Chapter 1: Anything

Aura’s POV

I was in the kitchen when I heard a loud pounding on the front door. 

Strange, I thought to myself. It’s the middle of the night. Who could that be? I cautiously opened the door and was shocked to see a strange man standing on my front stoop. His eyes met mine and my breath hitched in my throat. He was devastatingly handsome, with a sharp jaw and intense, gray eyes. 

He was panting, his voice low and raspy. 

I glanced down and noticed he was hunched over…

….and covered in blood. 

“Oh!” I gasped, stunned. He took a few steps forwards, limping, steadying himself on the wall. But he looked as though he was about to keel over at any moment.

“What happened?” I asked him, rushing to his aid. But he didn’t respond. He only groaned as his face contorted in pain. 

“Here, let me help you,” I told him. I had no idea what was wrong with him, but he clearly needed help, so I hefted his arm around my shoulders and brought him into my living room. 

I tried to sense his wolf, but it was very weak. I knew in that moment that something was seriously wrong. 

I set the man down on my couch, just as Jackson wheeled in 

“Well, who have you got there?” Jackson asked from his wheelchair, eyeing the stranger on our couch. “Brought home a handsome man, Aura? Really?” His tone was teasing. “I’m not sure what Sorren would think of that.” 

“Hey, that’s not it at all,” I replied, rolling my eyes at Jackson. I loved my younger brother with my whole heart, but I was irritated at his insinuation that I’d brought home some strange man just because he was handsome. I was engaged with Alpha Sorren! “I didn’t bring him here. He just sort of…showed up. He’s injured, Jackson. He needs help.”

I promptly went to fetch my medicine kit. Jackson had been sick for years. He had a rare disease that attacked the muscles in his legs. He’d been diagnosed as a child and confined to a wheelchair ever since. Because of the disease, he lost the ability to shift. It hurt my heart, knowing that my brother struggled with this disease. But Jackson always saw the positive side of things. He was a ‘glass half-full’ kind of man and his optimistic demeanor was contagious. 

Through treating him, I’d taught myself medicine. I was no expert, by any means, but I figured I knew enough to help this man. 

“What’s wrong with him?”

The man’s fists were clenched and he ground his teeth in pain. 

“I’m not sure,” I told Jackson. But after a quick examination, I was shocked to learn he’d been poisoned. 

“God, he’s been poisoned with wolfsbane,” I said, stunned. 

How was this man still alive? Very few werewolves could survive wolfsbane. “Come, help me,” I called out to Jackson. “We have to get the poison out.”

Just then, though, the man’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he went limp.

“He passed out,” I told Jackson as I tore open the man’s shirt. I couldn’t help but notice his solid chest muscles. He was so strong. But my eyes fell on the wound near his heart. 

“Damnit,” I said. “We don’t have much time.” The wound had already turned black, which meant the wolfsbane was spreading. The wound was precariously close to his heart. If I didn’t stop the poison soon, this man would die. 

I worked on him frantically, racing against the clock.  I administered the antidote and cleaned the wound, trying to stop the poison. I was sweating profusely, my own heart hammering in my chest. 

“Who is this man, Aura?” Jackson asked, assisting me as best he could. 

“I have no idea,” I told Jackson, wiping the sweat from my brow. “Like I said. He just…sort of appeared.”

“Well, he’s lucky he found you,” Jackson smiled at me. “You’ve saved me more times than I can count. I’m sure you can save him, too.” I appreciated Jackson’s confidence in me, but I wasn’t so sure. 

“We’ll see about that,” I told Jackson.

Just then, the man bolted to an upright position, tossing me from him. He roared menacingly, his eyes wild. Before I could process, he reached out and grabbed my throat, his hand locking around it. 

I was shocked to see that his eyes had turned red, and they were wild with hostility. 

“Aura!” Jackson gasped beside me, panicked. He tried to pull the man off me, but I waved my hand at him to stop him.

“It’s all right, Jackson,” I said, my eyes locked on the stranger’s. “I know you’re in pain. But I’m trying to save your life. Please. You can trust me. I can help you. But you’ll need to  let go of me so I can work.”

He stared into my eyes for beat with a dangerous look. But then his fingers slowly relaxed and he released his grip. 

“That’s much better,” I told him. “Now lay back down.” He did as I said. I extracted the poison from the wound and then stitched it up. He watched me, his expression unreadable as I dressed his wounds. 

Once I was sure he was stable, I went to the kitchen to wash his blood off my hands. When I came back into the living room, I found Jackson and the stranger staring at each other. 

“Perhaps he’s mute?” Jackson said in a serious tone.

He rested his chin on his hand, looking as if he were deep in thought. “I’ve asked him a dozen questions, and he hasn’t answered a single one.”

“Hmm,” I said.  

I had to admit it, it was all very strange. I mean, it wasn’t every day that a strange man just appeared at your door in the middle of the night, poisoned with wolfsbane. Now that he was stabilized, I was just as curious as Jackson. 

“Are you feeling alright now?” I asked him. I looked into his eyes, and was surprised to see that they were gray again. 

We stared at each other in silence for a moment before he finally spoke.

“What do you want, kitten?” he asked in a low voice. “For saving my life.”

I shook my head, wiping the blood from his chiseled chest with a dampened towel. 

“Nothing,” I told him. “You needed help, so I helped you. I couldn’t just stand by and watch you die.”

He lifted his eyebrow. God, he was handsome. He looked like he just stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine, with his steely gray eyes and masculine jaw. 

“There has to be something you want,” he said, watching me with hawk-like precision. I felt my cheeks blush under his gaze. 

“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied, averting my eyes. “I saved you because it was the right thing to do.”

Just then, he grasped my hand. 

“I can give you anything,” he said. His voice was thick, like honey. I obliged. The intensity in his eyes made my heart stop. “ Just name it, kitten. Anything. And it’s yours.