Jo groaned and responded, letting him know that she was listening. Her hand tightened around his, and he lifted it to his mouth and kissed it again.
“This really sucks. I am so sorry you have to go through this. The cool part is that I can take you to the mountains to run. Just you and I, alone for a few days, letting you get used to your wolf. How does that sound?” He asked.
“Perfect.” She whispered right before she screamed in pain. The change started.
Within moments, she changed into the most beautiful wolf he had ever seen. Tey stood and gasped as he looked at his mate"s wolf. She was all white. He had never seen a wolf this color. Not wanting to scare her, he pushed the nurses out of the room, asking them to send in Quin. His Alpha would have a clue as to what was going on.
Tey knelt and began petting Jo, soothing her. She was scared and agitated; he could tell the way she was pacing. Quin stepped through the door and gasped too. “What the fuck?”
“Yeah, kinda why I wanted you in here.” Tey said softly. Jo looked at the two men and whined. “It"s okay, baby. We are talking about your color. You are beautiful. I have just never seen a White Wolf before.”
Quin nodded and knelt beside his friend. Jo recognized her Alpha and rolled on her back bearing her belly to him. Laughing, Quin said, “Thank you, Jo and welcome to the Pack. Tey, let me call my father and see if he knows why she is all white.”
“Thanks, man. I will get her calmed down and changed back.” Tey said over his shoulder as Quin left the room. “Ok now, Jo, you have to change back. Like before, it is going to hurt once, but after that, you will be used to it, and it will not hurt anymore.
You need to picture yourself as a human. How you looked when you saw yourself in the mirror this morning. Come on, you can do this.” Tey encouraged her.
Jo sat back and looked at Tey. There was no freaking way this was real. The last thing she remembered was standing at the window, looking at the view, and thinking it was going to be an awesome place to work. Then she woke to feel incredible pain, and now he wanted her to go through more? Fuck that! She would stay a dog for all she cared.
That hurt.
Jo shook her head at Tey, and the man sat back on his heels and sighed. “You can"t stay like that forever. You are way too unpredictable. You would not want to hurt the Doc or Cami.”
Jo made a chuffing noise, and turned her back on him. He knew she was offended that he thought she would hurt her best friend, but she did not understand that she was unstable right now. She needed to have time and space in order to make sure that the change fully took. Some humans could not take becoming an animal and went crazy after the first week or so. Tey was not going to let that happen to his mate, but he needed her in human form to talk to, and see how she was doing.
“Please, if you change back, I will take you up to the apartment; run a nice hot bath to soothe your aches. You will heal quicker, but still feel a little sore from the gun shot. I will order us a nice dinner, and we can just relax. Cami wants to come and see you, but the Alphas will not let her if you are still a wolf.” Tey said coaxingly.
Jo turned back to him and paced restlessly in front of him like she was trying to decide.
Finally, she stopped and nodded at him. He smiled and then talked to her slowly again while she shifted. Tey tried not to laugh when his mate made it through the change back and began cussing.
“That FUCKIN SUCKED!” Jo yelled loudly enough for a nurse to run back in and see what was wrong.
Chapter 4
Jo eased her sore body into the nice hot water that Tey had drawn for her. She laughed to herself when she thought about the expression on the poor guy"s face as she had shifted back, and was crouched naked in front of him, cussing up a storm. When she stood up unembarrassed by her body at this point, he had sucked in a deep breath, grabbed a sheet, and covered her with it.
The Doc had come in and checked her wounds. She grimaced when he touched her and Tey growled. Jo thought it was cute and smiled over the older man"s shoulder. Tey stood frowning by the door, until the doctor finally said she could go back to her apartment to rest and heal. He gave her medications for pain and infection, since she had just changed and had not been through a full moon cycle, she was still susceptible to infection.
Tey made sure he listened when the doctor gave her instructions. He had a feeling she would be a hard patient. Jo nodded just wanting to get out of the room. She was tired, grumpy, and sore.
Now, she was sitting in a wonderful bubble bath. Jo sighed and looked around her.
Where had her strong man gotten the bubbles? She laughed to herself when she thought about that statement. Her man? Strong? And Bubbles? Those words together sounded very weird. Well, the last three months had been weird, why change now?
She leaned back against the tub and relaxed. Tey had folded a towel as a cushion and sighed again. She was in heaven. Jo could feel her tension leaving her body.
Tey stood in the doorway and looked at his mate. He came so close to losing her today.
“Baby? Everything okay?”
Jo moaned and lazily waved her hand at him. He laughed and assumed that meant that everything was okay. He left her to relax and went out to call his fellow Enforcers to get an update.
“Devon, what"s up?” He said as a way of a greeting.
“Un-fucking-believable. We have nothing. There is no scent; to tell us if it was a wolf, but that psycho bitch Lola said the Rogues were using humans. There were no other attacks on any of the Pack. Basically, we are screwed.” His boss growled.
“Do you think it was someone targeting Jo personally? I mean she has only been here for a few days. Who the hell would want to hurt her?” Tey said.
“She is an author, maybe a stalker.” Devon asked.
“Dude, children"s books. What, does she have a three year old with a grudge? Come on.” Tey replied.
“Fine, just keep your eyes open. Quin and Jared have ordered bullet proof glass for all the buildings. It should be installed tonight, and tomorrow so be prepared to have strangers tromping through your place. I will be sending guards to stay with them.” Devon said and Tey grunted and hung up the phone.
Who the hell would want to hurt his mate? Lola, the wolf who had tried to kill Cami was still in the basement under guard. The European Council was sending someone to come and get her, but in the meantime, the Enforcers were trying to get her to tell them everything she knew about the Rogues. So far, the stupid bitch was being coy; she would drop hints here and there, trying to get them to bite. None of the Enforcers had fallen for her tricks.
Lola had at least told them that someone she never met led the Rogues. They still had no idea why this wolf had a problem with their Alphas. It was strange. Most Rogue Packs tried to take over a territory they wanted, but if they lost, they moved on to another area until they found a place they could conquer. These Rogues had been trying to take over their territory for the last eight months. They had continuously attacked their members. The last few months it had gotten increasingly worse. They attacked a teen girl, and the Alpha"s mate. Now Jo had been shot. What was next?
Tey called Cami and gave her an update, assuring her that he would take care of her best friend. They planned for Cami and her mates to come tomorrow and visit. Tey heard Jo struggle to get out of the tub and ended the phone call.
Walking into the bathroom, he jumped to his mate"s side when she almost toppled back into the tub. “What the fuck are you doing?” He growled.
“Hey, do not cuss at me. I just wanted to get out and get dried off.” Jo growled right back.
“Until you are one hundred percent, you will follow orders.” Tey ground his teeth together and gritted out. His mate was going to give him a heart attack.
“Fine, but stop going all wolfy on me! I have taken care of myself for the last twenty years, and have not done a bad job if I do say so myself. I do not need some overgrown bully trying to boss me around every time I break a nail!” She shou
ted back.
“Break a nail? Woman, you were shot, how much more serious can it be?” Tey said reaching for the towel, she was holding up in front of her and began to dry her off.
Leaning close he allowed a moment to savor her scent as it flowed around him and began to consume his thoughts. He wanted nothing more than to throw his mate over his shoulder, run for the bedroom, and claim her. Unfortunately, with her injuries they were going to have to wait.
Jo leaned into him and laid her head on his shoulder. “I am sorry I am such a bitch. In the last forty eight hours, I have decided to move to Denver, found a ready-made husband, been shot at, and turned into a wolf. It is surprising that I am still sane, let alone upright. I think I need to sleep a few days, shit, I have the book reading tomorrow.”
“Leave it to me.” Tey said and gathered her close and bundled her gorgeous body against his. He carried her into the master bedroom, and then laid her on the custom bed he had had made for when he found his mate.
Tey pulled the thick comforter around her, and made sure she was covered before kissing the already sleeping woman on the cheek, and leaving the room. He had plans to make; there was no way his mate was going to be a sitting target tomorrow.
Chapter 5
Jo came awake slowly and groaned in protest when she felt her muscles pull. Crap, it felt like a Mack truck had hit her. What the hell? She thought, and tried to sit up.
“Slowly.” She heard a soft female voice say to her.
Jo screamed and pulled the covers around her tightly. She thought she was alone.
“Sorry.” She grumbled when she saw the look on the girls face. Jo had scared her, hell she looked like she was only in her teens.
“No, my fault, I thought you knew I was here. I am Ruby, Cami and the Alphas asked if I would sit with you until you woke up.” The girl said shyly and looked down at the floor.
Jo paused before answering because there was a thought in the back of her mind that she tried to pull to the surface. Cami told her about a young teen that had been attacked a few months ago. Jo thought the girl"s name had been something like Ruby. Looking at the small beautiful girl, Jo thought who ever hurt such a gentle creature should be shot.
“Sure. How long have I been out?” Jo asked.
“Twenty hours. Tey started to get worried, but the Doc said you needed the rest, and were not to be disturbed. He said you would wake when you were ready. I heard you turned into a wolf at the Doc's office. That is so cool. I wish I would have been there.” Ruby chattered and walked around the room opening the shades. The sun brightened up the very dark room, and Jo sighed. “Would you like me to draw you a bath? I am supposed to make sure you eat and rest until they get back.”
“Where are they?” Jo asked standing slowly and wincing when she felt the pull on her arm.
“At the reading, of course, all the children were so excited. Tey said you refused to reschedule.” Ruby said and walked into the bathroom.
“Shit.” Jo said and groaned. “I forgot. I have to get there.”
“Nope, Tey has it all taken care of. I did not want to miss it either. If we hurry, I think we can ask the guards to allow us to watch the security cameras.” Ruby said excitedly.
Jo nodded and went into the bathroom and quickly showered and washed her hair and face. Then dressed in loose fitting sweats and wandered out into the living area. Jo frowned as she looked around. She had not even had a chance to settle into the apartment before she had been shot. Looking around though, she saw a lot of her things from her apartment in Chicago. How the hell had they gotten here so quick? She smiled when she saw her collection of porcelain dolls set up in a beautiful wood case in the corner. Jo thought she was going to have to think of a way to thank her mate.
Tey had gone through a lot of trouble to make sure that she felt at home here. How amazing was he? She felt a tug at her heart and smiled. It was going to be impossible not to fall in love with the giant.
Ruby bustled around in the living area getting pillows situated for her. She told her that Grace, the self proclaimed grandmother of the Pack, was going to be in shortly to make her something to eat and generally fuss over her. Jo frowned, that was one thing she had never had much of growing up. No one cared, one way or another, what she did, or if she was taken care of. All of these people trying to help her, and take care of her, were a little disconcerting.
Jo sat on the couch and sighed when she pushed back on the fluffy pillows. They molded to her body and made a nice little cocoon. Ruby grabbed a blanket and laid it over her legs. There was a big screen TV mounted on the opposite wall.
“The other Enforcers said they were going to patch the feed from the bookstore in here so we should be able to see.” Ruby said bouncing excitedly on the smaller couch. Thank goodness, she was not sitting closer or Jo would have punched her to calm her down.
“Levi, Trent, and Dally are guarding us. The rest of the Enforcers and Alphas are at the book store. Would it be okay if I asked them to come in?” Jo looked at the younger girl blush and glance around refusing to make eye contact. It was endearing to see someone who still had his or her innocence. “Of course, Levi and I are old friends. Have them join us.”
Ruby clapped her hands and jumped up. Jo could hear the low murmur of voices coming from the entryway. A small older woman came into the room first, followed by Rudy and three very tall and filled out young men.
“Well, hello young lady, I am Grace, and you are Jo. Introductions are no longer necessary. If you didn"t look, a little like a mummy, I would hug you in welcome to the Pack, but I feel like I would break you. So, you are the one who has brought Tey to his knees. I have to tell you I thought he would be the last of the Enforcers to find his mate.
I am so happy it was someone who is strong; I can tell you will not let him walk all over you. Now, I will make you some snacks to have while we watch the show. Cami said it was going to be a doozy.” The old woman said all on one breath and Jo laughed.
“Wow, she is something.” Jo muttered as she watched the woman go into the kitchen.
“Oh yeah.” Levi said and came into the room further. “This is Dally and Trent. They will be your guards as well. We are working out the shifts, and as soon as we have a schedule, we will let you know. Tey will explain the logistics later; I just wanted to introduce all of us.”
Jo looked at the young pup and grinned. He obviously was taking this very seriously; Jo tried to hold the laugh back. The young guards looked like they had been asked to guard the President. She could not take that from them.
Ruby grabbed the remote control and turned on the TV. The men settled around and Ruby sat shyly next to Levi, looking at him, as if he hung the moon. How cute.
The TV showed Cami"s bookstore. It was packed. There were children and adults both still finding seats. Most of them were taken, and many men were standing against the wall. Jo was surprised at the turn out. She had never had a story time/book signing with so many people.
“There is Cami and the Alphas.” Ruby said pointing to the corner. Jo did laugh then, and the rest of the room did when they saw the Alphas were dressed in costumes. Cami stood grinning at her men while they frowned. Quin was dressed in a Pirates costume, while Jaden wore Soldiers uniform from the 1800"s. Cami wore a long flowing pink dress that was from the same period.
“What is your book about?” Ruby asked.
“Well, it is about a small child who makes her books come to life. Then she has to find a way to get the people back into the books before her parents get home from work.” Jo explained the book.
Jo had just finished her explanation, and Tey came onto the screen. Tey was dressed as the King from the first story that comes to life. She listened as he welcomed all of them to the story time. He explained the author had been unforeseeably detained. The Pack, of course, knew what had happened, but the humans that were there did not.
“I am pleased to say the woman who wrote this is my fiancée. I will try to do her story
justice, though I would guess if she were here, you would all love her as much as I do.
So without further ado.” Tey said and sat in the chair she had been planning on sitting in and began reading. She was supposed to read while the characters would act out their parts around the store.
“Did he just say what I think he said?” Jo whispered to Grace who had just sat down a tray of goodies, she had prepared.
“Uh, yeah. I think he told everyone in the Pack that he loved you, and you were his mate.” Grace smirked.
Jo grinned and sat back. “I think he owes me for announcing that before speaking to me.”
“Make sure you hold out for a nice bauble. He did just say you were his fiancée too.” Grace said.
“Oh yeah.” Jo said and then turned back to the screen, and accepted a plate Grace held out full of food. She felt, rather than watched, the rest of the room all get some snacks too, before settling back into their seats preparing for the story.
Jo watched as her man read the story she had written. She knew right away, there was so much more to Tey than he showed. He brought the story to life with his voice.
Reading in different voices, while his friends fought, and danced around him, Tey did an amazing job. Laughter and general happiness filled the book store, as he spun the tale around them.
Jo was surprised when she looked up and realized the end of the book was approaching.
Two hours had passed by so quickly. When Tey said “The End”, the room burst into applause. She grinned, and looked around at the people who were watching with her.
They too were applauding and laughing.
“Wow.” Ruby said and looked at Jo. “That was amazing, what a wonderful book.”
“I think maybe it was the man who read it that deserves all the credit. He certainly did a great job making the book come alive.” Jo said, letting the feeling of pride consume her, as she realized she got to spend the rest of her life with this wonderful man.