Revocation (The Canyon Wolves) Read online

  Revocation

  by Laura Fields

  Copyright © 2012 Laura Fields

  All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without written permission from the author.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  Rain poured down in sheets, drenching anyone brave enough to venture outside. The worried friends of Harper were not leaving Canyon Public Hospital anytime soon without getting drenched, so the weather did nothing but worsen their mood.

  The young woman who had been admitted to the ICU two days ago hadn’t yet stirred. Axel patrolled the hallways, checking on her progress every third lap. He had known immediately when she was in danger, had felt the emptiness when they knocked her unconscious. That moment had started the longest 24 hours of his life. Axel had torn the town apart in search of her, starting at the location she had been before the kidnapping. Eight hours later, after fruitless searching and much shouting on his part, she had regained consciousness and told him about the dark room. Before she could say much more, the bond was broken as they knocked her unconscious again.

  Axel had been in pure agony for the past three days, to say the least. After Harper awoke a second time, her wolf had taken control and sent him images through the bond while she escaped the empty warehouse. Wolf ran through the wilderness inconsolably while Axel tried to track her location. He and his second-in-command found her two hours later on the side of the road, battered, bruised, and once again unconscious, but alive.

  Immediately, he had forced the doctors to answer was whether or not Harper had been raped. If she had, he didn’t know how he would handle it. They had reassured him that aside from a few cuts and bruises, she was fine.

  It was 3 in the morning, 40 hours later, and he had been had been asking himself the same question over and over again since Harper's admittance to Canyon Public Hospital. Why did Harper’s wolf run around wildly instead of helping him find her?

  His second, Conner, was stationed outside Harper’s door because he was one of the few wolves Axel trusted. Conner had been the beta of the Canyon Pack for five loyal years, serving by Axel’s side through thick and thin. That was the only reason he left his mate vulnerable for one minute intervals while he paced the hospital floor.

  When he was halfway down the hall, Axel felt her presence stir in his mind. She was awake.

  ||||

  Harper's head hurt. Her body hurt. It smelled like antiseptic, clean and sharp. She wanted to look around, but her eyes were too heavy and she was too tired. Pain thrummed through each limb and she groaned.

  A voice whispered, "Give her a minute. She'll feel a bit groggy."

  Harper opened her eyes to bright lights and hopeful faces. A woman to the right leaned over her bed, her mom, and a woman waited by the wall. The scratchy pillowcase rubbed her cheek as she shifted.

  "Mommy," Harper croaked. Her voice was rough, making speech painful. Tears welled up from pain and seeing her mother.

  "My baby girl! How are you feeling?" Gene’s warm face filled Harper’s vision as her mother leaned in close.

  "My head hurts."

  Her mother had been there when Harper had broken her arm, lost her history competition, and was dumped by her prom date freshman year. She was the only one Harper felt comfortable whining to, and she was always there when things were rough.

  "I know it does, honey. You’ve been badly hurt. We’re in the hospital right now."

  The door flew open and slammed against the wall. Harper watched a handsome man storm into her room. All attention shifted to him and his overwhelming presence. Harper appreciated his tall form, strong face, and messy dark hair. His blue eyes ran over her body with relief.

  She was the luckiest patient ever, to get such a hot doctor.

  "Harper," he whispered, relaxing immediately.

  Harper, a deep voice said in her mind a moment later. Whoa! She was going crazy, hearing dual voices. Maybe she should inform the doctor.

  After two long strides, he was kneeling next to her bed. He had a 5 o’clock shadow that fit his jaw perfectly. His face should have been too close for comfort, but it felt perfectly natural. In fact, she wanted him closer.

  You scared me, the voice said.

  Harper's eyes widened in shock and she cleared her throat. "Doctor," she told him worriedly, "my head hurts and I'm hearing voices."

  The room was so silent it was creepy.

  "Doctor?" he growled after a moment.

  She must have made a mistake. Maybe he was a nurse? Harper glanced at his outfit. Nope, he wasn’t wearing any scrubs. He wore a black shirt paired with jeans, and he was definitely working it. Harper’s face flushed with embarrassment.

  "Sorry, I just thought..." her voice faded because she wasn't sure how to continue. The man almost looked insulted from her assumption. ”I thought you were my doctor."

  He stood, his face a blank mask. It was almost as if Harper could feel his pain and disbelief, but that would have been impossible.

  "I'm Axel. Your mate.” His voice was as emotionless as his face.

  “My what? Mom?" she asked, searching for an explanation.

  “Harper, I’m Axel.” The man crouched next to her again and took her hand in his, frightening Harper. She felt like she knew him, but she was positive they had never met.

  “I’m sorry-” Harper started to say before the doctor interrupted.

  “Axel, give her some time.”

  “Give her some time? She doesn’t even know me,” he whispered. His anguish ripped through Harper, leaving her miserable and breathless, although she didn’t know why. He left her sitting bewildered on the bed before retreating to the corner and sliding down the wall. Axel put his face in his hands and tried to regain control.

  The room stayed silent.

  Harper wanted an explanation. Preferably something along the lines of, ‘I'm sorry honey, that was just the delusional man down the hall. No worries.’

  "Mom?" Harper repeated into the silent hospital room, her mom stayed sadly quiet.

  The woman spoke up, "Harper, I'm actually your doctor. I believe your memory has been damaged slightly. If you will give it some time, it should return."

  It was hard to concentrate on the doctor’s words with those strong emotions flowing into her. Harper wanted to know why she was feeling such loss for no explainable reason.

  “My memory?” She stared at the doctor, wanting to argue that her memory was just fine. She could remember her mother, so obviously the strange man and the doctor were mistaken. “No, my memory is normal. I know my mother, and I can remember school. It’s good.”

  “Harper, I’m going to ask you a few questions.”

  “Okay, sure.”

  “How old were you when you moved to Canyon?”

  “14.”

  “What was your first car?”

  “My mom’s silver Mercedes.”

  “What year did you graduate high school?”

  “I… What? Graduate?”

  “Do you remember your graduation?”

  “Graduation?”

  Harper was incoherent. She hasn’t graduated high school because she was in the middle of her senior year.

  “I haven’t graduated yet.”

  “Harper, you graduated two years ago.”

  That was impossible. There was no way she had graduated because she would have remembered. She couldn’t believe it. Her memories couldn’t have just disappeared. Besides, if the doctor really did tell her the truth, then that would mean the hot man could actually be her… What did he say? Her mate. Holy
shit. This wasn’t real. For one thing, there were no mates in real life. There were boyfriends and there were husbands.

  “I’m not 20 years old, I don’t have a mate, I’m so confused, and my head hurts.” Harper’s voice had risen with hysteria.

  “It’s okay. Your memories should return soon.” The doctor’s soothing tone did nothing to calm her internal storm.

  Harper, that voice said again. Somehow she knew it was from Axel.

  She just couldn’t take it anymore. The memory loss, the headache, the voices, it was all too much. “Stop! Just stop! I don’t know you. I’m not your girlfriend; I’m not your mate.”

  This was too much to process. How was that man able to get inside her head? Harper’s heartbeat lurched, but the cause had come from Axel. Somehow she could feel his emotions. That was definitely new. As a matter of fact, she had never remembered being able to smell this well, even though her increased senses didn’t feel odd to her.

  “I’m sorry,” Harper said, closing her eyes. “I just think I'm going crazy.”

  “Harp-” Her mom started.

  The Doctor interrupted, “That’s enough for today. Harper, you're not going crazy, but it'll take a while to process everything. Try to get some rest and we’ll see how you’re feeling tomorrow.” She gave Harper’s two visitors a stern glance before leaving the room.

  As soon as the door shut, Harper knew that her mom was going to start talking non-stop, and her words would not help the situation. Before the flood, she turned and demanded, "Mom. Please, just give me a minute to think.”

  Her mother’s mouth had been poised for speech, but it snapped shut at her daughter’s request. Axel still sat brooding in the corner with an unreadable expression, and Harper could somehow feel the anger and distress pulsing from him. She had to focus. She had to remember what she could.

  She had gone to Canyon high after moving here at 14, and her high school life had been rough. She hadn’t quite fit in with the normal crowd, and there were a few bullying incidents. After a while, Harper had grown to accept it. She had been ditched by her dance date freshman year as a joke and had cried half the night. It had all been some funny joke the ‘popular kids’ played, and Harper had known better; no boy that cool would have honestly asked her to a dance.

  Harper remembered losing the national history competition her senior year because she couldn’t remember the last king of Egypt’s third dynasty. Who the hell knew that? She had studied all the potential subjects from past tests, and they had never asked questions about Egypt before.

  The competition was in the spring, two months before her high school graduation, but Harper didn’t remember graduating. The last memory she had was studying for finals.

  Back in the present, Harper shut her eyes to remove her mom’s pitying face and Axel’s distressed form from view.

  “You know, Sterling, you shouldn’t show weakness like that in public. It isn’t becoming,” Harper’s mom said. Apparently she just couldn’t keep quiet.

  Axel growled. Harper opened her eyes in shock. He had just growled at her mom. Harper could feel her wolf respond to Axel’s anger. Wait a minute. Her wolf? Did she just think about being a wolf? What the hell was going on?

  Harper fought her warring emotions for a minute before finally giving in to defeat. She didn’t know anything anymore. She didn’t even know who she was or what she was. What had happened to her boyfriend? Harper had been dating Daniel and things had been going great, so why did they break up?

  Those thoughts brought her eyes to Axel. Now would probably not be a good time to ask about Danial. Axel looked pretty unstable right now, and she didn’t want to be the one to push him over the edge. He stood up and, ignoring Gene’s comment, strode to Harper’s side, apparently coming to a decision. Dang, this man was a looker. Harper wondered again how she had ended up with him.

  He briefly touched her cheek and murmured, “I’ll be here when you call.”

  Axel left the hospital room, and her mom seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Faintly, she heard murmuring something outside. After a moment, a large man walked in to stand by the door.

  Harper took a container of water from her mom and drank deeply before asking the new guy, “Who are you? I’m sorry if I can’t remember…” Harper trailed off lamely.

  “I am Conner, the pack’s beta.” His voice was deep and clipped, like a sergeant. Did he just say pack? Hopefully that wasn’t connected to her ‘wolf’. Yep, her head was definitely rewiring his words. Somehow on the journey from Harper’s ear to her brain everything was getting all jumbled and warped.

  Conner had dark hair and dark features, a mix of some exotic blood. In fact, he wasn’t too sore on the eyes either. Harper slowly scanned him from head to toe. Meanwhile, her inner furry conscience was growling in disapproval. She wanted her mate here with her, not Conner.

  It was past due for the elephant in the room to be addressed. “Mom? Why can I hear Axel’s voice in my head?”

  Her mom stayed silent, her lips pursed. It was ironic how her mom chose to stay quiet at the least helpful times.

  Conner was the one who answered her, but she wished he hadn’t. “Because you’re a werewolf.”

  Harper spit her mouthful of water, and it went everywhere. Luckily, her mother was far enough away to remain dry. Otherwise, she would have had a fit.

  “Umm, no I’m not. I’m no werewolf, Conner. I have no fur, I do not go bump in the night. Sorry.”

  Her mom was standing like a deer in the headlights, looking from Conner to her daughter.

  Harper was tired of listening to these crazy beliefs. “Mom? I think Conner needs to leave.”

  All of a sudden, Conner began stripping. He was stripping in her hospital room.

  Harper couldn’t even admire his chest because she was too busy freaking. “Oh my gosh! Get out! What do you think you’re doing?” Harper hid her eyes under the sheets.

  She peeked out and saw him standing there in his grey underwear. Before her eyes, he began shimmering like a mirage on a hot summer road. Conner fell to the floor. He was growing fur. He was- Oh God. There was a giant black wolf in her room.

  Harper screamed.

  Chapter 2

  Axel had returned to pacing the hallways, trying to figure out how to handle this situation. Harper’s mom had been right; he never should have broken down in public like that. Very few alphas trusted their betas enough to show even the slightest weakness, but he hadn’t been thinking clearly a few minutes ago. Hearing Harper address Axel like a stranger had completely derailed him. His wolf was just as bewildered and hurt, although it wasn’t Harper’s fault.

  Axel punched the wall before sliding down to the floor. He put his head in his hands. She didn't know him. She didn't even recognize his face. Her confusion pulsed clearly through the bond, distressing his wolf further. The pack could feel their alpha’s worry, but they keep their distance from the hospital.

  He felt the steady flow of Harper’s bewilderment and disbelief as she tried to wrap her mind around her memory loss. Suddenly, her emotions spiked. He heard Harper scream, and Axel was bursting into her room within seconds.

  ||||

  “Oh, man. Oh my. Wolf. You are a wolf.” Harper had leapt out of bed and was standing on her pillow, pressed against the wall. She probably shouldn’t be doing something so active after waking up with amnesia, but the rational part of her brain wasn’t exactly working well. “I am so crazy. My brain is so screwed. Oh. My. Goodness.”

  “Harper,” Axel said, attempting to calm her. He would have to deal with Conner later. The giant black wolf sat on his haunches and yawned, showing off every sharp tooth to the frantic girl on the bed.

  “There’s a wolf in here!” Harper shouted.

  “Yes, we know there’s a wolf. It’s just Conner.”

  “Just- just Conner?” she spluttered.

  The wolf grinned at her shock, and Axel decided he couldn’t stand seeing her so upset. “Conner, out,” he command
ed.

  Immediately, the big wolf padded out of the room and into the hallway. They were in the unofficially designated werewolf section of the hospital, so his presence wouldn’t be surprising. Harper’s mom smartly followed Conner into the hallway. Harper glanced at her mother with an I-can’t-believe-you’re-leaving-me-with-this-man look.

  “Harper, come down from there,” Axel told her after the door shut. He didn’t want to spook her further by forcing compliance with pack magic. They were finally alone together, but this was nothing like the reunion he had planned only hours before.

  “Get away from me!” She pressed herself harder against the wall.

  Harper, I am not going to hurt you. Come on, get down from there.

  “Stop talking to me like that.”

  Wolf, some help here? He asked her. Harper’s wolf side could hear their conversations as well, but he was willing to bet her wolf hadn’t spoken in order to keep her calm.

  Axel didn’t know if Harper’s amnesia affected her wolf’s memories also, but he was willing to give it a shot. The bond suddenly shifted as Harper’s wolf took control, and Axel breathed a sigh of relief.

  Harper had felt the change, but she was now a powerless bystander while Wolf took the lead. It was akin to the feeling of déjà vu, where she could see but not move or think clearly. Immediately, she felt power being drawn in from Axel and Conner. Pack, Wolf explained. The power twisted around her body, shifting and bending. It was uncomfortable, but not painful.

  Before she knew it, Harper was gazing at Axel through the sharp eyes of a predator. By this time, she had stopped vying for control and simply let Wolf take command. Her clothing was now scattered around the bed in tatters. She padded over to her mate and butted a comforting head against his leg.

  Axel relaxed immensely at her contact, dropping to the floor and wrapping his arms around her. Harper felt uncomfortable at being so close to a practical stranger, but Wolf thought differently. She rumbled contentedly and then whined.