FF finally got it's act together and finally posted all your lovely reviews. Wow, I had no idea the cliffhanger from Wednesday would affect everyone so much! Thanks for all your reviews!

A note to guest reviewer opheliablack, the next Wolf fic will be back in the future and have turned Taylor and more baby Cali in it, I promise!


Chapter 3: At the Clinic

During the gun battle with the cartel, Fusco was only a few feet behind and to one side of Joss, crouching behind another packing crate. To his horror, he saw her body convulse as the electricity slammed into her.

He lunged towards her as the firefight raged around them. He only needed a second to size up the situation and kicked the cable out of the puddle. Joss's body continued to jerk for a few seconds afterwards and then collapsed forward and lay still. Frantically he felt for a pulse, but found none. Taking a deep breath he began CPR.

"Come on, Joss," he sobbed as he pressed down on her chest. "I'm not telling John I lost you."

It was only a few minutes, but to Fusco it felt like forever. He ignored the bullets flying around them hoping the packing crate would provide enough cover. All his focus was on saving his partner's life.

He barely noticed when Laskey crawled up until the young cop spoke. "My god, what happened?"

Fusco jerked his head in the direction of the sparking cable but didn't look up. "Electrocuted. Call for an ambulance."

An agitated Laskey made the call to the dispatcher for an ambulance while Fusco continued to work on his partner. Finally he was rewarded when she coughed and moaned. He felt for a pulse once again and nearly cried with relief when he felt her heart beat under his fingertips.

"How do you feel partner?" He asked.

Joss groaned. "Awful," she managed to gasp out before she dissolved into a coughing fit.

Fusco turned to Laskey. "We need to get her out of here."

Laskey scooped Joss into his arms. "Cover me."

Laskey bolted for the nearest exit while Fusco followed behind, laying down cover fire. Fusco was never so grateful as when they burst out the door into the humid night. They stumbled to the street and, shaking with the adrenaline rush, sank to their knees to await the ambulance.


Shaw drove as fast as she dared through city traffic without endangering civilians. John sat in the passenger seat with his head in his hands sobbing quietly. His raw grief was breaking even Shaw's supposedly non-existent heart.

They screeched to a halt in front of the Wolf Clinic and John bounded up the steps almost before the car stopped. He strode through the hallway while the clinic workers scrambled to get out of his way because it was obvious he would walk right over anyone who didn't. His eyes were burning with an intensity that threatened to scorch anyone who was unfortunate enough to catch his gaze.

"John, in here." John turned towards Fusco's voice to see him standing the doorway of a private room. John hurried towards him and with grin Fusco stepped aside so John could see a very much alive Joss sitting up in bed. John gasped when he saw her and the tears started flowing down his cheeks once again. In two strides he was at the bed gathering her into his arms, raining kisses down on the top of her head. Joss rubbed her hands in circles on his back trying to calm her trembling mate and kept repeating, "I'm OK, I'm OK."

"I thought you were dead," he whispered as he crushed her to his chest.

"She was for a few minutes," Dr. Cho said as he stepped into the room. "Fortunately, Fusco knows CPR."

John looked over at the Lionel. "Thank you," he said sincerely, his voice raspy from his display of grief.

Lionel grinned "I wasn't about to train a new partner," he quipped. "You should see the losers they promoted after the last round of tests!"

"From your reaction I'm guessing your mating bond was broken?" Dr. Cho asked John.

"He spent the last hour a sobbing mess," Shaw said as she stepped into the room.

John stroked Joss's hair while he addressed Dr. Cho. "I felt her die," he said, his voice choking.

The mating bond that mated Wolves shared could be both a blessing and a curse. The bond that formed between two Wolves when they accepted each other as mates as they made love allowed the pair feel each other's emotions resulting in an intimacy that non-Wolves could not hope to have. It was often compared to sharing a soul. Wolf matings were very strong and committed pairings, divorces were rare. However, when one half of the pair died, the other half could feel their beloved die and was often left bereft.

"I'm fine now," Joss reassured her mate again. She might not be bonded to John anymore, but she still had her Wolf sense, and she could feel that his distress was much worse than he was letting on. "We can re-bond…"

"Not for a couple of weeks," Dr. Cho interrupted throwing the Alpha pair a severe look. "I know you two are anxious to reestablish the bond, but Joss needs to keep quiet to let her heart recover from the shock. Nothing strenuous for the next two weeks. That includes bonding nookie."

John growled at that, but he knew the Dr. Cho, a born Wolf, would not say it if it wasn't the best thing for Joss. "Alright, two weeks," he said grudgingly as he held Joss tightly to his chest.

Fusco rolled his eyes. "This is going to be a long two weeks," he grumbled.

Shaw could only roll her eyes and nod her head in agreement. "I hope the Machine has a number someplace quieter, like Syria."


Dr. Cho wanted to keep Joss overnight for observation and run her through a battery of tests in the morning before he released her. John flat out refused to leave her and since he was an Alpha in a clinic staffed by Wolves, he got what he wanted. A cot was brought into the room for him, but as soon as the night nurse declared lights out, John was crawling into bed with Joss. He spooned with her, wrapping his large frame around her much smaller body and holding her tightly against him.

"Nurse isn't going to like this," Joss murmured sleepily as she snuggled back into him.

"Don't care," John said as he rested his cheek on top of her head. "I almost lost you today."

"You're stuck with me, remember?" she said softly.

"That's my line," John whispered and held her tighter.

A couple of hours later, the night nurse peeked in the door of the room to check on Joss and was quite unhappy to discover John and the patient spooned together, fast asleep. She started forward to wake John up and send him back to his cot when a large, beefy hand landed on her shoulder. She turned to see Lassen, the orderly on duty and a member of John and Joss's pack standing there. At 6'5", Lassen was one of the few wolves in the pack larger than John, and it had always amused Joss that he shared a name with a very large mountain.

"Leave them," Lassen whispered in a low voice to prevent waking the Alphas.

The nurse shot the orderly a dirty look. "They're not supposed to sleep together. The bed isn't big enough!" she hissed back.

Lassen nodded toward the bed. "They look like they are doing fine to me. Besides they need this. Leave them be."

The nurse looked at them again. She was not unsympathetic to their current situation since she, like most of the employees of the clinic, was also a Wolf and she understood what had been lost when their bond was broken. She looked at Lassen, nodded her head then slowly backed out of the room, leaving John and Joss to sleep.


Pam sat in the small cafe waiting patiently for her lunch companion to arrive. Ever the consummate spy, she made sure she'd carefully cultivated several friendships since joining the Carter-Reese pack that allowed her to gather information on John and his mongrel of those was the overly chatty Paula Dunnigan from the records department of the Wolf Clinic. Paula, who seemed oblivious to HIPAA confidentiality requirements, was always willing to spill the beans on the current medical condition of any patient currently under the care of the clinic. Pam had always nodded sympathetically and promised to keep any secrets to herself - which she did, she was a spy after all - but she was not above using those secrets for her own ends when it suited her. She was currently living comfortably off the proceeds from several blackmail scams she was running off the information she had gathered from Paula. Several prominent members of the New York political scene who were regular patients at the Wolf Clinic didn't want their status as Wolves publicized since being a Wolf was electoral suicide.

However, today Pam was nervous, even if she didn't show it on the outside. She had no idea how much Carter and Fusco had seen the previous night. She suspected that Carter had seen her just before she had dropped the live wire in the puddle where Carter had been crouching. Word had quickly traveled around the pack that their Alpha female had been severely injured, but there was little information beyond that. If Carter did remember seeing her there, she had better vacate New York with all possible speed. Attempted murder of one's Alpha was a very serious crime in the Wolf world, and she knew that if John ever found that she was involved in his mate's near death experience he would kill her without a second thought.

Silently Pam cursed Fusco and his quick reaction. She had underestimated the portly detective and it rankled her. She would not make that mistake again. When she became Alpha she would watch him very closely, maybe even dispose of him. John liked the slob, but he would get over it if Fusco were to meet with an "accident."

With a heavy sigh, she dropped her head into her hands. Her father would be so disappointed in her right now. She had failed in her mission, the mutt was still alive and she still had no hope of mating with her perfect Wolf. She could hear her father's voice now, "Never settle for second best, princess. You're royalty, you give 110 percent at all times and you never ever settle for second place."

Pam listlessly stirred her ice tea. She thought back to a day when she was 10 years old. Her mother had enrolled her in a soccer league as an outlet for an active preteen Wolf, but Pam hated soccer. Since her mom had paid the registration fee, she made Pam go to every practice and every game. Pam rebelled by being the laziest player on the team. She was a natural athlete like all Wolves from the Old Bloodlines, but she simply didn't try. She played well enough to get by, but that was all.

Then her father returned from one of his mysterious deployments and for the first time, attended one of her games. They won, but her father was furious with her. "You didn't even try!" he snarled at her.

Pam had been unable to look at him and had focused instead on scuffing her shoe along one of the sidelines. "I hate soccer," she mumbled in self-defense.

"It doesn't matter," her father had responded sternly. "I expect you to give it your best at all times. You're from the Old Bloodlines, Pamela, you are expected to lead." He paused and then delivered the worst blow of all. "I'm disappointed in you."

Pam growled. That had been like a punch in the gut. Since her dad had died, she had consistently strived to be the She Wolf he had wanted her to be, but a bunch of mongrels stood in her way. She would kill them all if she had to…

"Hello Pam!" came the sing song voice of Paula, derailing Pam's homicidal thoughts. Pam gritted her teeth and smiled at the older Wolf as she slid into the seat cross from her. Paula's constant, unrelenting cheerfulness set her teeth on edge, but Pam swallowed her irritation with the woman since she was a good source of information.

"Paula, I'm so glad to see you!" Pam gushed with fake enthusiasm. "How is Joss? I've been so worried!"

The waitress stopped at their table, and Paula ordered an iced tea, then turned her attention to her lunch partner. "Oh Pam, it was a horrible night last night! Dr. Cho said Joss actually died for a few seconds! John was beside himself! He stayed with her all night long and it took Joss, Lionel, Sam and Dr. Cho to convince him to go home and get some rest this morning. I saw him and he looked like death warmed over, poor guy."

Pam managed to look wide-eyed with horror at the situation, even though she wanted to choke when Joss's name was mentioned. "Is Joss alone at the clinic now?" Maybe she could sneak in later and do away with her rival.

Paula laughed, "Oh no! You don't know John very well; he would never leave her unguarded. Lassen is with her and you know how he is. He won't leave her side until John returns."

"John is very thorough," Pam commented, silently swearing to herself. She was pretty sure she could take the big guy if she had to, but this mission called for stealth, and beat downs on guys the size of Lassen were not stealthy. Sneaking into the clinic before Joss was released was out.

"Do you know what happened? How did Joss get hurt?" Pam asked the question that was burning on the tip of her tongue. The answer would tell her if she needed to run.

Paula shook her head. "Lionel didn't see much and Joss doesn't remember anything. Dr. Cho says that's common for trauma patients though. All we know is that it appears that Joss stepped into a puddle that had an electrical cable in it and got electrocuted."

It took all of Pam's training to keep the relief off her face. She was safe.

"So Joss is going to be alright?" she asked sweetly.

Paula nodded her head. "Oh yes, Lionel got to her before any permanent damage was done, and she will be fine in a couple of weeks."

"How wonderful!" Pam congratulated herself on her acting skills. She deserved an Oscar for being able to fake happiness at Carter's recovery so well.

"Oh, but there is one catch," Paula said in a conspiratorial voice as she leaned across the table. "You didn't hear this from me, but the fact that Joss died for a few seconds was enough to break her bond with John. They will have to bond again, but they can't for another two weeks because her heart needs to recover before they can have sex again."

Pam did a rapid calculation in her head. "They won't be bonded at the next the Pack Night? Poor things!"

Paula waved a hand. "I'm sure they will bond again as soon as they can. They love each other so much."

But Pam wasn't listening; a plan was forming in her mind.