Doctor Wolf’s Human Nurse (Fated To The Wolf #9)

24. Sawyer

24

Sawyer

S awyer was very worried about Abby. He wondered why he hadn’t heard from her all day, but figured that she just got busy.

I’ll never be one of those boyfriends, or even mates, who has to know where his woman is every second.

However, when Beth called to tell him Abby was too sick to come to work, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He knew that Beth wouldn’t lie to him, but he was certain that there was more to the story than the witch was letting on. Sawyer couldn’t explain why. It was something in his gut that screamed out to him.

Maybe it’s because we’re connected. However, I need to respect boundaries. If Abby wants me to come visit her, she will let me know.

The fact that she was too sick to call him herself bugged him. Something’s not right kept repeating over and over in his mind.

He called Sean after the clinic hours were over. “Has Xyla heard from Abby?”

“No. She tried calling Abby, but Beth had her phone. Beth said that Abby was sick and they were helping her and it was best that Xyla didn’t come by since she was pregnant.”

“Damn. I’m worried.”

“I’m sure you are. But I’ve known Beth for a very long time and I promise that Beth will let you know if there’s something seriously wrong.”

“I guess.”

“Zac called me a few minutes ago. He, Josiah, Matthias, and a few others are going on the mountain hunting for Jerome and the other rogue shifters. If you want to come with us, you’d be welcome and it could help get your mind off of Abby.”

“I suppose. Are we meeting up at your place?

“Yep. Can you be here in twenty?”

“Give me thirty. I want to get out of these clothes first.”

Zac had a map of the mountain laid out on one of the tables. He had divided the likely areas that the shifters might be hiding in and assigned two shifters to each zone. “The dragons will fly over to see if they can spot anything from the air. Since a lot of the trees have lost their leaves, it will be easier now than in the summer. Let everyone know if you spot anything.”

Sean and Sawyer were partners. Sean drove.

“I told Abby that I loved her the other night. She said it first. I didn’t intend to say it, but the words just slipped out.”

“That’s because they came from the heart.”

Sawyer sighed. “I’ve always heard that a person should never tell another they love them right after sex because it’s just the hormones talking.”

“You’ve had a lot of female friends who treat you like a brother, haven’t you? That’s advice a woman would give,” Sean teased. “But, even if it’s true, do you still mean it? Do you love her?”

“Yes.”

“Then hormones or not, you have nothing to worry about.”

They got to the mountain and everyone walked up the trail to the shifting tree. Luckily, the knot hole was big enough for almost everyone’s clothes. Everyone else hid theirs in the crooks of the branches.

Sawyer patted the tree like it was an old friend. “If this tree could talk, think about the stories it would tell.”

“All the naked bodies, for one. The secrets people told each other here.”

“Not to mention the fights. A couple of times hunters waylaid shifters here,” Zac said. “Maybe in my next life, I’ll be a tree. I’ll amuse myself with the birds, squirrels, and other forest animals, as well as human drama. When there’s no one else around, I’ll simply enjoy the peace and quiet, breathing in carbon dioxide and exhaling oxygen.”

Josiah laughed. “Until some lumberjack came along and cut you down so you can be turned into toilet paper.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Zac pretended to growl at him. “Leave it to you to ruin a good dream.”

Then everyone got serious and shifted, and headed up the mountain to scout their assigned zones.

An hour later, Sean nudged him. A half-eaten deer had been dragged under a tree. The snow would keep the meat from spoiling. They scouted around and several feet away, they saw bear tracks.

Sawyer said telepathically, Bears are hibernating this time of year. It seems we have ourselves a shifter.

He broadcasted the message so that all the shifters could hear. That was the great thing about telepathy. It was like having a radio. A shifter could tune into one frequency and talk to their friends or tune into a different frequency and broadcast a message.

We’re on our way, Zac replied. Where are you?

Sawyer told them. He and Sean cautiously followed the tracks, listening for any unnatural sounds and sniffing the air.

Sean’s shaggy head turned toward Sawyer. They must be using that scent-masking chemical again. I can’t smell anything that shouldn’t be here.

Me either.

They walked about a hundred yards and spotted a small cave. It was obvious that someone had tried to cover it up by pulling branches across the front of it. However, the shifter forgot two things. First, they didn’t cover their tracks. Second, they had lit a fire and smoke had escaped.

Sean let everyone know about the cave and then the two wolves slunk back into the trees, waiting for the others to arrive. They didn’t know how many shifters there were in the cave and didn’t want to engage them in a fight if they didn’t have to.

Sawyer watched the front of the cave intently, looking for any sign of movement. I can hear someone talking inside the cave.

Sean nodded. Unless Jerome is talking to himself, there are at least two people inside.

Two dragons flew overhead, circled back, and then dropped to the ground behind them. Julian and Marvin, Jade’s mate, had arrived. Five wolves and four bears showed up a few minutes later.

As a group, they approached the cave.

Zac shifted to human form and yelled, “We know you’re in there. There’s more of us than there are of you. I strongly suggest you come out.”

He quickly shifted back so he wouldn’t freeze.

The branches were slowly pushed aside and a large grizzly bear stuck its head out. Its eyes opened wide when it saw the group standing in a half circle in front of him.

Zac addressed him telepathically. Rick and Dahlia told us everything. Blake has already been transported to Charred Cove Island. We suggest you come with us .

The bear shifted. “Let me get dressed.”

You have two minutes, Josiah told him telepathically.

He nodded and ducked back into the cave. Three minutes later he emerged with two female shifters.

Is this all of you? Josiah asked.

“Yes. Rick and Dahlia hired the four of us,” one of the women said. “They told me they would hurt my family if I didn’t help them. You have to believe me.”

We’ll sort it out later. Right now, let’s get off this mountain. You guys will walk in front, Zac said.

It was a lot slower going down the mountain because of the humans. Sawyer was tired when they reached the shifting tree.

Everyone quickly metamorphosed into humans and dressed.

Zac, Josiah, Rory, Sebastian, and the dragons would make sure the rogue shifters were taken back to the wolf shifter pack’s ceremonial hall and locked up until their hearing the next day.

“I’ll buy you dinner,” Sean said.

“I’ll take a rain check. I think a shower, frozen dinner, and bed is it for the night. It’ll be past my bedtime by the time I crawl between the sheets.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Sean said. “Jade’s working tonight, so I think I’ll head home, too.”

They passed Abby’s house on the way. The only lights on were the security lights. Sawyer knew that she was with Beth, but that didn’t stop his heart from lurching with worry.

Beth texted him first thing the next morning and told him that Abby was still sick, but was getting better.

Can I see her later?

The reply was quick. She’s not ready for visitors. Soon, though.

He was already in a foul mood when he got to the clinic. It didn’t improve when Jason called him.

“We’ve been monitoring Brent’s cell phone communications, which allows us to listen in on his phone calls and read his messages – sent and received. Cregar and Johnson have already been arrested and are rolling on all the dealers, as well as their bosses. We’ve tracked Brent’s customers and they’re going to testify, too, in exchange for being sentenced to rehab instead of prison.”

Sawyer sighed, frustrated and irritated. “How much longer?”

“We’re in the process of getting the warrant. One day – two tops.”

Sawyer growled and ended the call.

He went through the day on automatic. His mind was constantly on Abby when he wasn’t specifically focused on one of the patients.

Was she affected by the virus since she is human and was around it so much? Did it have some kind of adverse effect on her?

He was worried and fear clutched his heart, so he decided he needed to see Abby and drove to Conner’s and Beth’s ranch.

Beth stepped out on the porch when he knocked.

“Please let me see Abby. I’m so worried.”

“She’s not up to seeing anyone right now. She loves you, I know, but she is very sick.”

“What happened? Was she affected by the virus?”

Beth moved her head from side to side. “In a round-about way. I promise that we’re taking good care of her and she’ll be better than new soon. Right now, she needs to rest, and you have to let us do our work.”

“I’m a doctor.”

“And we’re healer witches. We can do what regular medicine can’t.” Beth reached out and squeezed his arm. “I swear to you that she’s going to be okay. I’m just asking you to give us another day or two to help her heal.”

Sawyer looked at her and then nodded. He felt as though he had been kicked in the stomach as he walked back to his truck.

He called Sean on the way home using his blue tooth. “I tried to see her, but Beth wouldn’t let me in. She says that Abby is okay.”

“Xyla has been told the same thing,” Sean replied. “You know what we know. As soon as I hear anything else, I promise to let you know.”

“Thank you.” The anguish was evident in Sawyer’s voice.

“Bro, are you okay?”

“No. I realized over the last couple of days that you were right, and the little voice in the back of my brain was right. Abby’s my fated mate. It would destroy me if anything happened to her.”

“Trust me, I completely understand. You know I do. Have faith, though. Beth wouldn’t lie to you or Xyla. If there was something seriously wrong with Abby, she would tell us.”

“I just don’t understand the secrecy. Did the virus cause her to grow horns, cloven hooves, and a tail?”

Sean choked on a laugh. “Would you love her if she did?”

“Yeah. I would just close my eyes during sex, though. It would be hard to make love to a mountain goat.”

“I could see that. I’m sure that it’s nothing so drastic.”

Sawyer got home, took a shower, and ordered some pizza. He turned on the television, but his mind wasn’t really on the show.

“I resigned from Doctors Without Borders and turned down jobs at major hospitals so I could settle down and have a nice, relaxing life as a small-town doctor. I come back to Angel’s Creek and all hell breaks loose. Then, I have to fall in love with Abby, who is now suffering from some illness.”

He growled in the back of his throat as he vented to the air.

About an hour later, he got a group text from Zac. The other shifters had been found guilty by the tribunal and were sentenced to life on Charred Cove Island.

His last thought as he went to sleep that night was that he missed Abby and couldn’t wait to hold her again – even if she did look like a goat.