Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
That meant… Boyd was one of them. Boyd Wolf wasn’t just a cowboy, a rodeo champ. Wolf wasn’t just his last name. He was a werewolf. Or whatever I was looking at right now.
It seemed far less strange than it should, but I was sure that was because I was in crisis mode. There was no time to get dramatic. I had a patient to save. Despite Boyd’s instructions, I couldn’t let the bullet wound go untended. Breathing had been his first priority, but now that his lungs were clear, I grabbed one corner of the blanket and yanked it up to ball over the wound, providing compression, rolling him to his back to look for an exit wound. There wasn’t one. Which meant the bullet was still inside.
I needed to get him to a hospital.
The young man reached down. I thought he was going to feel for his wound, but instead he tried to tug more of the blanket around his waist. Oh right. Because he was, well, naked. It seemed wolves couldn’t very well run around wearing clothing.
Boyd stalked back, anger radiating from him, I presumed from his interaction with Jett Markle, who he must’ve managed to send away. His clothes still dripped water as he crouched beside the kid and took his jaw in his big hand. He wasn’t gentle. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Boyd, I need to get him to a hospital,” I said.
“You don’t, Audrey.” He gentled his voice with me, which seemed sweet, considering the circumstances. “If he’s breathing, he’s going to be fine.”
“He’s been shot.” I knew I was stating the obvious, but the obvious was well… strange as hell.
“And I was gored by a bull. He’ll be fine,” he told me. Then, to the boy, “Who are you?”
The young man coughed a few more times, not opening his eyes. “James. James Clifton.”
“You care to explain why you were running in wolf form across my neighbor’s ranch?”
“Visiting—” He coughed again. “—my girlfriend.”
Boyd groaned. “You just endangered the whole fucking pack, my friend. Just so you could get laid.”
His eyes blinked open, and he tried to sit up, but Boyd pushed him back down. “Please—don’t tell my parents. You can call my sister instead. Karen. She’ll pick me up.”
Glancing at Boyd, I cocked an eyebrow, silently asking “who?” He must have caught on because he said, “The woman from the bar.”
Ah, Total Bitch was a wolf? Seriously?
Boyd stilled and stared at the kid. “Don’t tell your parents? I’m going to tell someone worse than that. Your alpha.”
The boy groaned, and I looked him over to see what the problem was but realized he wasn’t happy about Boyd’s words.
“He’s gonna make the decision about how this gets handled. End of story. How are you feeling now?”
The youth had lost blood, and his face was pale, but he pushed himself up to lean on one elbow. This time, Boyd didn’t stop him. “Better.”
“Lemme see,” Boyd said to me, putting his hand over mine where I held compression on the gunshot.
He wasn’t a doctor, but I guessed he knew more about this young man’s physiology than I did, so I let him lift away the pressure.
He pushed and prodded the wound, making the kid flinch, then shook his head. Most of the blood had washed off in the water, but the area was red and angry. “Bullet must be in the bone, but it’ll come out on its own.” Boyd turned his head to look at me. “He doesn’t need care. I swear to fate, Doctor.”
I swear to fate.
Interesting turn of phrase.
He’d mentioned fate when he talked about meeting me. Was the belief part of his culture? Wolf culture?
He reached out, lightly wrapped a hand around my elbow and squeezed. “You okay? I imagine this is a shock.”
“Uh, yeah. Yeah, it is.” I looked at him through new eyes. My sexy rodeo champ was actually a wolf. Boyd Wolf. “You must think me stupid.” I looked away.
He turned my chin back with his fingers. “You’re the smartest person I know.”
“Were you going to tell me?”
He looked slightly guilty. “Yes. I wanted to. From the very beginning. It’s just… forbidden. I was trying to figure out what to do.”
“I won’t tell your secret.” I looked him straight in the eye, then at James, so they both knew they were safe with me. “Doctor-patient confidentiality. I won’t breathe a word. You both have my promise. Besides, who’d believe me?”
“Thank you. That means a lot.” Boyd squeezed my elbow again. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Answer all the questions. But let’s get James out of here before anyone else sees him. You have to work tomorrow?”
I nodded. “Office hours.”
He looked down at the boy, a teen, who’d just wanted to sneak away for time with his girlfriend. It sounded so very familiar. Hadn’t it been exactly what Boyd and I had done?