To give Sam credit, she didn’t immediately shoot him down. Her eyes passed swiftly over me, as if assessing my tendency to transform into the wulf equivalent of Frankenstein on the spot.
“It took Dillon time to turn into a monster,” she said. “So far, Liam is fine. It isn’t a Jekyll and Hyde situation. I know the signs to watch for.”
Hmm—like throwing three-thousand-pound bulls in the dirt? She wasn’t lying, but to say I was behaving normally for a wulfleng would be stretching it. It was true that Dillon gave us all kinds of warning that he was losing it, but I didn’t want to put Sam at risk. Maybe Garrett was right.
But that meant spending time with Mr. GQ, and I was not looking forward to more than ten minutes near the guy. He could complicate things at work. Garrett may have a toothy side, but he wasn’t what you would call “an animal person.” Even the dogs seemed to have an instinctive distrust of him. When Sam and I returned from the Sherman incident, I’d noticed they’d stayed far away from the tall enforcer.
As I applied the wire brush to the grill, I realized I would leave the decision up to Sam. It was partly cowardice. Agreeing with her—no matter what the verdict—ensured I wouldn’t sustain bodily damage. I preferred existence as a real man and not a eunuch. But to be honest, I wanted to be with her as much as I could. I told myself it would be easier to explain Sam at the clinic than Garrett, who looked like—well—an enforcer.
I closed the lid on the barbeque, and we all stood staring at each other. Sam’s eyes had gone pure silver. Garrett seemed to assess her expression, and his own instincts for self-preservation kicked in. “You make sure you report inconsistencies. If he does turn, it may take more than one of us to bring him down.”
Sam nodded. “Same goes for you. You have three under your wing.”
“They’re wulfan. The doc says they’ll have some immunity if this virus thing is real. And I have the cage, if things start to go south.”
It seemed Garrett didn’t consider Josh and Peter much of a challenge, but I wouldn’t want to tackle Chris. The man impressed physically, but he also possessed serious cred as an enforcer. I couldn’t imagine that experience and ability gone to the dark side.
Garrett followed us, stood with his arms crossed, and glowered at Sam as she grabbed her bag from his truck. The others appeared as we loaded three antiviral spray bottles plus Keen into Peter’s vehicle. We waved goodbye to the tense little group standing outside the house, illuminated by the yard light. Josh held onto the puppy’s collar, and I wondered how they would cope with the dog’s destructive ability on top of all this. Yet when I’d suggested taking Havoc back with Keen and me, Josh had said no.
Keen expressed her joy at leaving the giant pain in the butt behind by leaning between the seats with her jaws open in a happy grin. Sam laughed and scratched her as we pulled onto the highway. Then she turned to me.
“How are you?” she asked.
“Tired, but it's a normal kind of tired, I think. I just want to sleep.”
She nodded. “Chris said you looked beat, but it didn’t raise any flags with him.”
“He’s got a lot on his mind.”
“Josh. He’s worried sick about him.”
You’d have to know Chris well to see that. Even when stressed to the nines, the man held it all together. “Until Josh had memory issues, I thought Peter’s problem was due to blood loss after the attack.”
“Yeah. Me too.” I sensed her look at me in the darkness. To my surprise, she placed her hand on top of mine, where it rested on the console between us. “We’ll get through this, Liam.”
My pulse raced, chasing away the fatigue. I rotated my hand to interlock my fingers with hers, and we drove the rest of the way like that, not saying a word.
22
My suite had a small second bedroom, which I had set up as an office. I had a futon along a wall and by pushing the desk into a corner, I had room to open the couch into a double bed.
“Just point me to a linen closet and get done in the bathroom,” she said. “I’m dying for a shower.”
I showed her the closet, grabbed a bottle of the antiviral spray, and disappeared into the bathroom. When I emerged fifteen minutes later, she had the bed made up and was brewing a cup of tea in the kitchen. I walked over in pajama bottoms, towelling my hair, but stopped as I remembered another woman doing the same task in Peter’s kitchen. At the time, I’d found Chloe attractive. But what I felt for Sam was different. The petite wulfan enforcer stood out like a rose among dandelions. I ached to investigate what might lie between us.
Sam placed her tea on the table and pulled out a chair. “Did you want some—” She broke off when she turned to look. Her eyes slid over me, and I was acutely aware of my naked torso. She lifted her chin and inhaled; her lips dropped open, revealing the tip of a fang. When her eyes rose to mine, it shocked me to see they’d turned silver. Her wulf looked straight into my soul, connecting to something hidden within, making me shiver.
So fluidly I didn’t see her move, Sam stepped into my personal bubble. I dropped the towel from suddenly nerveless fingers and retreated a step in surprise. Even from inches away, the skin of my naked chest absorbed her heat. I breathed in her unique scent, spicy yet sweet, and laced through with the wulf. She touched a bruise on my chest with a finger, sending
