Laddin couldn’t disagree. No one chose to become a werewolf without having ulterior motives, and in Bruce’s case, there was a fairy involved. That always made things dicey. But there hadn’t been time to ferret out any of that information. Still, Bruce was a paramedic and a firefighter. That had to count for something.
Bruce was working on the greatest werewolf of all time, asking him questions like, Where does it hurt? and Can you follow my finger? As Laddin came closer, he had to admit that Bruce looked more than competent. He worked on Wulfric with a businesslike efficiency, not seeming to be distracted by his patient’s fame as he opened up kits, put in an IV, and gently probed for deeper wounds.
“I can clean out these cuts,” he said to Wulfric, “and put on bandages. But you’ll need a plastic surgeon or it’ll scar—”
“No, he won’t,” Nero said from Bruce’s opposite shoulder. “Wounds only make him more beautiful.”
Wulfric’s swollen lips curved. “True.”
Bruce grunted. “If so, then you’re going to be gorgeous.”
“Gorgeous is a step down for him,” Nero said. His tone was light, but his expression was worried. “What about internal injuries? Brain bleeds? Arrhythmias or spinal stuff?”
“You get those terms off Grey’s Anatomy?” Bruce asked. “You’d have to be at a hospital to find out. And then you’d have to ask the doctors.”
Wulfric shook his head. “My mother can—”
“She can’t,” Nero interrupted. “She wandered off. That’s why we came looking for you.”
Wulfric sighed and closed his unswollen eye. “She’s looking for the demon.”
That was obvious. Everybody in the paranormal world was looking for the damned demon poisoning Wisconsin. And the vanilla humans were looking for everything else, from a microscopic black hole to radioactive algae.
“All right,” Bruce said as he stepped back from the car. “I’d prefer to put you on a backboard and carry you to a hospital, but failing that—”
“I’ve got the backboard here,” Laddin said.
Nero frowned. “The van had a backboard?”
Laddin didn’t bother answering. He already knew that the field wolves never read their emails or paid any attention to the recommended organization of the van.
Bruce was all business as he grabbed a blanket to set underneath Wulfric. Laddin could see the plan without asking. He was going to help Wulfric roll onto the fabric and then they could ease him out of the car. “Great. So where do we carry him?”
“He’s got a room here,” Nero said. “We just need to get him there.”
“I can walk,” Wulfric said.
“Maybe you can,” Bruce said, “but no one looks macho passing out. And I don’t think your face could take another hit.”
“My face has seen a lot worse,” Wulfric answered, but he gestured his acquiescence. “I am at your mercy.”
It took time and coordination to move Wulfric out of the car and onto the backboard, then carry him inside to the guest area of the main house. The pizza farm was also a quaint B&B that had been completely rented out by Wulf, Inc. Wulfric’s room was the first on the right, and they gently set him down on the bed.
“Thank you,” Wulfric said, his voice melodic. Lying there on the bed in his bloody clothes, he looked small and vulnerable. Then he looked at Josh, Laddin, and Bruce in turn. “Welcome to Wulf, Inc. Mother and I are grateful for your work.”
He spoke with old-world charm that should have seemed strange, but it still managed to touch Laddin’s heart. He didn’t mention that none of them had fully signed on yet, especially Bruce. Or that Laddin intended to leave after the next moon.
Exhaustion seemed to kick in, and Wulfric’s eyes drifted shut. Bruce set down the heavy field medical kit and looked to Nero. “I’ll stay here until the… whomever arrives. He shouldn’t be left alone.”
Nero dropped his hands on his hips and looked Bruce over from head to toe. “Josh, stay with Wulfric for now. Your brother and I are going to have a little chat.”
Bruce rocked back on his heels, set his jaw, then turned to Josh. “Never thought I’d see the day you blindly took orders from anyone.”
Oh shit. There was that grumpy guy taunt. Obviously Bruce didn’t like anyone ordering his brother around. But instead of facing off with Nero, he had to poke Josh—probably to get Josh to fight for himself. But whether Bruce realized it or not, Nero was in charge. So as Josh’s face grew ruddy and his jaw jutted forward, Laddin quickly stepped in to interrupt the fight before it started.
“Yes, Josh will obey,” he said. “Because Nero’s his trainer and the alpha. That means Josh has to take orders until Wulf, Inc. decides he’s safe to go free.”
Bruce’s jaw tightened and a muscle over his eye twitched in anger. Well, he’d better buckle up, because it was about to get worse.
“And furthermore,” Laddin said as he rounded on Nero, “Mr. Paramedic is my problem, so if there’s anything to get straight, I’ll be the one to do it.” That was a dicey position to take because technically Nero was the highest-ranking person in the room except for the unconscious Wulfric. But new recruits were always touchy. That was why they had one person in charge of each new puppy. And though Laddin had zero experience training a newbie, he was still the only one who should be disciplining Bruce. Those were the rules, after all. But would Nero abide by them?
He and Nero engaged in a heavy stare down, but eventually Nero dipped his chin. Thank God, because Laddin had been sweating.
“Fine,” Nero growled. “You get him under control. And then get him back to base. He’s a liability here.”
“Yeah, because you’re overrun with medical knowledge,” Bruce taunted. “What are you going to do if he goes into arrhythmia, has a brain bleed, or spinal stuff happens?”
Nero flushed as his own words were flung back at him, and Josh came around the far edge of the bed to face off with his brother.
“You don’t know jack shit
