the bleeding on this side,” the doctor said,
cleaning the wound with more orange
liquid and covering it with a thick stack of
bandages. He held them in place with one
hand, checking every minute or so to see if
the bleeding had stopped. He took this
time to examine Nash thoughtfully.
“You’re a smart dog,” he said.
“Maralee never told me that she had a
pet.”
Nash allowed the minor insult to pass
because he was so grateful to this man
who had helped Maralee, perhaps even
saved her life.
“Maybe you can tell me how to win
her heart.”
Nash growled at him, amber eyes
narrowed.
“Or not.” The doctor replaced the
bloody bandages with fresh ones and
secured them in place. “She’s lost a lot of
blood. The best thing for her right now is
plenty of sleep. Let’s move her to a more
comfortable bed.”
Nash wondered if the man always
talked to animals or only intelligent
Wolves. Nash followed the man as he
picked Maralee up and carried her into a
small room with a bed. The doctor
crossed the dark room and laid her down
before lighting a kerosene lamp on the
bedside table. Nash jumped up onto the
foot of the bed. He lay down next to
Maralee, resting his head on her hand. She
wouldn’t be in this condition if he hadn’t
hesitated for so long in calming the pack.
He should have known she would cast
aside her sword when she realized his
people were not monsters. He should have
had more faith in her. He licked her hand
—a feeble apology.
“I put out an advertisement for a nurse,
but none of the applicants have been able
to make it to the village in these terrible
weather conditions,” the doctor continued
to talk to Nash, as if he realized the Wolf
could understand him. He removed his
coat and rolled up his sleeves, before
leaving the room. When he returned with a
pile of linens and a basin of water, Nash
lifted his head to watch him. “I guess I
have to do this myself,” he said.
The doctor bent over Maralee and
untied the strings of her cloak. It was dark
in color, so bloodstains were unapparent,
her white shirt beneath, however, was
saturated with blood. The handsome young
doctor examined the leather gauntlets
covering her forearms and hands.
“What are these things?”
He found the strings holding them in
place and removed them. He dropped
them on the floor and lifted his hands to
her throat. When he began to unbutton
Maralee’s blouse, Nash hopped to his
feet. He stood over her, growling a
warning at the man. The doctor backed
away.
“I’m not going to hurt her,” he said.
“I’m only going to make her more
comfortable.”
Nash couldn’t quite bring himself to
believe this. The man seemed to have a
romantic interest in Maralee. Nash wasn’t
going to stand by and watch him ogle her
naked body while she was unconscious.
Besides, he was too young to be a doctor,
too handsome, and entirely human.
“If I do anything inappropriate, you
can bite me.”
Nash watched him, wondering if he
was serious. Deciding he would take him
up on that offer, he moved back and sat
beside her on the bed. The doctor took a
hesitant step forward and extended a
trembling hand to the buttons of Maralee’s
blouse. Nash growled slightly with each
exhale, a reminder to the doctor that he
was watching him. Once the doctor had
her shirt unbuttoned, he rolled her onto her
side. He pulled one arm out of her stained
blouse and eased her cloak out from
beneath her. He then washed the blood
from her body with a wet cloth. He dried
her skin with a towel, seeming to take
extra care in keeping his touch platonic,
then rolled her onto her other side to fully
remove her blouse. He slid her arms into
the sleeves of an opened-backed gown
before reaching beneath the unflattering
garment and untying the strings that held
the fly of her pants closed.
“This was a lot more fun the last time I
undressed her,” the doctor murmured.
Nash’s eyes narrowed and he barked
ferociously, not sure what the man was
implying. He wasn’t insinuating that he
and Maralee were lovers, was he?
Maralee started at the sound of his bark.
She struggled to open her eyes. Nash
looked down into her face anxiously, but
she never got a handle on consciousness.
She settled quickly back into sleep. When
he glanced at the doctor again, he had
removed her boots and was working her
black, wool pants down her legs.
“You have no reason to be jealous of
me. She doesn’t have room in her heart for
men or even dogs,” he said, glancing up at
her overprotective ‘pet’, “whoever broke
her heart ruined her for everyone.”
Nash wasn’t sure if he should feel
relieved, flattered or guilty. He assumed
he was the one who had broken her heart.
Perhaps she really had loved him, at least
the human part of him. He almost wished
that he was human right then so that he
could kiss her slightly parted lips. Almost.
“Well, I guess that does it,” the doctor
said, covering Maralee with a blanket. He
checked her pulse, shook his head with
concern, and then patted Nash’s head. “If
you’re going to stay with her, you have to
promise to come fetch me the moment she
wakes up.”
Nash nodded and woofed softly in the
affirmative. The doctor chuckled.
“You are an unusual dog,” he
commented. “Watch over our sweet
Maralee. I’ll be down at the end of the
hall.”
Nash settled down beside her, his
snout resting lightly on her shoulder. The
doctor turned the lamp down. He left the
room, leaving the door slightly opened.
Nash watched her sleep for hours. Long
after the cursed full moon had set, he
succumbed to his exhaustion and fell
asleep.
CHAPTER 28
Just after dawn, Maralee blinked awake.
Something large and warm was curled up
against her side. She rolled over and
found herself face to face with an
enormous black Wolf. There was a
crescent-moon shaped white marking
across his left eye. Nash. He was
beautiful. She lifted a hand to touch him,
to prove to herself that she wasn’t
imagining him. His fur w
as thick and soft.
At her touch, his golden eyes opened and
focused on her.
“You’re really here,” she murmured.
He surprised her by climbing to his
feet and jumping down from the bed. He
left the room. She was too weary to call
after him. She hadn’t meant for him to
leave; had wanted him to stay. She stared
up at the ceiling, blinking hard to hold
back tears. Perhaps he would never
forgive her for being blinded by hatred. A
few minutes later, Nash returned with Dr.
Jared Sabin in tow.
“You’re awake already,” Jared said,
smiling broadly. “That’s a very good sign.
How do you feel?”
Maralee looked from Nash to Jared
and then back again. How had these two
met?
“I feel weak,” she said, concentrating
on her broken body rather than her broken
heart. “And my neck hurts.”
“Are you thirsty?” Jared asked,
coming further into the room. “You’ll need
lots of liquids to replace the blood you
lost.”
“Blood?” Maralee murmured, lifting
her heavy hand to touch the bandages on
her neck. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure. This dog led me to you.
You were lying in the middle of an
intersection with large puncture marks on
both sides of your neck. It looks like a bite
wound, but Fido here, assured me that he
was not responsible.” He patted Nash on
the head. The Wolf’s eyes narrowed
dangerously.
“Fido?” Maralee echoed, smiling
broadly. She managed a feeble laugh
before weariness threatened to deliver her
back to a state of unconsciousness. “Did
Jared give you a new name, Nash?”
“So he is your pet,” Jared said. “He
seemed to know you, but you’d never
mentioned having a dog before.”
Maralee laughed again. “Please don’t
make me laugh,” she begged. “I’m so
tired.”
“I’ll get you some water,” Jared said.
“Are you staying here, Nash?”
Nash’s response was to cross the
room and jump up on the bed with
Maralee. Jared left the room. Maralee
lifted a beckoning hand to Nash. He licked
her fingers, but stayed out of reach.
“So you’ve got the doctor convinced
you’re my pet dog,” Maralee commented,
staring deeply into his eyes.
Nash made a sound of protest, and
settled down beside her so she could
stroke his ears. She was almost asleep
when Jared returned with her glass of
water.
She took a sip. “It’s salty.”
“Just a tad,” Jared told her. “If I gave
you plain water, you’d just end up
urina…” He blushed. “Well, it wouldn’t
stay in your body.”
He forced her to drink it all before he
would allow her to rest. He pulled the
window to block the early morning
sunshine.
“Get some rest, Maralee,” the doctor
said. “I’ll be in to check on you in a
while.”
“Could you send word to the inn that
I’m here?” she murmured drowsily. “You
know how they worry.”
“Will do.” He shut the door on his
way out.
When she and Nash were bathed in
darkness, she wrapped both arms around
his broad neck and buried her face in his
thick fur. She hoped he would revert to his
human form now they were alone, but he
remained a Wolf.
“I’m sorry I was cruel to you,” she
murmured. “I understand if you hate me. I
expect you to. The Wolf I killed the night
we met. That was your brother, wasn’t
it?”
Nash went very still. For a moment,
she thought he was asleep. His golden
eyes were open when she looked at him.
They glowed faintly in the darkness.
“I know my apology won’t change the
fact he’s gone,” she said, “but I truly am
sorry from the bottom of my heart.”
He licked the tears leaking from her
eye and buried his nose in her hair,
breathing deeply. She wished she wasn’t
so weary. She had many other things to
tell him, but despite valiant attempts to
stay awake, her eyelids became too heavy
to keep open.
“But what shall I do with the rest of
my life,” she whispered, “now that I’ve
turned my back on my destiny?”
CHAPTER 29
Maralee had been in the clinic for three
days. She slept almost constantly. She
wasn’t sure if this was because her
nightmares had stopped and Nash’s
presence was so comforting, or because
she was still suffering from anemia.
Whatever the reason, she spent most of her
time curled around Nash’s warm body,
lost in blissful slumber.
Jared enjoyed having her near. He no
longer had to trudge through the snow to
visit her. In the evenings, when he was
finished with appointments, he’d draw a
table beside her bed for several games of
chess.
For the first two nights, Nash merely
watched intently, learning the rules of the
game, as Maralee lost spectacularly. On
the third night, he assisted her. Jared
gaped at the Wolf when Nash’s huge paw
touched a white chess piece, and then one
of Jared’s. Maralee followed Nash’s
instructions carefully, taking Jared’s
attack. Nash continued to help her, until
there were less than half a dozen pieces
remaining on the board. Jared stared at the
smug Wolf in amazement.
Realization dawned on Maralee.
“Checkmate!” she cried excitedly. She
wrapped her arms around Nash in an
exuberant hug. “I just knew you’d be good
at this game.”
“You should sell that dog to the circus.
You’d make a fortune,” Jared said,
collecting his chess set after only one
game.
“Don’t you want to play another
game?” Maralee asked
“I just lost to a dog. I think my chess
playing days are over.”
Nash’s tongue lolled out and he
wagged his tail.
“Don’t be silly, Jared,” Maralee said.
“Perhaps it was just a fluke. You’re not
really going to give up so easily, are
you?”
“There’s something eerie about that
dog of yours. It’s almost as if he’s
human.”
Maralee scowled at Nash. “Do you
think so? I haven’t seen any evidence of
that lately.” She was confused as to why
he refused to revert to his human form.
Nash’s ears perked. He jumped off the
bed,
barked, and left the room. Jared
followed him. Someone was knocking on
the front door of the clinic. Jared unlocked
the door and found Phyllis Smithy standing
on the step. In her arms was a little girl
who was clinging to the woman, sobbing.
“Where is she hurt?” the doctor asked,
reaching for the girl.
“She’s not hurt,” Phyllis said. “She
came to the village by herself looking for
her uncle. Luckily, she found the inn. Is
Maralee still here? I thought maybe she
knew where we could find the fellow.”
Nash howled and the girl gasped. She
looked down at the Wolf from her perch in
the woman’s arms.
“Uncle Nash!” She squirmed to get
down. Phyllis set her on her feet.
Carsha squeezed Nash in a fervent
embrace. “Oh, Uncle Nash. I was so
worried about you. I thought that wicked
woman had killed you with her sword.”
The girl kissed every inch of his face.
He tumbled her to the ground, licking her
cheeks enthusiastically, tail wagging.
Carsha giggled, fingers clinging to the fur
around his neck. Maralee had wobbled
down the hallway to see what all of the
commotion was about. She smiled when
she recognized Carsha.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
Nash stopped licking her and allowed
his niece to sit up.
“I came looking for Uncle Nash,” she
said, scowling. “I should have known you
were keeping him prisoner.”
Nash emitted a string of barks, yips
and howls, which Carsha listened to
attentively.
“Oh,”
she
murmured,
looking
crestfallen.
“You can understand…” Maralee
broke off, glancing from Jared to Phyllis
Smithy, who watched the scene with
confusion. “Thank you so much for
bringing her to me here, Mrs. Smithy.
Carsha, why don’t you come to my room
so we can talk in private,” she said,
hoping she didn’t appear too suspicious.
“Bring Nash along if you like.”
Nash lowered his body to the ground,
and Carsha climbed on his back. Grinning,
she hugged him as he carried her through
the clinic to Maralee’s room. When the
two of them were inside her room,
Maralee closed the door and locked it.
Nash lowered his body to the floor.
Carsha remained on his back, holding on
to him as if afraid to let him go.
“Carsha, can you understand Nash
when he is in his Wolf form?”