Pheromonal: One Night With the Alpha-Chapter 19: Did You Drink?

"Who? Fake murdered what?"

To his credit, Logan manages not to sound irritated.

"The clients. Never mind. It doesn’t matter. You’re an asshole either way. Doesn’t change anything."

"Nicole, I’m not—" He blows out a breath. "It’s going to hurt."

He’s not wrong, and I grit my teeth. "You’re going to cut off my leg."

"No, I’m not. Let me do the other one."

I shake my head. "No. Just let that one die a natural death. It’s fine. You only need one leg."

"Nicole, just take a deep breath."

"Stop it, Logan. I don’t want this leg. I’m returning it for a refund."

"You can’t—Nicole, you’re delirious from blood loss. Shut up and sit still."

Wow. How very alpha of him, throwing out orders to save my leg. "No."

Son of a fucking bitch. The tourniquet feels like it’s going to pop my leg clean off. "I said I didn’t want the leg anymore!"

"Shut up, Nicole. You’re a terrible patient."

I gasp.

"I am not. Nurses love me."

Logan sighs, as if I’m somehow troubling him. How dare he? I’m a fucking delight. "I’m sure they do. Just stay here for a minute. Help is on the way."

"A tow truck? I think my car’s done for."

"An ambulance, Nicole."

"Didn’t you say the cat’s gone?"

Logan’s fingers comb through my hair, making me want to preen. "It’s for you. Sit still and stop rubbing on me. I think you hit your head."

Did I? I can’t remember. "There was a dragon. But no wings. So, a grounded dragon."

His hands still. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. A no-winged dragon. Threw me across the road. I think it wanted to eat me."

"Dragons don’t eat people," he says automatically, and I peer into his face, my nose only inches from his.

"Are you sure? He seemed very eat-y. See my shirt?" I point at the hole. "Brand new. Bought it on clearance, almost cried at the total. It’s silk. I love silk but it’s pricey. And not easy to keep clean."

"What about your shirt?"

At least he isn’t sighing anymore. "It drooled on me, and burned my shirt. I told you."

"No, you—okay. Nicole, let me check you for any head injury, and then you can keep talking."

I stiffen at the overly soothing tone of his words. "You think I’m crazy, don’t you?"

"Of course not. But you’re not in your right mind, you’re losing blood, and you’re unable to keep a train of thought. Just give me a minute to finish checking you over."

My eyes narrow. "You’re not a doctor."

"Thank God for small favors," he mutters, running his fingers over my scalp with gentle care. "Head looks okay. Does it hurt? Neck hurts? Okay to move around?"

I bob my head like a toy. "Peachy keen. What about the dragon?"

"There’s nothing here. It was just you when I got here. I can’t smell any dragons or the presence of any other shifter. Did you fall asleep driving, sweetheart?"

"What? No." Scowling, I jerk my head out of reach. "You just love to think the worst of me, don’t you? What about these?" I point at my legs. "You think claws came out of my car and grabbed me?"

"No," he sighs. "It would just be easier if you’d fallen asleep at the wheel. Anything that obfuscates their scent from an alpha wolf is nothing we want to run into on a mountain at night."

Oh. That makes sense, so I nod. "Okay." See? I’m reasonable, even if the world feels kind of fuzzy to me right now.

"This doesn’t look right," Logan mutters, having abandoned my head for my legs once again. "How can it look infected so quickly?"

"Infected?" Holding myself up feels like too much work, so I flop onto my back, feeling tiny pebbles in the road digging into my back. It’s like the princess and the pea, only I have thousands of peas digging into me. "Maybe it was a dirty dragon."

"You said it looked like a dragon. Have you ever seen one in person?"

"No." Squinting at the stars, my eyes trace them through the sky. I’ve never been able to pick out constellations. Not even the soup ladle ones. I guess I’m not artistic enough to see the shapes they make.

"No, I’ve only seen dragons in pictures." The stars above me blur and swirl, like someone’s stirring the night sky with a cosmic spoon. "They’re supposed to be massive reptilian creatures with scales, elongated necks, and powerful tails. They have retractable claws and four limbs."

My mind drifts to the textbook definitions I’ve memorized over the years. It’s easier to focus on facts than the throbbing pain in my legs or the surreal nature of this entire situation.

"Dragons are often associated with elemental powers, particularly fire-breathing abilities. Their scales are said to be nearly impenetrable, making them formidable opponents in both mythology and modern supernatural studies."

I pause, letting my head loll against the ground. The tiny pebbles dig into my scalp, but it’s a welcome distraction from the burning sensation in my thighs. A memory flashes through my mind, vivid and nauseating.

"Its breath smelled like sulfur," I mutter, wrinkling my nose at the phantom stench.

Logan’s face swims into view above me, his brow furrowed. "What’s the difference between what you saw and real dragons?"

I blink, trying to focus on his question. The world feels hazy, like I’m viewing everything through a gauzy curtain. "Real dragons? I don’t know."

My mind struggles to reconcile the textbook knowledge with the terrifying creature I encountered. "This thing... it was like a dragon, but wrong. No wings, like I said. And its eyes..." A shudder runs through me, setting off fresh waves of pain. "They were too intelligent. Calculating. Not like an animal at all."

I try to sit up, but Logan’s hand on my shoulder keeps me down. "It had no wings, but the cat came from the air. Right into my passenger side. I was going downhill. Spun me right round."

Right round, round, round... The lyrics to a catchy song from my childhood jingle around my head, making me snortle. It’s like a snort, and a chuckle, but you mix them together.

"Dragons don’t shift," Logan muses. "And they’ve long since left this continent."

"Practically extinct," I agree, closing my eyes as the stars spin.

Right round, baby, right round—

"Anything else?"

"Acid saliva. Claws that don’t retract. Yellow eyes, but looked more like a cat’s than a lizard." The words pop out of my mouth without thought. "Hissed like a cat too."

Weird. Are dragons more feline than lizard?

"How tall? How long? Did it talk to you?"

"Huge. Way bigger than my car. Could lift me with one hand." I pause. "Paw?"

"Did you see its tail?"

I shake my head against the ground. "No. When you howled, it disappeared. Poof. Puff of smoke. Like ninja cartoons."

"And the panther shifter. What did he look like?"

"Handsome. Muscles. Dark."

A strangled sound emanates from his direction, and I slowly roll my too-heavy head that way. "What?"

"You said he shifted?"

"Yes, when I—" Oh. That’s a secret. I snap my mouth closed, thinking my words through.

Logan’s face looms over mine. "When you what?"

"You’re so pretty," I breathe, distracted by the hard planes of his face.

Those gorgeous green eyes of his close, and I focus on the long eyelashes fanning across his cheekbones. Seriously, so unfair how attractive this man is.

"Nicole, the shifter. What did he look like?"

"Big, black panther. Jaguar?" I’m not up on my big cat identification. "Was wedged against my car, couldn’t really move. Shifted into a human and told me to run."

"How old was he? Long hair? Short? Hair color? Eye color? Accent?"

"I think," I announce, the world closing in on my vision, "I’m going to faint, my good sir."