“Is he your brother? Uncle Basil’s nephew?” Tessa asked, hoping the woman could trigger the rest of Hunter’s memories and he would recall his past, praying the woman wasn’t his girlfriend.
Cara raised a brow. “I thought you said his last name was Grey. It isn’t?”
Oh hell. Tessa hadn’t meant to tell the world, but if this woman knew Hunter… “Come inside. Hunter had a terrible accident, and he’s lost his memory, but he’s been regaining it in bits and pieces.”
The woman’s eyes widened. “Where is he?”
“He’s… he’s okay. Just taking a walk with a couple of other guys in the woods. But how do you know him? Please,” Tessa said, motioning to the living room. “Come in and get warm by the fire. Would you like some cocoa?”
The woman pointed at Cara and growled, “Who’s she to Hunter?”
Cara smiled in an evil way. “His personal nurse.” She tilted her nose up and took in a deep breath. “And you’re his sister?”
Having had the sinking feeling the woman might be his girlfriend, Tessa could now see the resemblance, the same dark hair, the same colored eyes, the well-defined cheekbones and aristocratic noses, and relief washed over her. “Meara?”
The woman frowned. “How did you know my name if he lost his memory?”
“He called it out when he was delirious the one night. He remembered having a sister, but not his full name or where he was from.”
“How was he injured?”
The women followed Tessa into the kitchen where she refilled mugs with fresh cocoa. “He said three men pushed him off a cliff.”
Her face colorless, Meara gripped the back of one of the kitchen chairs. “Uncle Basil said you were trouble.”
Tessa didn’t fully believe it when he’d been so kind to her, yet an inkling of self-doubt wormed its way into her system.
“Oh boy,” Cara said, casting Meara a look. “Not good. A guy’s been breaking into Tessa’s house also.”
“Figures.” Meara shook her head. “Greymere’s our name.”
At least Hunter had half of his name right.
“So if you work at the hospital in the city, what are you doing way out here?” Meara asked in the same manner she spoke to Tessa, and she figured it was just her way. Or she didn’t like women much.
Cara didn’t seem to be bothered by the sarcasm in Meara’s voice and shrugged. “Hunter left the hospital without being released first.”
“Oh,” Meara said, her brows knitting together. “He was in the hospital because of the fall?”
“A wolf bit him.” Tessa served up the cocoa. “He said he had a phobia about hospitals. That he couldn’t stand being in a hospital longer than necessary.”
Meara cast Cara a look.
Cara smiled. the look was a bit devious, which made Tessa wonder what was up between them. Even though Meara didn’t seem to care for Cara, a mutual connection seemed to exist, like between Cara and Hunter. Tessa shook her head, annoyed at herself for overanalyzing people’s darker motives when there was probably nothing to them, as usual.
“Can you tell me why he has such a phobia?” Tessa ushered them into the living room.
“No.”
No, as in she didn’t know? Or she did and wouldn’t tell Tessa?
Meara sat down on the couch, her eyes taking in every detail in the place from the fire in the brick fireplace, to the photos of wildlife on the wall. Tessa wondered what she was thinking, but the woman’s face remained impassive. “How long has Hunter been here?”
“A couple of days.”
“An overnight stay at the hospital also,” Cara added.
“I’ll take him off your hands,” Meara said softly, changing her whole demeanor. “Where did you say he went?”
Tessa didn’t want Hunter taken off her hands. She wanted to wrap him in her arms and stay there until spring. Already lack of sleep was giving her a major headache.
Cara gave Meara a small smile. “I think Hunter’s way over his head on this one.”
Both women looked in the direction of the kitchen seconds before someone banged on the door like he intended to break it in. Tessa grabbed the rifle and headed for the kitchen, but when she saw Hunter and Rourke at the door, she quickly set the gun down and unlocked it.
Hunter took Tessa into his arms and squeezed the breath out of her. “Thank god, you’re all right.”
And at once she sensed he really did feel something for her deep down, while she felt the same kind of incomprehensible bond between them.
He separated from her a little and gazed down at her. A hint of tears filled his eyes, and the sight of them touched her soul. He hugged her again. Wrapping her arms around him, she basked in his heated embrace, forgetting for the moment his sister was behind her, or that Nurse Godzilla would make a move on Ashton next. At least Tessa assumed she would.
Ashton entered the kitchen and set a dead duck on her counter. What…?
Rourke came up behind Hunter. “What the hell is the nurse from the hospital doing here? And who is she?”
That was when Hunter saw his sister and dropped Tessa like she was a burning ember. Not expecting to be coldly thrust aside, she felt a heartbeat of rejection, but then quickly reminded herself his seeing his sister had to be quite a shock. But would he remember her? And everything about his past life?
“Meara.” He stared at her for a long moment and then hurried to hug her. “Meara.”
Thank god, he remembered her.
“Dear brother. I thought I’d lost you. I’ve been looking for you for three days. Then I tracked you here.
Tessa said you’d lost your memory.”
“Hell, Meara, you’d taken off with…” He glanced back at Tessa, his eyes and face hard. “We’ll be right back.” He pulled Meara outside. “Who the hell were they and where the hell did you go?” He slammed the door closed.
So he did remember more.
Figuring the family reunion would go a lot better than that if her own brother had been returned to her, Tessa’s mouth gaped in surprise. Apparently Hunter’s seeing his sister did bring back memories, but that didn’t seem to be a good thing.
Hunter escorted his sister far enough away from the house that no one could hear them. He glowered at her, waiting for Meara to tell him what had happened, the notion of her disappearing from the house in the company of the three gray males hitting him like an icy avalanche of bad memories.
“Quit looking at me like the devil’s possessed me, Hunter!” She looked out to the ocean.
She was beautiful and any one of a number of males would want her, but her reluctance to choose a mate from the alphas she’d seen fit to date was one thing— running off with a bunch of horny betas quite another.
“I’m sorry,” she finally said under her breath. “I… I came right home after the idiots talked me into running with them for a while. It didn’t take much time for me to appreciate none of them would interest me for very long. I… I didn’t realize someone would have tried to kill you in the meantime.” She glanced up at him, her body shuddering in the cold wind.
He took her arm and pulled her into his embrace. “We’ve got to stick together, Meara. No matter what else happens with the pack, we’re family.”
“I looked everywhere for you, and then thought about this Tessa Anderson woman and how she’d intrigued you. I thought maybe you’d come here to be with her. I smelled your scent here, and sat on the back patio, hoping you’d look out and see me. But Tessa peered out the window instead. I figured you’d succumbed to her charms. I’d considered howling to let you know I was out back, but I was afraid the men I’d run off from might locate me. So I returned home. The next morning I drove here, but no one was here. I had no way of knowing you had been injured so badly.” Tears glistened in Meara’s eyes, and as much as she tried to hide her feelings, he knew she felt badly that her irresponsibility could have gotten him killed. But worse, she would have been left alone to fend for herself, and that made his stomach clench even tighter.
“Tell me what happened,” she said.
He explained about the three brothers, the mess Tessa was in, and the problem with the two newly turned lupus garous. Meara had been quiet, taking everything in, until he came to Rourke’s story. And then she laughed out loud.
“I never expected to find you—the great Hunter—in such a quandary.”
“Yeah, well, hell, if you hadn’t run off…” He said the harsh words before he could stop himself.
She focused on his chest, and he was afraid she was going to dissolve into tears. But then she raised her gaze, cast him an irritated look, and tried to put the blame on him again. Knowing her, she couldn’t deal with the guilt.
“You know how important it is to keep our situation secret from humans. Isn’t that what’s drummed into us? Kill them if they get wind of the truth. Or change them only if the situation truly warrants it. What a mess. How are you going to fix all this, Hunter?”
“I should have been getting the cabins ready to rent out, waiting on the pack to tire of the city and join us.” But even thinking of that, he couldn’t believe how all the memories flooded back to him so quickly. The fire, losing their home, Uncle Basil’s warning him to take “care” of Tessa Anderson, and the subsequent fight he’d had with the gray wolves when he’d gone in search of his wayward sister. He was certain his uncle hadn’t quite had this scenario in mind when he gifted the properties to Hunter though.
“None of our people have returned yet.” Meara pushed her windswept hair out of her eyes.
“I’m surprised Leidolf, the red pack leader in Portland, hasn’t chased them off yet. Maybe our pack members are behaving themselves for a change.” He shook his head. “I don’t believe it for a second.” He took a deep breath. “As soon as I resolve this situation with the gray who’s stalking Tessa, I’ll make the trip to Portland and force the pack to return.”