Heat . Amy Blankenship

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      Heat

      Blood Bound Series Book 4

      Amy Blankenship, RK Melton

      Copyright © 2012 Amy Blankenship

      Second Edition Published by TekTime

      All rights reserved.

      Chapter 1

      Micah was resting in bed wrapped up in so many bandages he was starting to resemble a mummy. He couldn’t help but smile softly as Mrs. Tully clucked around him like a mother hen and occasionally shook her head. He also wasn’t complaining about the amount of pain killer she’d stuck in his arm. He could see himself in the dresser mirror across the room and started to cock an eyebrow but decided against it when it instantly hurt.

      They’d already assured him Anthony was dead but he couldn’t help wishing the alpha werewolf was still alive so he could torture the bastard the same way he’d been tortured. The story they’d told him had sounded like a quick death. He wouldn’t have made it quick.

      “I think you shifters are going to end up being the death of me,” Mrs. Tully exclaimed softly. The shifters… both jaguars and cougars, held a soft spot in her heart. She’d delivered every single one of them and had been very close to their mother. “Just look at the shape you got yourself into.”

      Micah pouted at the ceiling feeling dizzy when the ceiling fan kept going round and round. “It wasn’t my fault that I got kidnapped and tortured.”

      Mrs. Tully softly tapped him on the forehead with the tips of her fingers. “I beg to differ, young Skywalker. If the stories I heard were true, you stood up to that horrid werewolf and that’s what got you kidnapped.”

      “So you’re saying I brought this on myself?” Micah demanded, ignoring the grins from the other people in the room.

      “Don’t interrupt your elders,” Mrs. Tully came back with a stern look. “I wasn’t finished. As I was saying… you stood up to that mongrel dog and I have to say it was something long overdue.”

      Micah looked pointedly over at Quinn with an ‘I told you so’ smirk. He wasn’t ready to forgive his brother. He’d warned Quinn about Anthony and had been told to stand down. He hoped big brother was happy because now he couldn’t stand up.

      “Stop that!” Mrs. Tully growled and slapped him on the top of his head.

      The action made his lingering headache start to thump and he squeezed his eyes shut. “Hey, I’m hurt here,” Micah complained.

      “You’ll make it worse if you keep up this sibling rivalry,” Mrs. Tully retorted and gave that same warning look to Quinn. “I need to call my granddaughter and let her know where I am. The poor dear will be worried if I’m not at home to answer the phone.”

      Mrs. Tully didn’t wait for anyone to show her where the phone was. This wasn’t the first time she’d been to the Wilder residence. She missed a step when she noticed Michael sitting quietly in a chair in the shadowed corner of the room. It wasn’t like the charming vampire to be so dark and brooding. When the door closed behind her, all eyes turned back to Micah.

      “It’s good to see you finally back home where you belong,” Steven said with a soft smile, trying to hide the fact that he was worried. Even though Micah was home, something was telling him he wasn’t out of danger. Micah was pale and his eyes were a bit too shiny for his liking.

      Micah returned the smile but was starting to get drowsy, “It’s just good to be out of that hell hole.”

      “You were very reckless this time,” Quinn stated from his position near the window and crossed his arms over his chest. “You could have died down in that basement if we hadn’t seen that message you sent to Alicia.”

      Micah looked around the room for his little sister and frowned. “Speaking of Alicia, where is she? I thought for sure she’d be here.”

      “She’s staying over at a friend’s house until this all blows over,” Kat answered. She glanced at Quinn wondering how long he was going to wait until he called their sister and told her to come home.

      “Why didn’t she come back with us from Anthony’s?” Micah asked. “I thought for sure she’d…” again he glanced toward Quinn, putting the blame for Alicia’s absence on him simply because he wanted to.

      Nick shook his head but was inwardly cringing. He tried not to look at Michael knowing the vampire had erased everyone’s memory except for his and Micah’s. “Dude, you must have had one too many hits to the head… Alicia wasn’t at Anthony’s.”

      “But she was there,” Micah insisted. “I saw her with my own eyes.” He glared at Nick but the man just shrugged and shook his head.

      He looked from one face to the next and realized that none of them would confirm Alicia being at the mansion. He remembered her in the basement… holding his hand. She was crying and it would eat at him until he saw her again and made sure she was alright. He didn’t know which had hurt worse… seeing her cry or being almost killed. He glanced around one more time making note of the fact that the man who had been with Alicia was also missing from the crowd.

      Huffing, he pressed back against the pillows and silently planned to find out which friend Alicia was staying with. He’d hunt her down and demand the truth from her.

      “You must have been hallucinating,” Jewel said softly.

      Micah looked over at the pretty blonde and frowned. “Who are you?”

      “This is Jewel Scott Wilder,” Steven said and wrapped his good arm around her shoulders. Mrs. Tully had already taken care of his own bullet wounds and had his other arm in a sling for now. “She’s my mate.”

      “Anthony’s Jewel Scott?” Now Micah was even more confused.

      “Only within Anthony's demented mind,” Steven responded but couldn’t stop himself from pulling Jewel a little tighter against him.

      Micah blinked and looked over at Quinn to ask confirmation when he saw Kat was snuggled up against his older brother. With a sigh, he wondered how high a dose of drugs Mrs. Tully had actually given him because either he was losing his mind or everyone else was. He glanced up at the only other person in the room he knew that had any common sense, Warren.

      “Did I pull a Rip Van Winkle or something? I mean, when I left… Steven was still single and Quinn had about as much romantic inclination as Dean.”

      Warren smiled, “Quite a bit has happened since you’ve been gone.”

      “Okay, my phone call is made,” Mrs. Tully announced as she walked back in. She actually hadn’t called her granddaughter. She’d only said that to give them a moment alone with Micah before running them off. “Now… everyone out and allow this little kitten to get some sleep.”

      Micah growled at the older woman. “I am not a kitten.”

      “Dear, my youngest cat could beat you in a fight with the shape you’re in right now and she’s a wimp, runs from her own shadow,” Mrs. Tully informed him. While she talked, she took a needle from the odd-looking box she’d brought with her.

      “I’m not so sure I need more drugs,” Micah sighed. He had a lot of catching up to do. The mere fact that he hadn’t seen Alicia yet made him ache worse than the broken bones did.

      “And that’s why you’re not the doctor.” Mrs. Tully was glad he still had that strange sense of humor… once he started healing he was going to need it.

      Micah growled softly when the needle sank into his arm and had to look away. He hated taking orders from anyone and what he needed to be doing was tracking down his sister. Everyone filed out of the room when she pulled the empty syringe from his arm.

      Mrs. Tully watched them go then turned back to Micah who was already asleep. His family was happy he was home, but the truth was… she worried for the cougar. His injuries were so severe she was surprised he was still alive.

      Both of his kneecaps had been shattered by bullets, his ribs broken by being struck continuously over a