Hudson was waiting for Quinn at the end of the day, meeting her outside her final lesson and walking with her to her locker so she could gather her things before heading out to his truck. They were going to the camp to see if Patterson had managed to get Esme and her mother back from the human town.
Taking her bag, the Alpha led the she wolf toward his truck, opening the door for her and helping her inside. Placing the bag on her lap, he shut the door and jogged around to the driver’s side, throwing his own rucksack into the back as he slid into the driver’s seat.
Putting the truck into gear, he pulled out of his space and headed toward the highway, moving through the afternoon traffic until he reached the market. Parking the vehicle, he hopped out, moving around to the passenger side to help Quinn to her feet.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, he guided her toward the trees, the pair entering the foliage and moving swiftly toward the camp.
‘Quinn?’ came a rugged voice ahead, just before they stepped out into the clearing where Hugh and his family were waiting. The werewolf gave Hudson a nod of respect which the Alpha returned before he immediately took a seat to minimise his threat to the other man’s wolf.
Seconds later, Patterson stepped out of the woods to the far side, branches in his arms that he placed next to a small hearth that had been build out of stones.
Wiping his hands on his jeans, he moved closer to give the she wolf a quick hug before reaching down to shake Hudson’s hand.
‘Did you find her?’ Quinn asked quietly, glancing toward his tent that had the flaps zipped shut.
Hudson nodded with a sigh as he sat down by the fire and started to place the sticks strategically, ready to be lit. The other’s joined him on the ground, Hugh whispering to his children to go and play by the edge of the woods but to stay where he could see them.
Once the pair had skipped off, Patterson looked up at Quinn resignedly. ‘She doesn’t want to come out’ he muttered, ‘doesn’t trust a pack doctor.’ Frowning suddenly, he glanced around them as he realised they were alone.
‘My doctor got called into an emergency’ Hudson lied smoothly, ‘attack on one of the border wolves, silver was used, he needed operating on before he bled out. She sends her apologies but suggested that Quinn and I check Esme instead. Quinn will be the only one to touch her, I will just be looking for any signs of what is wrong with her.’
Patterson looked at his skeptically, ‘you are trained in medicine?’ he asked.
Hudson laughed softly as he shook his head, ‘I’m no doctor’ he replied, ‘but I have spent time with my aunt in the hospital helping her over the years and I also had to have basic training for on the battle field. If our warriors needed urgent help to save their lives, the Alpha was determined that everyone should be able to do enough to get the injured wolf to the doctors. So I can tie a torniquet properly, pack a wound and I can also recognise certain poisons, like a cut made with silver or if one of our pack gets injected with something.’
Quinn peeked over at him, saying nothing though her eyes widened slightly at his mention of poisons, knowing he had named them specifically so they would accept his word about Esme.
‘Maybe Lilith will be more comfortable coming out now that it’s just me and Hudson here, not the pack doctor’ she said hopefully.
Patterson nodded, moving to the tent and unzipping the front.
‘I’m not coming out, I don’t trust them, they’ll try and take her’ Lilith’s voice whimpered from inside as the werewolf knelt by the opening.
‘The pack doctor isn’t here Lil’ Patterson replied soothingly, ‘it’s just Quinn and her mate, they know basic first aid and just want to look at Esme, see if there’s anything they can see that they can take back to the doctor so she can help figure out what’s wrong.’
Silence followed his words before a shuffling sound came from inside the tent, seconds later, the she wolf appeared, gripping her daughter to her chest.
Eyeing the couple who remained sitting, she inched out and sat down next to the unlit fire.
‘Hi Lilith’ Quinn said with a soft smile, ‘how is she today?’
The older woman glanced down at the pale child in her arms, ‘she isn’t too good’ she replied, her lip trembling, ‘she keeps saying her bones hurt.’
Quinn nodded understandingly, patting the ground in front of her, ‘can we have a look at her?’ she asked.
Lilith flinched, her eyes sliding unnerved toward Hudson, ‘ this is my Mate, Hudson’ Quinn quickly introduced, ‘he only wants to help Esme, he wont even touch her, only I will.’
Slowly, the older she wolf lowered her daughter to the ground, taking her tiny hand in her own and holding it as Quinn moved closer and reached to lift the little girl’s top.
Esme whimpered as the she wolf’s fingers brushed her ribs, ‘does that hurt baby’ Quinn asked worriedly, stilling as the tiny pup nodded weakly, tears pricking at her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, I’ll try and be more careful, OK’ the teenager comforted.
Hudson’s gaze remained on the pup, searching for the rash that he knew was on the top of her thigh. After Quinn had thoroughly checked the little girl’s chest and back, he tapped her on the shoulder. ‘Could we check her legs next?’ he asked in a low voice.
Nodding, Quinn started to inch down the pup’s leggings before Lilith shoved her hands away quickly. ‘What are you doing?’ she demanded, ‘why does he want her to take her leggings off?’
Hudson held up his hands, ‘I am just checking her skin’ he replied, ‘looking for any marks that might help us determine what is wrong. I promise we are just going to check the outside of her thighs and then we can roll up her legs to look at her calves, we don’t need to strip her off.’
Relaxing slightly, Lilith nodded, removing her hands from her daughter so that Quinn could continue. The teenager slowly revealed Esme’s outer thigh, the deep, painful looking rash coming into view. Taking a sharp intake of breath, Quinn’s gaze snapped to Patterson, ‘how long has she had this?’ she asked.
The werewolf frowned, ‘since she was two, maybe a little before’ he replied, trying to recall.
Quinn looked toward Hudson who was glaring at the mark, ‘that’s wolfsbane poisoning’ he said clearly.
‘What? What are you talking about’ Patterson growled defensively, ‘there is no wolfsbane in this area, we always walk the area before we camp to make sure of it.’
The Alpha met the other man’s gaze, ‘I recognise it’ he sighed, ‘you only get a rash like that if you have been ingesting wolfsbane for a long time. Children will develop the rash quicker than adults as they don’t have their wolves to try and heal them from the damage.’
Patterson shook his head angrily, ‘no’ he growled, ‘it’s an allergy, her dad had the same rash, I remember it.’
Hudson nodded sadly, ‘yeah he probably did’ he agreed, ‘but it wasn’t an allergy, he was also being poisoned by someone. He used to get sick too didn’t he’ he added, his gaze never leaving the werewolf in front of him. ‘Sometimes he suffered pain or would vomit for no reason, he’d feel a bit lethargic?’
Patterson’s eyes widened at his words, ‘how do you know that?’ he whispered.
The Alpha sighed, ‘because I’ve seen it before’ he admitted, careful not to mention that it was in fact Esme that he had seen. ‘In a child, they were really sick, no-one knew what was wrong with her until the pack doctor found that rash. She ran tests and the child had elevated levels of wolfsbane in her system.’
The werewolf inched closer, worry in his eyes, ‘how did it happen?’ he whispered, ‘how was that pup exposed to it? Is she OK now?’
Hudson nodded, ’she’s fine’ he replied, ‘once we found out who was poisoning her and got her away from them, she recovered.’
Beside him, Lilith started to reach for her daughter, wrapping an arm around the pup as Patterson glanced at her, ‘what are you doing?’ he asked, ‘we are trying to make her better here.’
Lilith flinched, ‘she’s tired’ she replied quickly, ‘and she looks like she might have a fever, I’m going to take her to the stream, try and cool her off.’
As she went to pull the little girl into her chest, Hudson reached forward and stopped her, placing a hand on Esme’s chest. ‘She’s not hot’ he said firmly, ‘Quinn would have commented if she was, her hands were just on her.’
Staring at the she wolf, he continued, ‘why are you trying to take her out of our sight? Someone is poisoning your child, surely you want to know who would do such a thing?’
Lilith stiffened, ‘I trust everyone here’ she replied, her voice wobbling slightly, ‘I don’t believe anyone around me would hurt my baby.’
Hudson nodded still not removing his hand, ‘I agree’ he replied, ‘so that just leaves you.’
The adults all gasped, Patterson displeasure rumbling in his chest as he moved protectively nearer to his brother’s mate. ‘You can’t just come here and accuse someone of poisoning their own child’ he ground out.
The Alpha met his angry gaze, ‘no, but working on the facts, she’s the most likely choice’ he replied. ‘She is the only person to have complete access to both your brother and her daughter, I’m sure, even if she doesn’t cook, she takes the food from you and feeds her daughter herself?’
Patterson nodded, uncertainty flickering across his features as he looked over at Lilith who was glaring at Hudson venomously. ‘Lilith?’ he called out hoarsely, drawing her attention, ‘it’s not true is it, tell him that he’s talking crazy’ he pleaded.
The she wolf met his gaze, something in her eyes causing him to reel backwards, ‘no!’ he growled, ‘you wouldn’t do that! You can’t have.’
‘Patterson’ Lilith started, reaching out for him, but it was already too late, he’d seen the truth. Snatching Esme from her hands, he held the pup to his chest protectively.
‘Get out’ he snarled, ‘leave here before I tear you apart with my bare hands.
‘She’s my baby, you can’t just . . ‘ the she wolf started, clawing at his arms to try and get him to let her daughter go.
‘I promised on my dead brother’s grave that I would protect his family’ the werewolf growled back, keeping a tight grip on his niece.
‘I am his family!’ Lilith yelled back, ‘I didn’t mean . . I was just trying to . . I wanted . .’
‘You wanted to hurt my family’ Patterson roared, ‘you are no family of mine and certainly not of my brother. You are a murderer, now take your opportunity to leave and run as far as you can because if I so much as sniff your scent, I’ll hunt you down and kill you.’
Biting back a sob, the she wolf jumped to her feet, glancing around at everyone before turning around and rushing from the clearing, disappearing into the surrounding trees.