“Now the inside.” Aaron’s voice was strained. “Have to, or it’ll get infected.”
“Try not to hit me,” the alpha said.
“What, so you can break my neck? Let’s all be glad I’m the one on the table.” Aaron’s eyes had gone foggy, and his arm trembled, but the smile he gave Ember held mischief. “Last time I had to patch up Malachi, he told me ‘go ahead’ and three seconds later tried to crush my windpipe. Solid trust between us. Just like brothers.”
“That does sound brotherly,” she said.
The alpha gave a low growl, but it held no threat. He ducked his head, feigning concentration on Aaron’s leg, but not in time to hide his half-smile. Then he went to work.
Ember laced her fingers in front of her to keep her body still while Aaron held onto the table and drew long ragged breaths. But then came his small keening whine. And Ember forgot herself altogether.
Next thing she knew she was standing at the table, at his head. She slid her hand under the blanket and rubbed his shoulders, muscles knotted with the struggle to keep himself still.
“It’s all right, Aaron. The alpha’s taking care of you. I don’t know how, but you’re bearing it so well. You can do this.”
Her words continued to flow without forethought. Her thumb rubbed gentle circles on his neck. The alpha finished cleaning and set to suturing. Then he padded the wound with fresh gauze and wrapped it. All the while Ember kept talking.
At last the alpha stepped back and said, “It’s done.”
She returned to herself with a snap. Oh… Her fingers were combing through the cowlick at the base of Aaron’s neck. Her other hand held tight to Aaron’s. He didn’t let go as he sighed and closed his eyes.
“Thanks, Mal.”
“You’ve done it for me.” The alpha crossed to the sink and began scrubbing his hands.
“I’m so tired.”
“No sleeping, not yet. No slipping off into shock without letting us know.”
“Okay. I’ll try.” His hand tightened on Ember’s, but he didn’t open his eyes.
Drying his hands on a towel, the alpha walked back to the table. He studied his blanket-draped friend a long moment then focused on Ember. “I mean it. He shouldn’t sleep for an hour or two, until we’re sure the blood loss isn’t dangerous.”
“Am I taking him home now?”
“No. Stay here until I get back.” He poked Aaron’s shoulder. “You agree to keep awake if I move you to the couch?”
“Sure,” Aaron said.
“What else do you need?”
“Uh…” Aaron stirred and pushed up onto his elbow, still keeping hold of Ember’s hand. “No nausea. Food will help, and I’ve got to keep hydrating.”
“What kind of food?”
“Protein.”
For the next few minutes, practical steps took over their conversation. Ember retreated to the living room while the alpha finished cutting off Aaron’s ruined jeans and helped him into a borrowed pair of black sweat pants. Then he carried him to the couch and propped Aaron’s leg with a few pillows.
The alpha motioned Ember to follow him to the back door and spoke while pushing his socked feet into hiking boots. “Feed him whatever he wants. There’s roast beef in the fridge, Tylenol in the bathroom cabinet.”
“You’re really leaving?”
He paused with his hand on the doorknob. “As I promised him. I’m hunting the bear.”
“And you’ll—you’ll kill it?”
His brow furrowed. “It can’t survive with an injury like that, and he’s right that it’s suffering.”
