“You’re so hypno-something, could you be the devil, could you be an angel, your touch is something good, feels like going floating, leave my body glowing.”

  “Katy Perry? She’s singing Katy Perry in the hospital bathroom. Just when you think you’ve seen it all,” Sally mumbled. She knocked on the door again. Still no answer, so she started banging. Then she was banging and hollering, “JEN! OPEN THE FREAKING DOOR!” But the girl only sang louder. Why am I not surprised?

  “They said I’m afraid, you’re not like the others, futuristic werewolves’

  different DNA, they like to command you,” Jen continued.

  “Can’t you at least get the words right if you’re going to be so stinking loud!”

  Just as Sally was going to resume her fruitless pounding, the hospital room door flew open. She turned to face the would-be intruder. “Why don’t you freaking wolves ever knock? Has it ever occurred to you that we might be naked up in here?”

  Decebel at least had the good grace to look embarrassed. “I apologize. I heard banging and yelling. Is everything okay?” He asked, glancing around the room. Before Sally could answer, he spoke again. “Where is Jen?”

  Sally motioned to the bathroom door.

  “Kiss me, k-k-kiss me, infect me with your love, and fill me with your poison,

  take me, t-t-take me, wanna be your victim, ready for abduction boy, you’re a werewolf, your touch is so furry, it's supernatural, extra-werewolf-iestrial,” Jen sang as loudly as she could.

  Sally shook her head in disbelief. “This is gonna be good. I mean, she might actually be embarrassed when she finds out you heard all that.”

  Decebel cocked his head as if listening for something, then he sniffed the air, taking in a deep breath. “I smell alcohol. Have you two been drinking?” Decebel asked in disbelief.

  “Of course not!” Sally said with obvious offense.

  Decebel didn’t acknowledge her answer. “Why were you banging on the door?”

  “It’s locked, and Jen won’t answer me. She’s either ignoring me or can’t hear me.”

  “So, she might be drunk, and she’s trying to take a shower?” Decebel asked skeptically.

  Sally shrugged. “I just woke up. You know as much about this as I do.”

  Decebel was already in action. He banged on the door so hard the hinges shook. Werewolf strength. Must be nice.

  “JENNIFER, OPEN THE DOOR!”

  The singing stopped. Both of them held their breath, waiting for Jen’s response. One beat, two beats. “Knock, knock?” they heard her ask.

  “Jen, open the door. This isn’t funny,” Sally tried.

  “Jen, open the door, this isn’t funny who?” Jen repeated and snickered.

  “Okay,” Sally said to Decebel. “You’re right, she’s tore up from the floor up.”

  “Jennifer, I want you to back away from the door,” Decebel told her.

  “What are you going to do, Decebel?” Sally asked.

  He didn’t answer her. Instead, he braced both hands on either side of the door, pulled his leg back and kicked hard. The door didn’t resist. It splintered where his foot hit and then swung open. Steam came flowing out of the bathroom like a living being, slipping around Decebel, seeming to pull him in toward Jen. He started to enter, but before he could put a foot inside, Sally grabbed his arm. “Hey, buddy, she could be naked. Wait. If I need you, I will call.”

  “You are right; I will wait here. But hurry.”

  Sally stepped into the steam. Jen was still in the shower, dancing to music that Sally couldn’t hear … until Jen decided to share, that is.

  “There is this Decebel, on another level, boy, you’re my lucky werewolf, I wanna walk on your wavelength, and be there when you vibrate, for you I risk it all. But you’re not an option, wanna be a victim, ready for objection, and I don’t remember the words, something about poison. You’re an alien, wait I mean a werewolf, let me see your furry paws, don’t know what rhymes with paws.”

  Sally didn’t know Katy Perry’s E.T. song could be so butchered. Man, she is going to be so freaking embarrassed when I tell her she sang about Decebel and his paws. Sally actually laughed out loud at the thought. Jen turned at the sound of Sally’s voice. Sally saw more of Jen than she needed to in an entire lifetime.

  “SALLY!” which actually came out more like Swally. “Hey, chica, how’d you like my singing, pretty good right? You be my backup, the Sonny to my chair, or like the, um…,” Jen screwed her face up, struggling to come up with an adequate combination. She didn’t. “Like the black eye to my peas.” Jen laughed and nearly fell over.

  Sally jumped forward to catch her friend and keep the girl from cracking her skull. “Crap! Jen, stand still.”

  “Is everything okay? Do I need to come in there?” Decebel’s raised voice caught Jen’s attention. Great, just what Sally needed, a drunk, horny, naked chick chasing a werewolf around the hospital.

  “No!” Sally yelled back toward the door.

  “Oooh, did you bring a boy home, Sally?”

  Of course, now Jen was eager to get out of the shower. And Sally was getting thoroughly soaked. Jen untangled herself from Sally and headed straight for the smashed-in bathroom door … naked … as in, NO clothes. Sally tried to catch her, slipped, and did her best impression of Bambi on ice. Jen slithered away.

  “DECEBEL!” Sally yelled as loud as she could. “Incoming, drunk, naked, crazy chick!”

  A second later, she heard Decebel say something that sounded curiously like swearing in Romanian. Then Jen said, “Oooh, you’re freakin hot, as in h-o- … h-o- … something …” Apparently, she forgot the final letter to that very tricky word.

  Sally came sliding out of the bathroom, water dripping from her hair and body. She imagined she resembled a very pissed off wet cat. Only adding to her anger was the fact that Jen, intoxicated, appeared to have no trouble navigating the slick tile floor.

  Decebel had wrapped a sheet from the bed around Jennifer, who was, at the moment, shamelessly trying to grope him. “Have we met?” she asked. “Cuz if we haven’t then we should, and by meet, I mean hook up.” She waggled her eyebrows at him. The sight instantly removed Sally’s anger and almost sent her into hysterical laughter. Decebel was gallantly trying to keep Jen’s hands in appropriate areas. Sally supposed she should help, but this was just too good to pass up. She hurried over to her backpack and pulled out her phone.

  “What are you doing?” Decebel’s voice was incredulous.

  “I’m videoing this, of course. Jen is going to have a freaking heart attack when she sobers up, and I’m going to have it all on video. It will be like a Christmas present that just keeps on giving. Every time I need a pick-me-up, I just turn on the video of Jen drunk off her rocker, groping a werewolf who has no clue how to handle a drunk, horny teenager! This is like the best gift ever. Someone in the galaxy loves me,” Sally said through a chuckle. Decebel was not laughing.

  Jen turned to look at Sally as if realizing for the first time her friend was in the room. “Sally! Look it.” Jen tried to whisper, as if Decebel wouldn’t be able to hear her, but it came out more as a hoarse shout. “What’s his name? He is so yummy!”

  “Jen, that’s Decebel, remember? Fane’s werewolf pack member?” Sally watched Jen for any sign of recognition.

  The blonde studied Decebel closely. Very closely, as in, she had her hands on the man’s face. Then she ran her fingers through his hair, all the while staring at his eyes. “Hmm, he does kind of look familiar now that you say that.” She continued to study him, turning her head from side to side.

  Decebel looked at Sally as if searching for instruction.

  Inspiration hit. “Say something bossy to her.” Sally grinned at her own genius.

  Decebel only furrowed his brow and grunted. Sally shrugged her shoulders. “Fine, be the first werewolf in history to be raped by a drunken teenage girl. Whatever dude, it’s your rep.”

  Decebel grabbed Jen’s hands and looked her straight in the eyes. “Jennifer, go get dressed. Now.” His voice was as cold and firm as always.

  Jen froze, then giggled, “Decebel. Oh yeah, I know you. You’re so hot when you’re bossy.” Great, Sally thought as she rolled her eyes, inebriated Jen thinks Decebel is sexy when he’s bossy. Nice.

  To Sally and Decebel’s surprise, Jen finally relented. “Fine, I’ll put on some clothes. But only because you asked so nicely.” Jen began to un-wrap the sheet. Decebel moved faster than was humanly possible and made a beeline for the bathroom. “Tell me when she’s dressed,” he barked at Sally.

  “Roger that, little buddy,” Sally replied.

  “Do you think he likes me? I think I like him, but I shouldn’t.” Jen’s voice sounded like that of a wounded little girl. Oh no, Jen was going from silly drunk to sad drunk. Sad drunks were the worst kind.

  “Jen, look at me,” Sally said in the sternest voice she could muster. “Why do you think you like Decebel?”

  Jen’s face went blank, then she grinned. “Why would you think I liked Decebel, silly? He’s bossy, cold, mean, grumpy, pushy, yummy, sexy, strong, and … tall.”

  “Um, Jen.” Sally snapped her fingers in Jen’s face, which had gone all spaced out as she continued her description of Decebel. This was bad, so very freaking bad. Jen had a crush on a werewolf who she could never have. Damn, Sally thought, why can’t she be like other girls and like the captain of the football team, or even some grungy high school dropout? But no, she had to fall for a werewolf.

  Jen’s voice was soft. “It’s no big thing, he’s not an option.” She swung back to the other end of the drunken spectrum and started spinning in circles with her arms out, singing, “He’s not an option,” over and over in the same tune she had been singing earlier. Sally grabbed Jen and helped her into her clothes and then called for Decebel to join them again. When he walked back into the room, Jen immediately walked over to him and leaned on him, looking up at him dreamily. He walked over to the bed and Jen followed, refusing to let him go. When they were both seated, he looked up at Sally. “So, what exactly happened last night?”

  Sally closed her eyes and rubbed her face roughly with her hands, trying in vain to recall the previous evening, but there was nothing but a black spot where the memories should be.

  “I don’t remember, Decebel.”

  “Okay, what’s the last thing you do remember?”

  “Jen and I had decided to sneak into the ICU to see Jacque. We wandered all over the hospital until we nearly got caught by some guy in scrubs. Jen made me go on without her and said she would stay and distract the guy.”

  Decebel growled. “What do you mean she was with a guy?” He looked down to ask Jen about it, but she was sound asleep, her head leaned against his arm. Decebel gently laid her back and swung her legs up on the bed, then covered her with the blankets. He turned back to Sally and pinned her with his gaze. “What the hell were you two thinking? Did I not specifically say to not do anything stupid?”

  It was clear to Sally that nothing she could say would calm the pissed-off werewolf in front of her, so she didn’t even try. “Look, Jacque is our best friend; she’s all alone in a room with tubes and crap stuck to her; she’s in pain, and she’s scared. We were not just going to leave her like that all by herself.”

  “I understand that, but you could have asked for help instead of attempting it on your own,” Decebel told her.

  Sally’s jaw dropped open, baffled by what she had just heard. “Are you saying you would have helped us?”

  “I’m not going to say that I wouldn’t have tried to talk you out of it, but knowing this one,” he nodded his head in Jen’s direction, “she wouldn’t have relented. So, yes, I would have helped you.”

  “Wow. Well, next time we want to break some rules we will definitely recruit you.”

  “Good, now do you remember anything else? Did you make it into the ICU? Do you remember coming back to your room?” Decebel fired question after question at Sally.

  “Calm down, Dec. Let me think.” Sally held up her hands. “I remember standing in front of the ICU doors, and I was trying to figure out how they opened and then …” Sally furrowed her brow, trying so hard to remember what had happened.

  “Wait, you guys got past Skender?”

  Sally nodded her head yes and watched as Decebel got up and walked to the door. He stuck his head out, and she heard him ask Skender to come in. The other man walked in, shoulders slumped forward, and Sally could tell he was steeling himself for a thorough butt-chewing.

  “Skender.” Decebel’s’ voice was low and demanded truth. “You were assigned to guard this room. You are a Canis lupus, a member of my pack. I had thought you a capable warrior. Yet somehow, a couple of giggling, teenage girls were able to sneak out of a room you were assigned to guard. A room with only one exit. Could you please explain to me how that happened?”

  Skender swallowed thickly before looking at Sally and then to the floor. “It must have been when I went to the bathroom. I wasn’t gone that long, and the room was so quiet I figured they had gone to sleep.” Skender stumbled over his words, and the fear coming from him was palpable.

  “Why didn’t you call me and ask me to come and take over for you while you relieved yourself?”

  “I don’t know, Decebel. I knew I would only be gone a minute, and I just didn’t think they would try anything.”

  Decebel snorted. “Have you not been around these girls for the past month? Surely, you’ve noticed their pension for getting themselves into trouble.”

  “Hey now, there’s no need to be hating on us.” Sally frowned.

  “Speaking the truth is not hating, as you call it, it’s just stating a fact,” Decebel informed her.

  “Okay, so we know how they left, now we need to know how they got back.” Decebel glared at Skender. “Did you happen to be at your post when the girls returned?”

  “Yes, I was here both times,” he answered, no less nervous than before.

  “What do you mean both times?”

  “I mean both times. They didn’t come back together,” Skender explained. “Sally was the first to return.”

  “I don’t remember coming back,” Sally told him.

  “Well, I wouldn’t expect you to. I found you knocked out in the elevator.”

  Sally gasped and covered her mouth. Decebel didn’t say anything, but Sally saw his eyes begin to glow.

  “The elevator doors opened, and no one stepped out. So, I ran over before they could close to see if someone was in there. I saw you laying on the elevator floor. I picked you up and put you back in the bed. That’s when I realized Jen was gone as well.” Skender flinched at the low rumble that came from Decebel.

  “Pray tell, Skender, why did you not call me at this point? Don’t you think it was a pretty big deal you found Sally unconscious in an elevator and Jennifer missing?” Decebel began to pace now, appearing as if he was on the verge of throttling the poor wolf.

  “I should have called you right away, but I decided to wait and see if Jen made it back on her own. And she did. If she hadn’t returned shortly, I was going to call you. I see now in hindsight that that wasn’t the best idea.”

  “You think?” Decebel asked. “When did Jennifer get back?” he growled.

  “She came back about an hour ago in the company of a guy in scrubs. She said his name was Matty. She was pretty drunk when I asked her about the guy. He got scared and hurried off. Then I helped Jen back into their room, and I’ve been sitting out here ever since,” Skender finished.

  Sally was convinced if he had been in his wolf form, Skender would be cowering with his tail between his legs. Then again, as she looked at Decebel and the obvious rage he was trying to contain, Sally had to admit she felt like cowering as well.

  Decebel finally looked at Skender. “You can go.”

  Skender released a breath that Sally didn’t think he even realized he had been holding. He turned to go, but before he could make it out the door, Decebel told him, “Skender, I will not forget this. And it will be dealt with once everything else has been worked out. Understood?”

  “Yes, Beta,” he replied and then hastily shut the door.

  Sally could feel the anger rolling off of Decebel.

  “Are you okay?” she asked him.

  “I’m not really sure at the moment.”

  “Well, maybe you should take a time out. Jen’s not awake for you to growl at and there’s no sense in growling at me now since you’re just going to do it again when she wakes up. I’d hate for you to have to repeat all that growling.”

  “That’s probably a very good idea. However, I will warn you, Sally. A time out will not cool my temper. If anything, it may become worse as I’ll have time to dwell on all the possibilities of Jennifer’s little adventure.”

  “Okay, well, let’s not worry about that right now. I mean, she obviously showed up fully clothed. Skender didn’t mention that it looked like she was disheveled or whatever, so you can assume that she didn’t let this Matt character de-flower her.”

  “Sally, you’re not helping.” Decebel turned away from both girls, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “Look, I’m going to check on Fane and see if they’ve heard anything since I left. Please do not leave this room until I come back. Do you think you can handle that this time?”