Page 38 of Moonlighting with the Werewolf

“I came to talk to Conall, not to be interrogated. And no offense, but it’s none of your business.”

No offense. A phrase that rarely failed to negate the sting of the words, and the way Kerrigan’s hand rubbed at her chest meant she’d taken plenty of offense. Later, I’d have to explain the reason behind the contempt. If I did so now, it’d only land Kerriganandme in hot water. Nissa detested being spoken about as though she couldn’t speak for herself.

I’d know. At least she reamed me out in private when I’d made the mistake of doing it in the past, but I didn’t want a repeat performance.

At the sniveling noise Justin made, Kerrigan whirred around. The sedative she’d added to his IV had put him to sleep, but it hadn’t completely stopped the spasming or the foaming at the mouth. She used the stethoscope around her neck to listen to his heart and then eyed the bag of blood.

“That should be enough.” She dropped to her knees, a sight I’d happily indulge in if we didn’t have company. She removed the needle from my arm and placed a bandage over the spot before I could tell her not to bother. “You feel okay? Any faintness?”

Come to think of it, I was a pinch woozy. Then again, that might be on account of the angel at my feet fussing over me. I detoured my thoughts to safer territory in an effort to avoiddealing with blue balls for the next few hours. “What did you need to talk to me about, Nissa?”

Instead of answering, Nissa pointedly looked at Kerrigan. When I stood and stared right back, showing I was well aware of her presence, Nissa said, “I haven’t eaten since breakfast, and the baby’s as hungry as I am. How about we head to the kitchen so I can brief you there?”

Clever, finding a viable excuse to not talk in front of our guest. Using the baby was a nice touch, too, since I was a total sucker for my unborn nephew or niece, and she knew it.

“I have to get this transfusion going anyway,” Kerrigan said. “Too many bodies in here will only make it more difficult. There’s hardly enough room as it is.”

Both Nissa and Tyrese tracked the hand I placed on Kerrigan’s back. They might as well see that my opinion on Kerrigan was as set as theirs. And fair or not, mine overruled theirs. “I’ll try to swing by later, but the night might get away from me again.”

“It’s highly likely,” Nissa ever so helpfully added, and I sighed.

“I’ll leave Sasquatch posted at the door. If it’s an emergency and you need me, say the word and he’ll track me down.”

Kerrigan nodded, and I lowered my forehead to hers, inhaling her scent to help get me through the rest of the night. Then, since I refused to treat the incredible woman like my dirty little secret, I fused my mouth to hers to finish our cut-short kiss.

As I ran my tongue over the seam of her mouth, everything inside of me scrambled to find reasons to linger. But we’d pressed our luck enough as it was with the experimental treatment, and given the amount of silver coursing through Justin’s system, there was no guarantee he’d make it through the night.

Duty called. We’d track down our enemies eventually, and once we did, I’d ensure they rued the day they ever messed with me and my pack.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

A twitch.Bones shifting beneath the surface of Justin’s furry face. A human foot formed on the end of a lupine leg, and as the fur receded in a ghastly wave, stretching too tight over raw, pink skin, I fought a wave of nausea. I wasn’t a puker, and in my short time working on werewolves, I’d come damn close to retching twice now.

The creature on the table mutated again, until he had a human face, the body of a wolf, and one overly long male leg. Not on the leg with the human foot, either, so I didn’t feel too bad about my queasy reaction.

Cautiously, I approached the hospital table. “I’m not sure how much you’ve heard or understood the past few days, but my name is Dr. Ryan, and?—”

Justin’s woeful yelp rasped across my skin and provoked a pang of empathy. He vomited blood, along with something that looked suspiciously like a chicken skeleton, bones, beak and all.

I rushed to the window, flung it open, and inhaled a breath of fresh mountain air before sprinting back to assist however I could. The door swung open, and relief surged—Conall would be able to help.

Instead, Sasquatch charged inside. “What’s going on?”

I gestured toward Justin, as if that would help. “He’s stuck between human and wolf. His body seems to be resisting the shift, but I think the blood transfusion is working.”

“Youthink? Shouldn’t you know by now?”

I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to aim my frustrations at him. “Well, Dr. Sasquatch, who’s evidently attended medical school without telling anyone, this was our best bet, but science isn’t an exact science.” Okay, so a pinch of sarcasm had slipped out.

The giant ginger werewolf frowned. Under other circumstances, I might consider evoking that much emotion a win, but too much was going on to stop and celebrate.

“I said what I said. Experiments come along with failures and successes. I’m doing the best that I can, okay?”

His severe features softened, and he gave one sharp nod. “Okay.”

Another tremor seized control of Justin’s body. An arm exploded from his naked mole- rat-esque torso, one that appeared to be inside out.

At the sight of the gory mess of muscles and veins, Sasquatch turned ashen and swayed on his feet. He braced a hand against the wall and brought a massive hand to his mouth.

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