Then this business of Elgin calling the pack together irked him. Leidolf cast him a harsh look.

Elgin didn't look cowed. He should have, for once! In fact, if Leidolf had to describe his expression, he'd say his sub-leader looked rather pleased with the turnout. He couldn't help but be satisfied that Elgin was showing some real leadership qualities.

Leidolf wasn't about to let Elgin know it, though, in the event his sub-leader entertained the notion of pulling another stunt like this. "Elgin?"

"I told Laney we were bringing in the injured woman, the wolf biologist you took to the club last night. She must have called the alert roster."

"Why? This isn't an emergency where all our pack members need to be present. It's like crying wolf." Leidolf raised both brows to emphasize the importance of his comment.

"Laney must have misinterpreted what I told her." Elgin shrugged, not looking in the least bit worried.

Leidolf glanced at a smiling Fergus as he got the door, but the man quickly hid the expression. No one came out of the house to greet them as Leidolf headed toward the front door with his precious bundle of soft and supple woman. But Leidolf noticed some movement in at least three of the windows.

He buried an exasperated sigh. The woman wasn't his. Yet. He certainly intended for her to be. He didn't need his whole pack to coerce her to stay; he planned to do his very best in that regard.

Fergus moved out of Leidolf's path. To Leidolf's relief, only a couple of the men greeted him in the great room with serious expressions, nods of heads, and nothing more. Everyone else stayed out of sight. Probably afraid he'd really be pissed if they crowded him when the woman was injured.

Laney hurried out of the kitchen. Elgin quickly shook his head at her as if to warn her Leidolf wasn't pleased with what they had done. She ignored her husband's warning and hurried after Leidolf.

"Is she still bleeding?"

"No. She's lost some blood though."

"We need to get her a transfusion. Can't we take her to the hospital?" Laney asked, hurrying behind him as he stalked toward his bedroom.

"She'll build it back up. We have no medical staff at the hospital, as you're well aware. And we can't explain the bullet wound." He glanced back at Laney, who was wringing her hands, and he realized that, for the first time since he'd known her, she was rattled. He softened his tone. "She'll be all right in our care." Then he frowned. "You didn't need to call the alert roster for this."

Laney had the nerve to look innocent. "Elgin said it really was important. That the whole pack needed to know."

Leidolf looked in Elgin's direction. This time Elgin appeared sheepish.

"Uh-huh," Leidolf said, then strode into the bedroom.

"I'll help you tape up her wound, but then I have to see to Felicity." Laney hurried to pull his covers back on the bed, and he smelled the fresh scent of spring.

She must have washed his sheets in a hurry, just in time to bring his little red wolf home with him. At least he approved of her doing that.

"The babies aren't on their way yet, are they?" he asked.

He laid Cassie in his bed and then set Elgin's and Fergus's jackets aside. Her skin was pale, and she seemed so much more demure while sleeping under the influence of the drug. He took her hand and ran his thumb over the delicate bones in her fingers, so small compared to his large hands. Yet despite how fragile she seemed at times, she showed strength of character--like when she'd tried to rescue him, instead of running off to save her own skin from the hunters who'd shot him. Not many werewolves would have done so when they weren't even a member of the pack.

After rummaging through drawers in the bathroom, Laney hurried back into the bedroom. "Yes, the babies are on their way. Here." She handed him the tape and sterile gauze. "I'll get something to clean up the dried blood." She hurried back to the master bathroom.

Leidolf pulled the covers up to Cassie's waist and then brushed a wisp of silky hair away from her cheek. Now in peaceful sleep, she seemed so different. As if it had been eons ago that he was in the same situation, drugged, although the caffeine seemed to be wearing off, and all the running around he'd been doing seemed to be catching up to him.

But no longer did he see her as the woman who had leaned close to him, tantalizing him with taunting words and her seductive scent and body, whispering to him with a hot and sexy voice, touching him as if she were already his lover. Nor did he see her as the woman who had scowled at him, worried, attempting to help him to stand, trying to get him to safety.

Now she was at peace, content and angelic, and wounded. He hoped the injury wouldn't cause her too much discomfort later when the tranquilizer wore off. He did have something that would aid her sleep to keep her from feeling any pain during the night.

So what mood would she wear when she woke?

He didn't want to think about it. Combative? Maybe. Ready to bolt? Probably, if the way she took off when his men found him was any indication. Or the way she'd given him the slip at the B&B, and Carver also when he had followed her out of town. And Leidolf wouldn't forget her last words to him when he'd been drugged, pointed and commanding, Leave me alone.

If he'd been just any man or she just any woman, he might have done just that, left her alone. But no matter what she said, her actions and, hell, her pheromones spoke much louder and clearer than words. She wanted him. He just had to ensure she saw her feelings for what they truly were.

Laney hurried back into the bedroom and handed Leidolf a couple of warm, wet washcloths and a dry towel. "Here, I'll let you do this," she said. "I'll return later."

"To be with Felicity?" he asked, crouching beside the bed and washing away the dried blood on the nymph's arm, her skin golden and silky.

"Yes, yes. The babies are due soon."

Leidolf looked up at her, noting her anxiousness. "The other women?" Surely Felicity wasn't alone.

"Ready to help her. I think Felicity has pretty much decided to birth them as a wolf. Easier that way."

So then why the anxiousness? The women rarely had trouble with multiple births because of their lupus garou strength.

Leidolf ran the warm washcloth over Cassie's shoulder blade and lower, where drips of blood had trailed down her breast, careful not to touch her wound. She was beautiful. Every inch of her.

"When will you return?" He again looked at Laney's expression, suspecting she had darker motives. Six other women in the pack could watch Felicity and help her take care of her babies. Why would Laney need to be there, too?

He realized then how much he relied on her help, as much as he did her mate's.

"I'll return as soon as I can. Elgin says you were with Cassie at the club until it closed. That she's that wolf biologist you listened to earlier in the night. Since you know her somewhat, it would probably be better if you stayed with her until I returned. Unless you want Elgin to."

Leidolf gave her a look like she had to be joking. Laney gave a wry smile.

"Is Felicity's mate with her?"

Laney chuckled. "Of course. I swear you'd think Harvey is having the babies. He's been complaining of severe stomach pains all afternoon. Says it was food poisoning, but we all know better. And you know how it is when the female of our species has babies. The woman is finally in charge. Every time she snaps at him--for getting her in this way in the first place, he jumps. And after the babies come, she'll still be in charge." Laney gave an evil smile and nodded at Cassie. "Remember that when the time comes."

Taping the gauze over Cassie's wound, Leidolf shook his head. Harvey was a beta. Leidolf would never be like that, although the notion of getting to that stage in his relationship with Cassie sure appealed. "Let me know how everything turns out for Felicity."

"I will. Elgin told everyone no one is to disturb you. I'll return as soon as I can." Laney headed out of the room, faster than he had ever seen her move, and shut the door behind her.

He assumed it was a calculating matchmaking scheme on her part. As soon as she shut the door and the house was quiet, the adrenaline that had built up in his system drained off. Now he felt like a tired, old wolf, needing a well-deserved nap. He covered Cassie with the comforter and then walked across the room to the recliner Laney had picked out for him, saying he needed it for relaxation. Going to the forest, to the lake where he'd seen his nymph, was his place to relax. It would never be the same after finding her there. And he wished they could return some day and take up where they'd left off.

At first, he sat down in the recliner, pulled out the footrest, and stretched out. He tried to keep his eyes open while he watched Cassie sleeping soundly. She turned over, and the comforter slipped down, exposing her breasts. He groaned, remembering how as a wolf he'd licked the left one. Except he'd been a lot groggier then. Sighing, he hoped she'd heal quickly and didn't suffer from her injury for long.

He rubbed his chin and stared at the sleeping beauty. What if she woke after he fell asleep? What if she tried to slip away without him or any one of his pack members knowing it?

He wouldn't put it past her.

Hell. He rubbed his eyes. He couldn't stay awake. She had taunted him, saying he wasn't such a big, bad wolf after all. Smiling, he thought he wouldn't be too awfully bad, but she'd asked for it.

He left the chair, stalked over to the bed, and studied her sleeping face. She was beautiful in a wild wolf way. And just as radiant as a human. And his. Once he convinced her of it.

He climbed into bed, slipped under the covers, and gathered her gently into his arms. She snuggled up against him as if she belonged there. Which she did. If he didn't hold her, he told himself, she could still wake and leave him while he slept without his knowing it.

Her satiny skin against his, the heat of her body, and her scent made him want her all the more, but he set aside his cravings to mate and closed his eyes, his one hand caressing her back, the other resting on a soft buttock. Her cheek was against his chest, her warm breath tickled his skin. She was the embodiment of everything magical.