Free Bite Me (London Undead) by PJ Schnyder Page B

would only give to this pack brother. It was about as close to a peace offering as Seth would give for his temper regarding Maisie.
    “Healed clean. I don’t smell any infection or leftover lead.” Danny gave his assessment with a hint of grudging respect. “She did a good job of it.”
    “Aye, she did.”
    Danny moved back into Seth’s field of vision, a grin on his face. “You going to let her put more holes in you or just get yourself randomly injured here so you can go get her to patch you up?”
    Seth bared his teeth.
    “Well, you’ve made it clear you’re going to go see her again. What excuse are you going to have ready?”
    “I don’t need an excuse.” Seth paused, then shook his head. Did he? “One night, Danny, one night and I can’t get her out of my head. Every part of me wants to head back over to her place, catch her up and bring her back here. I want her in my den, where I can keep her safe, mark her with my scent.”
    “Whoa there.” The medic’s brows were raised in surprise. “Never thought to see you bitten this way.”
    Neither had he. The wolf in him could identify a mate—the mate for him—far sooner than the man in him. He’d thought the woman for him had died years ago, yet the last twenty-four hours had set him on his arse.
    “While I’d dearly enjoy pressing you for more details on this very special lady friend, we’ve got an interesting report in from one of the patrols.” Jerking his head in the direction of the door, Danny gave him an apologetic grimace. “Pretty certain you’ll be interested in light of the observation you just made.”
    “Why did you wait so long to tell me?”
    “Not used to you all warm and fuzzy, wanted to be sure to get a feel for what was on your mind before setting this issue in your lap.”
    Seth considered the situation. These new developments with the zombies might require in-depth investigation. Normally he let his seconds handle reports, but if Danny had brought this one to his attention...
    He began pulling the weights off the bar and placed them back on the racks. “Let me finish setting these to rights and I’ll meet you in the ‘wreck’ room.”
    Danny nodded and gave him a moment of peace. The “wreck” room was actually more of a sort of telly and entertainment room at pack headquarters. Informal. Most of the junior pack members spent time relaxing, watching shows on the vid or playing cards. The bonds of the pack were built as much on quality social time as in combat.
    If the report had come during the day, it was probably from one of the junior pack members and the pup would give a clearer report in a setting more familiar and less of a strain for him.
    Finished setting the plates back on their rack, Seth used his towel to give the bench a quick wipe down. Then he headed out of the gym and down the hall.
    As he’d thought, the patrol waiting was composed of three young Weres. One had been with them for more than a decade, the other two were more junior, having only made the change in the past five years. The younger pups fidgeted despite the casual environment.
    Seth nodded to each of them, then Danny, who waited off to one side. He chose a big armchair and sat, keeping his body language relaxed. The others sat as well, staying even with the level of his head in a gesture of respect.
    “Something unusual in today’s report?” Calm voice, soothing.
    The two pups kept their eyes glued to the floor but their shoulders relaxed. The older werewolf kept his eyes on Seth’s shoulder, still not making eye contact but not staring at Seth’s throat the way some of the others did, hungry to advance in the pack hierarchy. He did the talking.
    “We were out on a standard patrol route, sir. And the normals were all stirred up about an apartment complex. Lots of bodies—in pieces, all rotted or tainted.” Sentence structure broke down as he reacted to the memory associated with the report. Werewolves remembered everything in a