Chapter 2

5 years later

Locking up the diner was still a less than favourite job, not least because of the bad memory associations. Still, Mr Kalamides had been good to me and I felt like I owed him so rarely said no when he asked me to close.

"I can't believe you let the old man talk you into locking up again." A familiar voice floated from the shadows. "You are actually allowed to say no sometimes."

"Hey Max." Stepping forward was a 6 foot 3 gorgeously muscled male. I shrugged, "I don't mind helping out." I truly didn't. Mr Kalamides had held my job for me all those years ago, not even blinking at the three months I needed off to recover from the attack.

"Liar," he rumbled.

Maybe I was. It's not like I could hide my elevated heart-rate from him. Wolf senses meant that it was near impossible to hide my body's reactions to things and fear was an especially easy emotion to pick up on. Not that I was actually going to agree with Max, he was arrogant enough without needing to be told he was right about something.

Jiggling the handle to check the door was secure I finally turned to face the man I had come to call both friend and tormentor. "I know why I'm here but why are you? Don't you have important pack things to be doing?" As beta of the local Pack Max always seemed to be on to move, going from one problem to the next.

"Always, babe." A confident grin lit up his face. "But I just happened to be in the area, and I thought I could walk you home. Keep you safe from the monsters." With that he held out a leather-jacketed arm for me to take.

"Who's going to keep me safe from you though?" I muttered under my breath, even as I slid my arm through his.

"Aw come on Little Fighter, you're always safe with me." Warm breath brushed my ear as he leaned in to whisper the words to me. Cocky jerk he may be, but deep down I knew Max would never hurt me, if fact I was pretty sure he'd fight to the death for me. No rogue wolf would get near with him around.

********

5 years ago

I'd woken alone in a hospital bed. My head pounding and my left arm on fire. The quiet beep of a heart monitor my only company. My first thought was that I'd somehow burned myself at work, maybe dropped a pot of scalding coffee but that didn't sound right. If I had at least one of the other servers would be here with me, they were my friends. I blinked, desperately trying to clear the fog in my brain but every time I thought I could grasp a definite memory it would slip away into the ether of my head.

A quiet knock at the door broke me from my thoughts. My head exploded with pain as I turned it to see who was coming in, hopefully whoever it was would have some answers.

"Miss Jones, how are you feeling?" A kind looking man in a white coat walked towards me, clipboard in hand.

"Everything hurts." My voice sounded pathetic even to my own ears, my throat dry and scratchy from lack of water. As if sensing my thoughts, the man reached over to the table next to me and filled a cup with water.

"Here, this should help." He gently held it out towards me, not releasing it until he was sure I had a firm grip. The intense relief the cool water brought to my parched throat was divine. Finally feeling a little more human I raised my eyes to the person I assumed was a doctor.

"What happened? I can't seem to remember how I got here. Or why I got here."

"You had a bit of an accident." His lips tipped up into a reassuring smile. "But not to worry I've checked you over and you're going to be fine."

"What happened?" I tried again. Even in my pathetic state I could tell he was avoiding telling me something. He wasn't making a whole lot of eye contact which never made me feel confident.

I watched his face closely, seeing deliberation flicker across it. If I wasn't feeling quite so awful, I'd acknowledge that he definitely fell into the 'hot doctor' category. He was tall and well built, clearly having seen the inside of a gym, and his clean-cut features were the perfect match for his profession.

He cleared his throat, "You were attacked and bitten. As I said, I've checked the bite out thoroughly, cleaned and dressed it. It will heal."

"What attacked me?" My voice was starting to fade as sleep threatened to drag me under. I wanted to stay awake but couldn't seem to fight it.

"Rest, Miss Jones. When you're feeling more yourself I'll have a friend come in and talk to you about it. Explain everything." I felt a warm hand briefly touch more forehead before I drifted off. Why would a doctor have a friend come and talk to me? Maybe he meant a colleague. Unable to resist the pull any longer I let darkness take me.

********

"Safely delivered to your door, as promised." Max's deep voice broke though the memories that always plagued me when I walked through the park at night. I always avoided it now, unless I had company.

"Thanks, although you know I can walk myself home. I'm a big girl." What I didn't say that it was always a relief when one of the Pack showed up to escort me, no matter how much time passed the park would always be my nightmare place.

"No doubt about the girl part." His tone was actually wolfish. "But why would you want to walk alone when you can have my awesome company?" His voice said he was joking but his icy blue eyes were deadly serious. Max did not have confidence issues.

"The eternal question." I turned to unlock my front door painfully aware of Max's heat radiating across my back. I had slowly come to learn that wolves had much smaller personal bubbles than humans.

"So, are you going to invite me in this time?" I felt him move even closer, crowding me.

"Nope. Maybe next time." My standard response.

"One of these days Little Fighter you're going to let me all the way in." The heat behind me flared for a moment before cooling as he stepped away. "Jonas said you should stop by for dinner this weekend. It's been a while."

"Sure, tell him I'll be there. And if he happens to cook his signature steak drowning in garlic butter I wouldn't be completely unhappy." No, I'd die and go to heaven.

"I'll pass on the message." With a final grin he turned to walk away, pausing until he saw me enter my apartment and close the door. Flopping down on the couch I drew in a deep breath, for some reason time with Max always left me feeling like I'd run a marathon.

He showed up to walk me home more often than not when I was on the late shift and, if not him then another Pack member would. I was grateful as they didn't have to, I wasn't their responsibility as I wasn't really a member of the Pack. When I first changed Jonas offered me a place, which I turned down. I wasn't in the right frame of mind to make that kind of life-changing choice, instead I accepted 'friend of the Pack' status. It gave me certain privileges without many of the restrictions. For me, it worked.

I let my thoughts drift. Seeing Jonas would be good, I should make more effort to visit him but sometimes life got in the way. It didn't help that every time I went over to the Manor that Max was there. Jonas was one of the calmest people I knew, he could smooth over any situation, by contrast Max was like lighter fluid on an open fire. And yet the Alpha and beta were the perfect team. The calm and the storm.

********

5 years ago

"Maggie? May I call you Maggie?" A voice like honey drew me from my dozing. Three days of being in hospital and I still felt like I could sleep for the next seven years. The doctor swore the bite was fine but I was starting to think he might have missed something. Surely by now the heat and pain should have begun to lessen.

"Uh sure, I guess." I had no idea who the placid man was standing at the door to my room but something about him urged me to make him happy. Odd. But that seemed to sum up my life right at the moment.

"I'm a friend of Doctor Anderson's. Jonas Matthews. He said he mentioned that I'd stop by?" I was momentarily distracted by his smooth chocolate skin and warm caramel eyes. It seemed like every man visiting me at the moment was straight out of a model catalogue.

"He did. Are you a doctor too?" I hoped this meant that I'd finally get a bit more information about what exactly had bitten me and how long I was going to be stuck in hospital. If I was here much longer I'd have to call Alexa from the diner to bring me a few essentials.

"Not of medicine." He smiled slightly at my confused look. "I have a PhD in literature. If you need any help dissecting Shakespeare I'm your man."

"Ok." A throbbing started up between my temples. "Why did Doctor Anderson think you could help me?"

He walked further into the room and the ache in my head receded a bit. Gesturing to the chair next to my bed he waited until I gave a nod of assent for him to sit. He carefully arranged himself, shaking the creases from his trousers and smoothing down the front of his shirt, before leaning forward and looking me directly in the eyes.

"Because I'm considered and expert in the field of the type of bite you have."

"But you aren't an actual, real doctor?" It came out sounding harsher than I intended.

"Well, that's certainly blow to my ego." The twinkle in his eyes reassured me I hadn't offended him, thankfully. "I need you to try and listen to what I am going to tell you. It will sound impossible, even crazy but I promise you that everything I'm about to say is the absolute truth. I will never lie to you about this." There was a ring of unquestionable certainty in his tone that sent a shiver down my spine. I was starting to think that finding out the truth of what happened to me may wasn't really something I wanted.

"You were bitten. The doctor told you this?" I silently nodded. "But he didn't tell you what bit you?" A shake of my head. "You were bitten by a wolf. Specifically, a werewolf."