Lucy's Wolverine (Lilly Town Shifters) (4 page)

Chapter 7

              Lucy was on a roll. She’d just gotten to a good fight scene and was lost in her book. She’d taken quick stretch breaks, but she’d barely moved from her computer in the past three hours. Her fingers were getting tired, but she had to get these words out before she lost them. And she loved every second of it. Getting lost in another world where her characters directed her was heaven. Currently the evil prince was battling the good prince. Who would win? She had no idea. She’d find out when it was over. That was something she liked about writing: she had a general idea, but never actually knew what was going to happen until she typed it.

             
There was some kind of loud bang from outside. It almost sounded like a gun shot, but it didn’t sound like the ones she’d heard on TV. There shouldn’t be anyone hunting in the area. There were some woods around her, but it was too early for deer hunting and, well, she’d never had anyone hunt around her. Looking outside she saw something there, but couldn’t tell what it was. It was brown and black and in her back yard. All she knew was that it was something that wasn’t supposed to be there. Sliding on her flip flops, she moved outside to get a closer look. She needed to know what she was up against.

             
Stepping onto her patio, she saw what looked like a bear cub. Its chest was rising and falling slowly so she knew it was alive, but it wasn’t moving. She didn’t know how much longer it was going to be alive. Then it opened its eyes and looked directly at her. With a little scream, she moved as quickly as she could into the house. If it was a bear cub, there would be a mama bear around, and from what she’d heard, they weren’t very nice when it came to the protection of their cubs.

             
Animal Control. She had to call Animal Control and they’d come get it. They would know what to do, and she had no intention of going outside until that thing was gone. She had no intention of becoming bear food.

***

              Zeke watched as a woman stepped outside, looked at the wolverine for a minute and then ran back in. He was lucky. He’d almost walked out to check on it, but had happened to see her walk out. Now was the time to check it. She was inside, probably too afraid to go near it. Smart woman. He walked out of the woods, gun held high, ready to shoot if it was playing dead. Instead of attacking like he expected, it stayed on the ground, eyes closed. This was way too easy.

             
“Did you get it, sir?” Paul asked through the walkie talkie.

             
“Damn it Paul,” he muttered. He didn’t want to alert the animal if it didn’t know he was there. He knew if he didn’t make sure it was dead now, he wouldn’t get a chance. He had to make sure it was dead. These things had amazing healing abilities, especially if they shifted. And if he didn’t kill it before it changed back to a human, he could be labeled a murderer. No, he needed it in its animal form. Then it was just hunting. Taking aim again, he heard something from inside the woman’s house. She was pulling back her interior shutters. He had to get out of there before she saw him.

             
“Sir?” Paul said through the walkie talkie again.

             
He pulled it out as he ran for the woods and said, “I shot it, but there’s a possible witness. I don’t know if it’s dead.”

             
“Roger,” Paul said.

             
He kept running until he knew he was covered by the trees, but when he turned around, he saw the wolverine shifting. The bastard was still alive. There was still hope, though: he did get a good shot in. Maybe it wouldn’t last long.

***

              Mike knew Lucy was watching him. He could hear the shutters as she opened them. The problem was that she thought he was some wild animal and would probably call Animal Control or something. Yes, there were shifters who worked there, just in case something like this happened, but it was something they liked to prevent from happening. He had to shift. It was going to hurt like hell, but he didn’t really have a choice. Straightening his body as best he could so it would be more comfortable, he let the shift take him over. It would help speed the healing process, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be a bitch to do. He gritted his teeth, keeping in the scream as the wound was stretched from the shift.

             
Waiting for Lucy to see him was hard. He didn’t have the energy to yell out to her, but the feeling of blood running down his side was making him panic. He needed help. He needed to find out how bad it was to know if he needed to call Bill. Taking a deep breath, Mike tried to calm down. It wouldn’t do him any good to panic. He needed to get his heart rate down or he’d bleed to death before he could get help. Wincing in pain, he moved and looked at his stomach to see blood pouring out of a small hole. Fuck. He should have known he’d been shot. He knew it hurt like hell when you got shot, but he never knew it would hurt that much.

             
Letting himself fall back, he collapsed onto the ground. He had to wait for Lucy to see him, and he hoped it would be soon. But how was he going to explain to her why he was naked in her back yard and bleeding? He guessed he had no choice but to tell her the truth. Maybe she’d let it slide until he wasn’t bleeding in her yard, but he had a feeling she was going to want answers sooner rather than later.

             
“Mike!” he heard her yell. He breathed a sigh of relief at hearing her voice. The hard part was over, or he hoped it was. Now he just needed to convince her to not call an ambulance and get her to call Bill. That was not going to be an easy task.

***

              Lucy stood at her computer, trying to find the number for Animal Control. Why the hell was it taking so long to find one number? She didn’t want the animal to suffer. She couldn’t stand seeing anything or anyone in pain. She also didn’t want it to attack her out of desperation or fear or something.

             
“Ha ha!” she cheered when she found the number. Grabbing her cell phone, ready to dial the number, she looked outside again, wanting to make sure the thing hadn’t come to her door or ambled off. It wasn’t there. Maybe it wasn’t as hurt as she’d originally thought? Maybe it was just playing dead or something.

             
Shrugging her shoulders, she put the phone down, keeping the number handy just in case, and went back to her work. Looking up, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Something was there. Picking up her phone to call Animal Control, she saw a human in her yard. A naked man. Carrying her phone, she moved to her patio door. She wanted to be ready to call the police if needed. There shouldn’t be any naked people in her back yard. Well, there really shouldn’t be any people in her back yard.

             
Lucy slipped on her flip flops again and stepped outside. Maybe it was a – what do you call them? – naturalist or nudist or whatever. In this day and age, you never knew what you’d find. She wanted a better view of the man, and also wanted to know why he was lying down in her yard. Very slowly she made it to the edge of the patio. For some reason he wasn’t moving, but he was breathing. Now that she thought about it, he was around where the bear had been. Maybe the mama bear got him? She hoped not. She’d heard a lot of bad things about bear attacks – the victims seldom lived. Worried about him, she ran over to him, needing to know whether or not to call an ambulance. Lucy gasped as she got closer and saw who it was.

Chapter 8

              “Mike!” Lucy yelled as she squatted down in front of him. She saw all the blood and looked for the wounds, expecting deep gouges, but all she could find was a hole in his stomach. It looked like he’d been shot. How in the world did he get shot and end up naked in her back yard?

             
“No ambulance,” he said weakly.

             
“Mike, we have to get you to the hospital. They have to get the bullet out,” she said, reaching for his side. He moaned when she put pressure on the wound. She felt bad for causing him more pain, but she couldn’t let him bleed out.

             
“Call Bill. He’ll know what to do,” he grated out between clenched teeth.

             
“No, I need to call an ambulance. You need medical attention!”

             
“Call Bill,” he said again.

             
“Okay, but then I’m calling an ambulance,” she said, picking up her cell phone and dialing information. Of all the arguments she thought she might have in her life, this was never one she thought she’d have. Why wouldn’t he want medical attention? Why does he just want his boss?

             
“Information,” a bored sounding man answered.

             
“I need the number for Bill’s Bar in Lilly Town, Delaware,” she said.

             
“Would you like me to connect you?” he asked in the same monotonous voice.

             
“Yes, thank you,” she answered.

             
“Hold please,” he said. Lucy hit the ‘speaker’ button and set the phone down beside her, wanting to put more pressure on the wound.

             
“Hello?” she heard a man say in a gruff voice.

             
“I need to talk to Bill,” she said loudly, making sure he could hear her clearly.

             
“Speaking.”

             
“It’s Lucy. Mike’s hurt and he told me to call you. He told me not to call an ambulance,” she said hurriedly.

***

              “Don’t,” Bill said into the phone. “Give me your address and I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She gave it to him and he wrote it down as quickly as he could, wanting to get there quickly. “Try to get him comfortable,” and he hung up without another word.

             
Fuck, this wasn’t good. How was he going to explain it to her? Why he was the one coming and operating or doing whatever needed to be done. This was not how his day was supposed to be going. It was supposed to be an easy day: he had the day shift, Mike was going to close for him, and he was going to actually have a night off from everything.

             
“Emily,” he yelled into the back.

             
“Yeah.”

             
“I have to go. Cover the bar,” he said, and grabbed his medical supplies before leaving. He’d never been happier he decided to keep a kit at the bar.

***

              He watched as a woman tried to stop the bleeding, but it wasn’t working. Bullet wounds weren’t exactly the kindest injuries, at least silver bullets in a shifter weren’t. Maybe if she didn’t get him help fast enough, he would die. Hell, if she took him to the hospital, he’d probably end up dead because they don’t know how to treat his kind. They wouldn’t know about the damage the bullet causes. Maybe this would work out.

             
“Sir?” Paul said from behind him.

             
“Yes,” he said. He’d heard him walk up a minute ago but hadn’t said anything. With his job, you had to have good senses. Those bastards could sneak up on you and kill you before you knew it.

             
“Do you think he’ll survive?” Paul asked after a moment. He must have been taking everything in as well.

             
“I don’t know. I hope not, but we’ll have to wait and see,” his boss said with a sigh.

             
“What’s our next plan of action?” Paul asked.

             
“We ask around town tomorrow, see if we can figure out who’s missing. It’s a small town; it shouldn’t be too hard.”

             
“Yes sir,” Paul said, and walked deeper into the woods, presumably to the SUV.

             
He turned and followed Paul. There wasn’t anything else he could do, and he didn’t want to be seen by anyone. One part of his job was anonymity, and if someone figured out who he was, then he was screwed. He liked being the faceless person behind the organization.

***

              Lucy very carefully helped Mike stand. There was a lot of grunting by both of them, but she was finally able to get him on two feet and leaning against her.

             
“Can you walk like this?” she asked him. She knew she couldn’t carry him. The man was big, and she most certainly wasn’t. He nodded, but she could see the strain on his face from the pain. “Okay, let’s go.”

             
They started the slow walk into the house. She didn’t know who had shot him, or why, and she didn’t really care, but she didn’t want to be out in the open like they were. Whoever it was might try again. Getting him in the house was easier than she thought it would be. Mike was able to walk; he just needed her to steady himself on, and with a little pointing from her, they made it to the guest room. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as she’d originally thought? Lucy helped Mike get in the bed and grabbed some towels to put more pressure on the wound. Looking at it again, there was a lot more blood. Okay, maybe it was as bad as she thought; he was just really good at hiding it.

             
“You have some explaining to do,” she said, as she held the towels down.

             
“I know.”

             
“First off, why were you in my back yard?”

             
“I hadn’t seen you in a while and I wanted to make sure you were okay,” Mike answered.

             
“Well, why didn’t you call me or come see me at my front door instead of spying on me?”

             
“I thought you didn’t like me. I was afraid you’d slam the door in my face, and I don’t have your number.”

             
“Well, for your information, I’ve been wanting to see you again. I’ve just been busy with my book.”

             
“Damn,” he mumbled.

             
“What?” she asked, starting to panic. Was something wrong?

             
“Bill was right. The bastard is always right.” Lucy let out a little laugh. “I read your book,” he said with a smile.

             
“You did?” she asked. She didn’t think he actually would. It didn’t seem like his thing, and honestly most people didn’t when she gave them a copy.

             
“Yeah, I actually read it in one day. It’s not something I would normally read, but I liked it. I ordered a few more of them.”

             
“I’m glad you liked it. I really didn’t think you would. It’s meant for teen girls. I mean, sure, adults read it, but generally not men,” she replied.

             
There was a knock at her door. It had to be Bill. There was no one else who would be banging on her door in the middle of her working on a book. They knew better.

             
“I’ll be right back,” she said, moving his hands to the towels. Lucy stood and opened the door to the bald man from the bar. It was the guy Lexi thought was hot. She would love to know he was standing in her house. “Bill?”

             
“Why is he at your house?” he asked.

             
“Because he was shot in my back yard,” she answered just as curtly as he had asked.

             
“He was shot?” Bill asked as he pushed his way into the house.

             
“Yes he was shot. What did you think happened to him?”

             
“I thought he’d been in another fight. Why didn’t you tell me when you called?”

             
“Because I was flustered and dealing with a man bleeding all over me,” she said, getting angry.

             
“Where is he?” he asked, looking around the living room.

             
“He’s down the hall, first door on the left,” she said, pointing the way.