The Night Beat

He stood up. “I think you should stop worrying and just relax.”
    I rolled my eyes as I stood up, too. “Thanks for the advice.” I was about to add something sarcastic when a nurse raced in. Like Nurse Nancy, I’d seen her around but didn’t really know her.
    She gasped in what sure sounded like relief. “ There you are!” She grabbed my waiting room buddy’s arm. “You need to get back into bed, excellent recovery or not.”
    He pulled gently out of her grasp. “I’ll get back there myself, I promise.”
    She gave an exasperated grunt. “Your kind drive me crazy,” she muttered. “Fine. I’ll tell the doctors and your superior officers.” Interesting. I didn’t know him, so he couldn’t be Enforcement. I tried to think if we had Special Ops in the vicinity and couldn’t come up with any activity I knew about.
    “Is Ralph going to be okay?” I asked before she could leave the room. “Ralph Rogers?”
    The nurse gave me a look that said I was really weird. “Yes. Obviously. Though he needs to rest.”
    “Excuse me? What do you mean ‘obviously’?”
    She shook her head. “Special Agent Rogers, the doctors want you back in bed, pronto.” With that she stomped out.
    And I stared, with my mouth open.
    He grinned. “Surprise.”

Chapter 62
     
    I stood there, still staring, as shock ran through my entire body. “Who are you?” I knew, but some things you wanted to hear live and confirmed.
    He laughed. “You heard her. Vic, relax. It’s okay.”
    “You…you….” I got a hold of myself. “You jerk !” He looked taken aback. I stepped closer and poked my finger into his chest for emphasis. “You sat there, listening to me tell the story that you already knew about, listening to me wax rhapsodic about you, and you never said a thing.” I was growling. “I ought to put you right back into that hospital bed.”
    “The doctors would be happy if you did,” he said easily. “I thought you’d recognize my voice.”
    “You don’t sound like you do in wolf or werewolf form, you unutterable jackass! None of us do! And I’ve never seen you in human form, ever. Name someone in all of Necropolis Enforcement who has .”
    Ralph shrugged. “The Count. And, before he died, Black Wolf.”
    My jaw was back to hanging open. It didn’t help that I also had tears in my eyes.
    Ralph closed my mouth gently. “I’m Special Ops, Vic. I have been for almost double the time you’ve been undead. But for the last two hundred and some years, I’ve had one assignment and one assignment only.”
    “What was that?” My voice was a whisper. Did I know anything about anyone?
    “Protecting the one being likely to be able to stop this time’s Adversary. Protecting you.” He shook his head. “I had the freedom to do that job in any way I saw fit. And I saw fit to do it like Black Wolf told me to -- as a wolf, not a human.”
    I felt my bottom lip start to tremble. “Why all the werewolf rights stuff, then?”
    He smiled. “You’re right. I’m a werewolf fanatic, Ralph Rogers, werewolf with a cause. I want our kind allowed to do what we do best. I want us no longer afraid to be seen as werewolves.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, I’m still me. As you accurately described me, kind of a dork.”
    “Kind of a dork who just managed not to tell me who I was pouring my heart out to for like an hour?” I was working hard to hold onto the anger. It seemed so much better than letting the tears out. Memory waved and reminded me of the last part of our conversation. “And you had the nerve to ask me if I was in love with you, and you aren’t clear why I’m upset?”
    He growled and it sent a different kind of shock up and down my spine. I’d never heard Ralph growl like this before. It wasn’t threatening -- it was sexy, deep-seated sexy, the kind of growl that made my butt start moving in that tail-wagging way.
    I opened my mouth to try to say something, he grabbed me by my upper arms, pulled me to him, and kissed me, still growling. I tried to resist it, but in about two seconds I’d melted against him while his kiss and growl both got deeper. I managed to keep my cool, if by that I mean I didn’t rip his clothes off. I just pawed at him like I was trying to climb up his body. I was proud -- I kept both feet on the ground. Well, one foot, anyway.
    The possibility of our consummating the relationship right here and now was increasing in likelihood when I heard someone give an exasperated sigh.