Eric had to explain all over again.
Doc stopped stitching him up for a moment to consider him, his white brows deeply furrowed. “I’ll have to give Darien a medical report.”
“Over a couple of lousy stitches?” Eric snorted, wishing he could have pretended nothing was wrong, but because of the location of the second bite, he couldn’t have stitched the wound closed himself. Plus the antibiotics could help keep the bite from becoming infected. Suturing it would help it heal faster than if he’d just let his enhanced wolf healing abilities take care of it.
“Twelve on one shoulder, ten on the other. And they’re fine stitches, if I do say so myself. I’d tell you to take it easy for a couple of days, no running as a wolf, and by the end of the week you should be mostly healed. But I know you won’t listen to me.”
Eric grabbed up his shirt, but didn’t put it on. With the suturing and the new bandages, he wouldn’t bleed on the driver’s seat and he didn’t want to put on the bloody shirt.
“Take it easy, and if you need anything for pain…”
“Nothing. Thanks.” Eric left the clinic and when he arrived home, he called Sarandon one last time for the night. He really didn’t want to take Sarandon with him tomorrow, but pack leader orders. He began washing the blood out of his shirt when Sarandon answered.
“Hey, what did Doc say? You must have already seen him by now.”
“Couple of stitches. Why don’t you come with me to try and locate the pack tomorrow? I want to check on the woman and see how she’s faring.”
Sarandon was so quiet, Eric thought he’d lost the connection. “Okay?”
“I know you didn’t threaten the women or this wolf, or you would have taken a chunk out of him. You didn’t, did you?”
“No. I just left the area.”
“If he’s a lupus garou, it seems he wouldn’t react so aggressively unless he were provoked.”
“I didn’t provoke him.”
“I know. I’m just saying, it seems odd. It seems he has more at stake here.”
“Alpha male pack leader, I suspect. Anyway, no big deal.”
“And the woman you’re interested in?”
“Yes, she’s alpha. At least around the women she was with at the creek, and then later when she met up with me at the cabin.”
“You were alone, together?”
“No. Give me a break.”
“Then the guy was most likely her mate.”
“One of the women said a guy wanted to court her but she wasn’t interested.”
“How many are following that wolf then?”
“The one who attacked me was probably with her pack. She might be a sub-leader or just another alpha in the pack. He might be the pack leader, or a sub-leader or just another alpha in their pack. We have several alphas in ours. She might have several in hers. And if he’s not with her pack, he could be a lone wolf.”
“All right. I’m just saying don’t get your hopes up. Wait, you’ve been trying to catch up to the wolves growing pot in the remoter areas of the park. Don’t tell me you think this pack has anything to do with it.”
“Do you want to come with me or not?” Eric couldn’t help being annoyed. He wasn’t declaring his interest in courting the she-wolf. Yeah, he found her attractive, and just the fact she was an alpha intrigued him. But she hadn’t trusted him enough to help take her pack member to Dr. Weber. Then again, maybe that was some of his problem. The need to prove he was trustworthy and not in the least bit bossy. As to the other matter, he wasn’t going to say they might be the wolves who planted the weed if they were innocent.
“Did Doc say you should rest up a bit?” Sarandon asked, abruptly changing the subject, as if he knew Eric was about to leave him out of this.
“Yeah, he did. But you know him. He always thinks anyone who has been injured should be abed for days afterward.”
“Of course he does, because he doesn’t want to have to redo his work if the wolf doesn’t mind him and pulls out the stitches. And, hell yeah, I want to go with you. Did you want to ask CJ to come with us? As a deputy sheriff, he would lend a little extra weight.”
“No. I don’t want to escalate this into something more than a case of reaching out to show friendship.”
“All right. I’ll make sure the group I’m working with gets an early start counting butterflies so I can make it in time to give my lecture, and then we can see to this other matter at lunchtime.”