He placed the tray in front of me and I sat up enough to look down at it. "Who are you?"
"Gabriel Fontaine. You can call me Gabe," he answered. "We're going to do a little experiment."
That sounded a little too much like 'would you like to play a game' to me. My friends had been way too into horror movies and I'd caught the bug around my senior year of high school. It tainted a lot of things.
Gabe pulled the cover off the tray and I was face down in it before I knew what was happening. I tasted meat in the back of my throat, blood on my teeth. My hands were covered in it, my hair falling from its straps to the red-tinted plate below. Xavion laughed at me even as I sat myself up and tried my best to wipe up with my sweater sleeves.
"I'd like to see you do any better after being unconscious for who knows how long," I said.
It was Gabe that answered me. "You've been out three days. Your animals are being cared for by the best money can buy. But I'm afraid that you'll be staying with us for a little longer, after that response."
"Why?" I asked, using my tongue to ferret out a piece of meat stuck between two teeth.
"Because you're a werewolf."
I looked between Xavion and Gabe, waiting for the punchline to drop. When it didn't, I laughed until I thought I'd be sick. So what if I'd just devoured a steak in a few seconds? I was hungry, not some mythical beast that shredded Little Red Riding Hood. This time, I slid off the bed and I meant it.
"It's been fun," I said. "But you did whatever you did, starved me for several days, and planted me in your bed." Gabe opened his mouth but I held up my hands. "I already said I won't sue. All I want is a morning-after pill, if any of you did anything."
Gabe glared at me. "That's entirely inappropriate. We might be wolves, but we aren't monsters."
"You guys do whatever you want. That's none of my business. You've got great dog food, by the way," I shrugged, having meant to say it during our initial meeting. "Even Bosco loves it, and he's the pickiest dog in the universe."
"Is that the Dane?" Gabe asked, moving in front of me to keep me in the room.
I glanced back at Xavion to find him still sitting. They weren't trying to force me back into the bed, at least. "He's a boxer mix, white and brindle. Terrified of storms. Carrie Ann's the Dane that kept telling you two off."
"You've got a very loyal pack already, Sadie."
Was it a threat? If I left, were they going to poison my dogs? They owned the dog food company, for crying out loud. It wouldn't be hard for them to deliver a little notice to me by making my animals sick. It wouldn't have been the first time some creepy fuck thought he could do that and make me pay attention. "You touch those animals and it'll be the last thing you do."
"No wonder the kid likes her. She’s half a wolf already," Xavion said.
Gabe just sighed. "Miss Adelaine, I won't stop you if you want to leave. But if you do insist on going, I have to require you to take a few tablets before you go. They'll strip of your powers and leave you a mortal once again."
"Oh, so you're immortals and werewolves, now?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Semi-immortals. We can be killed, but it takes a hell of a lot to do it."
"Fine," I snapped, tired of the game. I held out a hand. "Give me the drugs and I'm getting out of here. I don't care if I have to hitchhike home."
Gabe felt around in a pocket for a moment before he produced a little green packet. He dumped the contents into my outstretched palm. Three grey pills, each with a tiny sliver moon on them. God, at least they had a theme down, right? I tossed them in my mouth and swallowed. Then I showed him both of my empty hands and motioned toward the door. "Took them. Now can I go?"
I'd no sooner said the words than the pain hit me. Falling to the floor, I doubled over and clutched my stomach. Xavion and Gabriel were there in a heartbeat, coming to my side and trying to help me back into the bed. I snarled, swatting Xavion across the chest with a handful of nails, useless and too dull to slash the man as he deserved. Instead, I tried to crawl away from them.
Neither seemed to be supportive of my goals. I was picked up in long, strong arms and carried back toward that bed. With each of Xavion's steps, bone crunched and joints popped. Everything screamed for the torture to be over, for whatever it was to take hold and leave all the rest to fall apart, landing as it had to. I thrashed against his hold, against his chest, and he simply held me.
"That shit is supposed to heal her, not hurt her," he rumbled.
There was a rattle of pills, so loud that I thought my head might explode, and Gabe cursed. "They gave me the wrong meds. I'll kill Yves."
"Yves? You trusted fuckin’ Yves?"
Gabe snorted. "What was I supposed to do? Disappoint Hudson? Yves was the only guy in town with the stuff to turn her back into a person. It's all regulated now. I can't just walk up to CVS and say hey, you have any anti-werewolf pills?"
Xavion didn't respond, but I felt the growl deep in his chest. He put
