Maya
Maya had known that Cole would be busy for the biggest part of the night, and she’d intended to go to sleep and see him the following morning when he got back. It seemed like the fastest way to pass the time. What she hadn’t counted on was the fact that she would be out of her mind with worry. How did the wives and girlfriends of other SWAT team members cope? Or the wives and girlfriends ofanylaw enforcement officers, come to that. They must live in a perpetual state of fear.
Cole had only left the facility a little over two hours ago, but Maya already knew that she wasn’t getting any sleep any time soon. She got to her feet, intent on going in search of coffee—or any other distraction for that matter—when there was a knock on the door to her room. She ran for the door and yanked it open. A serious-faced woman stood out in the hallway.
“Miss Danvers?” the woman asked.
Maya nodded, anxiety knifing through her stomach. “What’s happened? Is it Cole?”
The woman nodded. “Agent Chase was injured in the line of duty tonight.”
“Injured?” Maya’s voice trembled as she spoke. “How?”
“Shot.”
Maya gasped and tears sprang instantly to her eyes.
“He’s all right,” the woman said quickly. “He’ll make a full recovery. He was being treated by the doctor, but he’s finished with him now so you can see him. If you’d like to follow me.”
The woman turned then took off down the hallway at a fast clip and Maya strode after her, her mind conjuring up all sorts of terrible scenarios. Shot. A sob caught in her throat. The woman had said that Cole would make a full recovery, but what if she was wrong? What if there were complications? What if he got an infection or had internal bleeding or something else as horrible?
They got into the elevator and rode it down to the basement. Maya frowned. She knew from experience that the parking lot was located on this floor.
“Are we leaving the facility?” she asked the agent, unease prickling at her skin.
“Oh, no, sorry. I should have said. We have a number of rooms down here that we use for situations like this.”
Situations like this? What on earth was she talking about? Maya couldn’t find the words to ask—about that, or anything else. When they got out of the elevator, the woman turned right and sure enough, up ahead there was a fire exit door. The woman used her ID swipe card to get in and they headed down another hallway until they reached a door with a sign above it marked restricted access. This door required a five digit access code that the woman punched in. She pushed open the door, then stood aside for Maya to enter.
“We have a medical bay in here for our kind,” she explained. “It’s separate from the rest of the facility as not everyone who works here knows about us.”
Oh. So, this woman was a shifter, like Cole. It was hard to get her head around how many of them there were, and how she’d still never known about it until last night. Then she frowned, a thought penetrating her deep-seated terror. Cole should be in a hospital if he’d been shot, not dragged off to some underground medical bay. He needed blood, and doctors, and the best medical care available, and she was having a hard time believing that was here. She opened her mouth to demand answers, but the woman abruptly stopped in front of a door and swiped her keycard through the reader. She hesitated before pushing open the door.
“I understand you haven’t seen Agent Chase like this before, so I just want to reassure you that you are in no danger from him. It helps with the healing,” she said cryptically. “I’ll be in my office, which is behind the last door on the right. Just knock when you’re ready and I’ll take you back to your room.”
She nodded, then the woman strode off down the corridor without another word. What had she meant by that? She didn’t know why anyone would expect her to think she was in danger from Cole. He’d saved her life. Maya nudged the door open wider and slipped through...and then stopped dead, her breath catching in her throat.
Lying on top of the hospital bed, up against the far wall, was a beautiful gray wolf. The animal was much bigger than Maya had expected him to be. She wanted to move closer, but she was frozen to the spot, unable to do anything but stare. The magnificent animal was sleeping peacefully, its chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. She stood there for a few moments and then, feeling marginally braver, she took a few steps closer to the bed.
The wolf had either heard her, or sensed her coming nearer, because its eyes snapped open and it stared at her, a low rumbling snarl sliding from between its lips. Maya panicked, becoming as still as a statue and as she stood there, the wolf lifted its muzzle and scented the air.
A moment later, the wolf let out an excited yip, then struggled to get into a seated position. It must have jarred whatever part of it was injured because the next sound it made was a pitiful whine.
“Oh, easy,” Maya said. “Don’t move so fast.”
She felt like an idiot for talking to an animal as if it could understand her, but maybe he could. She didn’t see why not. She’d have to ask him when he was next human again.
Now that the wolf was sitting up, it looked even bigger and Maya was a little bit intimidated by its size, but the creature looked friendlier than ever. Its tongue lolled out of its mouth, and when Maya didn’t move any closer, it let out a little whine.
She drew in a calming breath, pulled her shoulders back, and took a couple of steps closer. The wolf’s tail started wagging and his fur shook as if from excitement, but when Maya stopped moving toward it, it whined again. She took that as a cue that she was fine to close the distance between them.
After all, this was Cole, her Cole, and he had sworn to her that he would never hurt her. He’d even invited her to watch him shift on the next full moon—he wouldn’t have done that if he thought that his wolf would harm her. And deep down, she knew it was true. Cole would never hurt her. Could never hurt her. Mind made up, Maya walked the rest of the way over to the bed.
“Hey,” she whispered as she approached.
The wolf opened his mouth in an expression that resembled a grin then leaned over and nudged her arm.
“You want me to pet you?” Maya asked.
