EP9

"Does he have a wound, Doctor?" Thompson finally asked.

"Just hypothermia. No matter how low his fever was, it's good that your staff found him when they found him. If he dropped a few degrees, he wouldn't have survived. He hasn't recovered yet, and it may take some time for him to recover, but you can talk to him as soon as he wakes up. But it's not too long. He needs rest. However, it will likely be inconsistent at first—the effects of prolonged hypothermia."

"Thanks, Doctor. I'm just going to talk to him for a moment."

She didn't believe him for a second. The way Thompson hunted him in the woods was like a bull dog, determined, unfailingly reliable, unstoppable.

Footsteps made their way through the room and out the door. Doctor?

With his sharp cologne in front of him, Thompson approached the bed. Why would human men wear such gaudy scented perfumes? His own musk scents smelled much more appealing.

He took a deep breath, rejoicing that the unique DNA structure of his species had changed with the change – completely normal wolf DNA when they put on the wolf mantle, and human DNA when they reverted to their homo sapiens form. Thompson touched her hair, sending a wave of heat through her. Toasted, thin blankets helped, but his touch caused a different kind of warmth, the kind that evoked the longing to mate.

"I miss." Thompson's voice was deep, harsh, and worried. It reminded him of a mountain man he had once met, who cared about the habitat of nature in the same way, the same air of brutality that surrounded him, except that the mountain man wanted to be left alone with no human contact. Thompson was different.

"Miss," he said again.

He didn't answer. This was not the place or time to seduce him. She would then work her charm on him. He cared about Rosa. Didn't he care about his human side as well?

His fingers touched her cheek and she longed to open her eyes to see the expression in his eyes. Was it longing? Is she sensual? Did it make him a little curious?

"Can you tell me what happened?"

The sound of boots running towards the room caught his attention. Two men entered. He concentrated on their scent, different colognes, just as heavy, just as nauseating.

"Officers," Thompson said.

Heart rate shifted into higher gear.

"Mr. Thompson," said one of the cops. "Did he come?"

"Not yet. The doctor said it might take some time." A chair slid beside the bed.

Fantastic. There were a lot of observers like in the zoo.

"What do you think it is?" ' one of the cops asked.

"I won't tell you, but I won't go until I find out. By the way, thanks for keeping the media out of this for now," said Thompson.

"You're welcome. We may have an attempted rape or even attempted murder case here. The media does not need to be involved yet. On the other hand, it may be a mental illness."

He fought to pout them.

"I thought of that." Thompson grabbed her wrist, the power of his touch swirling through her like a huge, heated wave. "The pulse... is a little fast, but it's definitely better than almost nothing. For a while, I thought it was getting too far."

A cell phone jingled very close to Thompson. He held his breath, afraid that his wand would let him know that someone had stolen Rosa from the wolves' pen.

"Thompson is here," he said.

Much silence followed. The seconds lingered like minutes, but Thompson didn't say a word. The tension was killing him. When no one spoke more, he opened his eyes. Thompson looked at him with pure disbelief.

He swallowed hard, the moisture in his throat almost gone.

"Yes," he said into the phone. "The little lady has arrived. I'll ask her where Rosa is."

The hardness on her face and the stern stance of her mouth and chin showed that losing Rosa had angered her. Good. Then if he wants her back, he can promise her undying love and -

"I'll call you right away when I get some answers." She frowned after she hung up the phone. "What were you doing in the wolves' pen?"

The children's gloves were gone.

What was he supposed to say? His mind was still a little confused, and he couldn't immediately think of any inventions he might have made.

He looked at the police officers, wondering what they thought of the situation and to avoid Thompson's stern gaze. Both are in their mid-thirties, one taller than the other, questioning green eyes, and both dark brown hair.

The green-eyed policeman's phone rang and he brought it to his ear. "Sergeant. Stevenson. What? Arrest him. I'll be right down there." He put the phone in the pouch attached to his belt. "The man at the reception asks about a woman who was brought in half-frozen from hypothermia."

"Media?" ' Thompson asked, straightening his back in his worried voice.

"Yes, I suspect. We don't need a media circus here. I'll drive it away." He turned to his partner. "You stay here. Call you in a minute."

The other man nodded and in five quick steps, Sergeant. Stevenson disappeared from the room.

Thompson turned his attention back to Bella. More inquiries. Didn't the doctor tell the man at the zoo to take it lightly? At least he thought he said it.

He closed his eyes. Now selfHow would he save her from the mess?

Thompson cleared his throat. "Now listen lady, if you are some kind of animal rights activist and you want to free the wolf…" He paused and then continued. "Okay, let me tell you a little story. We had a similar scenario last year. The red wolf was someone's pet, but the owner decided that when his wife had a new baby, she couldn't manage the animal. What did she do? Fearing that the wolf would attack her child, she released the wolf into the wild. Of course. wolves are wild, but this one was tamed. She returned to her Portland neighborhoods and continued to search for the home life she was accustomed to, and eventually killed someone's toy poodle - she was dying of starvation, not infertility. Thus the owner shot her to death. If she had been brought to the zoo, she was safe, protected, well-fed, and contented would have."

And he mated with Big Red.

Saddened by the dog owner's destruction of the red wolf and the death of her beloved pet, Bella hid her feelings and still didn't say anything.

"A few people wanted to transfer Rosa to other zoos. It wouldn't be you and some of your friends, would it?" Thompson added it.

"If you suspect him of wrongdoing, his rights need to be read and -" said the police.

Thompson interrupted her and directed her comments to Bella. "Listen, we just want to protect Rosa. I know that you and your friends do too. If you hand her over to us, we will drop the charges."

Was she bluffing to tell him the truth? No, he believed he would keep his word.

"Okay, let's start all over again. My name is Henry Thompson, one of the zoo's top contributors. I oversee some of the endangered species, including red wolves. I've worked with other zoos for years, trying to get a certain number back into the wild, but Rosa We cannot release here. There are no red wolves to mate with in the Cascades. It would eventually mate with coyotes, and the result would not be the pure red wolves that happened in Texas and, until more recently, nearly wiped out the original red wolves.

When she didn't answer, the policeman said, "We have to know what you're doing in the wolves' pen, ma'am."

He looked at the blankets covering his back, thought of the IV attached to his arm, and wondered which floor of the hospital his room was on.

Thompson sat down in the chair next to him. "I'm not leaving until I get some answers."

Maybe not, but maybe he gets sleepy or takes a bathroom break or...

The police phone rang. "Yes? I'll be right downstairs." He hung up and then said, "The media man has disappeared. I'll help my partner look for the news truck. The lady at the reception gave the wrong room number for the wolf lady."

He couldn't help but send a mocking smile at the name he had told her.

"You won't be smiling when we put you in jail for this little trick you just did," Thompson said sternly.

Wouldn't that be ironic? If he stayed in prison long enough, he could turn into a wolf again. Then the charges against Bella would be dropped and she would return to the wolf pen as Rosa.

"If someone finds him, you might want to stay with him," the police said. "You'll be back soon."

"I will be here."

The police quickly left the room and closed the door behind him with a click.

With Thompson alone in the room with him, it seemed far more reasonable to run away. He moved closer to the bed and tapped his fingers on the mattress, his eyes fixed on her with authority. "We may not be able to bring the wolf snoozing charges against you, but we can arrest you for trespassing."

She closed her eyes.

He grumbled. "You are as stubborn as my ex-wife. When she decided not to say anything, there was nothing I could do to persuade her to open up."

Bella wanted to ask why they were getting divorced, but she thought it would be better if she kept quiet.

The door opened and Bella opened her eyes. The nurse poked her head in. "The doctor said that you have ten more minutes and then the patient needs to rest. Normally, visitors are not allowed in the rooms at this hour."

"But - "

The nurse raised her hand. "Doctor's order."

Before I closed the door, another scent permeated the room - Diana's aromatic female scent.

Damn, he was coming for her, the traitor, and he was going to send her back to Viki in a hurry.

"Get me out of here right now, and I'll tell you where Rosa is." Bella's voice was still little more than a whisper, which probably saved her ass or Diana would have heard it.