“Would you like a rainbow?” Simon turned to see Becky standing in the rain, holding out a cookie to Sheri. “If you eat a rainbow it will go inside you. The colors are so pretty.”
He heard Sheri take a deep breath and could only imagine what she was thinking. “Becky, sweetheart, why don’t you go sit in the truck, okay?”
She frowned. “I wanted to meet your friend.” She looked over his shoulder at Sheri. “She needs a rainbow.”
He felt a soft hand touch his arm. “It’s okay, Simon.” Sheri’s pale blue eyes turned to Becky. “Would you like to come in my room and get out of the rain? I promise if you do I’ll share the rainbow with you.”
Becky’s answering smile was beautiful. “Okay.”
Sheri gently pulled Becky into her room. Simon was confused when Sheri leaned in close to Becky and sniffed her neck. He followed the two women into the room and watched as Sheri carefully broke the cookie in half. “Here you go. Becky, right?”
Becky nodded happily as she munched on the cookie and stared out the window.
“I’m Sheri.”
Becky turned. “You’re so pale. Where did your rainbows go?”
Sheri sighed. “I was born without rainbows.”
Tears filled Becky’s voice. “Here. Take mine.” She handed the rest of her cookie to Sheri and turned back to the window. “Everyone should have rainbows.”
Sheri sighed and tugged on Simon’s arm. Worried sick, Simon allowed himself to be pulled to the other side of the cramped motel room. “I’m so sorry, Simon.”
“I need to call her doctor. I know she ate today.”
Sheri frowned, looking confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“She’s hypoglycemic. The doc said it can cause hallucinations if it gets bad enough.”
“Simon?”
“Hmm?” He was already dialing the phone. He’d made sure to memorize Doc Harrison’s number, just in case.
“I don’t think it’s hypoglycemia.”
“Of course it is. She got tested and everything.” He listened to the rings and waited for the doctor’s answering service to pick up.
Sheri pressed the button to end his call. “Simon, I smell something on her skin.”
His heart froze. “What are you talking about?”
Sheri bit her lip. “It smells chemical. I’ve smelled it before, once or twice, off of Rudy’s friends.”
At the mention of her ex-boyfriend Simon’s Puma snarled. “What?”
“I think your mate’s been drugged.”
Simon watched as his mate batted at empty air, no doubt playing with the rainbows dancing in front of her, unseen by anyone but her.
I’m going to kill her. There was only one person he could think of who hated Becky enough to drug her, and he’d let the woman walk away. I’m going to hunt her down and rip out her throat.
Olivia Patterson was a dead woman.
Simon had been watching her like a hawk ever since their impromptu trip to the emergency room the night before. He’d refused to leave her side, even following her to work. It was driving him crazy that he couldn’t figure out how someone had gotten to her. She’d finally talked him into taking a shower by promising she wouldn’t eat or drink anything while he was gone. He’d tried to persuade her to join him, but she’d managed to convince him to go in alone.
He might not be sure how someone had gotten to her, but she was. Damn it.
She stared down at the pretty, more than likely toxic, brown box and sighed as the water turned off.
“Simon?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“You didn’t leave me a box of Godiva truffles, did you?”
“What?” He stepped out of the bathroom, looking yummy wrapped in nothing but a white towel.
Droplets of water tripped down his muscled torso, distracting her for a moment. Damn, he’s fine .
She lifted the box in her hands, the note she’d thought from him resting on top. “You didn’t leave these in my apartment the night you went back for my toothbrush and stuff, did you?”
“No, I didn’t.” If she hadn’t been sure before, she was now. The feral growl and ferocious frown were dead giveaways. “Are you telling me you took candy from a stranger?”
“I thought they were from you!” She held up the note. “See? Why would someone other than you write that note?”
“Gee, I don’t know, Becky. Maybe because they wanted you to think of them while you were terrified of fruit?”
“Don’t get mad at me, Simon. We both thought it was the hypoglycemia.”
He ran a hand through his wet hair and sighed. “Damn it, Becky. Why didn’t you just ask me? Or, hell, I don’t know. Maybe say thank you? And when I asked you what for, you could have told me.”
“We were a little busy dealing with the fact that I am hypoglycemic, remember?” She shrugged sheepishly. “But you’re right, I should have said thank you.”
He took the box from her and lifted it to his face. He took a good sniff and wrinkled his nose. “Damn, Sheri’s good. I never would have smelled it if I hadn’t been looking for it.”
“Should we take these to the police?”
“Oh, hell no. The cops aren’t really equipped to deal with a shifter, never mind what the outcasting says.
That whole ‘we leave you to human laws’ crap is a holdover from the times when shifters were actively hunted and the Pride was necessary for survival.”
“So who does deal with this kind of thing?”
Simon’s frown eased as he put the box of chocolates on top of his dresser. “Usually, the Marshal is in charge of this sort of thing, but since you weren’t actually hurt I guess he hasn’t been alerted yet. Either that, or it has to do with the fact that Max hasn’t formally acknowledged you as Pride since you haven’t changed yet.”
Becky shook her head. “Huh?”
He took her hand and sat with her on the edge of the bed. “Okay. Alpha and Beta run the Pride. The Marshal and his Second guard the Pride’s well-being. They’re sort of cops, but they only deal with issues that directly affect the physical well-being of the Pride. And the Omega is the heart. He or she keeps the pack emotionally stable, stops fights whenever possible, that sort of thing. Sort of the Pride’s diplomat slash advice columnist. With the change in Alpha there’s usually a change in the rest of the hierarchy as well. For instance, Adrian’s dad used to be Marshal.”