River Wolf by Heather Long Page B

to keep terrorizing the nurses he could go hungry. We are more than capable of doing a feeding tube.”
    Margie’s sudden bark of laughter jolted him. He’d half-forgotten his parents were there. “Oh my, I would have paid money to see you tell Luc that.” His mother dabbed at her mouth with a napkin as though trying to smother her laughter. “How did he take it?”
    “Not well. He continued to be difficult for the rest of the day. I checked on him frequently. The other nurses were afraid of him—”
    “But you weren’t?” Brett leaned forward, food forgotten. “All his snarling and you didn’t feel even a little fear?”
    Slanting a look at him, Colby met his gaze. “Patients in pain snarl. They complain. They become aggressive and unresponsive. He was in a hospital and no one came to see him save for one friend—who I half-suspect was involved in the accident.” Exhaling a huff of breath, she glanced away. Her plate was nearly empty and surprise filtered through her passion. She’d finished her meal while caught up in her tale. “Anyway, there’s a burger place about a block and a half from the hospital, and I liked going there for lunch, so I picked him up a burger. He ate his and then most of mine, so the next day I brought him a couple, and the day after that I brought him a couple on my way in and two more before the shift was over. He likes meat and it seemed to help him feel better.”
    His wolf would have needed the meat. Eating large amounts mattered, especially while wounded. “That was very kind of you.” Kind and exceptionally smart. A hungry wolf was a dangerous wolf and she’d not only dealt with the beast, she’d kept it quiet. Who the hell are you?
    Luc said he had to keep her here, and that she wasn’t ready to know or to see—the wolf? Or had Luc found his mate? His continued fascination with the woman who might be Luc’s mate crossed a line Brett wasn’t comfortable with crossing.
    “Kindness had nothing to do with it.” The snort dragged another smile from him. “He was being an ass, the hamburgers made him feel better. Eating promoted healing, so it was win-win for everyone involved.”
    “That is why he asked you to bring him home?” Charles interrupted, and Brett scowled at his father. Rising, his dad collected the empty plates and no sooner did he move, than Colby stood as well. Standing when she did, Brett took charge of her plate as well as his.
    “He asked me to bring him because he knew I was leaving Maine. I’m moving to Florida, and this wasn’t terrifically out of the way.” The first part was truth, the second wasn’t, but Brett didn’t call her on it. He’d already gathered Luc paid her to bring him so it was worth the trip.
    They returned to the kitchen and his mother refilled her coffee cup, then Colby’s. “I’m surprised the doctors let him leave. Surprised, but pleased.”
    “Not really sure how he pulled that off,” Colby said with a shrug. “He’d already been discharged when I arrived at the hospital. I used a wheelchair to get him to the car, and one of the orderlies helped me load him.”
    No way Luc would have allowed a stranger to touch him, but Colby didn’t have the body strength to load him herself. So she had to have help. And Luc agreed because she needed the assistance. It explained the quiet fury in his wolf. In addition to pain, he’s been helpless. Protecting Colby would be instinct. Brett’s wolf stretched and raked his claws along the inside of his skin.
    They needed to keep her safe. “Thank you for what you did for him,” Brett said, ignoring the speculative look in his mother’s eyes. “We appreciate it more than you know.”
    “If you appreciate it so much, why the hell didn’t you come to see him?” The challenge slammed into the quiet balance they’d found. His cell phone chose that moment to ring.
    “Life isn’t easy, nor are answers.” Pulling the phone out, he checked the caller ID. Pierce, his Hunter.