First Bite (The Dark Wolf Series) Read Free Page A

after all…A silver wolf of nightmarish size emerged from behind the bar, its broad back level with thebar stools. Slowly, silently, the creature turned its massive head toward her and regarded her with glowing eyes—
    Neva regained consciousness with a loud gasp. The distant clatter of trays, voices, carts intruded on her senses, and her eyes flew open, then squinted under the bright fluorescent lights.
Hospital
, said her brain, which was the first and last thought she managed before raw pain slammed into her from every quarter. The sheer surprise of it caused her to yell out. And that brought a nurse on the run.
    “Relax, honey. It’s going to be all right. You’re pretty sore right now, but we can fix that, no problem.” The woman had dyed-red hair tied back in a ponytail and a scrub top with colorful parrots and palm trees on it. A clip-on ID showed a picture of her in the same bright shirt, and Neva could just make out the name
Fern
. Her hands were deft and competent as she administered a syringe to the IV line taped to the back of Neva’s right hand. “Just breathe steady, hon. You’re going to feel a lot better in just a couple minutes.”
    “You’re not going to knock me out, are you?” Neva’s voice came out like sandpaper on stone as she discovered just how dry the human mouth could get.
    “Not at all. My goodness, you just woke up—you’ve been out for two days straight. Let me get your vitals, and I’ll get you some ice water.”
    As the nurse checked pulse, blood pressure, etc., Neva closed her eyes. The pain was sliding into the background, but horror was taking its place. Two days?
Two whole days.
The full moon was close, much too close.
    She had to get out of here—
    Omigod, I don’t even know if I can move. What if I’m paralyzed? Damn that big werewolf!
She’d managed to carry out her desperate plan—and thanks to his interference, all she’d accomplished wasto injure herself severely, maybe permanently. All she could hope for was that perhaps she wouldn’t be of any use to—
    Fern brought her a cup and held a straw to her lips. The water was cold and sweet, and Neva imagined the parched cells in her mouth and throat expanding and uttering a collective sigh of relief. “Thanks,” she said, and her voice sounded better.
    “I’ll leave it right here where you can grab it.” The nurse pushed a table close to the right side of the bed and set the cup on it. Neva lifted that hand experimentally, opening and closing her fingers. She wasn’t prone to tears, but the discovery that at least some part of her still worked was overwhelmingly wonderful.
    “I’ve got some things to do, but I’ll be back at the end of my shift. We’ll get that catheter and IV out and see about helping you to the bathroom.”
    “I can walk?”
    “Well, it’s going to be quite a challenge with a broken arm and a broken leg on the same side, but the X-rays and the CT scan say you’re okay otherwise. Crutches won’t work for you, but I’ll see if I can find a cane. We’ll try to get you mobile enough to shuffle to the bathroom when you want to.”
    The nurse smiled and left, and Neva exhaled a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. She pulled aside the blanket and did a quick survey—not hard when the silly hospital gown was so small. Her leg was in a cast from her ankle to the top of her thigh. Her arm was in an L-shaped cast. Quickly, she tried each one of her fingers and toes. Everything obeyed. The ones on the left were damned stiff and sore, but that was to be expected. All the skin she could see was garishly multicolored with the fading remains of spectacular cuts and bruises.
Two days?
There was far more than two days’ worth of healing there—more like two
weeks
—and Neva realized the creature within her was to blame.
    The creature she had to destroy before it was too late.



THREE
    As motorcycles went, the Triumph Thunderbird was one of Travis’s favorites. This particular bike