“Why would I want to do that?”
Later, as if we’d had a scene and were having aftercare, he sat on the bench and pulled me onto his lap, holding me with such tenderness, the tears came back. “Because I don’t want pity.”
“Oh, omega, pity is the last thing I feel for you. You’ve been a warrior to get this far after such an injury. To be walking at all. You’re a warrior.”
I poured myself into the ride share and mumbled my destination to the driver. It wasn’t until I got home and shut myself in my bedroom that I began to process the night.
Goddess, what a night.
Wulf was unlike any alpha I’d ever met. He’d seen me to the door of the club and waited until the car came before going back inside.
I stripped myself of the club clothes and started the shower, still in a stupor. My wolf liked, maybe loved, Wulf. He howled when we parted and had gone back to silence since leaving the club.
He was mad at me. Angry for leaving Wulf there.
I stepped into the spray and washed my body with a bit of sadness. I would no longer carry the scent of the alpha on my skin. What a shame.
After the shower, I got into bed, already building my walls back up. I didn’t know this alpha from anyone else in the club. We’d shared one of the most intimate moments in my life but other than his name, I knew nothing about him. Nothing.
At the same time, I knew so much. How he touched me with reverence. How the eye contact made me feel seen for the first time, or what felt like the first time. All of it told a story of an alpha who was controlled, careful, present.
I stared at the ceiling trying to go to sleep but scenes from the night replayed over and over again.
Plus, my wolf was wide awake now.
He pushed all kinds of thoughts into my head.Mate. Mine. Ours. Our Alpha. Go to him. Find him.
I scrubbed my hands down my face as I realized the real tragedy. I hadn’t gotten the alpha’s phone number.
Didn’t even think about it.
Fuck. I might’ve screwed myself this time and somehow it felt bigger than my pain and my leg and any accident.
Like I missed the opportunity of a lifetime.
Chapter Seven
Wulf
Why didn’t I ask for his number?
By the next morning when I settled in at the clinic, I must have asked myself the question a hundred times.
Maybe because he was so vulnerable, sharing his pain, I didn’t want to take advantage. From the feel of his leg, he’d not only injured it worse than I’d ever seen, his care had been less than it could have been.
An athlete like him was not the same as any person on the street. He was used to using his body like a fine musical instrument. He’d been an elite among shifters, if he was hoping to get into the Skin to Fur Tournament. Even his hobbies made use of the muscles he’d trained. And one misstep did this to him. I could have said it was common. Most accidents happened when least expected. While working out, he’d have been aware of everything he did, where each step landed, the position of his hands, the angle of his back. His neck. But when doing something as simple as going back to the car for a forgotten item, his alertness was less.
But I didn’t try to explain that because it wouldn’t fix anything to say so.
What would?
While I knelt in front of him and kept him talking, I carefully assessed his injury. He’d had therapy, clearly, but not the right kind. The muscle had healed in such a way that it would never be what it had been.
If I’d seen him right after he did it, I might have done better. Perhaps not fixed it entirely, perhaps not to the point where he’d have qualified for the tournament, but certainly better than itwas. And now, it would be much harder and more painful than it ever needed to be.
When I founded the clinic for shifters, I had plans for helping out those who the existing system could not, for dealing with the differences between animal and human, skin and fur. Some injuries were only in the beast, only appeared when they were in ascendance. Others the exact opposite, in the human only.
And some…in both. For most, a shift would heal what was harmed, but this must be one of those injuries just too severe. Did his wolf still communicate well with him? I would need to ask about that in order to help him.
