#5

[MARIANNE]

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I gasped and helped Nikolai lie down on his bed. His face was pale, and his body was covered in bruises and scratches. He looked like he had just been mauled by a bear.

My index finger touched one of his scratches, where the skin had been torn open. He hissed, his hand gripping the bedsheet as the muscles in his abdomen tensed.

Since he had just showered, droplets of water from the tips of his hair trickled down, leaving trails across his chest before sliding over his eight-pack abs. I swallowed hard and looked away, trying to steady my breathing while pushing inappropriate thoughts out of my mind.

“Luckily, your wounds aren’t deep. They don’t need stitches. They should close up again within a few days if you have a good healing ability. We just need to wrap them with bandages,” I said, trying to sound professional.

“They’re in the nightstand.”

Nikolai glanced at the nightstand beside the bed. I opened the drawer and was surprised to see how many bandages and painkillers were inside.

“Seeing that you have such a collection of bandages, I’m starting to suspect whether my investor is involved in illegal arena fights or if he’s a mafia boss.” I asked with a neutral expression while Nikolai remained silent.

I wrapped the scratch on his chest without making any further comments. For the bruises, I took an ointment out of my bag.

“What’s that?” he asked, his eyes focused on the ointment in my hand.

“For your bruises. It would be better if you use this.”

Nikolai didn’t refuse. He allowed me to apply the ointment to the bruises around his collarbone and the area beneath his broad chest.

“You should probably go to the hospital and get an X-ray to make sure your ribs are okay.”

“For a veterinarian, you’re pretty skilled.”

I grinned smugly.

“You wouldn’t believe it. Last month, I saved a fat wolf that was lying in front of my clinic.”

“A fat wolf?” Nikolai asked, sounding offended, or perhaps incredulous. I wasn’t sure.

I nodded and continued applying the ointment to the bruised areas of his skin. “Maybe around 180 lb or 200 lb? I don’t know, he was huge! Like a bear! I might even have been able to ride him.”

Nikolai looked away, his ears turning slightly red.

I noticed the change and tilted my head slightly in confusion.

“You’re exaggerating. He wasn’t that big,” he said, then quickly ran his tongue over his lips, wetting them.

“And he wasn’t fat,” he added.

I stared at him intently. His behavior felt familiar. I felt like I had met him before.

But where?

“What?” Nikolai looked at me again, his gaze still as cold as it had been when we met at the lounge a month ago.

“Your face feels familiar. Have we met before?”

One of Nikolai’s hands rose and rubbed the back of his neck. I had been sitting beside the bed all this time, but now I leaned closer and squinted at him as if analyzing his face.

Nikolai grabbed my shoulder and gently pushed me back.

“Move.”

He immediately pulled away and got off the bed, turning his back to me.

“Our relationship isn’t that close, Miss. So if you came here to deliver the reports, I’ll accept them. You helped me, and I’ll accept that too. I’ll transfer the payment.”

My brows furrowed. He looked perfectly fine, unlike a few minutes ago when he had been pale and weak.

His back looked strangely familiar, as if I had seen it before. And the towel around his waist, slipping slightly down his hips, made me narrow my eyes.

There was a stitched wound there, and I knew those stitches very well. They looked exactly like the ones I had made.

But when?

I approached him and bent down directly in front of his hips, carefully examining the stitches to make sure they were the ones I had made. I reached out and slowly touched them. But who would have thought Nikolai would suddenly turn around, leaving my face directly in front of his abdominal muscles and navel?

My eyes widened as I stared at the sharp V-line of his abs, my finger already touching his skin.

The moment my skin brushed against his, he growled like a wild animal. I was certain that wasn’t a human sound.

I froze even more as Nikolai pulled away.

I was still bent at a ninety-degree angle in front of him, slowly lifting my head.

“Did you... just growl?”

Nikolai swallowed and gripped his towel tightly.

“Fast healing ability, the exact same location of the scar, and stitches that match mine

exactly. Is it possible that you are… Mr. Shifter?”