Hunting Season: Werewolf Bodyguard Romance (Guarded by the Shifter Book 1) by Kate Rudolph (new reading TXT) 📗

scent covering him. He wondered if a run would fix it, but it was risky to run in the city, not that anyone would actually believe he was a wolf if they saw him.

Could he tell Stasia about that part of himself? Would she believe him?

Seeing was believing.

But he couldn't just shift right there and show her. She was liable to kick him out of her house and her life for good. No one knew werewolves existed, at least not anyone that Owen knew who wasn't already a werewolf. And the team probably wouldn't take too kindly to him spilling the secrets four days into knowing someone.

It might have only been four days, but his heart didn't care.

And his wolf knew what she was, even if his mind was still struggling to keep up.

"They—" Stasia began to speak but his phone rang. Owen would have let it ring, but she said, "Take it. Don't let me stop you."

He read the caller ID and had to leave the room. Andre was calling, and there was no way he'd reach out if it wasn't important. "What's up?" Owen asked.

He heard heavy breathing and a muffled command to speed up, goddamnit before Andre spoke. "Vega got shot. It's—fuck! Take the back roads, it's faster." Andre cursed more before talking to Owen again. "The wound isn't closing."

Owen's own mind threw out some choice curses, and his wolf growled at the thought of his packmate in danger. He wasn't exactly close to Vega, but the man was family. "What happened? How?" One of the perks they'd discovered about their wolfishness was crazy fast healing. A knife wound that would have needed hundreds of stitches could heal in an hour. A gunshot went from fatal to barely bruised just as quickly.

"Job was ending. Gibson and I were there for wrap up. Things went bad. Cops showed up and we piled him into the car. Had to leave Gibson behind to deal with it. Willa, hurry!" It was bad if Andre was using anyone's first name, especially Willa's.

"Why's he still hurt?" Owen paced and tried to think of a way to fix it. They didn't have a doctor, though they all had some basic medic training. It hadn't seemed necessary when they thought they were basically invincible.

"I. Don't. Know." The words were practically growled. "He needs a doctor."

"You can't take him to a hospital." He hated even saying it, but their secret couldn't come out. Owen didn't know if anything wolfy would show up in blood tests, but they couldn't risk it. The military had discharged them all before the first change hit, but he feared they'd pull them all back if they got a hint of the truth.

"I know that." Andre took even breaths. "You need to bring the doc to the safe house."

"The doc?" It didn't hit at first, and when it did, Owen's wolf went wild. "What? No! She's not a part of this."

"Bryan is going to die if he doesn't see a doctor," Andre hissed, as if he didn't want Willa or Vega to hear. "We need her. There's no other choice."

There had to be. Owen wracked his brain, hoping to latch onto one. But he had a highly skilled ER doctor sitting in the next room who was his best hope at saving his friend's life.

She'd never forgive him if she found out he didn't give her a chance to try.

"Keep him alive until we get there." Owen disengaged the call and took a deep breath before marching back into Stasia's bedroom.

She must have read something on his face. "What's wrong?" She got up off the bench and came to him.

Owen couldn't be her lover now, not when time was so short. "One of my co-workers needs medical attention. We can't take him to the hospital. Do you have supplies?"

They had a pretty extensive first aid kit at the safe house, but he hoped Stasia had more.

"What kind of attention? If it's bad enough to need a hospital, that's where he should be." Her forehead creased in worry even as she moved to her dresser and started pulling out clothes.

"I know it doesn't make sense, but he can't go to the hospital. It's not safe." What was he supposed to say? Sorry, babe, your bodyguard is a werewolf and so are all of his friends?

Her head snapped up. "You're not… this isn't something illegal, is it?"

"No. I promise." He didn't know about any laws against werewolves.

She gave him a hard look for several seconds. Owen felt every one of them tick by, knowing that was another drop of blood spilling out of Bryan Vega. But whatever she saw did the trick. She gave him a nod.

"There's a kit in the library. Grab it. Tell Em we're going. We'll take your car."

"I'll call the surveillance team." He didn't know what to tell them, and he certainly didn't want them following to the farm, but he'd figure something out.

Strangely, Stasia winced. "I was going to tell you. AR called them off. Apparently the threat's been handled."

Owen was missing something there. Something important. But his thoughts were in a whirl, too focused on Vega's predicament to get a handle on it. For the moment he was just thankful for the good fortune. "I'll get your bag."

They had to hurry. Vega didn't have much time.

Chapter Seventeen

This was wrong in about a thousand ways and Stasia could lose her medical license. But given the way that Owen was swerving through the streets and cutting through New York traffic like they were in a live action video game, it had to be serious. A man's life was in danger. She was the only one that could help.

In the back seat, Em cursed. She'd piled in the car right behind them, and though Owen had glared, he hadn't wasted time arguing with her about coming. It was that serious.

But why couldn't his co-worker go to the hospital? Was there a citizenship issue? An arrest warrant? Something else? Owen