. “He’s your cousin?”

“Yeah,” Tom growled. “I figured we’d stay here until someone worried about me being caught in the snowstorm and came looking for me. But now we’ve got to get CJ to the doc. His bones will knit together too quickly but not correctly, and Doc would have to break them again to set them right.”

“Your cousin. I can’t smell him. He’s one of the ones that’s been prowling the territory, then?”

“Looks like it.”

“Great. Do you have something we can haul him in?”

“Yeah. Got a toboggan for emergencies.”

“So when do we leave?”

“Tomorrow, first light. If no one comes for me before then, we’ll head out on our own.” He rubbed her arms, looking into her eyes. “I’m sorry about everything that’s happened. That you’re in the middle of all this.”

She sighed, cuddling with Tom. “We don’t know anything for sure.” She reached up to help him out of his parka.

“You know, if you change roles and start stripping me out of my clothes…” Tom said.

“Just your parka.”

“Aha, then next you’ll want to remove my sweater and jeans, and who knows where it will end.”

She smiled as she peeled off his jacket and tossed it on a chair.

“So now that we have that out of the way and you know what you could be in for…” Elizabeth trailed off. She pulled off his ski hat and dropped it on the wooden floor, then cupped his face and looked up for a kiss.

His lips were just as cold as his coat had been, his nose, too. She quickly warmed his face, her hands cupping his chilled cheeks, her kisses turning his mouth hot and insistent. He slipped his hands into her hair and held her close.

They took a breath and he leaned his forehead against hers. “You shouldn’t have left the cabin, Elizabeth. I can’t lose you.”

“I’m okay. Really, Tom. Are you sure we can’t leave now to get your cousin into town?”

He pulled away to look down into her eyes. “It’s too late in the day to attempt to leave the cabin with CJ in his condition. We’ll have to start out in the morning. How do you feel?”

“A hundred percent.”

He chuckled under his breath. “Seems I’ve heard that somewhere before.”

“I am. Really. I don’t need any more help dressing and undressing.”

“As far as the undressing part goes? You might not need my help, but I’m happy to oblige anytime. In fact, I insist.”

She chuckled. “What will we do about him tonight?”

“I’ll tie him up. Even if he’s not going anywhere on his own, he could manage to unlock the door to the cabin and let in some of his buddies. No sense in taking any chances.”

She pulled free to finish dressing. “I’ll fix us something hot to drink and warm up some more of that venison chili. Sorry that you missed getting the kindling.”

“That’s okay. We might have caught one of the bad guys. I’ll talk to him before he falls asleep. Join me when you’re ready. After we eat, we’ll pick up where we left off.”

“You don’t think we could get down the mountain sooner?” She still worried that CJ’s brothers would show up and huff and puff and threaten to blow the cabin down. Most of all, she wanted to get CJ to the hospital.

“I hiked up here looking for wolf tracks, so I don’t have a snowmobile or I would have taken you down as soon as the weather cleared up a bit.”

“We could both turn into wolves. You could tow the toboggan. We both could. It would be easier for us to run in this snow and—”

“Farmers are antsy about wolves. Darien doesn’t want us running in our wolf coats anywhere near town in the farmers’ vicinity. I know some have risked running as wolves out here. Nearer to the town, no. The farmers and ranchers have been told not to shoot any wolves they might see, but it doesn’t guarantee they’ll abide by the rules. Besides, I’ll be armed with my rifle just in case. You can run alongside in your wolf coat, and we’ll pretend you’re my new dog.”

“The things I do for you.”

“Yeah, but that’s not really what I want you to do for me.”

He kissed her again and then left the bedroom.

Tom closed the door to give Elizabeth privacy while she finished dressing. He was concerned about CJ, yet he wanted to wring his cousin’s neck if the cousins were up to no good and CJ had had any part in it.

Tom stood over his cousin, watching him as he appeared to be sleeping.

Elizabeth quickly left the bedroom. “Asleep?” she whispered.

“Seems to be.”

She entered the kitchen and looked into a cupboard. Tom joined her, moved around her, and opened another cabinet. He brought out a couple of mugs. “Coffee? Tea?”

“Tea, plain.” She poured hot water into the mugs.

“About your half brother and uncle… we take care of our own, Elizabeth,” he said seriously. If they had been in his pack, her uncle and half brother would have been dead the first time they laid hands on her.

“I could have used a champion.”

He leaned up against the counter, his mug in hand. “Where do they live?”

“You can’t go after them now. I need the evidence to turn over to Hrothgar. He can take care of it.”

“Where do they live?”

She chewed on her lip.

“We’ll find them,” Tom said.

“I don’t want the Silver pack fighting with the red.”

“Okay, fine. We’ll get Sheriff Peter and Deputy Trevor on it when we get back.”

She let out her breath. “Twenty miles west of Bruin’s old home.”

Tom’s face hardened. “Damn it, Elizabeth. You should have told me all of this already.”

“I knew it. Already you’re having second thoughts about us.” She slammed her mug on the countertop, stalked out of the kitchen, and headed for the fireplace.

Taken aback by her response, Tom didn’t react at first. How could she think he’d ever have second thoughts about them? For a moment, he watched her as she stood near his sleeping cousin in front of the fire, rubbing her arms as if she’d suddenly become chilled to the bones. Tom set his mug down with a clink on the counter, then crossed the living room to join her.

She stiffened. He wrapped his arms around her, his chest to her back. Not to be put off, he buried his face in her hair, nuzzling her ear and cheek and neck. She deserved tenderness and loving. “I’m not having second thoughts. I’m just surprised. You told me you weren’t related to the reds,” he said gently.

“I’m not. My uncle and my father joined Bruin’s pack as adults. None of us are blood related. I wasn’t ever part of the red wolf pack—or any other, for that matter.”

“What about North or any of those red wolves? Do you think it’s possible they’re the ones that have been prowling our territory?” He’d much prefer believing it was them and not his cousins.

“I don’t know anything about that, but maybe it could have been the men on the plane, circling the area for a way to get to me.”

“Possible.” Yet Tom had seen a gray wolf near the last set of prints circling a farm. And now he had found CJ out here. Tom had to have been tracking him and his brothers before the storm hit. Why else would they be out here, trespassing in Silver pack territory and wearing hunter’s spray? That had to mean they were up to no good. “I guess we’ll just have to ask CJ after he’s recovered some.”

Tom took her back into the kitchen to warm up the chili, then spooned enough for the two of them into bowls. She took the mugs to the kitchen table. They ate in silence, the only sounds the wind and the fire crackling at the hearth. After they finished eating, she went to clean the dishes.

“I’ll make sure my cousin is secure.” He kissed her on the temple and headed for the living room.

Recalling Elizabeth’s handcuffs, he retrieved them from the floor near the fireplace where he’d left them yesterday.

CJ opened his eyes. “You don’t have to. I’m not going anywhere. I can barely move, and I hurt like hell,” he growled.

Tom smiled. So CJ wasn’t really sleeping after all. “Better safe than sorry.” Tom snapped one of them on CJ’s wrists, then attached the other to the sofa leg. CJ couldn’t lift that heavy sofa bed with his leg paining him so much. “Are you okay? Need anything else?”

“Hell, Tom, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yeah, I know. Sleep. We’ll talk later.” He wanted to give his cousin time to rest up after his ordeal before he questioned him.

Tom returned to the kitchen and helped Elizabeth dry the bowls, silverware, and mugs, and then they retired to the bedroom and shut the door. “Since we have some time to kill, I’ll make love to you. Snowstorms are meant to produce pups.”

“They’ll be mixed,” she said, sounding as if they might be regarded the same way she had been.

He hated the way that some of her family had treated her, but he would prove that he and his family were different.

He scooped her up in his arms and set her gently on the bed. “You, me, and one whole pack of wolves will adore them.”