The Pack Rules Boxed Set: The Complete Series of Wolf, Bear, and Dragon Shifter Romances by Michele Bardsley

Author:Michele Bardsley [Bardsley, Michele]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Freeman Publications
Published: 2015-03-15T04:00:00+00:00

2

GRETCHEN MYERS WOKE to an endless and rhythmic beeping. She was strapped to a bed—the only thing she recognized in the cloying darkness. Her head throbbed and her chest hurt. He’d found her. Her stepsister’s demented husband had found Gretchen and imprisoned her. He would kill her.

Just like he’d killed Vivian.

Gretchen bit back an anguished wail.

A swath of white cut through the room’s utter blackness. Fear awakened inside her, but it was dull and thick, like chilled honey. Through heavy-lidded eyes, Gretchen watched a stocky female figure walk briskly to the bed and reach above her head. A light flickered on. She blinked into the harsh brightness, attempting to focus on the woman hovering above her.

Gretchen noted the kind face, the short silvery gray hair, and the blue scrubs. She squinted at the plastic rectangle pinned on the woman’s top. Sally Shake, R.N. She moved her arms and realized her what she believed to be a strap was actually an IV line inserted into her right wrist.

“Where am I?” Her voice sounded like the metallic squeal of a rusted hinge. She tried to wet her mouth, but it was like swallowing cotton. She coughed, and pain pulsed in her ribs. Ouch.

“Hello there! I’m Sally. You’re at Summerlin Hospital. They brought you in last night.” Sally seemed to intuit Gretchen’s dire thirst. She poured water from a pink plastic jug into a cup. “Here you go, sweetie. Just a little bit. Enough to get your mouth wet.”

Gretchen lifted her head and took small sips, resisting the urge to gulp. The cold water was pure nirvana, and in the moment, better than any liquid she’d ever tasted. After a few moments, she sank back onto the pillow. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I feel so tired.”

“It’s the meds.” The grandmotherly woman patted Gretchen’s arm. “You’re banged up, but you’ll be okay. Do you remember anything about the car accident?”

Memory flickered. The dark winding road. Twin dots of light appearing in the rearview mirror. Fear knotting her throat. Her hands shaking. Metal crunching. Tires screeching. Terrified screams. Hers. Kaylie’s.

Oh, my God. “Is the baby all right?”

Sally turned from checking the monitors. “Baby?”

“Yes. My … uh, daughter. Kaylie. She’s almost four months old.” Gretchen’s heart thudded. Had Kaylie been hurt when the sedan crashed into the trees? No. She had to believe the baby was all right. Gretchen couldn’t let Vivian down, not when her stepsister’s final act on this earth had been to protect that sweet baby girl.

“I’ll go check on your daughter. The doctor will be here any minute.” Sally’s smile offered reassurance, but Gretchen knew better than to trust anyone. Especially people hiding behind masks of being friendly professionals. Her hazy memory seemed to go in and out of focus—sharp one second, blurred the next. She couldn’t think straight. Please, please, please let Kaylie be okay.

In last twenty-four hours, Gretchen’s entire world had been turned upside-down with one run-in from a woman she hadn’t seen or heard from since they were teens. It was only by chance that they had re-connected.

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