Alpha Beast (Southern Shifters Book 8) Read online

  He pulled out his cellphone and dialed Galen. He couldn't pull his own men away from their families if there was even the slightest chance this was all orchestrated as a distraction. Instead, he needed to get his ass home personally and figure this shit out.

  He also needed to confront the Blackwoods once and for all.

  "Go for Galen."

  "What the hell kind of greeting is that?"

  "One that is good enough for the likes of you, you critical bastard. Save the banter for the pretty girls and just tell me what you want."

  Apparently the dragon was still pissed off at him.

  "Can you loan me some more of your security detail? Preferably your top men. I need to go hunting."

  "They're all my best, Bhric. Otherwise they wouldn't work for me."

  His patience stretched a little thinner. "Is that a yes or a no?"

  "Fuck, you're an ass. I'm not sure I like you anymore."

  "Like has never factored into our relationship. We have always used each other."

  "Such a cynic. Fine. I'll--"

  The outside doors to the waiting room slammed open and two hospital staff came running through with what looked like a doctor jogging behind them.

  At the same time the strawberry blonde from before rushed through her door and motioned them through. "Hurry. I don't know what happened. One minute she was singing and the next she was unconscious on the floor."

  All the blood from Bhric's face drained and his hold on the phone loosened, sending the cell crashing to the floor. In some distant part of his brain he heard someone yelling from far away, but all he could see was an image of his beautiful souled mate broken on the floor.

  15

  Bhric stood next to Marcy's hospital bed as Melena looked her over. For two long days she'd been in and out of consciousness and the doctors were stumped. They'd been unable to find a cause.

  "I don't think I can help her." Melena removed her hands from Marcy's chest and stood back.

  "I told you this was silly," Marcy said. "I'm a nurse, Bhric. I don't believe in the woo woo alternative stuff. Just good old fashioned science."

  A small smile curved Melena's lips. "There is actually plenty of science involved in witchcraft as well. My power is derived from the earth so it can be more subtle than others."

  Bhric stepped forward, a hard scowl stamped across his face. Marcy was just as worried about him as she was herself. His worry continued to escalate.

  "Can't you fix up some herbs or something? There has to be a way to reverse this."

  "I'm not a healer, Bhric. No such witch exists on the mountain anymore."

  "Then call someone to come in. There has to be something we can do."

  Melena, the strange woman who called herself a witch shook her head. "No. I know of none I can even call. Our culture has been taken over by human society and evolved thanks to cell phones with Instagram and Facebook. No one wants to take time to study the old fashioned way."

  "But--"

  "I warned you this could happen," Melena said, a harsh frown on her face. "Humans are fragile creatures. You should have listened."

  "Why do you keep referring to me as a human as if you're not? And what do you mean you warned him?" Marcy turned to Bhric. "What the hell is going on?"

  This strange talk was scaring her. Well, that and the fact the doctors couldn't explain why her brain didn't want to function properly.

  "Bhric!" she yelled when he didn't respond.

  "I will go now," Melena offered. "But I will come back tomorrow after I've done some research." Without waiting to come back, the fair skinned blonde with dreads down to her hips grabbed her burlap sack and disappeared through the door.

  "Why are you not saying anything? Is there something I don't know?"

  He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. "There are some things I shouldn't tell you.

  "And why the hell not? If it has to do with me I have a right to know."

  "Some information will forever change the course of your life beyond your will and we went to great lengths to make sure that never happened."

  "Yeah, that's not cryptic or creepy at all." She slammed her fists down on top of the blankets and swallowed down her scream. The man infuriated her. One minute he was attentive and dare she say, loving. Then the next he was thumping his chest with words like 'protect' and 'for your own good'.

  "If you're not going to open up and tell me the truth then you need to leave. I'm tired of this."

  She saw the indecision on his face and she truly wanted to punch him for it.

  "The truth will ruin your promotion and your move to Memphis."

  She gasped. "How did you know about that?"

  He lifted his shoulders. "Overheard you talking about it to that nurse friend of yours."

  "Colleen?"

  "I guess. I don't remember hearing her name."

  Had to be. She was the only one she shared that with. "I think that ship has sailed anyway. The doctors think at best I might have some unexplained brain damage. Trust me, no hospital administrator is going to allow a brain damaged nurse to run their neonatal intensive care unit."

  Bhric's chest puffed out. "Why the hell not? You're an amazing nurse. They'd be stupid to let you go."

  His assessment of her skills warmed something deep inside her as did his jumping to her defense. He definitely had a knack for making up for his surly side. If she wasn't careful she'd start to believe she could really fall for this guy.

  Marcy yawned. Trying to get this man to open up to her on the other hand... He had serious trust issues. "Tell me, Bhric. Whatever it is, I can handle it. If it has even a little something to do with what is happening to me right now, then I need to know."

  "I don't even know where to start."

  "From my experience the beginning is always the best place." She yawned again as fatigue settled deep into her bones.

  "Remember you asked for this." He leaned down and pulled the chair close before sitting down next to her. "My brother Dean and his ma-- uh wife had a baby a few months back. Do you remember that?"

  "Of course not. How would I? I didn't even know you had a brother."

  "You delivered their baby. That's really how you ended up in Dark Moon that weekend. You delivered the first baby to our kind in quite some time."

  How on earth could she forget something like that? "I'm not a doctor. Why would I have delivered a baby? That's way too risky, even for me."

  "You did it because Sienna begged you too. When she and Gage came to Dark Moon for the first time they found Niki in labor and in trouble. Our doctor could not be reached so Sienna reached out to you."

  This loss of memory had to be related to whatever was going on in her brain. Nothing Bhric spoke of felt even vaguely familiar. That worried her.

  "Is that it?" she asked.

  He shook his head. "No. But the rest is going to take an open mind. And an understanding that you'll never be able to go back to not knowing or living your old life exactly the same."

  This was beginning to be a bit melodramatic for her taste. "Are you also going to ask me if I want to take the blue pill or the red pill?"

  When he looked at her like she'd lost her mind, she let her head drop and said, "Never mind. Just go on. I want to know what happened to me. Maybe it will help me figure out what's happening now. But either way I won't have to wonder anymore, okay?"

  "I never wanted you to be hurt."

  "Bhric, don't do that. You didn't do this to me." She reached for his hand and squeezed his fingers. "Just tell me. Whatever it is, I'll deal. I'm adaptable if nothing else."

  After a deep sigh he finally continued. "You agreed to deliver the baby because Sienna asked, but that's not the only reason. We couldn't take Niki to a regular hospital because she's not--"

  "Morning." Her doctor pushed through the door before Bhric could finish. "How's our reluctant patient doing this morning?"

  She's ready to kill someone right about now.
/>   Thankfully she'd been able to keep that little tidbit to herself. "Ready to go home. I've been through all the tests and nothing new is happening. I've got to get out of here, Doc."

  "I think that can be arranged with a few conditions." He picked up her chart and made some notations.

  Shocked that he'd agreed, she cautiously proceeded. "Such as?"

  "You can't be alone. Until we know more I want someone around to observe you."

  "I can do that,” Bhric interjected.

  She started to argue and stopped. Honestly, having Bhric as her babysitter sounded a lot better than laying in this hospital bed any longer. "What else?"

  "We think we're dealing with some sort of brain function issue so we're going to treat it for now like a concussion. You'll need to be woken at regular intervals and put through a series of simple tests." He looked at Bhric. "Can you handle that for her too?"

  "Of course. Whatever she needs I'll make sure she gets it."

  The doctor seemed somewhat mollified by that answer. "If at anytime you are unable to wake her, you must return to the emergency room immediately, is that understood?"

  Bhric nodded at the doctor, but something in his eyes gave her pause. She had a feeling she'd never see the inside of this hospital again if it was up to him. He clearly didn't trust this man.

  "I'll sign the order and we should be able to get you out of here in an hour or so. Sound good?"

  Marcy nodded at him, far more interested in Bhric's reactions instead. His continual warnings he gave every time she asked for the truth were buzzing through her mind. Like a danger signal gone haywire. Maybe he was right and she didn't want to know.

  No. This unknown whatever had been on her mind for months and wasn't getting any better. The only way to figure out what kind of likely injury she'd received was to hear him out.

  About everything.

  She was about to ask him to finish what he'd started when his cell phone began to ring. He dug it out of his jeans, stared at the screen and then looked at her.

  "I've got to take this. I'll be right back."

  Bhric followed the doctor from the room leaving her alone with her imagination. What could possibly be so bad that it could change her life forever? Her job too. Although that might be a moot point by now. If they couldn't figure out why she was having blackout episodes there'd be no job with babies ever again.

  Bhric reentered the room a few minutes later, his face a mask devoid of emotion. However, his eyes had darkened and she had a feeling the news from that call had not been good.

  "We've got to go."

  "Got to? Why, what's wrong?"

  "That family I told you about, the Blackwoods. They're making a move. We've got to get to Deals Gap—now."

  The urgency in his voice scared her. It made her sit up. "Is Sienna okay?"

  "I honestly don't know."

  That made her move. She flung the covers from her body and stood from the bed. "Grab my clothes in the closet."

  "Take it easy, Marcy. You need to be careful."

  "I'll be fine. And if I'm not, then we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. If Sienna is in danger that's far more important than whether or not I have another stupid headache."

  He looked like he wanted to argue more with her, but he wisely kept his mouth shut. She was getting sick and tired of not knowing what these people were up to. If she needed to rescue Sienna and get them both the hell out of Dodge then that's what she would do.

  The man standing in front of her might very well be the hottest thing on the planet, but he was also a trouble magnet.

  She paused.

  Aww hell, who was she kidding? He had crazy written all over him.

  16

  The hour or so long ride between Sweetwater and Deals Gap had been one of silence. They'd taken her car because Bhric didn't think she should be on the back of his bike all things considered.

  While he might have been right, that annoyed her. She'd also underestimated how pleasantly warm her car would be with the bright Tennessee sunshine beating down on her. She'd promptly drifted off to sleep.

  When she sat up again she recognized the constant curvy turns as the last treacherous section of the road that led them into Deals Gap.

  "How long have I been asleep?"

  "Not that long. It's a pretty quick drive."

  She swiveled to look at him. "I guess you would know since you've been making it quite a bit while you stalked me.

  Bhric blew out a hard breath. "We're still not past that? I wasn't stalking you."

  "Yeah. Yeah. You were protecting me from your family drama. None of which I understand yet, by the way. When are we going to get back to that?"

  "What you're asking for is dangerous."

  She sat back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. The more he deflected the more she believed that she needed to grab Sienna and get them both out of harm's way.

  She was tired of practically begging him. She only hoped Sienna would be more forthcoming with information. Her old friend had some questions of her own to answer.

  She watched the road pass for a few minutes before she turned to study Bhric. The man was so full of contradictions she didn't know where to start. Their sexual encounter in the NICU had been so full of emotion and need her body still buzzed when she thought about it.

  She hadn't meant to expose him to that part of her job. But it always left her wrung out and needy, something he'd been struck with too. Maybe now he would understand why she used sex as an outlet for letting go of negative emotions.

  He didn't seem to judge her. Certainly a psychiatrist would have a field day with her. But she didn't want therapy. Just like she thought she didn't want a permanent man in her life. A fact she felt crumbling the more days she spent around Bhric.

  It gave her hope for her future.

  Except when she remembered the nagging fact he didn't want to reveal whatever secrets he held.

  Bhric reached across the seat and touched her thigh. "What are you thinking about that's got you looking so sad?"

  "You." She admitted. "I'm starting to like having you around."

  "Is that bad?"

  She shook her head. "No. But the fact you hold back from me has me worried."

  "I'd tell you everything if that didn't make me such a selfish bastard."

  She saw a sign on the road that announced the Dark Moon Saloon seconds before he turned off the highway.

  "I don't get that," she said as he turned into the parking lot and came to a stop in the back of the building in front of the rear door.

  He shut the car off before he turned to her. "Do you trust me?"

  She nodded. For better or worse she did.

  "Then give it some time. I'm responsible for enough, I don't want to be the one who takes away your free will too."

  Before she could answer she caught a glimpse of a woman running from the door in their direction. Sienna must have seen them pull in and had decided to come out and greet them.

  She dropped Bhric's hand and emerged from the car only to be nearly tackled by the other woman.

  "Oh my God. You're here!" she shouted. "Finally. I have been so worried and Gage didn't think it was safe for me to travel to the hospital to see you."

  "Why? Is something wrong? Are you sick?" She looked down at Sienna's still flat stomach and marveled over the fact she would soon have a baby.

  "No. No. Not me silly. I'm fine. It's you I've been dying to see. But Gage just figured you were going to need some time to understand everything. But holy fuck, if I'd known allowing Bhric to have your memory wiped could make you ill... No one warned me, you know."

  Marcy had gone still in the midst of Sienna's tirade. What had she said? She slowly turned toward Bhric to find him also standing there frozen in place staring at her.

  "Marcy, what's wrong?"

  She turned back to Sienna who stood watching her with a worried look on her face.

  "Bhric did what?" Those were the only
words she could get out of her mouth.

  She couldn't wrap her mind around what her friend had said. It made no sense. Suddenly the car next to her shook violently when Bhric slammed the door. "Jesus Christ," he bellowed as he stomped to the door and disappeared inside, leaving her in the parking lot with a bewildered best friend who'd apparently just dropped a bomb.

  "What did I miss?" Sienna asked.

  "What did you miss?" she shrieked, her fragile hold on calm breaking wide open. "What the hell did I miss? What exactly happened out here the weekend I delivered that woman's baby?"

  Gage came through the door and reached his wife's side in four strides. "You two need to get inside. This is not a discussion that needs to happen out in the open."

  "He's right. I need a drink. This is a bar isn't it?" She headed towards the door and yanked it open. So much for the happy reunion with her friend and a budding relationship with a lying asshole.

  Marcy didn't recognize the woman standing just inside the door, but from the look on her face she'd bet she recognized her.

  "Where is the bar?"

  The woman hitched a thumb over her shoulder. "End of the hallway through the door. Tell Calder I said to give you whatever you want."

  Marcy snorted. What she wanted was the goddamned truth. Something she doubted anyone in this place dealt in. She had no idea what kind of people Sienna had gotten twisted up in, but she was really starting to not like them. Maybe this bar was just a front for something far more sinister.

  Mad as hell, she plopped down on a bar stool and ordered a vodka tonic from a guy she recognized from that first night they'd invaded her life at the hospital.

  "Calder, right?"

  He nodded, sliding her freshly poured drink in front of her.

  She stuck the tiny stir straw in her mouth and sucked half the drink down before taking a breath.

  "Hard day?" he asked.

  "Total understatement."

  "Gotcha. Well, whatever you need, just ask." With that he nodded and turned back to the television he'd been watching and let her be.

  Thank God.