บททั้งหมดของ Bounty for the Lycan Princess ~Nichols~: บทที่ 51 - บทที่ 60

Nick~ The driver turns on the lights and sirens as we haul ass toward downtown LA. He makes it a quick trip to Providence St. John's Medical Center, but it feels like hours. Harley coughs up some blood, which causes palpitations in my chest. The EMT tells me it's not as bad as it looks, but I don't see how it couldn't be. 'What is happening to her, Nick?!' 'I'm not sure, Zeek, other than it's internal.' We back in the ambulance bay, the bright overhead lights fill the squad as the hospital transport opens the doors. I'm asked to exit first, so I did and stepped aside. I'm not paying much attention to the scene as my focus is on Harley. As soon as the medics lowered the legs of Harley's gurney onto the cement, flashes of light came at my face. It would seem that the vultures followed us, but I'm not sure how they caught up with us. Hospital security has been called and is pushing the camera crews back behind a barricade so the medics can get Harley in through the ER's double slid

Nick~ The only positive thing about being in police custody is that the press is kept at bay as the officers get me out of the car. The door behind me closes, and I'm led into a part of the station I've never seen before. Inside, three cops surround me as they rotate the cuffs from my back to the front. I'm instructed to sit on the wall and keep my mouth shut. Once it's my turn in Central Booking, they empty my pockets at the desk. The deputy hands me a pencil to sign the form as he places my belongings into a folder and seals it. Then, I am fingerprinted and taken to yet another unknown part of the department, where Captain Howard is waiting, and he shakes his head at me. "Is this what you meant by a shitshow, Captain?" Howard takes a deep breath and shoves his hands in his pockets. "Nick, I'm going to be honest; it doesn't look good. Seeing as how there is no body, dead or alive, to back up your claim, and the DA has two eyewitnesses claiming you threatened to kill him."

Nick~ My wolf growls, and my hands scrub over my face as I scan the documents. I see the phrases, factors determining the charge, reasonableness of force, intent, and malice, and my personal favorite, voluntary manslaughter. "Have you seen Kyle?" "Yes, he told me to tell you he is with Harley." My heart hammered in my chest, and I rose from my chair and walked further across the table. "How is she?" "She is conscious, alert, and stable right now. You need to focus on your situation, Nick. There are going to be some tough questions thrown your way, and you need to have some suitable answers." "Captain Howard has already been here. He tells me they are still searching for Steve, and I am confident they will find him. Case solved!" Seth shook his head at me and raised his hands. "I strongly suggest you have no more conversations with Capt. Howard or any other police official. Things are very different here from where you come from." "I trust Howard, and I'm seeing that." I

Harley~ When Kyle announces his intention to leave, it feels like he flipped the switch on an electric current running through my skin. The hum running through me has me fidgeting with a loose string on my hospital gown. 'Breath in, breathe out.' Easier said than done, while my lungs are burning as if filled with helium. Nick focuses his attention on me and rubs my hand between his. He'd left me with no choice but to meet his eyes. My insides feel like wobbly Jell-O with the intensity looking back at me. There's a feral flea circus gone mad in my head as I try to speak. That's when I lost the battle. Nick leaned forward. "Please don't cry, Amante. It's going to be ok." "You don't understand, Nick. I lost Rae. Even if the baby has survived, it won't be able to for much longer. Our pup doesn't stand a chance without her." "Calm down, Harley; it isn't good for either of you, and I know you lost Rae." My hands go still in his, and my heart pounds as I stare at him, mouth agap

Nick~ Harley winks at me, then tilts her head and purses her lips at Kyle. "Let's hear it, brother." My buddy Kyle's seat is the hot one at the moment, and I wouldn't want to take his place; that's saying a lot from my current vantage point. I haven't been privileged yet, so I don't know his plan and can only stare at him, too. Kyle takes a deep breath, averts his eyes, and fiddles with an empty cup on the bedside table at the end of Harley's bed. "I have been poisoning both Ian and Leonard with belladonna. It is a sister plant of wolfsbane; just as effective without the nasty aftertaste. In a few weeks, neither of them will be able to shift." Harley and I exchanged a look; neither of us expected that, and her open-mouth expression was the proof, but it would make him easier to deal with without Colt. It would seem my brother-in-law is a Machiavellian mastermind, and I can't stop the grin that crossed my face. "What worse punishment could there be for a werewolf who can't s