How is that even possible?

Vera

It takes me several seconds to understand what I've just heard. Did he really say that? Did he just call me his mate?

One of the lycans who brought him into the clinic is staring at me with obvious surprise. From his reaction, I know he heard it too. I don't have time to think about it now.

“Crash cart!” I shout.

Thankfully, my medical training takes control before my mind can get caught up in what I may or may not have heard. Sam rushes in with the crash cart, and together we prepare to resuscitate the injured lycan.

“Clear!”

The first shock passes through his body.

Nothing happens.

There is still no heartbeat.

“Clear!”

We deliver the second shock. Still nothing.

“Clear!”

The young lycan who has been watching us moves closer to his injured friend.

“Come on, Noah... come on, man.”

His eyes fill with tears.

Then suddenly...

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

It's faint, but the monitor is picking up a heartbeat. He's alive. That's all we need.

“Get him up to the operating room!”

**************

There are certain moments when you look at your life and wonder how you ended up in such a situation.

This is definitely one of those moments. I'm scrubbed in and preparing to operate on a lycan.

A lycan.

Have I mentioned that I know absolutely nothing about lycan anatomy? I'm relying on the belief that their bodies are similar to werewolves, with only a few differences.

How many differences could there really be? I'm about to discover that for myself. I make the first incision and quickly confirm what I suspected.

One of his lungs has collapsed. I insert a tube to help stabilise it before moving on to the next injury.

A short time later, Dr Owens enters the operating room. He's already scrubbed and ready to assist me.

He gives me a small smile before coming over to examine the work I've done.

“What are we dealing with?”

“Collapsed lung, internal bleeding and more broken bones than I can count. Half his ribs are broken too. I'm honestly surprised he's still alive.”

“Well, lycans are incredibly resilient. I'll deal with the fractures. If we allow those bones to heal in the wrong positions, we'll have to break them again later and repair them properly. We should make use of the fact that he's unconscious. Did you give him blood thinners?”

I realise immediately that I didn't. It hadn't even crossed my mind. We don't normally use blood thinners when operating on werewolves.

Dr Owens notices my expression.

“Lycans recover much faster than wolves. Without blood thinners, the incisions could heal before you've finished treating him.”

It's difficult to believe his body can heal quickly when he's in such terrible condition, but I follow Dr Owens's instructions.

We continue with the operation. With Dr Owens assisting me, everything goes smoothly.

We're relieved when we discover that Jason, Dr Owens's patient, is going to make a full recovery. Out of all the wolves brought into the clinic, he had arrived in one of the worst conditions.

With my mentor here, the whole medical team seems more confident. He even hums quietly to himself while repairing Jason's fractures.

I soon realise that Dr Owens knows much more about lycans than I expected. He explains the differences between their bones and ours while showing me how each fracture needs to be treated.

It makes sense when I think about it. Our animal forms are different, so their bodies are bound to have some differences too.

By the time we finish the operation, Noah's vital signs are stable. I'm pleased with how everything has gone.

Dr Owens will arrange more X-rays to check whether there is any additional damage to Noah's bones that needs treatment. For now, though, he's doing much better.

Once Noah is taken out of surgery, I head into the changing room for a much-needed shower.

I put on my black leggings, a bralette and my favourite oversized jumper. It's almost ten at night, and all I want is to crawl into bed.

I'm exhausted.

I've had far too little sleep over the past few weeks, and everything that happened today has drained me. But I can't go home yet. I still need to check on my patients.

Especially the one I have just spent hours operating on. When I enter Noah's room, I find one of the nurses, Katie, updating his medical chart.

The room is mostly dark, with only the bedside lamp providing any light. My hand reaches towards the main light without me even thinking about it.

“He likes it dark.”

The words come from the corner of the room, followed by a low growl. I look in that direction.

A man is sitting there.

I recognise his scent immediately. He's one of the lycans. Katie gives me an irritated look, making it obvious that she already tried to turn the light on and was probably told the same thing.

Well, I'm not Katie.

I flick the switch. The room fills with light. The lycan in the corner lets out another low growl.

Katie looks relieved now that she can actually see what she's doing. She quickly finishes her notes, checks Noah's medication and leaves.

There are four beds in the room assigned to the lycans. One of them is empty. I imagine no wolf volunteered to share a room with them.

The bed beside Noah belongs to the young lycan from earlier. He's apparently been sedated.

The older lycan begins moving towards us when I approach Noah's bed. He looks noticeably older than the other two.

I continue examining my patient while he watches over us. Having him standing there is incredibly irritating.

When I've finished checking Noah, I turn towards him. One of his arms is supported by a sling.

The other has been covered with a thick bandage, and whoever applied it did a terrible job.

I frown.

Did one of our staff members do this? If they did, that's extremely poor medical care.

I notice another injury across his forehead. It's almost completely healed now. There's also a long scratch on his neck that remains bright red.

Considering everything he's been through, it's no surprise that he collapsed when they first arrived.

He has dark grey eyes, white hair and a muscular build that makes him look much younger than his actual age might suggest.

His expression is stern, and his eyes hold a distant look. I assume he's wary of us. Our staff are certainly wary of them.

He probably has even more reason to be suspicious while inside our territory. Under normal circumstances, any lycan who entered our land without permission would have been killed immediately.

Our Alpha has made an exception for them this time.

“How long until he wakes up?” he asks.

“The operation went very well, and he's stable. Depending on how quickly lycans recover, he should wake tomorrow without any problems.”

I offer him a polite smile because I'm still doing my job, but his attitude is beginning to annoy me.

“Will he be able to travel?”

“We'll perform more X-rays tomorrow to make sure his bones are healing in the right positions. Depending on what we find, he may be able to travel in about a week.”

“May?”

His expression becomes more hostile.

“Our healers would have had him walking within a day. You mutts can't even do your jobs properly.”

He practically spits the words at me. I'm far too tired to let his insult bother me. We all know what lycans are capable of saying.

“We'll treat you, feed you and provide clothes for you for as long as our Alpha decides you're allowed to remain here. Until then, try not to insult my staff. Remember, you're on wolf territory now.”

I give him a polite smile before leaving the room. Somehow, that man has managed to irritate me more than anything else today.

I'm already exhausted, yet he still found a way to make my night worse.

How is that even possible?