"Gun. Oh. So you couldn't shoot him."
"Or so he can commit a crime. Listen, I don't want to keep you long in case the weather gets too bad. Aren't you working tonight at the hospital?"
"I called in sick." Cara smiled. "How did you know I was working tonight?"
"Ashton checked."
Cara's smiled broadened. "My, my. He's the cute guy with the long, blond hair? Sharp blue eyes? Muscular build, but not quite as much as Hunter? So he wanted to know when I was coming back on duty?"
Tessa laughed inwardly. Wouldn't the woman like to know the real reason Ashton wanted to know and what he really thought of her? On the other hand, it wouldn't hurt for Tessa to spark the woman's interest in Ashton if it meant she would leave Hunter alone. Ashton definitely deserved some payback after what he had pulled with her.
"Maybe you could take a look at his wound. Hunter and Rourke took care of it, but since you're a nurse, I'd feel better if you made sure it was really all right."
"I'd be happy to." Cara frowned. "Why did they leave you alone? Are they in pursuit of this guy?"
"No. Not exactly. Ashton took off for whatever reason. Hunter told Rourke to stay with me, but the next thing I knew, he'd taken off after them. At least I presume he had." Tessa pointed at the rifle. "They left that for me."
"You know how to shoot?"
"Sure. Why would I own a gun if I didn't? I got off a couple of rounds into the wolf that bit Ashton, I think."
Cara's eyes widened. "Oh, well, good shooting."
Tessa raised the mug to her lips to take another sip when the doorbell rang. Her heart skipped a beat, and she nearly dropped her mug.
"Shall we see who it is? Maybe it's the sheriff." Cara sounded perfectly fearless.
Tessa wished she felt as sure of herself. But the wolf attack that had followed the ringing of the doorbell earlier still had her spooked.
Tessa set her mug down and grabbed the rifle, just in case it wasn't the sheriff. Or maybe it was Hunter or one of the others. She had locked them out of the house.
But when she looked through the peephole, she saw a striking brunette, her amber eyes peering back at her. Uncle Basil's niece?
Figuring as irritated as the woman looked, she'd give Tessa some more guff, she opened the door. "Yes?"
Her eyes narrowing, the woman growled, "Where the hell is Hunter?"
Chapter 10
HUNTER FOUND ASHTON'S CLOTHES DITCHED ABOUT a mile north of Tessa's house and swore under his breath. He removed his clothes, shuddered in the frigid air, ripped off his bandages, and changed into the wolf. But it wasn't painless this time. Sharp streaks stabbed through his injured shoulder, hurting more than he thought it would. All he wanted was to return to Tessa, nap, snuggle, and a hell of a lot more if she was receptive. He would kill Ashton.
For three miles he trotted after him, stopping to sniff at the scents in the air, checking the direction Ashton went. Ashton had marked "his" territory four times already. Idiot. If he came across the brothers Grimm, he would never be able to handle a wolf-to-wolf fight. Not as a newly turned lupus garou, Hunter didn't think.
Although if Tessa did manage to shoot one of them twice, he probably wouldn't be messing with anyone for a while. The one with the broken leg would be pretty incapacitated still. Hunter relaxed a little.
Until he heard a wolf howl somewhere in the distance farther north. Ashton. Maybe.
Hunter headed in the wolf's direction. The snow was falling heavier, the air colder, the flakes burying the evergreens, making them droop like white-bearded old men. The place was already looking like a winter wonderland again.
The pain in Hunter's shoulder seemed to grow incrementally every step he took. Going for a run with Rourke later was now out of the question. He hoped Rourke could hold off a while longer.
Something moved to the west, catching his eye. He whipped around. A cougar stood still, holding a rabbit between his teeth, his eyes wary as he watched Hunter.
His heart thundering, Hunter waited, twitching his ears back and forth, listening to the rapid beat of the cougar's heart. With any luck, the cougar would take his meal and go, but he stared Hunter down like any feral predator would. Messing with a wild cat when they were protecting their meal could be a dangerous proposition. One of his lupus garou pack had perished when fighting a cougar this big, and Hunter had no intention of tangling with him when he needed to protect that idiot Ashton.
A twig snapped west of them. The cougar bolted through the woods and the reason came into view. Ashton--his fur more of a beige, his snout a little darker, a dead duck in his mouth. If Hunter could laugh in his wolf form at the ridiculousness of it, he would.
Movement in the woods behind Hunter made him twist around. Pain sliced through his shoulder. Fury slid through his veins, setting his blood on fire as he found Rourke facing him. His fur a dark brown, he bowed his head slightly to Hunter.
Holy crap! He would kill the two of them. Hunter raced in the direction where he'd left his clothes, but even so it would take valuable time to get there, dress, and run home. If anything happened to Tessa, he would never forgive himself.
Even though he kept telling himself he should have left Ashton and Rourke to fend for themselves after what they'd pulled, he couldn't. Not by lupus garou laws. Once they were turned, they had to be somebody's responsibility and no one else was stepping up for the job.
Technically, Tessa wasn't his responsibility. So why was his human side casting away all his inborn rules? Damn it to hell. If anything happened to her... there would be hell to pay.
When he finally reached his clothes, he shoved them on, no longer feeling the pain in his shoulder because of the adrenaline spiking through his system. Ashton ran up beside him, the stupid dead mallard still in his mouth. Rourke ran ahead toward the house. No sign of his clothes, so he must have changed sooner after he left the house. Hell, hopefully, not in front of Tessa.
His heart hammering, Hunter sprinted for the house. A couple of hours had already passed since he had left Tessa, and he still had another damn mile left to go in the snowdrifts.
The brunette's amber eyes speared Tessa, then she turned her attention to Cara. "Where the hell is Hunter?" she repeated.
"Is he your brother? Uncle Basil's nephew?" Tessa asked, hoping the woman could trigger the rest of Hunter's memories and he would recall his past, praying the woman wasn't his girlfriend.
Cara raised a brow. "I thought you said his last name was Grey. It isn't?"
Oh hell. Tessa hadn't meant to tell the world, but if this woman knew Hunter... "Come inside. Hunter had a terrible accident, and he's lost his memory, but he's been regaining it in bits and pieces."
The woman's eyes widened. "Where is he?"
"He's... he's okay. Just taking a walk with a couple of other guys in the woods. But how do you know him? Please," Tessa said, motioning to the living room. "Come in and get warm by the fire. Would you like some cocoa?"
The woman pointed at Cara and growled, "Who's she to Hunter?"
Cara smiled in an evil way. "His personal nurse." She tilted her nose up and took in a deep breath. "And you're his sister?"
Having had the sinking feeling the woman might be his girlfriend, Tessa could now see the resemblance, the same dark hair, the same colored eyes, the well-defined cheekbones and aristocratic noses, and relief washed over her. "Meara?"
The woman frowned. "How did you know my name if he lost his memory?"
"He called it out when he was delirious the one night. He remembered having a sister, but not his full name or where he was from."