Shadow of the Wolf(29)

His hands drifted back down, lifting her foot to his lips. He kissed her  ankle and slid her shoe back on, the dazed expression on her face a  fitting payment for the blue balls he was sure he would have until he  could get her back home and into his bed. He stood and helped her from  the chair, the clapping and laughter of the guests surrounding them.

Lana hid her face against his chest. "You are so bad."

He grinned wickedly and dipped her. "And you like me that way." He stole  a kiss from her, beyond grateful when she immediately kissed him back.

When he managed to pull away from her lips, the expression on her face  had his heart stuttering in his chest. Full of warmth and want and  laughter, it made him want to whisk her away from every-



one and everything and explore whatever it was that was lighting her up from within.

Instead he stood, twirling her and taking a bow to her friends and  family. She got it immediately, curtseying to the crowd before dragging  him off the dance floor. She led him past Kerry, laughing when the  blonde fanned herself. "This is a hell of a first date, Chris."                       
       
           



       

He stumbled. It wasn't how he'd envisioned their first date going, but  somehow …  somehow, it was perfect. He squeezed Lana's hand. She looked  back at him, so full of happiness she glowed with it.

Absolutely perfect.

"Christopher!"

He turned to find Zachary running towards him, his expression panicked.

"Zach?"

"Gareth's hurt bad."

He didn't even stop to think. He ran.

"Who's Gareth?" He was startled to hear Kerry's voice at his elbow.

They shoved the door to the reception hall open and ran into the parking lot. "My brother."

"Crap." The blonde put on an extra burst of speed, impressive in the  heels she was wearing. She actually reached the bloodied man on the  street before he did, going to her knees and assessing the damage in a  professional manner that screamed experience. "Call nine-one-one," she  ordered, pushing Daniel out of her way without a second glance. Daniel  allowed himself to be pushed, but from the look on his face he was none  too happy about it.

Christopher had never felt so helpless in all his life. "What can I do to help?"

Kerry checked Gareth over, her face turning grim. "Think happy thoughts."

Christopher pulled out his phone and dialed.





Chapter Ten


"He'll be all right, Chris." Lana hugged Chris, pulling him down onto  the hard plastic seat. He'd been pacing since Gareth went into surgery.

"If he'd been two inches shorter his throat would be slit." Her wolf was  growling. Rage poured off of him in palpable waves. "I'm going to kill  him."

She didn't even have to wonder whose death he was contemplating. "Cole can't get away with this.

The karma alone is going to be a bitch."

"Thank the Goddess your friend Kerry was there." He shuddered. "I don't know what we would have done without her."

She stroked his hair, sighing when he relaxed into her. "Called an ambulance and held cloth to the wound, same as she did."

"He's going to make it."

"Yes he is. Don't doubt it for a second." Because if Gareth didn't make it, she had no idea what Chris would do.

"How the fuck did this happen?" Zach growled. His sunny blue eyes were  dark with worry. The youngest Beckett was pacing the worn linoleum,  tension riding his lean frame.

Lana stared blearily at Zach. She was so damn tired. "I'm not exactly sure."

"There's no fucking way Gareth would drive with an open switchblade on  the dashboard and you know it." Zach was practically vibrating. Lana  wondered if she had the strength to deal with all of the Beckett males.

"We already know Gareth isn't stupid. We also know that stomping on the  brakes plain old can't drive a knife into a man so hard it penetrates  his collar bone and sticks there." Daniel cracked his knuckles, his eyes  never leaving the swinging doors the doctors would come through after  surgery.

"That knife was shoved into him by someone or something."

Kerry snorted. "The man was locked in his car, no broken windows, no  nothing. If he got stabbed it was because he stabbed himself."

"Or the attacker was already in the car with him." Daniel cracked another knuckle.

"The angle of the knife tells me it came dead on from the top of the  steering wheel. I'm not sure an assailant could even angle his arm the  right way to get that shot."

Daniel finally turned his glare onto something other than the doors.  "You stay out of this. You have no idea what you're dealing with."

Kerry leaned towards Daniel. "Magic. Woo-woo stuff. Right?" She wiggled  her fingers in his face, ignoring his shocked look. "Lana's my best  friend. Whatever is going on here involves her, therefore it involves  me. And the angle of that knife indicates that it came out of the  steering wheel of that car. What if Lana had been driving? She'd be  dead. So get over yourself, get over the fact that I'm a mundane, and  let's all assume that Kerry has a brain in her pretty blonde head.  ‘Kay?" She patted Daniel on the head like a dog, nearly earning herself a  bite from the normally unflappable Daniel.

Lana was shocked. She'd never told any of the Andrews what she was. How had Kerry known?

"Kerry?"

Kerry turned to Lana with a sigh. "You really think you could hide that  from me? Seriously? I had a nice long talk with Grammy when we were  sixteen, and she told me everything." Kerry shook her head, an echo of  an old hurt deep in her eyes. "I understand why you didn't tell me, but I  wish you'd trusted me."                       
       
           



       

Lana blinked away tears. "I couldn't, not without permission. But I wish I had, too."

Kerry nodded. "So. A spell, right? Who was the target?"

"We're not sure." Chris cuddled Lana closer, kissing the tears from her cheeks. "We do know who cast it."

"Cole." Lana shuddered. "I'm really beginning to hate that man."

"You and me both, sweetheart."

Kerry plopped down on the seat, the satin of her dress crackling against the plastic cushion. "So what now?"

"Now you keep your pretty ass out of it." Daniel was still glaring at  Kerry. He actually growled at her when Kerry flipped him off. "I mean  it. You have even less defenses against Cole than Lana does. Do you  understand me?"

"Actually, there may be something I can do about that." Grammy stepped  over to Kerry. "Do you still have that charm Lana gave you for your  eighteenth birthday?"

Kerry nodded. "In my jewelry case back home. Why?"

Grammy smiled wearily. "It was a gift of love from a dear friend. If I  can borrow it for a day or two, I can enchant it to protect you from  those who would wish you harm. Would that be all right?"

"Yes. Thank you, Grammy." Kerry's smile was tinged with relief. "I want to help Lana, even if it means helping Mr. Grumpypants."



Daniel took one step towards Kerry. What he intended to do when he  reached her was a mystery, because at that moment the surgeon came out  of the swinging doors. "Christopher Beckett?"

"Here." Chris stood, holding on to Lana with everything in him.

"Your brother is going to be just fine. Frankly, if the knife had hit  him just slightly to the left he'd be dead right now, so he's a very  lucky young man. We're keeping him overnight for observation, and he'll  have to undergo some physical therapy to get full use of his arm back,  but I think he'll make a full recovery."

"Thank the Lady." Lana turned Chris and hugged him, his body sagging against her in relief.

"Now that we know Gareth will be all right, why don't you come with me,  Kerry? We'll get that little thing taken care of, and you'll be able to  change your clothes." Grammy gave each of the Beckett brothers a hug  before tugging Kerry out of the hospital waiting room.

"When will your parents get here?" Lana forced Chris to sit back down. He still looked a little gray to her.

"They were in Chicago at a seminar. They're still trying to get a flight." He rubbed his face wearily.

"It could have been you in that car, Lana."

She shook her head. "I don't think we were the targets. Not this time. I think it was a message."

He looked at her through his fingers. "Sort of I can get you anywhere, anytime?"

"Yeah." She rubbed Chris's back, hoping to soothe him.

His jaw clenched, his pupils widening until his eyes were small golden rings around a sea of black.

"Message received."



* * * *

Lana went down to breakfast Sunday morning a week later to find three of  the four Beckett brothers seated at Christopher's table. She wondered  if Gareth's pain medication had made him sleep in, or if he'd already  been down to eat and gone back to bed. She was pretty certain it was the  former. Getting the oldest Beckett brother to move in temporarily had  been a battle all on its own. He'd wanted to return to his home in  Pittsburgh, feeling he would only be in the way now that he was groggy  on pain meds. She and Chris had talked him into staying with them. It  had been Chris's argument that he'd feel safer knowing Gareth was there  to protect Lana if anything happened to him that swayed the tide. He'd  totally worked Gareth's overdeveloped protective streak to their  advantage. So far, nothing had happened, thank the Lord and Lady. She  didn't know if Cole was laying low after the attack at the wedding, or  preparing for one hell of a spell. Either way having the Beckett  brothers so close made guarding everyone that much easier.