Lethal Attraction Read online

  Lethal Attraction

  By D.M. Turner

  Copyright 2015 by D.M. Turner

  Cover designed by the author

  Background photo by “vlntn” of DPC

  Woman nurse photo by “Kurhan” of DPC

  Gray wolf photo by “Denis Pepin” of DPC

  Snarling wolf photo by “sateda” of DPC

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or any information retrieval or storage system without the prior written permission of the author.

  BISAC: Fiction/Christian/Fantasy

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents, and dialogue are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  Gentle Care Medical Clinic

  Flagstaff, Arizona

  Friday, May 5, 2017

  “Quite a day, huh?”

  “Tell me about it.” Dr. Jeremy Richardson glanced up from making notations on a patient chart and smiled at Annie Galloway, one of the nurses he shared with his partners. She’d come to work for them a few months before.

  Seven months, one week, and two days ago actually, but who’s counting? He chuckled softly. Then to cover his straying thoughts, he added, “It’s been quite a week.”

  She rolled dark brown eyes behind those cute wire-rimmed glasses and grinned. “Tell me about it. I don’t think I’ve seen so many ear infections or runny noses from summer colds and allergies in my life. Is it always like this in the summer?”

  “Sometimes.” He shrugged and forced his gaze back to the chart. It wouldn’t do for her to realize how much he wanted to just stand and study her. Only a few inches taller than her, he caught himself thinking almost every time he saw her that they’d fit together perfectly if he kissed her. Dangerous ground to tread since he couldn’t do anything about it. A human didn’t need to be dragged into the world of werewolves. Nothing good could come of it.

  Notes completed, Jeremy closed the file and dropped it into the basket on the desk on the other side of the counter. When he straightened away from the counter, he realized Annie was still there.

  She smiled self-consciously when he glanced at her.

  “Um, so what’s on your agenda for this weekend?” he asked for lack of anything better to say. “Anything fun?”

  “Hardly.” She shrugged and wrinkled her nose in a fashion he found far too adorable. “The usual. All the housework and laundry I never seem to get to during the week.”

  “I know what you mean.” He grimaced. “I’ve got the same agenda for the weekend. It’s either that or come to work naked next week.” He chuckled. “I’m sure there’d be objections to that.”

  She smiled and muttered, “Not from anyone with a brain.”

  He raised his brows and laughed. “I appreciate the compliment, but I’m pretty sure my partners would think I’d gone around the bend, and I don’t want to know how patients would react.”

  Annie grinned. “You’d make the nursing staff’s day.” A blush brightened her cheeks, and she looked away for a moment before looking back. “Anyway, I’ve decided to spoil myself this evening. I’m going out for pizza. Would you care to join me? I really hate to eat alone.”

  Jeremy froze. Oh, how he wanted to take her up on that offer, but it wouldn’t be right. She had no idea what she’d be getting into to get involved with him on anything more than a professional level. Regret filled him.

  The wolf inside paced and whined, a far too common reaction to her presence.

  “I’m sorry.” She lowered her gaze to the floor. “I shouldn’t have asked. It’s inappropriate, I’m sure, for a nurse to ask a doctor to join her for dinner.”

  “It’s not that. It’s just… I wish I could, but… I can’t.” He hated himself for even saying the words. Why did doing the right thing have to suck so much at times?

  “Oh, man.” Her eyes widened, and horror crept across her face. “You probably already have plans, or a girlfriend. I should’ve thought of that.”

  “I have neither, so no need to fret.”

  “Oh.” A frown furrowed her brow, and she looked away again, glancing at her watch. “I’m sorry I bothered you. I should get out of here. I’m sure you’d like to lock up.” She turned to leave, her footsteps moving rapidly toward the exit.

  She thinks I don’t like her. He forced down a groan and jogged to catch up. “Annie, wait.”

  She stopped just inside the door and waited, her gaze focused on the other side of the glass.

  “Listen, I’d love to spend time with you outside of work. I really would.”

  “Really?” Her gaze shifted to him, her eyes widening.

  He nodded.

  Her eyes narrowed. “But?”

  Jeremy sighed. “My life is a complicated mess, and I don’t want to drag you or anyone else into it. I can’t allow my professional life to cross over into my personal one. No matter how tempted I am at the moment.”

  “We all have complications.” She cocked her head in a manner so wolf-like, he could almost let himself forget she was only human.

  “Not like mine. Trust me.”

  “Why don’t we have dinner, and you can tell me about it?”

  “I….” He closed his eyes for a second then opened them to meet her gaze. “You have no idea how tempting that offer is, but I can’t let you or anyone else get sucked into the madness that’s my personal life.” Werewolf. Pack physician. Midwife to wolves. Yeah, that was bound to go over great. Not!

  Annie chuckled. “I can’t believe it. I’m getting the ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ brush-off.”

  “I’m sorry.” He allowed himself to take a half-step closer, inhaling the combination of the light fragrance lingering from that morning’s perfume and her personal scent. It wrapped around and climbed through him.

  His wolf whined, longing to roll in it.

  “Believe me. If my life was… normal, I’d take you up on that invitation so fast, you’d probably run the other way for fear I was desperate.”

  Her smile widened. “You’re assuming I have it in me to run.”

  Jeremy groaned softly and forced himself to back away. “If you won’t, I should. For both our sakes.”

  “You know”—she stepped closer—“if it’s that hard to walk away, maybe you shouldn’t. What if your subconscious is telling you this is right?”

  Her scent wrapped around him again, sending desire-induced fire through his veins. “I’m pretty sure it’s not my subconscious making demands at the moment.” He pushed the door open and dug keys out of his pants pocket. “We should go before one of us does something we’ll both regret.”

  “No regrets here,” she muttered as she passed him. “After all, it’s just dinner.”

  Just dinner. Sure to result in delightful conversation, and an increase in the attraction he’d already struggled with for months. Then they’d reach the point of saying goodnight, and the awkwardness guaranteed to ensue as he battled the desire to kiss her silly.

  Surrendering to that desire… not an option. It was absolutely guaran-teed to make it more difficult to restrain the wolf’s attempts to track her down throughout each workday.

  Yeah, best to avoid that “just dinner” altogether.

  He turned and locked the door.

  “Pizza, soda, conversation. Very simple.”

  Nothing simple about it.

  Annie grinned. “Come on, doc. You never struck me as one to run away from friendship.”

  He raised a brow and smiled. �
��Is that what you’re offering?”

  “For now.” She shrugged with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. “If it grows into more, I’m not opposed.”

  That was the possibility he feared. Dinner and her company sure were tempting though…. Hold firm. You know what’s at risk. She doesn’t. “Not tonight.”

  “Oh, well, I tried.” Annie laughed softly, her gaze sliding away. “See you Monday.” She headed in the opposite direction from where he’d parked.

  “Sure thing,” he mumbled to empty air and trudged to his vehicle.

  Chapter 2

  Residence of Ian Campbell, Pack Alpha

  Campbell Wildlife Preserve

  Outside Flagstaff, Arizona

  Wednesday, May 10, 2017

  Jeremy slouched in the chair at his alpha’s house, waiting for the rest of the pack to arrive. The full moon already tugged at the wolf, though it wouldn’t rise for about a half hour yet. He’d come straight to the Preserve after leaving the office at six and had dinner with Ian and a few other members of the pack. Not that he’d eaten much.

  Annie hadn’t acted hurt or angry about his rejection the previous Friday, yet she’d avoided him the last few days. He hadn’t seen so much as a glimpse of her. He’d considered asking the office staff about her disappearance, but he was afraid it would cause rumors and speculation. What if he’d hurt her feelings or embarrassed her after all, and she simply hadn’t wanted to admit it? That certainly hadn’t been his intention.

  “So, who is she?”

  He startled and glanced up at Ian, who grinned at him. He blinked a couple of times. What had the man asked? “What?”

  “Who is she?”

  “Um… what do you mean?”

  Ian chuckled. “Only a woman can tie a man in knots to distract him like you are right now. So, who is she?”

  “No one.” Jeremy sank deeper into the chair and tried to feign honesty. “I’m just tired. It’s already been a long week.”

  His alpha snorted. “Are you honestly going to sit there and lie to me?” A brow lifted in amusement.

  He grimaced. “It was worth a shot.” With a heavy sigh, he glanced up, his gaze landing on Ian’s chin. “Her name’s Annie. She’s that nurse I told you about months ago. The new one.”

  “I remember.” Ian nodded. “As I recall, you said she’s very competent, has a good way with patients and the other staff.”

  Jeremy nodded. “She has a great sense of humor, too.”

  “So, what’s going on? Has she screwed up on the job or something?”

  “No. Nothing like that.” He squirmed in the chair and flicked his gaze to the cold, dark fireplace. “She asked me out last Friday evening.”

  “And you said?”

  “No, of course.”

  “Why ‘of course’?” Ian nodded. “Oh, I see. You don’t want to date a co-worker.”

  “Well, there is that, but no. I meant the whole werewolf thing. She’s human.”

  “Uh… correct me if I’m wrong, but we have a couple of human mates in the pack. It’s certainly not unheard of for a werewolf to have a human mate.”

  “I know.” How do I explain this? “She has no idea what I am. How can I drag her into the weirdness that’s my life? Especially since she’s clueless about what a mess it really is.”

  “Going on a date with her doesn’t mean you’ll take her as your mate.” Ian dropped onto the couch and laid an arm along the back of it. “A date is simply that. A date. You can have a personal life, you know.”

  “And risk falling in love with her?” Jeremy shook his head. Seven months and two weeks, and already his heart was entangled. Not to mention her affect on his wolf. If he dated her, it would only get worse. “I can’t do it. I can’t risk it. I can’t go through what Isaac did, losing his human mate to cancer. Even if something like that doesn’t take her, I can’t watch her age and degenerate. I’ve seen what age does to humans. It’s ugly. Then they die. I can’t watch that happen to her while I remain unchanged.”

  “Having a wolf mate is no guarantee.” Sorrow wiped the smile from the alpha’s face. “I lost my wife, despite her being one of us.”

  “I know, but aside from something like that or fights, our chances of long-term survival are far better than humans, and we don’t degenerate like they do.” There were some good things about werewolves.

  “Everything dies, Jeremy. It’s simply a matter of when and how.” He sighed. “Only God knows how many years each of us have. We’re all born with an expiration date. We wolves have the potential to live much longer than humans, but only the Lord knows if we’ll fulfill that potential.”

  Before Jeremy could think of a response, the front door opened. He glanced at his watch. The pack was arriving for the full moon run. Just in time to save him from a pointless conversation.

  Chapter 3

  Gentle Care Medical Clinic

  Wednesday, May 24, 2017

  “Hey, are you feeling alright?” Callie, one of the nurses, laid a hand on Jeremy’s forearm. “You look to have a foot in the grave.”

  He shook his head. “Truth is, I’m not feeling well, at all.” Energy had been virtually non-existent all day, and a cloak of darkness hung over his mood. Smiling at patients and staff, a task that generally came so easily, had been borderline impossible. The desire to crawl into a dark cave clung to him. He hadn’t eaten all day either. When he’d tried, his stomach had turned over.

  “I thought you never got sick.” Her grin held amusement and affection.

  “Yeah, well, something was bound to catch me eventually.” The only problem was, it wasn’t some bug he’d picked up from a patient or one of the staff. He hadn’t seen Annie in nearly three weeks, and that weighed on him more than it should.

  The wolf’s dejected behavior was even more incomprehensible.

  No one had mentioned Annie, and he’d feared asking would draw unwanted attention.

  Had she quit? Had he really messed up and lost a perfectly good nurse? Maybe he’d have been better off letting her think he had some sort of principle against dating co-workers instead of being so honest. He’d replayed their conversation over in his head many times. The more he thought about what he’d said, the lamer it sounded. What would’ve been the harm of one dinner? As she’d said, it was just dinner. It didn’t have to be more than that.

  “Well, the day’s over, so you go home and rest. You probably shouldn’t come in tomorrow.” Callie’s gentle concern pulled his thoughts out of the flight pattern they’d held far too often lately.

  “You’re probably right.” The new moon would rise the next morning. If its coming was so dark and heavy, its arrival would be worse. “I think I’m going to crawl into bed and stay there for a couple of days. Hopefully I’ll feel human by Monday.” As human as a werewolf can get anyway.

  “You do that. I’ll let Trish know to reschedule your appointments for the next couple of days.” She squeezed his arm. “Take care of yourself, doc. You’re too important around here to let yourself get run down.”

  “Thanks.”

  Back in his office, Jeremy shrugged out of his lab coat, hung it on the coat rack inside the door, shut off the light, and headed for the front door.

  Chapter 4

  Jeremy’s residence

  Thursday, May 25, 2017

  “Jeremy.” A hand shook his shoulder.

  He groaned and opened one eye to peer up at the intruder. “Ian?”

  “Who else? I got a call this morning that you hadn’t gone to work. Said you were sick?” The big man lowered his heavy frame onto the wooden coffee table and leaned his elbows on his knees. “Since we don’t get sick, I figured I better check on you.”

  “Who called?” None of the wolves or their mates worked with him, and he hadn’t told anyone he was struggling, even Max, who was his best friend.

  “David’s wife took one of the kids in for a cut that was getting infected. She asked to see you.”

  “Oh.” He grimaced,
forced himself to sit up, and glanced at the clock. Nearly noon. A quilt bunched around his waist and thighs. He’d stripped on the way in the door the night before and fallen onto the couch naked, remaining awake long enough only to grab the folded quilt off the back of the couch and pull it over him. He hadn’t moved since. Clothes were still scattered across the floor.

  “Couldn’t even make it to bed, huh?”

  “No.” He lowered his gaze to the carpeted floor.

  “This new moon is kicking your butt, is it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You do know why, right?”

  “Not really. I feel like I caught a bug, but that’s not possible.”

  “Sure it is.” Ian half-grinned, revealing a double canine. “It’s called the love bug.”

  Jeremy winced. “You’re joking, right?”

  “Only a little.” The grin eased into a soft smile. “You’ve chosen a mate, and you’re fighting it. That doesn’t usually go well with us.”

  “No.” He’d made no such choice. “I decided not to marry when I was Turned. We already talked about this.”

  “Yeah, well, love doesn’t always wait for our cooperation.”

  “Love is a choice. I’ve chosen not to go there.”

  “If only it was that simple for us.” Ian shook his head and narrowed his eyes. “Surely you realize you’re dealing with a wolf’s instincts as well as a human heart. That complicates matters.”

  “Surprise, surprise,” he muttered. “All the wolf has brought to my life is complications. What’s one more?”

  The alpha chuckled. “I understand, believe me.”

  “Before the wolf, I was so steady emotionally. Since then, I feel like I’m subject to the whims of every breeze.” Shouldn’t he be stronger than that?