“I fucking told you!” Casey exclaimed, slapping at my chest and making me wince.
“Ow!” I gasped, rubbing my chest while glaring at my mate.
He rolled his eyes. “You deserved that. I had to watch you go on so many dates. You have no idea how patient I’ve been.”
I averted my gaze. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. If I’d known—”
“Sweetheart?” Casey breathed, his eyes all wet now. “You called me sweetheart.”
“Well, yeah,” I blushed. “Because you’re my sweetheart.”
“Damn you,” Casey sniffed, smiling. “I’d planned on making you suffer for a while, and then you had to go and be all cute.”
I beamed at that. “You think I’m cute?”
He nodded, smiling. “The cutest.”
Once again, the door opened and this time it was an older woman, carrying a mattress as she huffed and puffed. “Don’t mind me, I’ll just carry this whole thing by myself.”
Casey hurried over to help her, grabbing the other side and giving her a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry, I should’ve waited on you.”
“Yes, you should’ve,” she huffed. “But I can tell from your flushed cheeks that I might’ve interrupted something fun.” She waggled her brows. “That’s your punishment for leaving an old woman like me to carry this beast on my own.”
I knew my blush had only worsened and did my best to avoid any eye contact with the healer.
“I’m Janine,” she said, forcing me to meet her knowing gaze.
“Thank you for healing me, Janine,” I said, feeling a tad embarrassed. I had fallen out of a tree, something I wouldn’t be able to live down any time soon.
She waved me off. “You shifters all heal fast on your own. You just needed me to help your bones snap back correctly.” I winced at that. I’d blacked out once I hit the ground, so thankfully I hadn’t heard my arm breaking.
“And to dull the pain,” I reminded her. “I’m sure I would feel a lot worse had it not been for you.”
She smiled at that. “Compliments will get you everywhere, luv. Now, I need to get my beauty sleep, but if you need any assistance, you ring this bell and the healer here tonight, Bella,will come running. I also have the salve for your bruises, grab it before you leave tomorrow.”
“I’ll be able to leave tomorrow already?” I asked, tone hopeful.
“You sure will, luv,” she smiled. “Your arm will take about a week to heal, faster if you manage to rest. Also, absolutely no shifting until after I say so. Understood?”
I nodded.
“Good. Come see me in a week and I’ll do the last bit of healing on it.”
“I will,” I promised, already eager to get the sling and whatever hard stuff she’d wrapped around it, off.
“That’s a good boy,” she grinned. “Now, sleep well you two, and don’t get up to anything fun.” She eyed us both as she backed out of the room.
Chapter Five
“So,” I began, watching the closed door like Janine might appear again.
“So?” he repeated, grinning widely.
“Mates, huh?”
Casey laughed, and the sound filled me with ease and happiness. I would spend the rest of my life listening to that sound, the sound of my mate’s happiness. “I want it noted that I’m never wrong, as has just been proven.”
I rolled my eyes. “Figures that I’ll never live it down. It’s bad enough that the falling-out-of-a-tree thing will forever be brought up at birthdays and other gatherings.”
