Page 154 of His Hungry Wolf

“It’s off-limits to visitors,” the burly man replied.

“But, my friend’s injured. I need to go see him.”

“Off limits,” he repeated before looking away.

It took almost an hour to circle the stadium and realize where the entrance to the lower levels was. We got there in time to see an ambulance pull away with its lights flashing. My wolf and I were beside ourselves.

“You think that was Cage?” I asked Lou.

“I would guess,” he said sympathetically.

“They’re probably taking him to the closest hospital, right?”

“That would make sense.”

“We need to get a ride to the hospital.”

“I’m on it,” Lou said whipping out his phone and arranging a ride.

Between the congestion around the stadium and the traffic, it took another hour before we got to the emergency room. I was going insane with worry by then. Dropped off at the main doors, I rushed in with Lou in tow.

“I’m looking for Cage Rucker’s room. He was just brought in. He was probably wearing football clothes,” I told the stout woman behind the desk.

“I saw him come in. I think they took him for an MRI.”

“Great. Where do I find that?”

“It’s going to take a while before he’s assigned a room.”

“So, where do I wait for that?”

The woman held out her hand gesturing towards the seats in front of her desk.

“Okay. When do I check back?”

“Give it an hour.”

I was disappointed everything was going to take so long. I liked to think of myself as patient but my wolf wasn’t and he was starting to take control. I had to stop myself from snapping at everyone.

I had to keep reminding myself that the only thing I could do was get in the way. And that the most important thing was that Cage was being taken care of. I was willing to wait here all night as long as that was happening.

Lou and I took a seat and waited as I was told. In an hour we checked back. Cage had been moved into a room on the third floor. She wasn’t sure I would be able to see him yet, but she allowed us to go up and check.

Getting off the elevator I saw a few familiar faces. Hovering in the hallway was Tasha and Cage’s father. Both turned and saw us. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do, but I continued towards them anyway.

As I got closer, Cage’s father looked back at Tasha. When he turned back toward me, he had darkness in his eyes.

It was darker than anything I had ever seen. Not only did it scare me, it made my fearless wolf retreat. So, when he suddenly charged toward me, my heart clenched.

“You’re Cage’s friend, right? The tutor?” He said with his eyes locked on me.

“Yes, sir,” I told him getting a chill down my spine.

“Come here,” he told me gesturing for me to leave Lou.

I swallowed not liking where this was going. The ruddy, grizzly man was terrifying to look at. And when I finally approached him, he put his arms around my shoulder, gripped it like a vice, and pushed me into an empty room.

Before I knew what was happening, the man’s hefty body had pinned me against the wall. He was manhandling me. I couldn’t get away. With his hot, alcohol-laden breath flooding my ear, he said,