“Can you imagine Lelandi taking on Ritka and her gang?”

The nurse smiled. “Guess I ought to go to the Silver Town Tavern more often. Sam said when he saw her walk into the joint, he knew it would shake Darien out of the pit of despair he’s been wallowing in.”

“Yeah, but in a good way, or bad?” Silva raised her brows to punctuate her statement. “You should have seen the way he kissed her.”

Nurse Grey glanced at Lelandi. “Already?”

“Hell, he wanted to kiss her in the tavern, but he was trying to keep up appearances.” Silva pushed her hair back over her shoulders and placed her hands on her hips. “She started talking about lupus garou, and he had to stop her. But the kiss lasted longer than necessary and made her pass right out. I’m sure when the other eligible bitches hear about it, they’ll be fuming.”

Nurse Grey’s eyes sparkled with intrigue.

“So, is she going to be all right?”

“When are we not? She’ll be fine. However, the fever makes it more of a setback. I notice on the chart, Doc says he’ll release her tomorrow. Might be too soon.”

“She should be in jail for popping Ritka in the eye,” a dark-haired man said as he strode into the room, his eyes black, his police khaki uniform perfectly pressed, a jacket slung over his shoulder. His Stetson shaded his eyes, giving him an even darker-tempered appearance.

Silva smiled at him. Well, more than smiled at him, nearly melted in his presence.

Truly smitten. Lelandi wondered if the same love bug had bitten him or if it was only a one-way street. He didn’t show the same kind of moonstruck attraction when he looked at Silva.

“Why, Trevor, you done with that mess on the highway?” Silva asked, her voice sweet as spun sugar.

“Sheriff chewed my butt for not taking care of her mess.” He jerked a thumb in Lelandi’s direction. “Said shootings take priority over mud slides. Hell, they needed someone to reroute traffic. Four accidents out there. Six injuries.”

“Silva stuck up for you when she didn’t need to.” Lelandi glowered back at the deputy. Silva’s mouth dropped open. “Seems you owe her thanks. No one else bothered to defend your actions.”

Trevor shoved his hands in his pockets and continued to glare at Lelandi. “Who was the man who shot you?”

She closed her eyes. Question the bastard! How would she know who he was?

“He shot you in the chest twice—”

“Three times,” she said, her breathing still ragged, “but who’s counting?”

“You’re one of us, well, kinda, and you can see as well as we can in the dark, so who was he?”

Silva tsked. “Can’t you question her later, when she’s not so bad off?”

Trevor’s face reddened. “That’s another thing,” he said, his voice elevating. “Who the hell shot him dead, and why didn’t anyone question him first?”

Silva cleared her throat. “Trevor, we’ve given the sheriff our statements. Someone shot him from a distance. We never saw who it was, and after he did the deed, he never came down to see if Sam was all right. Unless he did, but just blended with the men who came to investigate the shots fired. The word is Darien might be so mad at whoever the shooter was for not just wounding the gunman, the guy’s not telling.”

“Yeah, anyone would be afraid Darien would be pissed, especially the way he’s been acting lately.”

“Did anyone tell you that you’ll be guarding us at my place?” Silva asked, her tone sweet and innocent.

Trevor scowled at her. “Babysitting?”

“Never know. Trouble seems to follow her. You could be in the thick of it this time.”

Nurse Grey shook her head. “You can’t mean the young lady will be going to your town house, Silva. She needs to remain here.”

“I think Doc’s worried the hospital isn’t secure enough for her.”

“Jail cell will do the job.” Trevor shoved his hat back and crossed his arms over his broad chest.

“Ah, Trevor.” Silva furrowed her brow at him.

“Hell, I saw how she beat up Ritka.”

Lelandi smiled. The woman couldn’t have been more outraged when paramedics wheeled Lelandi into the hospital. Luckily, the doctor ordered two men to watch over her, making sure Ritka didn’t finish what the gunman had begun.

“Hell, look at the way she’s smiling about it. No remorse or anything. Criminal behavior if I ever saw it.”

“They started it,” Silva argued. “Three against one, and every one of them is bigger than her.”

“Ritka said this one started it to prove she’s after Darien, like her sister had been.”

“Ha! Darien did the chasing. Hell, Lelandi didn’t stand a chance.”

Trevor’s face grew crimson again. “I’ve got work to do, straightening out this mess. Then I guess I’ve got babysitting duty later.”

Lelandi swore he looked hopeful something bad would happen so he’d get in on the real action this time and be able to prove to his boss how important he was.

He stalked out.

“I’ve got to check on Tom, but if she needs anything, just holler,” Nurse Grey said, then left.

“Guess it’s just you and me, kid.” Silva sat in the vinyl chair against the wall. “You look like you can barely stay awake. Why don’t you get some sleep?”

“My sister didn’t chase Darien?” Lelandi squeaked, hating that her voice was so out of control like the rest of her.

“Hardly. Darien doesn’t like women who chase him. He likes to do the pursuing.” Silva leaned back in the chair and rolled her sun-streaked chestnut hair between two fingers.

She really was a striking woman and Lelandi wondered why Darien didn’t seem attracted to her.

Silva smiled. “So if you’re interested in getting his attention, don’t go hunting him down.”

“Wouldn’t think of it.” Lelandi wanted to roll onto her stomach, the way she normally slept, but she couldn’t with the IV in place. Plus, she had a sneaking suspicion her wounds would give her fits if she tried.

“On the other hand, if you want him to leave you alone…”

Lelandi stopped struggling with her thin white cotton blanket and looked over at Silva.

“Act really interested in him.”

“Not happening.” This time Lelandi’s words came out loud and clear, to both her surprise and Silva’s amusement.

“Uh-huh, well your choice.”

“Listen.” Lelandi’s voice did the raspy, hoarse bit again. “I’m here for one thing only. Finding out who killed my sister and why, and terminating him. I’m not interested in some alpha gray pack leader who just buried his mate who happened to be my triplet. End of story.”

“Triplet? Ohmigod, don’t tell me there’s another one of you. The news will put Darien in an early grave for sure.”

“My brother, and if he were here, he’d search for our sister’s killer.”

“Oh, he must be a rogue, an alpha male, and must have left your pack. So, where is he now?”

Lelandi’s eyes misted and she shrugged, wishing to hell her brother or even her uncle, who was seven years older than them, would help her.

Silva chewed on her bottom lip. “What if the dead gunman killed your sister?”

“He didn’t.”

“You sound so certain. How do you know?”

Darien walked into the room, making both Silva and Lelandi gasp. How long had he been listening in on their private conversation?

“How do you know he wasn’t the one who killed Lelandi, assuming she didn’t commit suicide?” he asked, his voice harsh and accusatory.

“She told me.”

Darien’s jaw tightened. “Don’t tell me. You had secret triplet communication.”

“If you mean she sent me a letter, yeah, she did.”Lelandi swore he looked sicker than she felt, which had to be pretty hard to do the way she was feeling.

“You okay, boss?” Silva asked.

An alpha male did not faint. But his face had turned paler than her sheets, and she figured he was on the verge.

He gripped the doorframe for a minute, then growled, “Where’s the letter?”

She wanted to fold her arms to prove she wasn’t afraid of his alpha wolf posturing, but she thought better of it when she remembered the IV. Instead, she closed her eyes and listened to the hammering of his heart against his ribs.

“Tell me, damn it! Where’s the letter?”

His voice grew closer, his breathing hard. She might have been afraid of him if it wasn’t for the medicine making her loopy. Opening her eyes, she tried glaring at him when he gripped her bed railing, glowering at her as if he wished to kill her himself, but she wasn’t sure she was sharing her meanest look with him the way her eyelids kept drooping. She hadn’t an ounce of energy to spare.

“She’s in a bad way, Darien. Let her rest and you can question her later.”

“Now, damn it. I want some answers now.”

As a wolf, she could imagine his teeth would be dangerous, but as a human, they were beautiful, straight, white, clenched, and…

She yawned and closed her eyes.

“Damn it, speak!”

A small laugh sounded. It wasn’t from her, but when she opened her eyes, both Silva and Darien were staring at her. She realized that it was from her, after all.

Chapter 7

GOD, SHE WAS EXASPERATING, AND BEAUTIFUL. BEAUTIFULLY exasperating. But Silva was right, the woman was barely out of surgery, pumped full of dope, and scarcely able to keep her eyes open. Yet she could manage a pitiful laugh at Darien’s expense.

Darien gripped the bar tighter on her bed, then released it and stalked out of the room. Seeing his uncle questioning some others, he motioned to speak to him.

“Yeah, Darien, what’s up?”

“Search Larissa’s room. She must have been staying at Hastings Bed and Breakfast since she was headed in that direction when the gunman shot her. If she got a letter from Lelandi, bring it to me.”