“Anything else?” Tristan walked over and stared out the sliding glass doors.
Logan set his tablet down on the coffee table and looked up. “Uh, yeah. Are we going to talk about what I just walked in on?”
“What’s to talk about?”
“Really? Okay, maybe the fact that we don’t know her story yet. Or that you just met her yesterday. Come on, Tris; tell me that you didn’t sleep with her.” Logan had to ask, considering the strong scent of arousal that had hit him when the elevator doors opened.
“Seriously, bro?” Tristan shrugged. “Okay, let’s go there. I questioned her, and yes, she’s concealing something. But I can also sense that she’s not dangerous nor did she set the fire. And no, I didn’t sleep with her. Well, technically, I did sleep with her, but if you are asking if we had sex, then no.” He wouldn’t lie to Logan, but Tristan knew it was just a matter of time before he’d make love to her. And he planned on doing it all night long.
“Good to be the Alpha, huh?” Logan joked.
“Yeah, something like that. What about it?”
“So let me get this straight. You, my friend, just slept with her last night as in lying in a bed, eyes closed, no hanky panky?”
“It wasn’t planned. Kind of just happened. I went wolf,” he admitted.
Logan raised an eyebrow at Tristan. “Okay.”
“She had a nightmare. She needed me. Come on, stop looking at me like that,” he replied with a small smile. He held his hands up in protest. “Look, I’m nothing if not a gentleman.”
“Yeah, okay, but do me a favor. Don’t jump in any deeper until we find out what’s going on with her. I know she’s important to you, but…” his voice trailed off. He was tempted to tell Tristan about the visions, but they were unclear. If he told him that he’d seen her, there was no telling how he’d react.
“I got this. She’s fine, really. And speaking of Kalli, we need to take her to the hospital today to tie up loose ends. I don’t want her out of my sight. She saw two wolves leave the club on the day of the fire. They could have seen her go in or have seen her leave with the snake. And I still can’t trust Alexandra to keep her fangs away from her. She was out of control yesterday. I’m sending a text to Kade so he can get a message to Devereoux. He needs to put the smack down on her, so she doesn’t decide to try to snatch Kalli again. The look on her face yesterday when we walked out…she’s one mean bitch.”
“You can say that again.” Logan shook his head. “I think that we should keep her out of Noir, too. I know she’ll be pissed but she crossed the line.”
“Agreed. But let’s put that one back on Devereoux. He made her, and he needs to deal with his own. I can’t have her going off when I’m in the middle of a territory war.”
“So, is there anything else that I need to know about Kalli?” Logan asked, just as she walked into the room wearing Tristan’s robe.
Tristan sucked a breath seeing her freshly showered, and hardened at the thought that she was completely naked underneath the black cotton terrycloth. He jumped to his feet, taking her hand, pulling her to his side. “Aw, chére. Sorry about the clothes. Listen, Julie will be up in a minute with something for you to wear. I promise.”
Kalli felt shy, barely dressed. She awkwardly tried to stand behind Tristan in an effort not to look at Logan. Another wolf. Fear swept through her.
Tristan immediately noticed Kalli’s apprehension and tried to reassure her. “Kalli, it’s okay. This is Logan, my beta. Do you remember him from yesterday?”
Her wide eyes met Logan’s, and she quickly averted her gaze. “I do remember seeing two men,” she responded fearfully.
Concerned she was displaying the submissive behavior of a wolf and that he’d recognize her as something other than human, she forced herself to meet his eyes and extended her hand. “Hi, my name is Dr. Williams, but please call me Kalli. I can’t thank you enough for coming to my rescue yesterday.” There, she’d done it. Inwardly she congratulated herself for acting so completely normal….human.
Logan shook her hand, watching her curiously. It was as if she’d switched from submissive to dominant within seconds. He looked over to Tristan, shooting him a knowing look and then back to Kalli. What the hell was that? He’d ask him later what was going on with her. Tristan had to have noticed it. Subtle, but the Alpha missed nothing.
“Hey, no problem. Just sorry you had the unfortunate experience of meeting Alexandra. I’d call her evil but that would be an understatement,” he told her.
“I will give her this; the mistress of Satan is true to her nature. Not that all vampires are bad people, but they definitely skate the line of morality. Alexandra is a predator and doesn’t care who knows it. I have a feeling, though, that will get her staked. She’s gotten worse over the past ten years,” Tristan commented.
“Without a doubt,” Logan agreed.
True to her nature. Kalli considered how she’d avoided her nature. Self-preservation had a tendency to drive one to do desperate things.
“Kalli is a veterinarian,” Tristan explained. “Which explains why she was at UVH. She rescued Eve.”
“Well, that’s a good thing. I’m not a huge fan of snakes, but the old gal has grown on me. Where is she?” Logan asked.
“She’s at the hospital. I have her in the observation area now. Such a beautiful snake, very calm, likes being held. She’s thriving.” Her eyes lit up as she talked about her patient. Anyone could see how passionate she was about her work. “If you want to send someone to get her, I’ll sign the release papers when I go in today. I know I’m going to have to take a leave until this mess is figured out, but there were a few severely dehydrated puppies that someone had left abandoned in a dumpster. I want to see how they’re doing. They might be ready to go to the shelter by now. I really don’t know how people can just abandon animals, abuse them. People can be cruel,” she remarked, thinking how humans could be every bit as evil as Alexandra. “I know my patients will be fine with the staff but I have to know how they’re doing…peace of mind and all. I know you’re not supposed to get attached, but sometimes, I just can’t help it.”
“That reminds me.” Logan walked over to the elevator and picked something up off the floor. “Here’s your purse. We got it out of your car. I’m afraid someone cut your tires. We’ll call in a tow for you and get it fixed up, don’t worry. Tristan here, tells me you’ll be spending time with us for a while, so sounds like you won’t need it.”
“Thanks, and um, thanks for my pills,” she coughed, remembering her desperation in the car. Rifling through her purse, she looked up. “You didn’t happen to find my work ID by any chance?” The sequence of events was blurry, but then she recalled taking her ID and keys with her and leaving everything else in the car.
Before Logan had a chance to speak, she answered her own question. “It must have fallen off when they took me. I left my stuff in the car. Just took my keys.”
“Hey, I know you’ve been through a lot, but I want you to know that we appreciate your help,” Logan offered.
“Well, to be honest, I’m still in considerable danger. Those wolves I saw could be after me…if they weren’t before, they will be once I do these sketches. And there’s the vampire; I know she didn’t give me up out of the goodness of her cold dark heart. Not happy about it, but I’ve got to lay low for a bit…if I want to live that is. And I do kind of like living. Pretty fond of it, actually,” she joked half-heartedly.
“Alive works for me, too. Seriously, though, we’ll keep you safe here. It’ll be all right,” Logan encouraged with a small smile.