Not The Leader Of The Pack Read Free Page A

its professional tone.
    Before Juli could put together an answer, machines broke into a cacophony of beeping. Her father’s muscles convulsed and his eyes strained open. A glance at the monitor showed his skyrocketing heart rate. “Daddy!”
    “Honey, I’m going to need you to move out of the way.” The nurse stepped purposefully toward the machines.
    Neil plucked Juli from her seat at her father’s side, sweeping her into his arms. The sight of her father’s face contorted in pain horrified Juli, but she could not take her eyes off him. Neil pushed her face against his jersey. Even with the turmoil coursing through her, his scent made her shiver. He misinterpreted the cause, stroking soothing fingers over her back that only inflamed her further. How could she be so distracted by him, even when her father lay dying?
    “I’m taking her out to the waiting room,” Neil told the nurse.
    “Good idea.”
    Juli struggled with Neil, knowing this could be her last chance to see her father alive. “Daddy!”
    He sat up, ignoring the nurse’s protests and efforts to push him down flat. Werewolf strength surely played a role, even with the suppressant, but Juli suspected the feat had more to do with the power of the man’s will. His eyes were wide, his pupils dilated. “You’re a good girl, Juli. You’ll do fine.”
    Neil grabbed her arms behind her in a lock and forced her out of the room.

Chapter Two
    Neil stayed in the background as long as he could stand it. He helped Juli calm down, then stood at her side while she filled out paperwork and made calls to local funeral homes.
    Then he scented another werewolf in the building and knew he couldn’t wait to act. They’d probably called Dr. LaMont in to write up the death certificate. The werewolf doctor would be discreet, but even he couldn’t find Juli wearing the alpha’s ring, or it would be too late to contain the situation.
    He pulled the ICU nurse aside. The woman had seemed consistently nice and concerned. “Listen,” Neil said, turning on the charm he used on pretty fans after ball games. “Juli’s obviously having a rough time. Can I take her out for a little while? I know there are a lot of things she needs to take care of, but I think she also needs a break.”
    The nurse’s face softened. “She’s a trooper.”
    “She is.”
    “Take her out. We can’t do anything until we have the death certificate, anyway.”
    Neil smiled—no need to mention that he could smell Darrow’s doctor making his way ever closer to the ICU. Returning to Juli in the dingy ICU waiting room, he brushed her arm to get her attention. He couldn’t believe how much he’d been able to do that in the last few hours, after going so long without touching her or even seeing her. The anxious yet tender expression on her face when she glanced up from her papers made him want to take her in his arms then and there and finish what she’d started all those years ago, before she’d left for college.
    Of course, after the night she’d offered him everything, she’d forgotten about him completely. Neil couldn’t afford to let that fact slip away from him. He cleared his throat.
    “Let’s go get a beer. The nurse says this stuff can wait until you get a break.”
    She lifted her head. “One of ours is coming.”
    “It’s just the doctor, Juli. He can handle things for us while we get you a little rest.”
    Her grateful smile gave him a little twinge of guilt. He told himself he wasn’t manipulating her. As a good beta, he knew how to keep things running smoothly for the pack, taking judicious action where needed. He didn’t want to see her or the pack plunged into unnecessary confusion.
    Neil led Juli out, choosing a path that avoided the other werewolf in the building. “I thought you might like to go to The Rhino,” he said, starting up his ancient truck and doing his best to smile through the ominous banging it made as it warmed up. He needed it to keep running for