"Are... are you a gray or a red?"
"Gray. I don't know Hunter or Leidolf either, but I wouldn't let a red have a gray's selected mate." He paused. "Hey, Charlie? It's Allan Smith. Got a problem. Need to get a gray out of jail who was defending his chosen mate. Another gray was killed in the fight. The name's Hunter Greymere. No, not from around here. Alpha leader from the coast." He chuckled. "It gets worse. A red alpha leader from Portland is trying to claim her for his own. You ever hear about the gray devil wolf, Seth Greystoke? Hell, his grandson claims the little lady is his distant cousin, and he wants her."
The cop looked at Tessa and smiled. "No, human still," he said into the phone, then laughed. "Yeah, I'd say she'd be worth it, but then you'd have three alpha leaders at your throat. Better leave her well enough alone. Hurry it up though. I'll conveniently tuck Miss Tessa Anderson away somewhere safe at the hospital. Call me when you have Hunter released. Well, you owe me for getting your brother off for drunk driving--how many times? And you know me--I'm a sucker for beautiful, redheaded damsels in distress." He chuckled. "Talk later."
He clicked off the phone, lifted his nose and sniffed the air. "Shit. They're coming." He lifted Tessa up and hurried down the hall.
"Who?" Tessa whispered. "The reds or the brothers of the gray Hunter had to kill?"
Hunter wasn't often impressed with bureaucracy when he had to deal with it, but whatever Tessa had done had worked. And he was damned proud of her.
He considered the cop as he drove him to the hospital, who looked like he was suffering from ulcers or a very bad day, older man, graying temples, sandy brows, very big scowl.
"When will we get there?"
"Ten minutes." The cop glanced at him with a frown splitting his forehead in two. "What? You want me to run the sirens, too? Who the hell are you? The judge rarely changes his mind on a case. But just like that, one call and you've got half the force hopping."
"I acted in self-defense when the man came at me with a knife. But I guess it pays to have friends in high places in any event. Been a cop long?"
The man smiled as if reminiscing about the good old days. "Texas Ranger when the first unit was formed. Worked my way west into this lawless territory in the early ages. Changed my name numerous times, retired several times, had to 'die' a number of times to keep up appearances. But yeah, I've been one of the good guys for a few years. What about you?"
"In the army for a number of years, different sides, different countries, different wars, time periods, trained in some of the more specialized forces later, Navy SEALs for one."
"No shit?" The cop shook his head. "I always wanted to be one of those." His face turned stern again. "So how come you have to change the woman? Judge says she's one of us, kind of."
"Long story, major nightmare."
"Too bad. It's better when you both are willing. Happened to me, too, though."
"What happened?"
"She's still giving me grief." The cop gave Hunter a smirk. "As soon as they allowed women on the force, she became a cop also. Said she wanted to see what I did all day. But don't you believe it. She just wants to make sure I don't turn another woman."
"How long have you been together?"
"Ninety-eight years and counting." The cop pulled into the back of the hospital. "Let me call Allan Smith. He's a buddy of mine who's taking care of the little lady." He punched in some buttons on the phone and said, "Hey, Caruthers here. You got her?" He looked at Hunter. "The guy's here with me. He's a Navy SEAL. Yeah, that's why he got the jump on the gray with the knife. I'm sending him in the back way. The reds are there?" He smiled. "I'll tell him. Gotta go. See you this weekend to go fishing?" He laughed. "Okay, when it warms up a bit."
Caruthers shut off his phone. "Take the back stairs, third floor, Room 301. Let me tell you, pal, if I had it to do all over again, I'd turn my Greta in a heartbeat. There aren't enough females in the world to go around. Sometimes we've just got to take a chance and hope for the best."
Allan Smith tucked his phone into his belt. "I'll wait in the hall for your mate. All my best to you, young lady." The cop left Tessa alone and closed the door.
Sitting in a vinyl chair, she clenched and unclenched her hand. Now what would they do? She didn't think Hunter would want to return to the hotel. Not after the killing there. She sure didn't want to go there either. She shuddered. The look of death on the gray's face would haunt her forever.
"You must be Hunter Greymere," Allan said beyond the door.
Her heart gave a jump to hear that he'd arrived, and although she was relieved he found her before anyone else did, her stomach fluttered with apprehension.
"I'd claim her nice and official-like to set things straight with the red and before some distant relation tries to take her home with him, if I were you. The other gray didn't change her, by the way."
"Thanks, officer, for the advice, and the news," Hunter said, his voice gruff.
"Navy SEAL, eh? The guy must have been crazy to mess with you. I'll be right here, so take all the time you need."
Now that he had his memories back, had Hunter remembered truly being a Navy SEAL? It definitely suited his character. Or was he continuing the tale, enjoying it too much to give it up?
"Thanks." Hunter opened the door, closed it behind him, stalked across the floor to join her, looking like a warrior with a mission, his harsh expression a mixture of sternness and worry, and she had an inkling he intended to turn her. She definitely had mixed emotions about the whole thing.
"Navy SEAL? You really were one?" she whispered, raising her hands to offer herself to him, to take the plunge, to become something she couldn't begin to imagine being. Part of her welcomed the change, the chance to be with the man who heated her blood like no other had ever done, yet part of her wanted to remain as she was, still wanting Hunter for her own, but without the life-altering change.
"Yeah. You were right all along, Tessa honey. Meeting on the beach like we did was... karma. Although if I'd been more with it, I would have acted a lot more like one of the SEALs."
Her mouth slightly gaped. "How could you have been a SEAL as a werewolf?"
"We can be anything we want, if we're so inclined and have the aptitude." He winked at her and the sexy look slid a volley of heat through her.
And then she gave him a half smile. "Wonder what your SEAL friends would have thought if they'd known how we met."
"They would've been cursing my fortune that a beautiful woman had come to rescue me and not them." He lifted her from the chair, hugged her to his chest, tighter than need be as if he'd feared losing her and wanted to prove to himself she was all his--which suited her just fine--then carried her to the bed. "We've got to talk."
Talk? She felt the tension in his muscles, saw the way his eyes darkened with need, smelled the subtle change in him, indicating he was becoming aroused. She wanted him with all her heart. So why didn't his heated embrace make her melt against him? She stiffened instead, unable to hide a nagging concern. What if he changed her, then gave her to a beta wolf? "You don't think I'm enough of an alpha."
"You're an alpha all right. After you clobbered that gray with the fireplace tongs and tonight again with your crutch?" He gave her a small smile, set her on the bed, and tucked some of her hair behind her ear with a tender touch. "A beta female would have tucked tail and run. With your sprained ankle, if you'd been a beta, you would have easily given up. I saw you trying to keep Yoloff from biting you. If I could have, I would have ended his miserable life, too."
Hunter's fingers shifted to the buttons on her blouse, his urgent struggle making her smile.
But she still had to know--was he defying Devlyn? Taking her for his own? What were his intentions? Yet even so, she didn't stop him. She couldn't. Whenever he wanted her, she had no power to hinder him, just as she had no control over her own craving to have him. "I thought we were going to talk."