The clinic has grown since those early days when it was just me, two nurses, and a prayer that I’d be able to keep up.We now have two additional doctors, both shifters.Two more nurses.A bigger waiting room.Extra exam rooms.Arealbreak area that Quinn insisted on adding because, in her words, “If I’m going to be married to a hero doctor, I’m also going to make sure he eats.”
And she didn’t stop there.
She didn’t just make sureIate.She made sure everyone did.
Quinn has always had this way of walking into a room and improving it without even trying.Like the world makes more sense with her in it.
She’s wearing scrubs today, dark green that match her eyes, hair pulled back into a ponytail.A few pieces have slipped loose, framing her cheeks.
And the mark on her neck…
My mark.
It still makes my wolf swell with possessive pride.
“She’s intimidating,” one of the newer nurses whispers as she passes me, holding a stack of charts.
I raise a brow.
“She’s five feet of sunshine,” I deadpan.
The nurse snorts, then lowers her voice even more.“She just stared down a grown man who didn’t want to fill out paperwork and made him apologize to the receptionist.”
I can’t stop the grin tugging at my mouth.
That’s my mate,my wolf says proudly.
Quinn glances up and catches me watching her.Her lips curve, like she’s pleased she still has my attention five years later.
She always has it.Always will.
She makes her way toward me, eyes bright.When she stops in front of me, she reaches up and straightens my collar like she’s done it a thousand times, which she has.
“You’re brooding,” she says.
“I’m admiring,” I correct.
She hums like she’s amused as I step in close, sliding a hand around her waist and tugging her against me.My wolf purrs, and she answers with that quiet little pulse I’ve always felt through the bond.
I kiss her temple.
Then her cheek.
Then her mouth, soft at first, like I’m reminding her who she is to me, and who I am to her.
Her mate.
Her home.
“Christian,” she murmurs against my lips, and my name sounds better from her mouth than it ever has anywhere else.
“What?”I ask, my voice rough.
She smiles slowly, like she knows exactly what she’s doing to me.“We have patients.”
“Let them wait.”
She laughs, and it hits me right in the chest.Every time.Like the sound rewires something in me.
