Tessa taped the gauze to Hunter's shoulder and shook her head. "It was a wolf. I have a photo of one that looks exactly like him. And not only that, but he had almond-shaped eyes. Dogs have rounded eyes."
He stared at her for a minute, then recalled all the books she had on wolves. Hell, now what? Hunter collapsed on the sofa, the adrenaline fading and weariness settling in. He wanted to tell them he had destroyed the animal, but he couldn't because the stalker would undoubtedly return, maybe this time with his two buddies once everyone had healed sufficiently. Hunter didn't want Tessa and Rourke believing they were perfectly safe. But he didn't want to create a mad scene of hunters shooting every wolf throughout Oregon either. And they probably would, even though wolves were a protected species. They couldn't kill the lupus garou that way, but they could kill the real wolves, and for wolves and lupus garous it would be one long nightmare.
"Can I see the picture?"
She nodded and headed back down the hall.
Hunter ran his hand through his damp hair. "Listen, Rourke, I'm going to ask you for a big favor on this. I know what I'm doing. Believe me. I'll destroy the wolf--"
"I thought I heard two of them fighting in the house," Tessa said, returning with the printout of the photo.
"Two fought one another. So you see if we announce this, hunters from every crack and crevice in the state will be here shooting everything that moves. Everything. You know how it goes. Then even Tessa wouldn't be safe getting a load of firewood from the beach."
"She's got you and me for that now," Rourke said, as if he were staying for the long haul.
Actually, it probably was a good idea--for the time being.
Hunter considered the photo while Tessa hurried back down the hall. It was the gray all right. But the trees weren't correct. A hint of memory eluded him. He recognized the forest. Not here, but where?
Rourke whispered, "Did you kill it already? I could see you didn't want to say in front of Tessa."
Before Hunter could reply, she returned and frowned at them. He figured she heard Rourke's loud whisper.
She carried a man's flannel shirt and a pair of big fuzzy sock slippers. Kneeling at Hunter's feet, she pulled on one of the slippers, and then the other. He hadn't realized how icy his feet were until she warmed them. But what heated him even more were her tender ministrations and thoughts of returning to bed with her and snuggling.
He considered the picture of the lupus garou again. "Where did you get this photo?"
"I took it in California. Right before he lunged at me."
"When you were on that photo shoot for the magazine?" Rourke asked. "Hell, Tessa, I told you not to take the job, but--"
"He looks just like the one that knocked Rourke out,"
Tessa continued, ignoring Rourke's scolding. "But he couldn't be."
Hunter lied, "They can all look the same." Well, to an untrained eye, they could. He and his kind easily distinguished the differences. A change in the colors of the masks, or the patterns of coloration on the body and head. Sometimes subtle between wolf siblings, but still anyone who observed them closely enough could see the difference. Personality-wise, they'd be totally dissimilar.
"That's what I thought." Yet something in the way Tessa looked at him and her tone of voice, indicated she wasn't being totally honest with him either.
He wanted to know what made her suspect he wasn't speaking the truth, or that he at least didn't understand the truth. She couldn't know this wolf was the same as the one she'd seen in California.
But that he had followed her from California showed how determined he was to have her.
"Have you seen the wolf that attacked us here before?" he asked.
"In La Grande. I'm pretty sure. I took a photo of him, but he was turned sideways, and I didn't get a good shot of his face."
"Has to be another wolf," Rourke said. "Don't you think, Hunter? That's a long ways for one to travel."
"Yeah." Hunter knew better. When looking for mates, they'd travel for miles. "Do you have the photo?"
She sighed. "Sure, but we need to take you to the doctor to see about your wound. The animal was probably rabid." She looked up at him, her eyes shimmering like emeralds awash in tears.
Her upset cut straight into his soul. He didn't think a human had ever touched him the way she did. Although if he had much to do with them, he probably wasn't usually this beat up around them. He touched her face and would have leaned down to kiss her as she crouched in front of him, but his shoulder hurt so much, he couldn't bend if his life depended on it. She stood and helped him into the flannel shirt.
Then she kissed his lips, her touch velvety soft, heating his chilled blood. "I'll find some blankets for you, but we need to make plans to get you to the clinic."
He grasped her hand and squeezed tight. "I won't deny I'm bone weary, Tessa, but the animal didn't have a case of rabies. I'll be fine in a day or two."
She glanced at Rourke as if looking for his support.
"She's right, Hunter. That wound's pretty nasty. It's going to need some sutures."
Hunter released Tessa's hand. "No." He closed his eyes and groaned as he tried to get comfortable. She hurried to help him stretch out on the sofa in front of the blazing fire. "Just make sure everything's locked up," he said. "If we drove in this icy snowstorm, we could run off a cliff."
"We have to get to a doctor," Tessa whispered to Rourke.
Hunter opened his eyes and scowled. Since when did his word not mean the law? "No! I'll be fine. I heal fast. Just let me sleep."
Tessa brushed away tears and then rushed back down the hallway. He only realized then she had been fighting them all along. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but he didn't need doctors messing with him. Not that they would discover what he was. Thank heavens the lupus garou genetics precluded that. As a wolf, they had only wolf genes and as a human, human genetics. But he still didn't want anyone seeing how fast he healed. Although as bad as the bite was, it would be a couple of days, maybe more, before it healed properly.
Rourke tried his phone, but shook his head. "Still no reception."
Tessa returned with an armload of blankets, a pillow, and the other wolf photo.
Hunter studied the two photos. Hell, it was the same lupus garou. "How long ago was this taken?"
"A month ago."
"Have you seen any wolves around here since then?"
"I thought I'd... I've heard howling up north."
"When?"
"About a month ago. Well, the first time. I've heard it on and off since then."
The bastard must have seen her at La Grande and tracked her here. Had he caught a whiff of her? Her special scent that ignited his own cravings?
Or had he taken objection to her photographing him? The fact he was rolling in her sheets meant he wanted her. He was taking her scent back to his wolf mates, declaring she was his and no one else's.
"I thought maybe he'd been owned before." She pulled the soft blue blanket up to Hunter's chin.
"Owned before?"
"Yeah. He doesn't act like a normal wolf. Well, I mean he does, with the snarling and chasing and all. But--he stares me down like he's trying to remember a past life, like maybe he was once someone's pet and I look like the owner, or something." She gave Hunter a couple of pills.
Rourke shook his head. "No way was that wild animal someone's pet, unless he already ate his owners."
Hunter gave him an annoyed look. He wasn't helping his cause. His shoulder feeling like it was on fire, Hunter offered Tessa a pained smile. "Why would I need a doctor when I've got Miss Nightingale?"