Hard To Bear (19 page)

“No, you’re a miracle. You’re my miracle. I love you, Coral.
You stubborn wolf.”

“I love you too, you stupid bear.”

* * *

“Well, that’s going to leave a scar,” Coral said, looking down at her leg. 
She was in the emergency room, and a nurse practitioner had just stitched up her knife wound. 

“It’ll be the sexiest scar ever,” Flint said, nuzzling her neck.  He sat on the bed next to her, one arm wrapped around her neck.

“We’re in a hospital, you pervert,” Coral giggled, but she didn’t try to push him away.  When Flint touched her, it was like eating chocolate and having an orgasm at the same time; it was always an amazing endorphin rush which flooded her with happiness and a sense of well-being.

“I know, right? There’s no damned privacy here.  We’ll make up for lost time in my bedroom tonight,” Flint said confidently.
   

Marie’s parents were there
at the emergency room as well, and David Bollinger’s teenaged kids.  There were kidnapped shifters from around the world recovering in their hospital beds, eagerly talking on phones with their families.  TV cameras were crowded outside the hospital.  Phones were ringing off the hook in the newsroom.

Dr.
De Rossi had been captured trying to escape.  Melinda was in custody.  Most of the mercenaries had been killed, and the rest were also in custody.  Metamorph was being shut down.

Bettina had gone to the hospital to be with Frederick, who had half a dozen fractured ribs.  Coral had been there when she walked in; Frederick had burst into tears of gratitude. 

“I don’t deserve you,” he’d sobbed.

“You’re right,” Bettina had agreed, settling into a chair next to his bed.
“I didn’t say I was taking you back.  I’m here as a friend.”

Frederick had vowed that he would spend the rest of his life making it up to her, and
that he would never look at another woman.

“We’ll see,” was all Bettina said, grabbing a cookie from a tray that a nurse had brought him.

              Blanche limped in to Coral’s room.

             
“Are you all right? Why are you limping?” Coral asked, as Flint leaped up and grabbed a chair for her.

             
“One of those bastard guards nicked me with a bullet.  It should have killed me, though.  It’s the damnedest thing. I’m immune to silver now.”

             
“The power of the comet,” Coral marveled. “You know, legitimate scientists will be able to learn so much from all these shifters now.”

             
Maybelle turned to Blanche and, making a face, said “I guess it’s time for you to gloat now.  You were right.  That old bastard was just dating me so he could try to pump me for information.  He kept asking me what we were working on at the paper, and wanting me to tell him all about the history of Shifters in town. And there I thought he was just interested in my work. I should have known better.”

             
“No, you shouldn’t have! He just wasn’t good enough for you,” Blanche said stoutly. “That’s why I didn’t like him.  You deserve a man who appreciates you for what you are. You’re a foxy mama with a fascinating job and a wicked sense of humor.”

             
“I am?”  Maybelle blinked back tears.

             
“Of course you are.  I tell you what we’ll do, we’ll sign you up for some of those internet dating sites.  I meet lots of nice men online.  Of course, I have to approve anyone that you go out with.”  Blanche paused. “Remember when we were in high school, and that cheerleader called me a tramp because she thought I stole her boyfriend, and you punched her? Why did you do that?”

             
“Because I’m the only one who gets to call you names, you old skank.”  Suddenly Maybelle and Blanche were hugging and crying.

             
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, go away! I…I’m having an allergy attack,” Coral said, blinking hard and wiping at her eyes. “I am not crying,” she added defensively.

             
“We’ll see you back at the paper,” Maybelle said, pulling Blanche to her feet. “By the way, Mr. Brewster says that just because you were stabbed and kidnapped doesn’t mean you get to hand your story in late.”

             
The two old women walked out of the room, arm in arm.

Flint hugged Coral to him, and she leaned against him, grateful for his solid, muscular warmth.

              “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you anything, but we couldn’t risk anyone from Metamorph finding out that we knew what they were planning,” Flint said.

             
“So the local police knew about it too? That’s why they were stonewalling me, and the missing people’s families?”

             
“Yes. They had no choice,” Flint nodded. “They knew what was at stake.”

             
“I understand.  How did you find out about it in the first place?”

             
“Off the record?”

             
“Off the record.”

             
“Phone taps and informants. We’d been monitoring them for a while, because they were selling illegal performance enhancing medications to terrorists.”

             
“I didn’t see Adrian Friedman with the other shifters,” Coral said sadly. “He must be dead.  How terrible for his mother.”

             
Flint smacked his forehead with his hand. “I completely forgot to tell you. He’s not dead.  We have him.  When he started investigating and risked exposing the Metamorph operation, we had to shut him down.  We knew the only way that we’d be able to rescue all the kidnap victims was to bust their operation on the day of the meteor shower, but Adrian was about to blow it for us.  We picked him up and we’ve been holding him in protective custody ever since.  He’s been released now; he’s being put on a plane to reunite with his family.”

             
“You what?” Coral was outraged. “You held a reporter prisoner for weeks to prevent him from writing a story?”

             
“Coral, we had no choice.  Dozens of lives were at stake, at a minimum.  And if Metamorph had succeeded with their operation, and if they’d been able to develop a race of Supershifers, it would have caused devastation on a global scale.  If Adrian had printed his story, Metamorph would have panicked, and relocated their operation to another part of the globe.  There are other spots where ley lines cross, not as powerful as the local spot, but close.  And we wouldn’t have been able to find them in time.”

             
Coral folded her arms and glared at him, stewing.  “I don’t like it.”

             
“I understand that, but it is what it is.  You’ll have to get past it.  I didn’t used to like reporters, but now I’m in love with one.”

             
“Really? Who? I’ll beat her ass.”

             
Flint smiled. “That’s my smart-mouthed stubborn wolf.”

             
“But you’re going back to Seattle. Aren’t you?”  Her heart skipped a beat waiting for his answer.  He put his thumb under her chin and tipped her face up to look at him.

             
“My family wants me to stay here.  And because of the fact that they’re Original Shifters, I still feel like there’s some potential danger to them.  I’d feel safer if I moved my operations out here, and lived on the property.   What about you? Have you given any thought to what you’ll do next?”

             
Before she could answer, her cell phone rang and she pulled it out of her purse.  “Hold that thought,” she said to Flint.  She answered her phone.

             
“Coral Colby?” a man inquired eagerly. 

             
“Yes?”

             
“How’s my favorite superstar reporter? Still looking for a job, I hope?”

             
“Who is this?” she asked.

             
“It’s Mr. Espinosa! Remember me? We met at the journalism fair. Remember?”

             
She stared at the phone for a minute.  She’d stumbled into the biggest story of the year; a Pulitzer wasn’t out of the question.  Opportunity was calling.  She could quit working at this tiny little newspaper and move back to New York.   She would have her pick of journalism assignments now. She could work anywhere.

             
She glanced back at Flint, the man she was falling in love with, the man she couldn’t imagine living without.  She looked over at Blanche and Maybelle, who were headed towards the door of the hospital, already arguing with each other.  Her other line beeped, and she saw that Mr. Brewster was calling her, no doubt impatient for her to get back to the newspaper and start writing up her story.

             
“Who?” she said to Mr. Espinosa, and hung up the phone.

             
She turned to Flint, leaned in and brushed her lips against his.

             
“I am exactly where I want to be, and I am with the man I’m meant to be with,” she said. “And now, take me back to the newspaper, you big stubborn bear. I’ve got a story to write.”

THE END

I hope you like “Hard
To Bear”! If you’d like a FREE shifter novellete, and if you’d like me to keep you posted on upcoming releases of new books, contests and giveaways, please sign up for my newsletter at
http://mad.ly/signups/83835/join

I can also be found on Facebook at
www.Facebook.com/georgettewrites

I blog at
www.georgettewrites.com