Chapter 4: Difficult

Mara

At this point, if someone told me he was also the mayor, I probably wouldn't even blink.

The sandy-haired man standing nearest him looked between us. Then his gaze dropped to Kieran's sweatshirt. His lips twitched.

Kieran noticed. "Don't."

"I didn't say anything."

"You were going to."

"Absolutely."

Kieran's eyes narrowed. The man grinned.

Oh. I liked this one already.

He held out a hand toward me. "Cassian."

I stared at it. Then him. Then Kieran. "Are you all wolves?"

Cassian's grin widened. "Yes."

I slowly looked toward Tessa. She looked delighted.

"No." I pointed at her. "Whatever you're thinking, no."

"I didn't say anything."

"You're vibrating again."

Cassian laughed. The other two men did not. One stood slightly behind him, dark-haired and built like he spent his free time bench-pressing refrigerators. His expression had remained carved from stone since he walked through the door. The third was quieter. Lean compared to the others, though that was like calling one grizzly bear smaller than another. His eyes moved constantly, doors, windows, hallway, me, Tessa. Observant. Uncomfortably so.

Cassian gestured toward them. "Rhett. Torin."

Neither offered a hand. Fine. I wasn't collecting werewolves.

Cassian turned back toward Kieran. "We've been looking for you since last night."

"I gathered."

"You disappeared."

"I was shot."

Rhett's jaw tightened. "We know."

Something passed between them. I noticed. Of course I noticed. Veterinarians spent half their lives treating patients incapable of telling them what hurt. Reading body language was practically a job requirement. But whatever weird wolf conversation was happening through meaningful staring was absolutely none of my business. I planned to keep it that way.

Cassian's eyes dropped toward Kieran's shoulder. "You're all right?"

"I will be."

"He almost wasn't," I said.

Four sets of eyes turned toward me. Wonderful. I crossed my arms. "He lost a significant amount of blood, his temperature was low when he came in, and his blood pressure was shit for a while."

Cassian looked at Kieran. Kieran looked irritated.

"Were you unconscious?"

"Yes."

"Completely?"

"For part of it."

Cassian looked at me again. "And you treated him?"

"That is generally what happens at a veterinary clinic."

His eyes drifted toward the recovery hallway. Then back. "Where?"

I knew exactly where this was going. "No."

Cassian blinked. "What?"

"You don't need to know."

His eyes lit up. "Oh, now I definitely need to know."

Tessa betrayed me immediately. "Kennel Seven."

Cassian stared at Kieran. Silence. Then... "You put him in a kennel?"

"I put a wolf in a kennel."

Cassian's mouth dropped open. I pointed toward Kieran. "He neglected to inform me that he had alternate settings."

Torin's mouth twitched. Barely. But I saw it. Rhett did not look amused. Cassian, meanwhile, looked like Christmas had come early.

"You slept in a kennel."

Kieran's expression darkened. "I was recovering."

"From being muzzled?"

Oh, shit.

Kieran slowly looked at me. I looked away. Cassian caught it immediately. "No." I pressed my lips together. "No fucking way."

"Cassian."

"You muzzled him?"

"He tried to bite me!"

"I did not."

My head snapped toward Kieran. "You snapped your teeth approximately two inches from my wrist."

"I stopped."

"Oh, fantastic. I'll add restraint to your medical chart."

Cassian bent forward laughing. Actually fucking laughing. Torin looked away, shoulders suspiciously tense. Even Tessa had given up pretending. Rhett stared at all of us like he'd walked into an alternate dimension. "I cannot believe this."

Cassian wiped beneath one eye. "Our Alpha got picked up off the road, sedated, muzzled, and put in a kennel."

"When you say it like that, it sounds bad," I said.

"It sounds incredible."

Kieran's voice dropped. "Are you finished?"

Something changed. It wasn't loud. He didn't growl. He didn't move. But the room suddenly felt heavier. Cassian straightened immediately. The humor didn't vanish completely, but something respectful replaced it. Torin's gaze lowered slightly. Even Rhett's posture changed.

My skin prickled.

Oh. There he was. Not the injured asshole in the kennel. Not the naked man I'd threatened with a mop. The Alpha. And apparently everyone in the room felt it.

Except me, apparently, because my mouth had never possessed a healthy relationship with self-preservation.

"Well, that was creepy."

Cassian coughed. Kieran looked at me. "What?"

"That thing you just did."

"What thing?"

I waved vaguely around him. "The whole scary-room-energy thing."

Tessa nodded. "Yeah. Felt that too."

Rhett's expression shifted from irritation to disbelief. "You speak to him like that?"

I looked at him. "Like what?"

"He is your Alpha."

There was something in his tone I didn't particularly like. Not threatening. Not exactly. More like I'd broken some rule everyone else understood.

"He's yours," I said.

Silence. Cassian's brows rose. I shrugged. "I met him approximately twenty minutes before discovering he has a human form. I haven't signed any paperwork."

Cassian made another choking noise.

Rhett's jaw flexed. "You know too much already."

And there it was. The humor disappeared. I looked at him. "Excuse me?"

"You know what we are."

"Well, unless all four of you are participating in the world's strangest furry convention, yes."

"Mara," Kieran warned softly.

"What? He started it."

Rhett stepped forward. Kieran moved faster. Not much. One step. That was it. But suddenly he was between us. His voice stayed calm. "Enough."

Rhett stopped. "She's human."

"I am aware."

"She knows."

"Because I shifted while unconscious in her clinic."

"That doesn't change—"

"Rhett."

One word. The other man went silent.

Kieran's eyes had changed again. Not glowing. Not claws. Nothing dramatic. Somehow that made it worse.

"She saved my life."

Rhett's gaze flicked toward me. "That does not erase the risk."

"No," Kieran said. "But it does mean you will not stand in her clinic and speak about her as though she isn't here."

That shut everybody up. Including me. Which was honestly impressive.

Rhett lowered his chin. "Yes, Alpha."

Kieran stepped back. Just like that, the pressure eased. I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

Well. That was new.

Cassian looked toward me. "Rhett isn't wrong about one thing."

"Oh, good. There's more."

"You can't tell anyone."

I glanced toward Tessa. She pointed at herself. "I already know."

Cassian sighed. "Yes. You too."

Tessa crossed her arms. "I wasn't planning to put it on F******k."

"Speak for yourself," I muttered. "I had a whole post drafted. 'Local veterinarian discovers men are somehow even more annoying when they can turn into wolves.'"

Cassian laughed. Kieran pinched the bridge of his nose.

Torin finally spoke. His voice was quieter than I expected. "No one can know."

I looked at him. Unlike Rhett, there was no threat in it. Just seriousness.

I nodded. "I understand."

Rhett seemed surprised. "What?"

I looked between them. "You're expecting me to argue?"

Cassian shrugged. "A little."

"I don't want anyone showing up at my clinic, people trying to capture you, scientists dissecting you, or whatever other nightmare would come from this getting out."

All four men stared at me.

"What?"

Cassian shook his head. "Nothing."

"Good."

I looked at Kieran. "Before you leave, I want to check that shoulder one more time."

Rhett opened his mouth. I pointed at him. "Medical request. Not pack law or whatever. Relax."

Cassian grinned. Kieran sighed. "Fine."

I gestured toward the treatment room. As Kieran passed me, Cassian leaned closer. "So, just to clarify…"

I already knew. "No."

"You really muzzled him?"

I stared straight ahead. "He was being difficult."

Behind me, Kieran growled. My hand automatically twitched toward where the muzzle had been. Cassian saw it and completely lost his shit.