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Chapter 10 – Hit and Run

The past week had been pretty uneventful, and Samuel had noticed that Annie was not as enthusiastic about their house hunt as he was. He hoped fervently that she was not having second thoughts about living with him. Glancing over to the passenger seat of his car, Sam had to smile at the peacefulness written across his daughter's face. She was resting her head on the glass, her body angled towards the door and her arms wrapped protectively around her midsection. In sleep, all of the nervous energy that she carried with her dissipated, leaving her looking younger than she really was.

It was late afternoon and they were returning to Mercy's after a long day of house-hunting. Sam was hoping to talk more with Annie before he started his shift at the hospital. She had been very closed off about her past when the topic had been brought up, but the old wolf was not too worried, they had year for her to open up so there was no sense in scaring her off by being to pushy now.

Pulling up in front of Mercy's trailer, Annie shifted awake as soon as the engine cut off.

"Hey you, have a nice nap?" Annie smiled slightly at the teasing grin she found on her father's face.

"As nice as your fancy car is Sam, my hunk of metal is way more comfortable to sleep in." Getting out of the car, Annie failed to notice the fleeting look of concern that graced Sam's features before his crooked smile was back in place.

They spent the next few hours eating leftovers and playing scrabble – it turned out that spelling was not Annie's strong suit, for all her reading. It was on the floor in the living room, game bored spread out between them, where Mercy found them when she came home. Looking up at the sound of the door, Annie threw the native woman a small smile in greeting.
"Hey Mercy, you're just in time for my grand finale." Samuel called out, not bothering to look up – after all, he had heard her car from down the street. Not hearing a reply, Sam raised his head, a small frown on his face.

Mercy stood at the entrance, leaning against the closed front door for support. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Sam was up and in front of her in the span of a breath, leaving a confused Annie alone on the floor.

Snapping out of her odd state, Mercy waved off Samuel's help and moved past him into the house.

"I'm fine." She stated, dropping her car keys and purse on the coffee table. Sitting on the chair closest to her she looked at the two occupants in the room with a sombre expression. "Scott, one of Adam's pack, was attacked." The statement hung in the air, heavy and ominous.

"What do you mean attacked?" Samuel asked, immediately going into doctor mode.

"He was run over by a truck, repeatedly. Adam and Darryl are going to get him from the hospital now. He wants you to meet him there."

Sam nodded, briskly turning around to head towards his room. Pausing, he looked directly at Annie, who had sat silent throughout the entire exchange.

"Go to Adam's house, Jesse should be there, both of you stay inside and don't leave." The order was give in a tone that brooked no argument, and Annie found herself nodding, her smile gone.

"I will come with you," Mercy announced. "there is nothing I can do at the hospital."

Soon after the trailer was empty, with Sam grabbing his medical bag and hightailing it towards the hospital and Annie and Mercy putting away the scrabble game and walking over the back paddock towards the Hauptman residence.

"Who is Scott?" Annie asked, finally finding her voice. Sneaking a peak at her companion, she noted the worry lines emerging on Mercy's forehead. Sighing, Mercy answered.

"He is one of Adam's wolves, I don't really know him, but he's a pack member, so this is pretty bad."

Annie nodded, not really understanding everything but unwilling to ask for clarification. "Is he going to be ok?" By now they had reached the back door of the mansion. Warren was waiting for them on the porch. Tipping his hat to the newcomers he spoke.

"I don't think we can answer that question yet."

Mercy nodded at the cowboy and motioned for everyone to go inside. Once in the house she answered.

"Werewolves are tough. He has several broken bones, and a few crushed ones, most humans would be dead. We will know more when we get him back here. Samuel is a good doctor." Warren caught Mercy's eye, and Annie watched as something unspoken passed between the two and not for the first time since starting this adventure, felt out of her depth. This was bad. That much she could tell. But there was so much she didn't know. Crossing her arms in front of her, Annie walked forward into the house to find Jesse.

"Do you get a lot of this kind of stuff?" Annie asked, tucking her feet under her knees. It had been an hour since Samuel had run off to the hospital and Annie and Jesse were currently sitting on the younger girl's bed, waiting.

"Kind of, I mean being a werewolf is kind of dangerous, but not many of them get attacked like this." Jesse shrugged. "It sucks being the only human here though. They never tell me anything." Annie nodded. She had a feeling that she would go insane if she was always kept in the dark about the safety of her friends.

A large black jeep pulled up the driveway and parked next to the couple of cars already there. Annie and Jesse both bounced off the bed and ran to the window, watching as Adam, Samuel and the dark-skinned man she had seen the other day all got out and carried a prone figure into the house. Looking at each other, Annie saw the fear and determination in her friend's face before following her as she sprinted out of the room and down the stairs.

The living room was chaos. The tension of the wolves' upset was a weight pressing down on everyone and Annie was struck with double vision. Shaking her head she stayed at the bottom of the steps as she watched the scene unfold before her.

Adam was barking orders at someone to move the furniture out of the way as they moved Scott to the living room. Setting him down on the floor, Samuel moved quickly to check over the body of the wolf to make sure his condition hadn't worsened. Adam was concentrating on keeping the injured wolf in control, reassuring him that he was no longer in danger. Mercy moved closer and placed her hand on Adam's arm, her presence helping to settle his own wolf, which was raging for revenge over the harm of his pack-member.

Having moved the furniture, Warren went over to assist Samuel in looking over the body on the floor. He had been in a similar situation in the not too distant past, and was ready to help restrain him if need be, though from the looks of it he would be out for some time. Unresponsive and bloodied, Scott's was hardly recognizable.

Ben parked his car and ran up the steps into the house and stopped short as soon as he got to the living room. Everyone had felt it when Scott was hurt, thanks to the pack bonds, but no one knew how badly. Looking down at her now, he was speechless. Almost.

"Bloody hell, what did they do to him?"

It was Samuel who answered.

"Ran him over about five times with a large vehicle," He growled. "He's got five broken ribs, two broken legs, a crushed forearm and ankle. Internal injuries most likely and more than a few cuts." Whistling under his breath, Ben shook his head and looked around. Darryl was being occupied by Adam and Mercy, Warren was now helping the doc and Honey and Paul were keeping Jesse at a safe distance in the kitchen. His eyes landed on Annie and stopped. Half hidden by shadow, she was a statue by the stairs, watching with an alarmed look as her father worked to give Scott a fighting chance. Even now, his wolf was awakened more by her than anything else that had happened. She was too close to the rest of the company; with no Honey or Paul to save her if things went south. Idiot.

Swiftly walking over to her, he sneered slightly when her head snapped towards him in surprise. Silly chit wasn't even paying attention to her surroundings. Getting closer, he felt something odd when he watched her shuffle backwards away from him up the first few steps of the staircase.

"Go upstairs before anything gets out of hand, you'll just be in the way here." He told her. Annie's eyes, which had widened at his approach, narrowed as soon as he spoke. Opening her mouth to argue, she was interrupted by an inhuman cry of pain coming from her right. Looking back, both Ben and Annie realised that Scott had woken up, and was now struggling to get up, his pain and vulnerability making the wolf take over. Swearing under his breath Ben turned and grabbed Annie by the forearms, bodily pushing her part of the way up the stairs before being called back down to help. Turning to look her in the eye, he said, "Stay up here, its safer." before jumping down to the bottom step with more grace than Annie thought possible.

Samuel had done all he could to help the wolf, bandaging his wounds and setting his bones in the correct places. He needed several stiches and more than a few casts, but thankfully hadn't fought him too much after Warren and Adam had switched places. Adam was able to calm his wolf down while Warren and Darryl stood close by.

Mercy had taken Jesse upstairs to her room and Honey and Paul had moved with Scott to the holding cell downstairs. The presence of pack members, especially a submissive like Paul, was soothing to the more dominant wolves in a crisis. Moving past Ben towards the stairs, Sam went back up to the main area of the house. Looking around, he finally spotted Annie, sitting halfway up the stairs, an unreadable look on her face.

"Are you ok?" He asked, moving to sit beside her.

"I'm fine. How is the patient?" Annie looked over at Sam, noting his blood stained hands and tired appearance. Sighing, Samuel moved to rub his face but stopped when he remembered that he still had his gloves on. Stripping them off, he answered.

"If he makes it through tonight, he will live." Nodding, Annie looked thoughtful for a moment before placing a hand comfortingly on his shoulder.

"You should get some rest, you look exhausted." Sam shook his head.

"I can't, I need to stay here and watch Scott, and call Da." Seeing the puzzled look on his daughter's face, he realised that he had yet to mention his father to her. "Your grandfather is a werewolf too, he will want to know about the attack." He stated.

Annie blinked in shock. She had figured that Samuel's father was long dead, considering he was a werewolf and older than he looked. This revelation however had Annie thinking.

"Are there any other furry family members I don't know about?" she asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer. She had felt so good about coming here these past few days, but her old fear of disrupting his life was now back with a vengeance. Sensing her distress, Sam straightened.

"I have a brother, also a werewolf. They both live in Montana, and both of them want to meet you." He said, hoping to reassure her. Nodding but not convinced, Annie looked away, desperate to change the subject.

"So, what now?"

"Well for now we wait. I would like you to go find Mercy and Jesse, Jesse likes all the wolves in her father's pack and could use some company. Please tell Mercy that I'm done doctoring and need to speak with her." Getting up, Samuel and Annie went their separate ways, Annie finding the two aforementioned people in Jesse's room. After relaying the message to Mercy, Annie went over to sit with Jesse on the bed while the mechanic trotted back downstairs.

"Hey, you ok?" Annie asked, unsure of what to do. Her experiences of the bright teenager were all happy ones, so seeing her with tear streaked cheeks and a red nose was unsettling.

Nodding, the younger teenager rubbed her face with her hands before taking a deep breath.

"I hate seeing them hurt, you know?" Nodding, Annie shuffled a little closer so that they could lay on the bed together, giving her friend a reassuring squeeze of the hand, they laid there for hours, just thinking.

Opening her eyes, Annie realised that she must have fallen asleep. Sneaking off the bed without waking up Jesse, Annie walked out to the main part of the house, looking around for other signs of life. She found Warren and Mercy in the dining room, each with a cup of coffee sitting untouched in front of them. Looking up as she walked in, Annie was greeted by all three occupants.

"Would you like some coffee?" Mercy asked, already moving to get a mug. Nodding her head, Annie turned to the couple across from her and pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Hi Warren." She said as she sat down next to him.

"Hello back, I can't say that I like the circumstances, but it's nice to see you again Annie." His soft voice didn't carry much humor, but his attempt was appreciated nevertheless.

"Yeah, I hope I'm not intruding, Jesse is out cold for now, and I don't feel like sleeping."

Mercy came back in with another mug and gave it to Annie.

"Not at all, Warren and I are just keeping each other company. There's nothing else we can do really. Your father is downstairs with everyone else." She said, sitting back down.

The time dragged on in relative silence, with little conversation to pass it. Feeling someone watching her, Annie looked up to see Ben walking towards them from the living room. Moving into the dining area, his gaze lingered on Annie before he turned his attention to Mercy and Warren. "Adam is on his way up, the doc is staying downstairs, Warren and I are on guard duty for tonight and everyone else should get here in the morning."

Standing up, Warren drained his lukewarm coffee and pushed in his chair.
"I'll take front, you get the back. Night Annie." Depositing his battered cowboy hat on his head, Warren moved out of the room towards the door as Ben made his way towards the back of the house.

Mercy and Annie washed out the mugs and placed them in the drying rack just before Adam came into the kitchen.

The wolf was awake and angry, but trapped under an iron cage of control. Even so, Annie and Mercy could both feel the power of the animal so close to the surface.

"Bran will send Charles down here in a few days when he can spare him; in the meantime I'm tightening security. Jesse will be staying indoors. I don't want you going to work until whoever did this is dealt with." Adam stared at Mercy, his entire being focused on her. Annie was suddenly struck by how dangerous and scary Adam was and wondered why she hadn't noticed this before. If Mercy was at all uncomfortable, she didn't show it. Putting the last mug in the rack, she turned to face her mate.

"I have to go to work, but I can call Zee and ask him to help out." Moving towards her boyfriend, Mercy placed a calming hand on his arm. "They are hardly going to attack me in broad daylight, and we already know who is responsible. I will be fine."

Backing away from what was clearly a very private moment for the couple, Annie left the kitchen feeling more out of place than ever before. Walking down the hall, she crossed her arms over her chest. She was out of her league in all new territory. It was like playing a game but only knowing half the rules; all the other players had the advantage. Collapsing on the couch, Annie dragged the throw blanket off the back and curled up in it. Picking up the remote for the television, she refused to think about anything supernatural.

Looking over at the clock, Annie noticed it was almost 2am. She hadn't been able to sleep with so many questions buzzing through her head, so she had stayed up on the couch watching late night TV instead. Padding over to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee, Annie went over everything in her head. Someone was attacking this pack of wolves, and from what little she knew, they already had an idea of who that was. An old enemy perhaps? Her father had hidden family members from her, or hidden her from them. Well, she conceded, perhaps not hidden so much as failed to mention. She could hardly expect him to own up to having a bastard child to his entire family could she? Who were they? What were they like? They were werewolves, she knew that, but what exactly did that mean? All she knew about them was that they were dangerous, sometimes scary and liked to tell people what to do. Scowling at the dark liquid as she poured it into a mug, another disturbing thought popped into her head. Him. That cocky Englishman from dinner. Who was he to order her around like she was some ignorant child? And now he was out there somewhere, playing bodyguard. He might be trustworthy, he had chosen to protect the alpha's home after all, and Warren seemed to like him. But still, the way he stared at her! It made her feel so… uncomfortable.

Looking at her steaming cup of coffee, Annie rolled her eyes at herself. It didn't matter what that Ben guy was like, as soon as she moved in with Sam she wouldn't have to deal with him, except for when she visited Jesse. Looking at the clock again, Annie decided to make Warren a cup of coffee. It was a bit past 2 am he was still out there.

Walking to the front door armed with a steaming mug, Annie opened it up to reveal Warren leaning against a post by the stairs, looking out over the yard and river.

"Hey Warren, I got coffee." Annie said by way of greeting. He could already tell she was coming, so he hadn't been surprised by the door. Turning to see her, he smiled and reached for the mug.

"Thanks m'am. It's awful cold out here at night." Annie moved to stand beside him on the porch, still wrapped up in the cover from the couch.

"I thought werewolves liked the cold." She said, looking over at her companion. Warren nodded.

"We do, but it's still nice to know we're appreciated." Annie smiled as the old cowboy raised his mug in salute before taking a swig.

"Yeah, well, I was already up so it was no trouble." Warren nodded, an understanding expression on his face. The two were silent for a moment.

"So did you already give Ben his coffee?" Startled, Annie jumped.

"What? Um, no, I didn't. I mean, I didn't make him one." Annie stumbled over her words, missing Warren's smile completely as he hid it behind his cup. Of course she hadn't made him one. He was… creepy.

"I see, my mistake. You know though, if he's anything like I am, he could use one." At this the girl snorted, her blue eyes rolling to the side.

"I highly doubt he is anything like you." Warren smiled at her reaction. Ben sure had gotten under her skin already; he just hoped his young friend knew when to stop digging.

"I don't know, he'll surprise you. I wouldn't be so quick to judge." Looking out over the land again, Warren waited for the effect his comment would have. Sure enough, the girl beside him was silent, fidgeting slightly with the corner of her cover. After a few moments she shook her head as if to dislodge an idea from her head. Wrapping her arms tighter around herself, Annie straightened and moved back towards the door.

"I'm going to bed. Goodnight Warren." Warren saluted her with his mug as she left, barely keeping a straight face. As the door closed he was left with only his near empty cup of coffee and the lingering smell of her lie.

"You're welcome, Ben." He whispered under his breath.

Inside the house Annie scowled the entire time as she made another cup of coffee. Damn that annoying English jerk and damn that unassuming werewolf in his cowboy hat and damn the cold for making her feel guilty for not making more coffee. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself. It didn't matter if she was making him coffee, or if Warren or Mercy or Adam or whoever else thought he was a nice guy. She didn't have to like Ben, and making coffee meant absolutely nothing to her. She was already up and had given one to Warren, so it was simply the fair and rational thing to do.

Picking up the coffee and squaring her shoulders, Annie continued to explain her own reasoning in her head as she walked out towards the back door.

Ben could hear bare footsteps coming closer from inside. It was probably Jesse, being too loud to be any of the weres or Mercy – they all moved so quiet it was harder to pick up. Turning around as the door swung open, Ben took a breath to tell Jesse to go back inside but was halted by the vision before him.

There, framed by the light coming from the open doorway, was Annie. Her jeans and plain tee shirt from earlier were partly covered in the small blanket she had wrapped around herself. Her blonde wavy hair was loose down her back and shoulders, slightly mussed and shimmering dark gold in the fake light. For a moment he was stunned, this was certainly not what he expected. His eyes caught her movement as she pulled at her bottom lip with her teeth, her discomfort obvious.

For all of the discussion Annie had with her brain, everything seemed to stop when she opened the door. Ben was standing only a few feet away, angled so that he was not fully in the light from the door, but half of his figure was in shadow. His eyes were visible in the yellow light, and she watched as they looked her over, taking in every detail. Looking away and extending her arms, Annie motioned for him to take the mug from her hand.

"I made coffee."

Looking down, Ben cocked his head slightly before reaching out to take the steaming mug. As his hand closed over the mug, her fingers grazed his, causing her to suck in a small breath. As soon as he had the cup she let go, pulling her hand back as though she had been burned.

"Thanks love." He said, the suggestive tone in his voice was more of a habit than anything, and he mentally winced when her eyes snapped to his, narrowed in distaste. He had a moment to think of how odd it was that he found he liked the fiesty look on her face before she spoke.

"It was Warren's idea, not mine." Her stance was defensive, and without anything further she was back inside, leaving Ben both confused and annoyed by the truth he heard, without knowing why he felt either.

To be continued very soon.

Until then, I hope you liked it.

Quick.