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them all and with an anguished cry, he joined them, Nina following suit. Her life grew dimmer and dimmer until Ben barely felt their connection. He howled then, loud and clear, howled his pain, his anguish, his fury and his passion. He felt it all leave him and fill the air. The air around her shimmered for a moment and suddenly, a red wolf lay on the table where Tegan s human form had been. Lex and Jack picked her up and put her next to Ben, who curled around her body protectively, placing his muzzle against her chest, feeling the rise and fall. After a few minutes, Ben changed back and got dressed in borrowed clothing. They left Tegan in wolf form and went to the Great Lakes compound. A series of buildings on the lake surrounded by woods. Lauren Dane 172 www.samhainpublishing.com Page 106 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Chapter Seventeen Tegan slowly recovered in the hours after they d brought her back to the Great Lakes compound. She d only changed back to human form a few minutes before and still slept comfortably in the guest suite Maxwell had given them. Ben hadn t left her side for hours, first when she was a wolf, her breathing shallow but gradually deeper and more relaxed, and then when she d changed back to human form. He couldn t believe she was there and really all right. The fear still coated his mouth, stung his senses. He couldn t let go of the memory of her on that table, nearly dead. Couldn t let go of her fear, her pain, that she d been so devastated and he hadn t helped her. Would she hate him for it? Resent him? They want you down the hall, Ben. Nick, Gabe, Cade and Templeton are calling in in just a few minutes and you need to eat something. Nina and I will be here with her. I promise if anything changes we ll come get you. It s just two doors down. She s going to be okay. Megan hugged him. You saved her. You got to her in time. She knew you wouldn t give up until you found her. But not before they hurt her. His voice was a whisper. You can t think that way. Ben, she s a guard, it s what she does. You re a cop, it s what you do. You both have dangerous jobs. She worries for you too. But you can t not let her do what she was born to do. She d be very unhappy if you did, Nina soothed. I know where you are right now. Every time Lex walks out the door I know something could happen to him. It tears me up sometimes. But we work it through. You two will as well. She loves you, you love her. You accept each other and that s what counts. She can count on you. She ll need that when she wakes up. Just keep being there for her. I wish I could have& Cascadia Wolves: Wolf Unbound www.samhainpublishing.com 173 Nina interrupted him, But you can t. You can t change the past so stop it. Don t do this to yourself. She doesn t want you to. Nobody blames you. You re Pack, you protected Pack. You re family and you protected your wife. Forgive yourself, Ben Stoner because no one else blames you. He nodded. Bending down, he gently tucked Tegan s hair back and kissed her cheek. She still smelled of blood, pain and fear. When she woke up he d personally take her into the bath and clean her up. Any change at all you come get me. He moved to the door and looked back to see Megan carefully get into the bed with her sister, curling against her back and Nina settled in on the other side. They both nodded to him and he quickly moved down the hall. Come in, Ben. Please, you need to eat. Help yourself, my staff has brought some dinner in. We re getting everyone connected now. Maxwell indicated a side table where sandwiches, salads and protein drinks sat. His stomach growled as he hustled to eat. He hadn t realized how hungry he d been and still wasn t used to his new metabolism. I just looked in on Tegan. Tracy is on her way. Maxwell has sent people to the airport to get her. Tegan will be happy when she wakes up. Layla arrives shortly after that so they ll ride in together. Lex grabbed a sandwich and ate as he sat next to Ben. Cade and Templeton finally got connected on the line along with Gabe and Nick. Everyone on? Page 107 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html After the assenting answers, Jack got started. Pellini is gone. He rushed out a back door as we stormed the front. Unfortunately he s taken Gina s body with him but the Pellini Group wolf who d helped Tegan and gave us the tip on her location told us Gina had been experimented on and then murdered. It wasn t a pretty story. It looks like he was in too big a hurry to get much else though. One laptop near the door had been taken apparently but the other computers in the lab remain and have been shut down. Nina will look them over when we get them back here. Lauren Dane 174 www.samhainpublishing.com My people are still combing over the lab buildings, gathering evidence. We ll work with Ben while we have him. I m sure he ll be a great resource. Maxwell nodded at Ben. He was eager to help so that was fine and dandy with him. Maxwell paused a moment and then cleared his throat. I have to tell you all we ve got a problem here. Besides, well, because of Pellini. I was trying to handle it myself but I only realized today just exactly what has been going on. Pellini has been grabbing street people and experimenting on them. The police came to me twice in the last two weeks about finding dead bodies of partially changed humans. No bites. They don t know what was going on and I d thought they were wolves who d changed but it never took hold or died in mid change. Something like that. Pellini has been so busy with drugs and money laundering, I just didn t think. I& it s stupid and I suppose I just didn t want to face it. No one thought to tell us, the biggest Pack in the US, that Templeton wasn t really in the pocket of the mob so I hesitated. It cost lives. I m sorry. Maxwell scrubbed hands over his face and Ben wanted to punch him. I told you people to share it with Great Lakes months ago, Lex said angrily. I know. We made mistakes and that led to a very high cost. We wanted to keep it as quiet as we could. We know Great Lakes has spies and Templeton didn t want to risk it. The exhaustion in Jack s voice showed on his face as well. This is a clusterfuck of epic proportions. No shit. But my sister was taken at a Palaver. One of my wolves, Ben Stoner, was nearly killed. Another man under my protection, Agent Benoit had to undergo two different surgeries and nearly died. This cannot stand. Cascadia cannot be silent any longer, Cade s voice rang clear over the line. Great Lakes aligns with Cascadia, Maxwell said and Ben looked around the room, not knowing what was going on. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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