Page 22 of A Hunter Cursed
The first thing Jeremiah noticed when he woke was the beautiful quiet in his head. Second, was the scent of Archer and the pack healer, Marguerite close by.
“He’s coming around,” Archer stated and Jeremiah cautiously opened his eyes to see his alpha peering down at him with grim worry etched into his features.
“What the hell happened?” Jeremiah croaked, attempting to push himself up into a seated position.
Both Archer and Marguerite scrambled to assist him, the healer quickly stuffing pillows behind his back to help prop him up as she cautioned, “Go easy now, slowly.”
Once he was situated, Archer handed him a cup of water with a straw and Jeremiah took a grateful sip.
“I was hopingyoucould tell us what happened. I thought you were bit by a snake or something.”
Jeremiah looked around, recognizing the house as Marguerite’s place, as he attempted to collect his thoughts. He shook his head. “Not a snake. My ears started ringing and it just kept getting louder and louder until I thought my head was going to explode.”
Archer shot a look at Marguerite. “Any idea what could cause that?”
Marguerite frowned. “Nothing naturally occurring that should affect our kind, but I can look into it,” she told Archer before turning her attention to Jeremiah. “Are you hearing it now?”
“No, thank God.”
“Any dizziness? Double vision? Headache?”
“Nope.” He thought about it for a moment and then added, “Actually, aside from being hungry, I feel pretty good.”
Marguerite’s frown only deepened. “I’m going to run some tests.”
Jeremiah grinned, unable to help but make light of the situation in an attempt to ease the heavy worry he could feel rolling off his packmates. “You just want to poke me with needles.”
“Perk of the job,” the healer shot back.
Archer’s hand landed heavily on Jeremiah’s shoulder. “I’ve got to tell you, you scared the ever-loving shit out of me last night.”
Jeremiah’s eyes shot to the windows and the heavy curtains that blocked out the sun leaving it nearly impossible to tell whether it was day or night. Marguerite had to do that, otherwise, every member of the pack would have their noses pressed to the windows as they tried to figure out what was going on. Privacy was pretty much an unknown concept in a pack.
Frowning, he asked, “How long was I out?”
Archer swung around to glance at the clock on the wall behind him. “Almost fifteen hours now.”
Wow. Whatever that shit-show had been, it had obviously hit him hard. He didn’t think he’d ever been out that long. Even when he was exhausted after working double shifts, he’d only sleep maybe six hours. That’s all his body had ever needed to feel fully restored. No wonder he was hungry. He also needed to call Keegan. What if what happened to him had also happened to her? They’d both eaten food from that restaurant. What if there had been something toxic in it? Shifters had a remarkably hearty constitution, witches, as far as he knew, didn’t. What may have had him passing out could have put Keegan in the hospital, or worse.
Scrambling a bit, Jeremiah’s hands patted at the sheets only to realize he was naked. Which made sense considering he’d been in his other form when Archer had found him. “Where’s my phone? I need it,” he said, an edge of hysteria underlying the words.
“Probably with your clothes,” Archer pointed out with a frown. “Where’d you strip down last night?”
Jeremiah threw back the covers intending to get up to retrieve his phone only to have Marguerite push him back down with a growl. “So help me, if you try to leave this bed, I’ll put you out and strap you down, boy.”
If he wasn’t so worried about Keegan, he would have been impressed at the level of ferocity coming his way. Gentle Marguerite could apparently be a scary badass when she wanted to be.
Jerking his head to shoot Archer a near pleading look, he said, “The beast. Can you have someone grab my phone for me?” He would have asked to borrow Archer’s to make the call, but he hadn’t exactly memorized her number, had simply entered it into his phone. He might be able to remember if he thought hard enough, but he was too worried now to focus. “Please. I need it. It’s important.”
Archer was already heading for the door before Jeremiah even finished the sentence. “I’m on it.”
The alpha had to have sprinted the distance, returning quickly, but it had still felt too long to a panicked Jeremiah. His haste, however, once Archer put the phone in his outstretched hand, only made him clumsy. He nearly dropped the thing, then flubbed the numbers as he tried to enter his pin to unlock the phone. Swearing a blue streak, he snarled at the device – as if that would help – and finally managed to unlock the thing to make the call.
Each ring was excruciating as he waited for Keegan to pick up, his body practically vibrating with the need to get to her. When she answered, the sweet sound of her voice purring, “Hey, sexy beast,” had him collapsing back against the pillows with a harsh expulsion of air. “Oh, thank God.”
Keegan chuckled. “Wow. You must have really wanted to talk to me if you’re thanking the Big Man Upstairs.”
“You have no idea.”
