Wolf's Call (Wolves Next Door #2) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,43

"You can't stand against a wolf, and Ashley's got it."

I felt my throat tense again. "I'm the worst Alpha Female ever, aren't I?"

"No," she soothed. "Elena, you're not supposed to be an alpha. You're the mate. His girlfriend. That's all it is. Your job is to be Gabby's mom and a nice woman we can all feel comfortable talking to, ok? Even Xander thinks you're nice, and he hates everyone."

"I've never really met him before," I admitted.

She just rubbed my shoulder. "Well, you will. He's kinda my boyfriend, you know. And, um, he's Roman's best friend. Just don't hate him when he and Gabby have it out, ok? It's completely natural."

"Like that?" And I tipped my head toward the door.

Olivia's mouth opened, hung for a moment, then closed. After swallowing, she tried again. "No, that's not natural. It's a sign of extreme emotion, usually anger, and, um, an unstable mind." She moved to sit beside me. "Mom says that woman needs help. I think she's psycho, but the whole pack is going to make sure you're ok. Promise."

Which was when Ashley finally walked back into the house, completely naked. "Where the hell is my shirt?" she demanded.

Olivia just pointed to where it was visible to us but around the corner from Ashley. "I didn't move anything, but Elena scraped her knee up pretty good. And she's dizzy from watching the shifting."

"Go call my brother," Ashley told her. "And his betas. Where's Gabby?"

"Drama until seven," the boy, Xander, said from the door. "Roman's with her."

"Then you," Ashley told him, "get to walk the kids home and make sure there's a teen with them from now on. If Karen's slipping, we need to do something about it." Then she looked at me. "And once I have my clothes on, you're going to see the new doctor. You can walk, or I can carry you, but I have no intention of letting my brother and his betas chew me out because I let you get hurt on my watch."

"I can walk," I promised. "At least to my car." Because while I didn't think I needed more than a band-aid, her tone convinced me that arguing was pointless. Clearly, this was happening.

CHAPTER 13

Ashley pulled on enough of her clothes to be decent, then drove me all the way over to Dr. Bridget's home. I just sighed, letting her have her way. My knee really wasn't that bad. Seeing the monster Karen had become was more of a shock, but I was starting to get used to the unbelievable. After all, my own kid turned into a wolf on a regular basis. A half-wolf monster? Of course that was a part of this mess.

Our path took the long way back toward Ashley's house. I didn't understand until we pulled into the driveway on the other side of her father's place, right between Henry and Kim's homes, just two up from Ashley's house. The moment the car was off, my best friend hurried over to knock on the front door, then came back to help me. I waved her off, managing to walk just fine on my own, thank you very much. When Dr. Bridget opened it, Ashley all but forced me inside.

"A lycan attacked her, and now she's bleeding," Ashley snapped.

"Bedroom," Dr. Bridget ordered, pointing me the right way.

"I scraped my knee when I clipped the edge of my car," I told them both. "Karen never touched me. I just fell down like a klutz. That's it."

Dr. Bridge let out a heavy sigh. "I'm assuming the alpha is on his way?"

"You know he is," Ashley assured her.

"Then you deal with him," the doctor decided. "I'm with my patient." And she steered me into the first room on the left.

Inside was a pretty standard guest room, except that the bed was covered with a vinyl shell. The dresser had generic medical supplies on the top, things like gauze and cotton balls. The sorta stuff I was used to seeing in a standard exam room. Dr. Bridget just waved me over to the bed.

"So, the wolf didn't claw you, bite you, or anything else?" she asked, making it sound overly routine.

"I was keeping my car between us," I explained. "She turned to come the other way, I tried to spin, and my hips aren't as narrow as I wish, so I clipped the corner, twisted my ankle because of my heels, and went down on the concrete. That's it."

"And Ashley is having a minor panic attack because...