I crawled to my downed hero, crying, “Jack...Jack...are you okay?” Pulling his head into my lap, I smoothed his hair back and kissed his temple. At that point, I didn’t care what they did to each other. Or me. I was just worried about Jack.
His head had hit the wall, put a dent in the gypsum board even, and he wasn’t altogether coherent. Even then, the first words out of his mouth really told on his heart. He called, “Fera!”
Snapping his dog, you could say.
She flinched, but she didn’t look away from her brother. I rather admired her at that moment for not backing down, not giving in, making no compromises whatsoever. Not to either man. I’d have rolled right over. I know I would have. Guess that’s the difference between being born a girl, versus being born lupus.
Hood sucked in air and succinctly said, “Move, Fera.”
“Over my dead body.” Barely a whisper. So lethal.
I knew Jack was going to be all right when he tried to crack the tension with a pained half-laugh and, “Family gatherings were never this much fun before.”
Struggling to sit up, with my help, he snapped again, “Fera!” This time, it was laced with annoyance.
She jerked once more, but there was no mistake in her, “Touch him and I’ll kill you, Hood.” She backed up a step at a time, until Jack could put a hand to her side. The hair on the back of her neck was still up, and she had a ready-to-leap crouch going on.
I had to reach forward, flip my still-wet hair over my shoulder and plead, “Hood, please.”
His killer gaze climbed over them, to me, and he commanded, “Come here.”
Jack--I swear sometimes he doesn’t think at all--said, “Stay where you are, Giselle.”
Hood postured, rising up, and Fera sank lower on her haunches, ready to counter any move he made.
I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to go to Hood, even if he killed me. In fact, my earlier thoughts of that gave me the courage. If he killed me, it would sort of be a relief. Right?
Chapter Nine
The fact that I hesitated, listening to Jack, had some effect on Hood. Stretching his neck, rotating his shoulders, he forced the tension from his body and shifted out of crinos. His gaze never left mine the whole time. And when he was human again, he said quietly, “Giselle...come.”
Fera growled at him, though, and I didn’t want to climb past her fangs.
Jack stroked her side some more. “Fera, relax.”
It was funny all of a sudden. Relax. Relax. The mantra of the whole friggin’ lupey bunch. I chuckled, “Yeah. Relax. Everybody just relax.”
Hood, for some reason, didn’t think that was so funny, though. His lip curled a bit and he said, “I’m not going to ask again.”
Fera dropped instantly to lupus form, and her belly. Lolling her tongue out in a very happy dog stance, she turned her laughing face to me.
Jack curled his fingers in her fur, but he looked over his shoulder at me, and said, “Don’t be stupid, Giselle. He wants you.”
I used Jack to push myself up, getting strength from the smile in his eyes. Not noticing how Hood hated the sharing of slight pleasure--friendship. Anyhow, I got up, crawled over Jack and Fera. Okay, you have to know that Jack’s a man and I didn’t have any panties on. And that Hood never missed a beat of the lolling tongue-in-cheek grin, or the nose wrinkle Jack made as he reached with his free hand--to my ass--to help me over.
Almost past Fera, she snapped at me, made me jump and squeak. And bump into Hood’s chest.
He reached out, grabbed my wrist in the air and looked me over. Sniffed without moving his nose. Well, he tipped his head ever-so-slightly downward. Then he looked at my wet hair and accused, “You just showered.”
Thought I’d washed Jack off of me, out of me. I knew what he was thinking. Everybody did.
Jack groaned, “I didn’t fuck your precious goddess, Hood. Jesus Christ.” He lumbered up off the floor, but muttered under his breath to Fera, “Stay.”
Wonder of wonders, she did.
Now, you may not like the way he handled her, but she was lupus born. She needed boundaries. I imagine they worked out what they both needed, and found some common ground. She didn’t argue with him once during this whole thing, so I figure they played a little at S and M.
Jack wasn’t stupid. He didn’t move toward Hood and me. But he did say, “Ask her.” When Hood just stared at me like he wanted to rip my heart out or something--or like I had ripped his out?--Jack added, “Fera. Tell him.”
She laughed in a hoarse, dogged voice, “I’m staying out of this.”
I wanted to kick her.
My throat would not move. It convulsed once or twice, but nothing came out. I wondered where all my clever quips and comebacks were. Hurt? They’d crawled down inside of me where things go to die? In that empty cavern where a heart should be?
“For God’s sake,” Jack looked around, spotted my torn shirt and went for it, breaking our concentrated pain. Holding it aloft, he asked, “You could ask her how she’s feeling--you know she was bleeding.”
Frowning up at it, he pulled it to his nose--used it for a pack, to stop the bleeding.
Hood yanked my wrist as I tried to pull it from him. He asked, “Who hurt you?”
Proud of herself a little, Fera volunteered, “Uh, that would be me.”
He said, “I’ll deal with you later.”
“Suit yourself, but I think you’ve got your hands full.” She shifted to human, got up and went looking for clothes.
I noticed that Hood’s grip had lessened and that he actually was checking me over. Quick visual. His eyes flashed red and he asked, huskily, “You’re okay?”
I nodded. “Jack--Jack pulled her off of me.”
The toss and tumble of Jack falling on me had actually caused some seeping on the claw mark over my breast. Hood’s nose dipped close to it, and he closed his eyes.
Jack turned his back, set a chair upright with one hand. “Pull her dress off and look her over. She’s all in one piece.”
Fera grumbled, “Not because I had any say in it.”
Hood accused, “You got out by the tunnel. Who showed it to you?”
That gave me what I needed to pull my hand free and get past my stupor. I mean, for a minute there, it looked like he really cared about me.
Lifting my eyebrows, I said, “One of my many admirers.”
Jack threw something against the wall and turned on us. The moon was coming up. He didn’t say anything, though, but you could smell him getting ticked off.
He was so much more straight and honest than we were.
Fera held up a shirt she was thinking of putting on and said to no one in particular, “You don’t think you’re the only one that thinks she’s special, do you, Hood?” She decided against the top and held up another. Pulling it on, she said, “Of course not. You wouldn’t be that blind. Would you?”
I thought I was going crazy. Full moon rising. Confused, I looked over at Fera and asked, “You...think I’m special?”
She laughed and stepped into some pants. Spandex Capri. “What would you say, Jack?”
“Not...” he grinned, “Jack shit.” He scooped up her unusable clothing, the things she’d had on before shifting, dropped my shirt in favor of hers, and put that to his nose. “This is stupid. Tell her why you keep her cooped up at Lobos all the time, Hood. Explain to her what just happened. And why you brought her and me into the program.”
“Genetic integration, right?” My throat was tight. I was almost afraid to hear the answers. “Brains, physical specs--”
Hood sighed sadly, stopping me with, “Giselle--”
I knew I wasn’t going to like what was coming next. I backed up, but he reached for me, pulled me to him roughly. “I needed you.” The admission seemed pulled from down, clear out of his groin maybe.
He hated telling me--trusting me with his reasons. On that, he was an open book.
He said, “Both of you.”
Fera got tired of waiting for him to get it out. She said, “Hood and I are unnaturals, Giselle.”
So, that made me blink. I coughed up, “Wh--what?”
“It took me a bit to figure it out.” Jack came over, flopped down onto a couch, propped a leg up on the arm and said, “Lupus born unnaturals, genetically enhanced--bitten by garou parents after birth.”
“But that--doesn’t make sense.” I had a sudden urge to run, to get the hell out of there. “You shift whenever you want.”
“Not exactly.” Jack, again, was volunteering his info. “They shift when they’re pissed.”
“And when we’re scared.” Fera climbed up on the couch, under Jack’s arm, and cuddled.
“Gives the illusion of the natural garou. And since they do lupus, they don’t smell like human born unnaturals.”
“But, there are garou that are natural born, not bit. Right?” I was questioning everything I thought I knew--again.
“Yes.” Hood said that through a tight jaw. He was watching me, gauging my reaction--which was utter torpor, really.
“How--how did you get so far up in the--”
Jack laughed. “Ha. Very carefully, my dear.”
“But you kept Fera at Pack City all that time.”
“I kept an eye on her, believe me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all this?” More hurt. More anger. More moon. Turning on Hood, I said, “You son of a bitch. All this time you had me--”
“Prisoner.” Hood said the word.
“Both of us, under lock and key.” Fera said it gratefully. “He took care of us, Giselle.”
I still didn’t understand. I mean, Fera and I were worlds apart.
“I had to see how long it took for someone to figure it out.” Hood said. “Jack beat you to the punch. I really thought it would be you, Giselle.”
Jack was checking out his nose, tenderly touching it, using Fera’s torn top to stem the flow of blood when he made it bleed again. He was covered in salty crimson, but being garou, you don’t really mind the smell of blood. In fact, Fera was licking, kissing? him as he said, “You broke my nose, Hood.”
Looking over me, he said, “You’re lucky I didn’t kill you. After the last time, I should have--”
I interrupted. “What last time?”
Jack half laughed again, “Honey, the last time you and I were together, he didn’t just bite me.”
“What do you mean?” I spun on Hood, wanting him to explain.
Hood shrugged. “I put him in the habitat.”
“With a fucking shake in my veins.”
Okay. So, here is the point where I have to finally question...why. I know, I’m a little slow on the uptake, but Hood’s not admitting anything to me. And I’m not trusting the niggling possibility that’s snaking through my system--or was that hunger and the rising moon?
I had to ask myself, were Jack and Fera telling me that Hood cared about me?