Chapter 2: A Man?

Mara

I woke up with my face stuck to a throw pillow and the distinct feeling that I had died sometime around sunrise. Unfortunately, I had not. My neck hurt. My mouth tasted like stale coffee and bad decisions. 

And somewhere down the hallway, one of the monitors was beeping just loudly enough to make anxiety sit straight up inside my chest and go, Oh, good. We're doing this again.

I groaned and pushed myself upright. The break-room clock read 7:14 A.M. I'd slept for less than two hours. Fantastic. Basically a full night's rest if you lowered your standards enough.

I dragged myself toward the sink, filled a paper cup with water, drank half of it, then stared at the coffeemaker. "Don't fail me now." It made a sad gurgling noise. Mood.

By the time I stepped into the treatment hallway, I had coffee in one hand and my remaining dignity somewhere behind me. Tessa was sitting at reception with her head down on the desk. I nudged her shoulder.

"Alive?"

A muffled sound came from beneath her arms. "Debatable."

"Good enough." I started toward recovery. "How's our giant asshole?"

Tessa lifted her head. "Haven't checked him yet."

I stopped. "You haven't?"

"You told me not to wake him unless a monitor went off."

"Right."

She narrowed her eyes. "You forgot your own instructions?"

"I've slept for ninety minutes. I've forgotten my social security number."

I kept walking. Kennel Seven sat at the end of the recovery room. The moment I stepped inside, something felt wrong. The IV monitor wasn't reading. Neither was the pulse-ox. My stomach dropped.

"No."

Coffee went onto the counter. I crossed the room fast. "Please do not be dead."

The blanket inside the kennel was twisted into a pile. The IV line lay across the floor. The muzzle sat near the back wall. And there was no wolf.

I stopped. Blinking once. Twice. 

I unlocked the kennel. Nothing. No wolf. No blood trail leading out. No broken latch. No sign that a massive injured predator had somehow Houdini'd his furry ass out of a reinforced recovery run.

"Tessa?"

"What?"

"Come here."

Her footsteps shuffled down the hallway. "What happened?"

"My wolf is gone."

She appeared in the doorway. "Gone?"

"Gone."

"How the fuck does a wolf disappear?"

"I don't know, Tessa. Maybe he learned lockpicking."

I stepped farther into the kennel. Then the blanket moved. I froze. Tessa froze. Something shifted beneath it. Human-sized. Very human-shaped. A foot slid out. Bare.

I stared at it. Tessa whispered, "What the fuck?"

Slowly, I reached for the edge of the blanket. Every horror movie I had ever watched screamed at me not to do this. Naturally, I did it anyway.

I pulled. Leg. Thigh. Hip. Ass.

"Oh my God."

I dropped the blanket. Tessa made a strangled noise behind me.

"There is a naked man in your kennel!"

"I can see that."

"Why is there a naked man in your kennel?"

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW."

The man moved. I grabbed the nearest thing I could find. A mop. Because apparently after eight years of higher education, my final defense against a naked intruder was janitorial equipment.

His eyes opened. Gold. My grip tightened. No. Absolutely not.

He blinked slowly and looked at me. "Mara."

Every hair on my body stood up. I raised the mop. "How the FUCK do you know my name?"

His brows drew together. "Mara—"

"No. Don't Mara me. Where is my wolf?"

He stared at me. "What?"

"The wolf."

His expression shifted. Barely. Almost like amusement. That pissed me off instantly.

"You think this is funny?"

"No."

"You're smiling."

"I'm not."

"You're naked in my kennel and my patient is missing. You do not get to fucking smile."

He tried to sit up. The blanket slid down his waist. I pointed the mop. "NOPE." He stopped. "Cover that."

He looked down. Then back at me. "Mara."

"I am serious. Penis away. Now."

Tessa turned around completely. "I'm not looking."

The stranger pulled the blanket over himself. Slowly. Like I was the unreasonable one. My blood pressure rose another ten points.

"Okay," I said. "Start talking."

He leaned his head against the kennel wall. "You should calm down."

I laughed. Not normally. Not even pleasantly. It came out high-pitched and hysterical. "Calm down?"

Tessa whispered, "Bad choice."

I pointed at her without looking away from him. Then I pointed the mop at him again. "You broke into my clinic."

"No."

"You're naked."

"I'm aware."

"My wolf is gone."

"I know."

"You know?"

"Yes."

"Fantastic. Where is he?"

He rubbed a hand over his face. "You're looking at him."

Silence. Tessa turned back around. I stared. He stared. Then I laughed again. "Oh, good."

His jaw tightened. "Good?"

"You're fucking insane."

"I'm not."

"You're telling me you're a wolf."

"Yes."

"Humans don't turn into wolves."

"Some do."

"That is not how biology works."

"It is how mine works."

"That is somehow even less helpful."

I started pacing. This was stupid. Obviously stupid. Maybe he'd somehow gotten into the building. Maybe the wolf escaped. Maybe—

He shifted. Then winced. Hard. His hand went to his right shoulder. Blood appeared beneath his fingers. My entire brain changed gears.

"Stop moving."

"I'm fine."

"You're bleeding."

"It'll heal."

"I said stop fucking moving."

Doctor brain did not care that Naked Crazy Man believed he was a woodland creature. Blood was blood. I stepped closer. He watched me carefully.

"Move your hand."

"No."

I stared at him. "Excuse me?"

"I said I'm fine."

"And I said move your hand before I use this mop for something medically questionable."

Tessa covered her mouth. The man sighed and moved his hand. I pulled the blanket away from his shoulder. And stopped breathing.

Fresh incision. Black sutures. Same placement. Same length. No. I leaned closer. There was a doubled stitch near the lower edge where the tissue had pulled while I closed. My stitch. I knew it because I'd cursed at it for ten minutes.

My fingers went cold. "No."

The man said nothing. I stared at the wound. Then at his face. Gold eyes. Then back at the sutures.

"No, no, no."

I reached forward before I could stop myself. My fingertips hovered over the incision. "These are my stitches."

"Yes."

I looked at him. "I did these."

"Yes."

I stood so fast I nearly hit my head on the kennel door. Tessa whispered, "Mara?" I looked at the floor. Black fur scattered across the blankets. The loose IV. The muzzle. No blood trail. No forced lock. Nothing.

My eyes went back to him. Same eyes. Same wound. Same fucking attitude. My stomach dropped.

"You're the wolf."

He exhaled. "Yes."

I stared at him. He stared back. Something inside my brain quietly packed a suitcase and left.

"You're the fucking wolf."

"Yes."

"The wolf I operated on."

"Yes."

"The wolf I sedated."

"Yes."

Tessa made a choking sound. I turned toward her. "He had paws."

"I know."

"A tail."

"I know."

"I checked him for internal bleeding."

"I KNOW." I turned back to him. "And you just let me?"

"I was unconscious."

"Good point."

I paced again. "This isn't real."

"It is."

"Nope."

"Mara."

"Nope."

He sighed. "You saved my life."

"I saved a wolf."

"You saved me."

"That sentence makes me want to lie down in traffic."

His eyes actually softened. Which somehow made this worse. 

I pressed my fingers to my temples. "Am I having a stroke?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Because hallucinating a naked man who thinks he's my wolf feels very stroke-adjacent."

He held my gaze. Then his eyes changed. Not dramatically. Just enough. The gold brightened until it almost seemed to glow. His fingernails lengthened. Darkened. Claws. Actual fucking claws.

I stopped breathing. 

Tessa whispered, "Oh." 

I took one slow step backward. Then another. The claws disappeared. His eyes returned to normal. Mostly.

I looked at Tessa. She looked at me. Then I picked my coffee up from the counter. My hand was shaking so badly the lid rattled. I took a long drink. Cold. Disgusting. Perfect.

I looked back at the naked werewolf sitting in Kennel Seven. "Okay."

He raised an eyebrow. "Okay?"

"No." I pointed at him. "None of this is okay." His mouth twitched again. "And for the love of God, put some fucking clothes on."