When they finally ran into the others, Nathan was all over Ezra, asking him to shift and let him see the whole extent of the injuries in human form.
"I am not shifting in the middle of nowhere, making a spectacle of myself!" Ezra protested, glaring at the very much human medic.
Buck and JD were also not their lupine selves, grinning from ear to ear. They had taken horses to look for their missing pack mates. While people in the cities scoffed at using four-legged transport, calling it backwater and stupid, everyone who came into the Territories knew it was the only viable mode of transportation out here. The railways passed by between the protected areas. There were no roads for vehicles going deeper into the wilderness, and it was dangerously stupid to try.
A group of engineers had once tried out a new kind of vehicle that they had hoped was immune to the strange energies coursing through the land, but it had broken down no two miles outside town. Much to the townspeople's amusement.
The Territories had their own laws. Nature.
So horses it were.
"Good to see you're okay, Ez," Buck told him. "And we brought clothes; just in case." He nodded at the backpack he had carried.
Ezra quickly shifted and pulled on the clothes, which, while belonging to him, were not a matching set. He would never have chosen the ensemble, because seriously: a white dress shirt with worker's pants and boots, topped by a buckskin jacket? Where had they unearthed that jacket from anyway? Ezra hadn't been aware of still owning one. But right now he couldn't care less. The clothes were clean and they fit.
Nathan had watched the shift with a medic's eye, but Ezra shot him a warning look. The scars were plain to see, stretching over his ribs, bright and red, but there was no blood.
"I prefer not to have you poke and prod me for everyone to see. If it has to happen, I'm more than willing to wait for when we arrive home."
Nathan rolled his eyes. "Have it your way, but you will be poked and prodded, Ezra."
Chris huffed a laugh. He had found his own clothes among those brought for Ezra and had already dressed in his habitual black. Vin simply stayed his shifted form, ready to make a quick patrol before following them to town.
Both men mounted the extra horses and headed for Four Corners.
X x X xX x X xX x X xX x X xX x X x
Another rain shower hit them just before Four Corners came into sight. Ezra groaned silently and Chris shot him a sympathetic look. The damp clothes and the ordeal of the last three days combined together made for a miserable trip. The sky was different shades of gray, looking like a canvas of a color-blind artist.
The town was still standing. Sure, it had suffered. Chris could see where solar panels had been ripped off the roofs and the wind generators had been torn to pieces, but it was nothing they couldn't fix. The general store that boasted 'Potter's Hardware' over the entrance was already open for business, and they were very busy indeed. People were carting off whatever they needed for repairs. Chris felt a knot untangle inside of him that he hadn't been truly aware of. This was his town, under his protection, and he hadn't been here to do his job.
Glancing at Ezra, who was assessing the damage with quick eyes himself, Larabee knew he had been where he had been needed: with one of his men. His mate.
Still, he was a regulator, a peacekeeper, a lawman, too. As such he felt a pang of remorse that the others had had to deal with the storm damage on their own.
Mary Travis greeted him, looking relieved at seeing the leader of the Seven.
"Mr. Larabee. Are you alright? We were worried when we heard you had been caught by the storm…"
"I'm fine. Nothing happened we couldn't handle," he said, giving her a bland smile. "The town got hit harder."
Any interest in her had waned with time. Actually, after a rather short time. She had been a distraction in the beginning and later simply another one of the many citizens he protected.
"It wasn't the first storm of its kind to hit us."
"Neither was it mine." Chris raised an eyebrow, making his point.
While Mary might be attracted to him, he knew it wasn't a true kind of emotion. She was mourning her late husband, looking for someone to lean on, and Chris had come at the wrong time. She might be fascinated by his shifter side, but he had seen her wary looks when he was the wolf. The first time she had almost looked scared.
"The science team still here?" he asked neutrally.
"They have booked rooms in the hotel for another month," Mary answered before Buck could. As the local news reporter she knew just about anything that was happening in town. "They have been trying to find a guide into the Territory. I hear Mr. Tanner has opted out." A fine smile played around her lips. "Horace is currently in first place for that honor."
Chris almost laughed. Horace Lambert was a notoriously broke hunter/trapper who had no love for 'city slickers and the like' and usually gave those hiring him as a guide a run-around for a few days until they were tired and ready to get back to civilization. He was a damn good tracker, no doubt, and he knew what he was talking about. He had never lost anyone on the guided tours he led. He simply didn't like outsiders prancing around and thinking they knew the Territory better than people who had lived here all their adult lives.
"Well, good luck to them."
"He can use the money," she agreed. "And he knows a few scenic routes. Mr. Boyd is trying to land a job with them, too, supplying pack horses and mules. Their money is always welcome."
Chris chuckled. Of course it was. Tommy Boyd ran the local livery and stabled residents' horses. It was where the Seven's horses were stabled, too. He took excellent care of the animals, but he charged hefty sums when it came to inner Territory treks. Those scientists would have to pay them if they wanted good and reliable horses.
His eyes found Ezra, who was by now pushed toward the clinic by Nathan, more or less forcefully. He was being his contrary self, arguing he was fine, as usual. And Nathan was having none of it. As usual.
"Listen to the man," Chris called, feeling amusement at the antics, coupled with the knowledge that as long as Ezra complained, he truly was fine.
The look he got was murderous. Chris knew his crossbreed mate was fine, that what had remained of the terrible injury was healing fine. He was bruised down to the bone, sore and probably aching, but he was fine.
"Catch me up," he turned to Buck as the doors of the clinic closed behind the two men.
"You wanna do that with me first?" Wilmington waggled his eyebrows, lips twitching in a smirk.
"Later. The town's situation, aside from the science invasion, first."
Buck, knowing when play-time was over and the boss was in, nodded and did just that.
Mary let them walk away, her eyes following the slender, black-clad form, but she didn't attempt to follow. Chris wanted to see a friend in her and he had told her that he wasn't interested in a more personal, romantic relationship. Yes, in clear, open words. She had been disappointed, but she had accepted it.
And she hadn't tried again.
Chris wondered if she was aware of Ezra's position, of what the two men had been for each other in the past. If she hadn't been so far, she would be soon. Chris didn't intend to keep his mate a secret. Everyone in town knew who was who in the pack, that no man was simply tolerated. Ezra being the alpha's mate would be just another information to be filed away.
X x X xX x X xX x X xX x X xX x X x
Ezra was ushered into the medical clinic the moment they entered Four Corners, despite his protests and his express wish to at least have something real to eat and a drink.
"Later," was all Nathan said, voice stern and filled with command authority.
"Listen to the man," was all Chris added, eyes dancing, before he turned away to talk to Buck.
Ezra shot him a dark look, then the door closed and he was alone with their resident medic. The clinic was well-equipped, had the latest in Territory-functional equipment, and while Jackson didn't have a medical doctor attached to his name, he was certified. He wouldn't have been able to open a clinic or a practice anywhere in any city, but Four Corners hadn't been picky. It was hard to get a professional physician out here and everyone was glad it was Nathan Jackson, who was also one of the regulators.
A sudden wave of dread passed through Ezra and he almost stepped back when Nathan made an inviting gesture toward his examination table. He trusted the man. He had never not trusted him in his profession, but Ezra didn't like to be examined and he hated to take any kind of medication that might affect his sharp mind. Losing control was his greatest fear.
"Ezra," the not-quite-doctor said softly. "I'm aware of what happened and I know you were badly hurt. Just let me check the injuries, even if you already healed them. I'm not going to pump you full of pain meds or anesthetics. You know I won't. And I'm sure Chris took good care of you."
"He did," Standish said quietly, stillvisibly balking, but he shrugged out of the jacket and undid the shirt.
Nathan nodded his approval.
Shifters had a slightly off metabolism, especially in their alternate form. Doctors had to compensate for that when administering drugs, but also when it came to stitching or stapling a wound. Normally they could heal a lot on their own, without intervention.
"Everything else okay?"
He shot the medic a sharp look.
"Josiah's drunk rambling didn't make much sense, but since Vin's been behaving strangely, too, there's something."
He refused to be baited. Not here, not yet. It was all too much in such a short time.
"Vin said it's up to you. And Chris."
Still silence.
Dark eyes met green ones and he knew Nathan burned with curiosity, but he also gave Ezra the room to go either way: answer or remain silent.
Ezra remained silent.
"Alright, tell me when something hurts," Jackson turned back to his professional self when nothing else was forthcoming.
His touch was clinical, detached, completely professional, and he let him gently probe the scarred area. It was still tender, strained because of their ride home and the shift, but it hadn't broken open again. Ezra knew his muscles would need a lot more time to be back in shape. He felt it with each wrong move, how weak his side was.
Nathan asked a million questions, especially about the first shift to human after the injury, about dizzy spells, possible nausea and so on.
"I'm fine," he finally muttered. "Everything's just fine! No dizziness. Just a little muscle pull. Some mild headache. I've been injured before. I healed before. I'm really, really fine, Nathan."
Nathan met his eyes, as if he was trying to read something in the bland expression that Ezra was unable to hide. Finally he nodded.
"Yes, you probably are. What you need is some solid food and rest."
"I had three days of rest!"
"And still your body will need more. Shifter metabolism demands a lot of energy through recovery. Your body poured all its resources into taking care of those wounds as quickly as possible. You healed just as expected, the visible injuries gone, but inside your body will keep working. Eat, drink a lot of water, sleep."
It got him a grunt. He knew all that.
"And Chris helped in your speedy recovery," Jackson continued. Ezra tensed for a moment. "An alpha's presence always does when a pack mate is severely injured. It doesn't mean you're completely healed. Take it easy, Ezra, that's all I want. Try not to exhaust yourself or stress that area too much. I know we have a job, a job you do as well as all of us, but leave the heavy lifting to others for a few days."
"Yes, Dr. Jackson," was the grumble.
"Amuse those folks with card tricks or whatever."
He huffed at the implication of becoming an entertainer only and pulled his shirt back on. He really needed a shower, clothes of his own choosing, and the solid food Nathan had mentioned. A steak sounded like heaven right now.
"I take it the local watering hole is still operational."
Jackson chuckled. "Yes. And the restaurant."
"Good."
With that he quickly left the clinic, barely suppressing a sigh of relief.
X x X xX x X x
Nathan watched the door close and sighed. He picked up his tools and stowed them away, then briefly cleaned up. He knew something had happened. More than just a closer connection between Chris and Ezra, who had been close already.
Everyone knew they were mates, except for those two morons, he mused. Well, they knew, but they had never talked about it.
But something had changed. He had seen it in Chris' demeanor, the way Vin had behaved when he had returned just before all hell had broken loose.
Nathan would wait.
He could be a very patient man.
tbc...