Page 5 of The Night Wolf
“Sleep,” Gareth said, his quiet voice a command Sean chose not to resist.
“I’VE NEVERseen anything like this,” Franklin said as he scratched his head, then tore off the white rubber gloves he had on, tossed them into a nearby container, and replaced them with a fresh pair.
“What’s wrong with him?” Gareth demanded.
Gareth’s wolf wanted to cover the boy… young man. Initially, given the poor shape the wolf was in, Gareth thought maybe he was eighteen and had just gone through his first shift. Now? The best guess Gareth had was that he was in his twenties. That made things even worse, because he should be healthy and vibrant.
Franklin had been examining Sean for nearly three hours. He poked, prodded, jabbed, and still he seemed to have no clue what the hell was going on.
“He has almost no immunity.” Franklin blew out a breath, his frustration obvious. “What wolf doesn’t have his natural shield against disease?”
“What does this mean?”
Franklin turned, weariness evident in his slumped posture. He pulled off another set of gloves and tossed them into the wastebasket. “This is uncharted territory, Gareth. If he were human, I would say any illness could kill him. As a wolf, it’s still possible, I imagine. I just don’t have any answers for you, Alpha. I’m sorry.”
Gareth forced himself to speak in a calm voice, despite the fact that he had so much rage inside of him. “Give me your best guess.”
A nervous laugh bubbled out of Franklin. “I don’t even have one of those. There is just so much going on in his body. I’ve taken blood to do some tests, but I won’t have those results for a while. But there’s something even more peculiar, and I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to bring it up.”
“Tell me,” Gareth demanded, his wolf so close to the surface that he could scent the doctor’s fear.
Another pair of gloves were pulled from the box and slid over Franklin’s wrinkled hands. He approached the sleeping man, put a hand on his right shoulder, and rolled him slightly.
Gareth’s eyes narrowed and he leaned in closer to peer at the dark spot on the man’s shoulder. It was a perfect wolf, baying at Mother Moon. “What the hell is that?”
“Would you believe me if I told you I thought it was a tattoo?”
That would be impossible. Wolves couldn’t get tattoos. The ink never survived the shift. Then again, with this wolf, who the hell knew what was and wasn’t possible?
“It looks like a wolf.”
“It is,” Franklin assured him. “I looked it up after I found it. Have you ever heard of the night wolf?”
“Myth and legend,” Gareth scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. “No one has believed those tales for over a hundred years.”
“No one believes in shifters either, but here we are. Just because no one has seen the night wolf before now doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
Gareth pinned the doctor with a glare. “So you’re telling me you believe this man is the dreaded night wolf? The one capable of giving whoever controls it near limitless power? Who can turn humans to stone with a gaze, run faster than a cheetah, is stronger than the rhinoceros, more feared than a bull elephant? Seriously? You? You’re a man of science.”
“It’s because of science I entertain the thought,” Franklin protested. “There are so many things that were dismissed out of hand years ago but now are commonplace. I don’t know for a fact that heisthe night wolf, but I can’t come up with any other explanation. Not that I’m going to stop looking, mind you.”
Franklin dipped his chin and went back to his examination. Gareth turned and strode across the room, his thoughts a chaotic jumble. The night wolf. It seemed so impossible. Gareth had heard the tales when he was a child. That if you misbehaved, your Alpha would summon the night wolf to come claim your soul. He’d scoffed at them then, but….
“No,” Gareth snarled as he turned back to Franklin, his voice hard and brittle. “There is no such thing as the night wolf. I don’t know what that is, but look at him. He’s been abused, starved, broken. Don’t you think if he were this mythical creature, he would have saved himself?”
A deep sigh. “Alpha, I don’t know what to think.” Franklin pushed back the gray hair that flowed over his shoulder, then tore off the gloves and put on a fresh set. He went back to his patient and once again began probing. “I’m going through possibilities, and every one of them leads to a brick wall. Nothing about this boy is normal. The only things I am certain of are,A, he’s a wolf, but not healing as he should.B, he’s sick and ticks were feeding from him. AndC, he was nearly starved to death. If hewasthe night wolf, I wouldn’t expect any of those either. But then again, I don’t know anything about them, so even if he was one, I wouldn’t know how to treat him.”
“What about the antibiotics?”
“They got here first thing this morning. I’ve given him a mild dose so his system doesn’t go into shock. Thus far, nothing has changed.” Franklin turned his gaze toward Gareth. “I wish I had something to tell you. Maybe I’m going about it all wrong. For all I know, thisisnormal for him. He could have a genetic abnormality, or perhaps be a different breed of wolf. There are far too many variables for me to give you an answer.”
Gareth could feel his wolf pacing. It had calmed somewhat after the young man shifted, but it was still wary and on full alert.
“I’d like to call in some experts, see if maybe they can—”
“No!” Gareth snarled. “No one else touches him. Do you understand me?”
Franklin stumbled back, only able to keep from falling by putting a hand on the nearby table. “Of course, Alpha,” he whimpered as he tilted his head. “I meant no disrespect.”
