Page 45 of Fury

And what if she didn’t? What would she do instead? Something different? Or would she once again toe the line and do what the job asked her to do? She loved her job, but life had changed overnight in this case. Learning about men who could change into wolves and oh my God—had she seen a bear man? Well, there was certainly no going back from that.

If she shared this sensational and scary news with anyone at the Bureau what would happen? She almost laughed. Who the hell would even believe it?

She wouldn’t if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes. She blinked and stared across the room unseeing. The machines next to her bed still beeped loudly and all the noises outside her room seemed to roar around her at a deafening level. She needed some quiet and a darker room to think through everything that had happened. In short, she needed to go home.

“Go and get Sawyer. I need to talk to him.”

“I don’t think that is a great idea, your father—”

She lifted her head and pinned Carl with a stern stare. She was not in the mood for her father via Carl. “Just get him.”

“What about your statement? Everyone back at the office is waiting to hear what happened. Or at least your story. The Devils Point Islanders have given us their version, but we need to hear it from you. Your father has been threatening to arrest them for interfering in your investigation and for withholding information. Getting your version of the facts is paramount at this point.”

“I don’t know much about the people who kidnapped me yet. Fanatical anti-government types apparently in some sort of turf war. Now, go get Sawyer and arrange for someone to get my formal statement after. And can you ask the nurse for some headache medicine? It’s so loud in here it’s making my head pound.”

Agent Philips gave her one last strange look before he turned and left the room. Penelope closed her eyes and braced herself for what would come next. She would have to find out what Sawyer and the others had to say before she could give her statement. If their stories didn’t match up they’d have a problem. Even so, there were still going to be a lot of questions she couldn’t answer.

She smelled him before he spoke. It wasn’t hard to identify the layers that made up his unique scent. Ocean air, pine, the fresh clean scent of soap and that final and indescribably something extra that made him irresistible.

“Penelope,” he said, his voice low and thick with emotion.

She opened her eyes and met his gaze. All the turmoil and desire from the last few days rushed through her mind, flooding her with feelings she wasn’t quite sure how to cope with.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He barked a quick laugh. “Am I okay? I’m not the one lying in a hospital bed having just had surgery.”

The small smile quickly died as his brain obviously went back to the shooting and all that entailed.

“What happened to them?” She didn’t have to specify more than that. She could see on his face that he knew exactly who she referred to.

Thankfully, he didn’t hesitate. “Most of them are dead. Their bodies already disposed of. You don’t have to worry.”

Her heart sank at his words. That wasn’t exactly the news she’d been hoping for. How exactly would she explain this to the Bureau?

“And what exactly did you say in your statement, then? Did you explain that men were killed in self defense?” Although she already knew the answer would be no, she asked anyway.

“Nooo,” he said, drawing out his answer. “Only Damien and I were questioned since we showed up here with you at the hospital and the cops were called immediately. Something about gun shot wounds having to be reported.”

She nodded. “Standard operating procedure.”

He continued. “We didn’t give them much, without straying too far from the truth. Told them some illegal hunters were on the island that we’ve had trouble with lately and that you got caught in the crosshairs.”

“What about the kidnapping?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Told them we knew nothing about your disappearance and reappearance other than the scuffle with the hunters and the resulting gunshot. So they’ll be looking to you to fill in your missing time.”

Penelope sighed. “You’ve put me in a really bad position. I can’t tell the truth because one, no one would believe me and two, I’d have a problem with your people if I did.”

He reached for her hand and wrapped his fingers around hers. “Under normal circumstances our alphas might have taken drastic measures to keep you from divulging any details about us. It isn’t easy keeping our secrets. And it’s tiring. However, in this case, they owed me big time and I cashed in on that.”

A couple of new memories popped into her head at his mention of them owing him, which resulted in more questions she needed answered.

“Why did they owe you?”

He lifted his hand and gently pressed his lips to their intertwined fingers, eliciting a tingle up and down her spine. “We don’t need to get into that now. I’m more worried about how you’re feeling.”

She shifted restlessly on the bed. His proximity alone fired her blood, but him touching her sent the heat filling her off the charts. One thing hadn’t changed and that was her reaction to him. She was also beginning to wonder why she kept fighting it.

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