Winter's Dawn (40 page)

As if she believed his words, Susie fell limp, the tension of pain leaving her fevered body. Max lowered the temperature in the room to one they were both more comfortable in as he lay there in silence, trying to block the images of the attack in the movie theater.

Max growled when the door to their rooms opened. He tightened his arms around Susie and lifted his head to glare at the intruders.

“You probably weren’t the best wolf to participate in that camping experiment, Maxwell.” His father walked in with a tray of food and a timid looking doctor behind him. “Adam’s been aggressive too—
very
aggressive. It’s made his already glaring personality more tiring to deal with.”

Max grunted, knowing his father was probably right. However he felt unconcerned with the repercussions as he buried his face back in the curve of Susie’s neck, licking it possessively.

“They have a shot to help her with the nausea,” his father went on. “It’ll make her sleepy.”

Max didn’t love the idea of them giving Susie a shot. He tried to remind himself it was going to help her as the doctor came around and kneeled at the edge of the bed.

“May I touch her, Your Majesty?”

He stared at the doctor, whose head was bowed submissively. Max grabbed Susie’s arm and stretched it out to him, all the while watching the nervous doctor with narrowed eyes.

“What’re you doing?” Susie mumbled, making it obvious she was still half asleep.

“We’re making it better,” he breathed into her ear.

“Okay.”

Susie’s body fell limp without pulling her arm back as she drifted off to sleep again. Her total trust in him was humbling and made him swell with male pride.

The doctor stared at Susie’s arm, his dark eyes wide and fearful. “This isn’t usually where we give the shot.”

Max growled and turned to look at his father because he didn’t trust himself to deal with the doctor directly.

His father rolled his eyes in response. “Give her the shot in her arm. Getting to her arse is a serious risk to your health.”

Max tightened his arm around Susie as the doctor gave her the shot, but it was more for his comfort than hers. She had obviously placed her health fully in Max’s care and was sleeping as a defense mechanism. That was actually a really handy trick, one Max would have enjoyed knowing how to do when he was suffering from silver poisoning.

The doctor didn’t need to be told to leave. He tripped in his haste to get to the door once the shot was given. Max lay there listening to Susie’s heartbeat and feeling her body heat that was still too high for comfort. His entire being was centered on her. It was the only instinct he currently recognized, the need to care for his mate.

“The human is an issue,” his father whispered once the doctor left, obviously realizing Susie was sleeping deeply. “We’ve had to keep him here against his will.”

Max turned his head to look at his father once more, wondering if his second in command, his own flesh and blood had taken complete leave of his senses. “Hypnotize him.” Max raised his eyebrows pointedly. “And then get him out of my territory.”

“We’ve tried.” His father rubbed a hand against his forehead, looking exasperated. “It doesn’t work.”

“Susie hypnotizes him all the time.” Max’s voice was low with annoyance over having to deal with something so mundane. “Try again.”

“You do know humans can become immune to hypnotism, don’t you? Susan’s more powerful than the rest of us. It’s likely a lesser werewolf’s mind control techniques no longer work on him.”

“Gods.” Max let his head fall against Susie’s. He breathed in her scent, looking for patience. “He’s been trapped here for three days?”

“Adam and Katrina are taking turns guarding him.”

“Adam and Katrina? Could you have found two less appropriate guards? Where’d you come up with that plan?”

His father shrugged. “They volunteered. Adam took a leave of absence from work until after the running to deal with aggression and Katrina doesn’t do much anyhow. It’s kept her busy.”

“Great.” Max couldn’t decide who was the worse guard, Adam with his hostility towards John, or Katrina with her fondness for males with deep pockets. “Just—” He dropped his head back to the curve of Susie’s neck once more. “Keep him alive until the queen is feeling better. I’m not leaving her now.”

“Very well.”

“Father,” Max called out and waited until his father’s footfalls stopped before he went on, “Adam doesn’t like the human all that much.”

“Yes, we gathered that. Adam’s not really one to keep his opinions to himself, is he?”

“No,” Max snorted, unable to help smiling. “He certainly isn’t. Better to find another wolf to guard the human until my queen is well and I can deal with the situation.”

“I’ll just leave him to Katrina full time,” his father said dismissively. “They don’t seem to mind each other’s company.”

****

Most of Susie’s recovery time was spent sleeping curled into Max. Even after she stopped needing medicine to help with the nausea and fever she slept most of the time on her own accord to recover from the poisoning.

The safety of his mate trumped all of Max’s other responsibilities. His hormones fell completely dormant as the wolf in him focused solely on ensuring Susie was well cared for while she recovered. With nothing else to do besides protect Susie and keep her company while she healed, Max slept as well, but for the first time sleeping wasn’t as bad as it should have been. His dreams were peaceful, all thoughts of darkness and death a distant memory as if he had never had nightmares to begin with.

A strange sort of tranquility fell over him. Despite the running, which was only a day away, he hadn’t needed any pills or drunk a drop of whiskey. Susie’s scent was soothing. Her body constantly curled against his made him feel powerful and male and the wolf in him was extremely happy. Being fed, feeling Susie breathe, a life that used to seem complicated suddenly became extremely simplistic. Max wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

“She’s not eating.”

Max groaned and buried his face in Susie’s hair at the sound of Aunt Emma’s voice. “She ate.”

“Her dinner is untouched.”

“She ate some of my food,” Max snapped, feeling irked Emma was insinuating he had somehow neglected to make sure his mate was fed. “She’s eating fine.”

“Your food?” Emma asked, her voice stunned.

“Yes.” He reached over to the nightstand, pushing at the tray with steak and potatoes they had brought for Susie earlier. “Get it away, neither of us like it.”

Emma was quiet and Max finally lifted his head to see her staring at the tray of untouched food with wide eyes. “What?”

She picked up the tray, giving him strange look. “Nothing,”

Max grunted, not interested in his aunt’s strange moods as he curled back into Susie. “Bring more food, edible this time.”

“What would you like?”

“Venison is fine.”

“And for Susan?”

“Same.” Max stroked his hand up Susie’s arm. When she stirred he nudged her chin with his nose and whispered into the curve of her neck, “You want something else?”

“Than what?” Susie asked, her voice heavy with sleep.

“Venison.”

“Mmm, no,” she hummed. “Venison will be lovely. Did you tell them to take away that steak? The burn of it stinks.”

“Aunt Emma’s taking it.”

“Yes, good.” Susie’s fingers intertwined tightly with Max’s as she snuggled closer in a way that made him feel all was right with the world. “Thank you, Aunt Emma.”

“Susan?”

Susie let out a contented growl and then hummed. “Hmm?”

“Happy birthday,” Aunt Emma whispered, her voice oddly sad. “May the Gods bless you.”

“Thank you,” Susie said, obviously not overly concerned with something as meaningless as another birthday. They had canceled the Winter Solstice party and they were both exceedingly grateful for the reprieve. “Food.”

“Of course,” Emma said over the click of the door opening. “I’ll have it sent up straight away.”

Max and Susie both went back to sleep and only stirred at the smell of fresh food. The scent of venison forced Max to roll over and look towards the door.

He frowned at his father when he walked in carrying a tray of food. “Don’t you have other more pressing issues?”

“It’s late Maxwell. Everyone’s off to bed. I’m just checking to see if you’re feeling okay.” His father’s voice was falsely casual as he set the tray on the table. “Are you?”

“Sure.” Max sat up and rubbed a hand over his face as he pulled the tray to him. He popped a piece of raw venison into his mouth before he turned around, sharing a second piece with Susie, who leaned forward and took the piece between Max’s fingers with her teeth. “What’s going on with John?”

“John?”

“My boyfriend, Uncle Doug.” Susie rolled over, wrapping one arm around Max’s waist and buried her face in the small of his back. She blindly reached for the plate, helping herself to another piece. “The human.”

“Oh, right.” His father’s gaze darted to Susie’s hand resting against Max’s bare stomach. “Um, he’s still here—How are you feeling, Susan?”

“Mmm, much better.” A slim hand grabbed another piece of meat and then disappeared behind Max’s back. “You really must deal with poor John, Maxwell. Keeping him here another night is terrible.”

“Yeah?” Max craned his neck to frown down at her. “You’ll be okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him, giving him an impish smile that went straight to his heart.

“Okay.” Max popped one bite in his mouth before he stood and set the plate on the bed next to Susie. “I’ll be right back.”

“This is me.” Susie reached for a fresh piece of meat and then gestured to herself with it in her hand. “Waiting with bated breath.”

Max snorted. “I love you.”

“Feeling’s mutual,” Susie mumbled with her mouth full. “Make quick work.”

Max hastily pulled on a pair of jeans. He needed to leave the room before he changed his mind and crawled back in bed with Susie, damning John to a fate of prisoner for the unforeseeable future. With the running tomorrow, they would have to lock him into one of the cells in the basement to prevent him from endangering their people.

Max padded barefoot and bare-chested out of his room, his father at his heels as he closed the door with a soft click. He allowed his nose to lead the way rather than ask where John was in the palace.

“Maxwell.”

Max turned on his heel to lift his eyebrows. “Hmm?”

His father rubbed a hand over his forehead, studying Max in a way that made it obvious there was something weighing on his mind. Well fed, a full week of sleep, and Susie feeling better had Max waiting patiently despite the running being less than two days away.

His father turned back, looking to Max’s bedroom door before his shoulders slumped and he whispered under his breath, “I guess nature’s protecting itself.”

Max frowned. “Are you talking about the silver poisoning?”

“That too.” His voice was still distant as he gave Max a strained smile. “I’m glad Susan’s feel better.”

“Me too.” Max heaved a sigh of relief, knowing she was on her way to being healthy and strong once more. “Very glad. My heart is light this evening.”

“You deserve that.” His father walked up to him, putting an affectionate hand on Max’s shoulder. “Youth is precious and only comes once. You should enjoy this next phase of your life, Maxwell. Nature can be full of joy. I want that for you. Apparently the Gods do too.”

“Okay,” Max said slowly, realizing his father was feeling religious this evening. “You’re in a weird mood.”

“Perhaps it means the winds of change are upon us.”

“Perhaps,” Max agreed, not wholly certain he liked the sound of that, but feeling a bit too relieved to think on it too much.

It turned out John wasn’t far. He was staying in one of the other suites on the second floor where Max and Susie’s rooms were. Max paused at the door, sniffing the air, smelling something strange. It made him realize exactly what rooms they were standing in front of.

“You put him in Serena and Katrina’s suite?” he asked in amazement.

His father shrugged. “Katrina was watching him.”

Max gave his father a look. Putting Susie’s boyfriend in a room Max used for recreation of a very carnal nature was wrong on so many levels. He just shook his head rather than get into a conversation that would be uncomfortable for both of them.

“Serena has to love you for this.” Max gave his father a look as he reached for the doorknob. “She hates humans.”

“She’s not here.”

“Really? The running’s tomorrow. When was she planning on showing up? What if I needed her?”

“I try not to concern myself with your running activities.” His father wrinkled his nose with distaste.

“Fair enough.”

Max walked into the room and his mind blanked when he looked at the bed. His jaw fell open as he stared at the two naked bodies tangled together in sated sleep. He blinked when he realized what he was seeing and turned around so abruptly he smacked into his father. Still stunned, Max shook his head in a wolf-like manner, trying in vain clear the image from his brain.