Not fair. How could the lying werewolf-alien-barbarian man be so perfect and yet such an obvious mistake? This was never going to work, but she found herself really wishing that it could. How could he feel so strongly about her so quickly? This Fate thing couldn’t actually be…real?
But then, she would’ve said the same about werewolves and weretigers only an hour ago.
Katherine blinked, trying to keep the emotion from welling up inside of her and spilling out in tears down her cheeks. This wasn’t the time to cry. This wasn’t the time to question the validity of his feelings. Or hers for that matter. He thought she was glowing. A soulmate. And he claimed he was an alien werewolf from another planet. And now he was using the Reylean word equivalent of wife as an endearment.
This was all too fast.
Way too fast.
Sure, she’d been attracted to him at the community center when he came in. She looked forward to his visits. Really looked forward to them. In fact, they had become the highlight of her life lately. But all this confessing about soulmates and the other…stuff. The supernatural stuff. It was a lot for a girl to handle.
Alone.
No girlfriend to talk to.
Momma P would freak out. She couldn’t call her even though the woman was the closest thing Katherine had to a mother. The sheriff’s secretary had raised her since she was twelve. Since that very first night when she almost died too.
No friends other than all the seniors in town that relied on her to have the community center up and running for their knitting circles and domino games. Sure, the rest of the town appreciated everything she did too. They were all so kind to her. Families brought her food regularly. She was always getting some kind of casserole or pie as a thank you.
It wasn’t necessary, but no one listened. She would always be the charity case. The girl who lost her family tragically and almost died. Still, helping the town who helped her survive in her darkest hour gave her peace and fulfillment.
She enjoyed seeing everyone connect and have fun together. Relationships were the most important things in life. Not possessions. She’d lost everything she owned and loved. Now she made a conscious choice not to own much and to enjoy the people around her.
No one ever knew how many moments they had on this earth.
On the flip side. She was very private at home. Knox was probably the only person she’d had inside her house besides Tara, Harrison, and Momma P in years. At the community center she was open and friendly and a social butterfly, but home was her sanctuary and she didn’t often share it.
The fact that she’d brought Knox inside without a second thought was a huge step. A line she hadn’t even realized she’d crossed until just now.
“Katherine?”
She blinked and looked down at Knox’s pained pinched face. The poor man had to be in such agony. There were gashes and blood and dirt everywhere. She really couldn’t believe he was still conscious much less speaking. His pain tolerance had to be astronomical.
“I’m sorry, I got lost there for a minute.” She bent, sliding his arm carefully over her shoulder and behind her neck. “Are you going to be able to stand?”
“I will.”
She straightened, taking on as much of his weight as possible. Surprisingly, once they were upright, Knox was able to hold his own and used her mostly to keep his balance. Which was really good because she probably wouldn’t have lasted more than five seconds holding him up. She wasn’t a tiny person, but she wasn’t Wonder Woman strong either. No supernatural strength flowed through her veins.
With a little more groaning from both of them, she got him into the clawfoot tub in the blue-tiled nook of the bathroom. She stepped back for just a second without thinking and he started listing to the side.
“Shit!” Katherine caught his arm and he leaned hard to correct the gravitational momentum that’d would’ve sent him careening out of the tub to the floor.
“Forgive me,” Knox murmured, his face buried against her neck. “I thought I was more able.”
“It’s fine. I shouldn’t have moved away. I wasn’t thinking. Can you put your hand against the wall there?” She pointed to the back of the nook. The wall was close enough. And water draining around the tub wouldn’t be a big deal. Whoever had remodeled the bathroom thought of that and put an extra drain in below the tub.
“Yes, I believe so.” He palmed the wall and raised his weight from where it leaned on her shoulder. His other hand went to the belt around his waist. With a few tugs at the ties it was loosened. He tossed it to the center of the bathroom, baring his entire naked form to Katherine’s gaze.
The leather kilt-thing landed with a thud, but Katherine’s undivided attention was on his naked ass. And it would only take a quarter turn for the rest of him to be on full display instead.
“So you could warn a girl that you’re about to undress.”
“You are my mate.”
“You say that, but I haven’t agreed to anything.”
“Fate does not make mistakes.”
“Again. I don’t see anything. You could just be some crazy person that’s been stalking me and getting to know me over the past couple of months, luring me to this very predicament, and now you flash me when you can barely stand upright and you’re bleeding all over my bathroom. Okay, now that I say it out loud it really doesn’t make that much sense, but still, you’re assuming things that I can’t see and again haven’t agreed to.”
Knox stared at her, wordless and with confusion written across his raised brows. Those beautiful brown eyes. They stared down at her with something she instinctively recognized as adoration, but there was more than that too. Fire burned hot in them too. Even though he was beaten to hell and barely standing, the man still desired her. That knowledge made her stomach flutter and her cheeks warm.
“How do we wash in this basin? Is it like the sinks at the community center?” He pointed to the silver handles at the end of the tub. “Does water flow like magick?”
“Yes. But not magick, just plumbing.”
“Plumbing. I do not understand this word.”
“The city has a water supply that is pumped in pipes underground to each house.”
“Magick.”
“I guess it would look like that for someone who had never seen indoor plumbing. You never said anything at the community center.”
“I tried not to act out of place while I learned about your world.”
“Smart move.” She flipped on the water, tested it until it warmed, then flipped it to the removable shower-head all the while forcing herself not to stare at his very impressive male package jutting almost straight out from a bed of brown curls.
Figures. Almost dead and still can get an erection. Men.
“This is going to hurt. Sorry.” Katherine pointed the shower-head at his chest first, approaching each wound slowly, allowing him to adjust to the pressure and touch of the warm water.
“It is fine, shuarra. Thank you for your help.” The words were bitten off and short. Dark claws grew from the tips of his fingers.
Shit. Shit. Shit. She moved the water to a different spot.
“Claws,” she whispered.
The black nails grew longer. Sharper.
“Claws.” The word squeaked out a little louder this time, but she kept moving the water. Blood and dirt and unnamed yuck washed down his body and down the drain. Stream after stream of putrid pinkish-brown water. Her stomach rolled and she sucked in a quick breath to keep her mind from deep diving into her memories. Memories of injuries and scars she still carried to this day.
She needed to focus on Knox.
She was fine. She was past her shit. At least she thought she was.
He breathed deeply and dipped his head. “Forgive me.” The claws disappeared, shifting back into perfectly normal-looking human hands.
But that was the truth of it, wasn’t it? He wasn’t normal. He wasn’t even human.
“Should I stop?”
&
nbsp; He shook his head. “I will be fine. I underestimated my injuries and my control.”
“I could call for a doctor.”
“No. I will heal.”
Katherine didn’t push further. She didn’t really want to explain Knox to the town doctor anyway or anyone else for that matter. Tongues would wag if she did. Gossip flew faster in Mystery than a Gray Jay with its tail on fire. And how did a person explain that they had a naked and bleeding werewolf barbarian from another planet in one’s tub?
Nope.
For now, she would just go along with Knox’s request for rest. He would know his body’s limitations, right? Or he was in shock and didn’t know what was good for him.
“How’s your vision?” She ran the water over his shoulder. Fresh blood ran from the five deep slices running from the top of his shoulder down across his pectoral muscle. She held her breath and tried not to gag. She could see deep into the flesh. There’s no way he didn’t need stitches.
A hiss of pain slid from between his lips and his body wavered just a little.
“Knox?”
“Good. Keep washing,” he said, his voice gritted in pain.
He moved his head beneath the stream of water and dropped like someone shot him point blank. His body crumpled halfway in the tub and half out of it.
“Knox!” Katherine dropped the sprayer and grabbed for his head, keeping it from slamming into the floor. “Shit.”
The sprayer swung wildly, dousing her and the rest of the bathroom, making the floor even slicker, adding more water to the floor, diluting the random puddles and drops of blood. She lunged for the spigot and turned the water off.
Tears welled in her eyes. Her chest tightened and a sob tore free like someone had grabbed it and yanked it out. It was too much. She couldn’t do this by herself. He was too big. Too hurt.
If he died because she didn’t get help, Katherine knew she’d never be able to live with herself.
He thought she was his mate and she felt something for him—a lot. Just the thought of watching him die was slicing her up worse than the wounds leaking blood all over the white tile floor.
Her feelings didn’t make sense. They weren’t logical. She barely knew him. She liked him sure, but she was reacting like she felt so much more than ‘like’. And that just couldn’t be real. His fate couldn’t really be a thing…could it?
She wiped the tears from her cheeks and sucked in a deep breath. “Get ahold of yourself, Manitok. You just need help. Who can you call?” She scrambled to her feet and ran to the living room. Where was her phone? Her gaze tracked across the room. No purse.
“Shit.” She ran to the door and flung it open. She’d left it in her truck when she’d seen Knox.
Katherine slid to a stop on her porch face to face with Harrison, her next-door neighbor who also happened to be the main package deliveryman for the town, who also happened to have become a stand-in father after her family had been killed and she’d almost died. Karl must’ve flown in today with a load.
Harrison was at the bottom of her stairs with two small brown boxes in his hands. “Katherine Melisandre Manitok, are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.” She shut the front door behind her and tried to relax her body. It refused.
“You’re covered in blood and mud, child. Try again.” He raised one suspicious eyebrow the way an all-knowing father would when they knew their child was trying to pull the wool over their eyes and had failed miserably. “Who’s hurt?” Momma P had taken on the role of mother years ago, but Harrison had kept an eye on her like a father ever since she moved into this little house next door to him.
“A friend. I—I was going to call…” Who? Who was she going to call?
“The doctor?” He pulled his cell phone from his back pocket.
Katherine rushed down the stairs and grabbed his arm. “You can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I—he—I can’t explain. I can’t call the doctor.”
“I suppose that means you should call the sheriff, but won’t do that either? Who’s your friend, Katherine? Does Patsy know you’re in trouble?”
Katherine shook her head. “I’m not. Please. He’s…I met him a few months ago. He’s been—We’ve been seeing each other. He showed up hurt and I left my phone in my car and…I don’t know who to call, Harrison. I can’t explain, but I can’t let certain people in town know he’s here.”
Harrison grunted and pushed past her, entering her house.
It took her brain a second to catch up to the fact that he’d just left her alone on her porch.
And he was inside…her house.
“Harrison!” She whirled and followed him back inside.
He was nowhere to be seen, but the blood trail on her wood floor to the bathroom was obvious. She rushed down the hall and found him lifting Knox the rest of the way out of the tub and laying him out on the floor. The wolf man was still out cold and still very very naked.
“Katherine, hand me those towels from the wall and then run to my truck. I have a green duffle under my back seat. Get that.” The command in his voice made her move without a question. She grabbed her two clean towels off the floating shelf on the wall and handed them over.
He laid one towel over Knox’s hips, giving him some privacy and then rolled the other and placed it beneath his head as a pillow.
“Kat,” he said, barking her name like an angry drill sergeant.
“Yes, sir!” She fled the bathroom, grateful someone else knew what to do.
The bag was exactly where he said it would be. She slung the strap over her shoulder and ran back inside.
“I have it.” She knelt beside Knox and looked up at Harrison. “Can you help him?” The bag had a red and white cross on the side—a medical bag. “I didn’t know you had any medical training.”
Harrison grunted. “I don’t talk about ‘Nam. Wasn’t fun. Mostly sucked ass and a lot of my friends died regardless of the help I gave them.”
“I’m sorry.”
Harrison grunted again. “Your friend is in bad shape. He should be at a hospital.”
“It’s too far and I can’t—”
“Right. Right. And why is that again?”
“The ones that did this to him. They—”
“They,” he said, his tone snapping like a taut cord. “Nobody did this. This was done by a cat. A big one. Where the heck did he run into claws like this? The only predators this big around Mystery are bears.”
Harrison dug through his pack and pulled out a little white baggie. He tore it open with his teeth and poured a salty white powder into the large gashes on Knox’s shoulder and pectoral.
A snarl tore from Knox’s lips. His body shook and his eyes flew open, bright gold instead of brown. His fingers grew claws again and he reached up toward Harrison’s face.
“Knox! Stop!” Katherine lunged, throwing herself onto Knox and grabbing for his clawed hands. “Don’t hurt Harrison. Please,” she said, her voice somewhere between a scream and a shriek.
“What the fuck?” Harrison shouted and dodged the razor-sharp claws, rolling to the side.
“He attacked,” Knox said, his voice deep and growly. He wobbled on his knees, but he held her body close to his and faced Harrison fangs bared.
Holy shit. Fangs. Knox has fangs as a person. She stared up at his mouth. At the elongated canine teeth that made him really look like something off of her favorite werewolf TV show.
“Burns.” He squeezed her a little tighter and cracked his neck from side to side.
“Knox, he was helping you. The powder stops the bleeding.”
“I told you not to call anyone. They will come.”
“Boy. You didn’t get attacked by people, but looking at you, maybe you did.” Harrison’s tone was calm and didn’t hold a sliver of fear. “Let her go before you fall on top of her. You’re gonna pass out again whether you like it or not.”
Knox shook his head, but Katherine knew Harrison was telling the
truth. The arm Knox had around her was trembling. His body was barely holding steady. He was sweating like it was a hundred and twenty degrees in the middle of summer humidity. “Knox. I promise. Harrison won’t hurt you or me. He won’t tell them you’re here.”
Knox’s arm loosened slightly.
“Lay back down. Please. I can’t do this without Harrison.”
The arm loosened the rest of the way and Katherine crawled out from underneath Knox. The wolf fangs and claws and golden eyes faded back into the man she recognized and cared for. He dropped to his elbows and then all the way to his stomach, baring his torn up back. Katherine covered him with the towel again, breathing a sigh of relief. A few seconds later Knox’s eyes closed again.
“What the hell have you gotten into, little girl?” Harrison scooted across the floor toward them. “What is he?”
“I’m not exactly sure, Harrison. But I knew him as a man first. I didn’t know about the rest of his stuff until today. I like him, Harrison. He’s more than a friend. I can’t lose him.” The last sentence came out with a sob.
“I’ve a feeling he’s a lot tougher than I first thought.” He pulled another package of Woundseal from his green medical bag and tore the corner with his teeth. “Do you think he’ll try to rip my face off again?”
“I will not,” Knox said, his voice barely over a whisper. “Do what you must. I trust my shuarra.”
Harrison glanced up at Katherine with that suspicious eyebrow again. Instead of worry, this time his glare said fucking-hell.
Katherine shook her head. “Please just help him.”
Harrison huffed out a breath and applied the powder liberally to the gashes crisscrossing Knox’s entire back. It hurt just to look. Bile crept up her throat and she breathed deeply. In and out. In and out. She could hold it together. Knox was feeling all the pain. He needed her to be strong. It was the least she could do.
Knox’s back rippled, his muscles tightening and relaxing as he breathed his way through the pain. The powder was working. The blood stopped flowing. Soon all the gashes had been filled and Knox’s breathing evened out as he slipped into unconsciousness once again.
Wolf At The Door: Soulmate Shifters World (Soulmate Shifters in Mystery, Alaska Book 5) Page 3
