The Protector's Heart (Wilde Creek Three) (18 page)

Nila glanced at Acksel, who was standing at
the end of the bed, and then looked at Malachi with resignation in
her pretty brown eyes. She insisted on washing her hands first,
which she did quickly, and then she began to apply the potion to
his wounds. While she worked on his visible wounds, Doc made a
poultice and packed it on his side, where he had at least one
broken rib, wrapping the thick, antiseptic mush in cotton bandages
and tying it tightly to his chest. Immediately he felt the poultice
begin to work, seeping into his skin like it was laced with a
million red-hot ants with razors for teeth. Nila said nothing as
she worked, and Malachi kept his teeth clenched together so he
didn’t scare her with the curse words he wanted to shout. Once,
when he’d first shifted as a teenager, he’d been tumbling around
with some of the other males and fallen into a bonfire. He’d rolled
out of it quickly, but had singed his back leg and burned part of
his skin. It had been painful as he’d waited for his body to heal
him. This, though, was far worse. Between the potion that Nila was
methodically applying to his cuts and bruises and the wrap around
his chest, he felt like he was being cut apart slowly and stitched
back together by sadistic doctors.

He blinked and Nila was pressing a cool cloth
to his forehead. Had he passed out? Again? She touched his mouth
with the cloth and it appeared red-tinged with blood. Her cheeks
were wet with tears, her mouth puckered into a frown.

His voice cracked when he whispered, “You
okay?”

She laughed, but it was high and forced. “Did
you just ask me that? I wasn’t the one who went toe to toe with a
psycho and then asked my girlfriend to torture me with some weird
liquid.”

“Mate,” he said hoarsely.

“What?”

He inhaled slowly and found that he could
breathe easier. The poultice was doing its job, and the feeling of
being eaten alive was slowly easing.

“You’re my mate, not my girlfriend.”

She rolled her eyes and smacked his shoulder
with the wet cloth. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Thanks, baby.”

She laughed for real this time, and then the
tears slipped down her cheeks as she started to cry. Even though
his wounds weren’t entirely healed yet, he pulled her onto the
hospital bed and cradled her as close as he could. She didn’t say
what was bothering her, but he could guess it was a culmination of
all the events of the last few days, compounded with her happiness
at being free.

Eventually she stopped crying and tilted her
face up to him, her eyes shining brightly and her cheeks flushed.
She lifted herself from him slowly, her eyes darkening. He could
hear her heart beating fast. Her gaze drifted to his mouth, and she
made a soft, almost growling sound before she kissed him.
Possessiveness stole through him with the taste of her and the feel
of her over him, and he rolled her underneath him and snarled at
the small bite of pain in his side as he still wasn’t entirely
healed.

Not that he cared. The pain was forgotten as
he kissed her again and slid his hand under her top. Her skin was
silky and warm, and he inched his way up her side until he felt the
satin of her bra.

“For fuck’s sake, Malachi, you’re still
healing,” Doc grumbled from the doorway.

Malachi growled as he lifted from Nila’s
tempting mouth. “Go. Away.”

“No. No one has sex in my house but me, and
especially not in one of the patient rooms.”

Nila grinned at him. “Later,” she
mouthed.

“No, not later. You’re sleeping at my house
tonight and nobody is having sex there, either.” Acksel said.

Malachi grinned as Nila whispered, “How did
he hear that?”

“I guessed,” Acksel said with a snort.

Doc said, “If you’re done molesting each
other, I’d like to check out the poultice and get you two the heck
out of here.”

Malachi rolled onto his back. Nila slipped
from the bed but stayed by his side, holding his hand tightly as
Doc removed the poultice. It had been a yellowish-green color to
start with, but now it was nearly entirely black. Doc said it was
what happened as it healed. The herbs and minerals it was made from
were bespelled with magic from his brother-in-law, Noah, who was a
natural healer.

“That potion was a
real
potion, wasn’t
it?” Nila asked.

“Yes. Our people don’t normally need a lot of
medical attention, but there are times when having some magical
healing items are beneficial.” Doc gave her a look as if he were
sizing her up. “Are you interested in a job?”

“Excuse me?” Nila asked, her mouth falling
open in surprise.

“I could use an assistant. The female who
lives next door to me could watch your son while you’re here. You
wouldn’t have to work every day, only when I have appointments with
pregnant females or any emergencies that crop up during the
daytime, although I have to admit that my filing system could use
some serious updating, too. I’d pay you fairly, but you’d have more
time with your son, if you’d be interested.”

Malachi couldn’t believe that Doc was
offering Nila a job, but he liked the idea.

She was quiet for a moment, and then she
said, “Can I think about it?”

“Of course.”

Doc cleaned the residue of the poultice off
Malachi’s skin and checked the area with a portable ultrasound
machine. Doc talked to Nila about the healing poultice and potion
and Malachi watched her as they spoke. She seemed fascinated with
what she called the “holistic” aspects of the magical concoctions,
and Doc offered to bring Noah to the clinic someday to meet her so
she could talk to him. Malachi didn’t know Noah very well. As a
supernaturally gifted human, he wasn’t part of the pack and didn’t
live in Wilde Creek, but he was Doc’s brother-in-law, and that
meant he was family.

“As long as Malachi’s with me,” Nila said, at
the offer to meet with Noah.

Doc chuckled in a knowing way. “She’s got
your number already.”

Malachi smiled and shrugged. He didn’t mind
that she could guess he would want to be there when she met with
another unmated male. After a few more minutes, Doc declared him
fit to leave.

“Next time you go to a fight, try not to let
the other guy get any hits in,” Doc said, his face alight with
amusement.

“I’ll remember that. Thanks, Doc.”

Nila thanked him, too, and promised to be in
touch soon to chat. Malachi put his arm around her shoulders and
pulled her close as they walked out of the warm home that doubled
as a clinic for the pack members and out to the waiting SUV. Acksel
turned from the front passenger seat and said, “How are you
feeling?”

“Good.”

“You could still shift when we get back to
the house. I’ll go for a run with you if you want.”

“Thanks, but I just want to check on Jack and
get Nila to bed. It’s been a long day.”

Nila curled against him, tucking her feet
under her as Sam pulled the SUV away from the curb.

“You okay, sweetheart?” he whispered.

She snuggled a little closer and sighed. “I’m
just glad you won.”

“Me, too.”

Chapter 13

The next morning, Nila, Jack, and Malachi ate
breakfast with Brynn and Acksel. She still couldn’t believe that
she was done with Damien. She wasn’t really sure she believed he
would comply with the rules of the fight and turn over the divorce
papers on Friday. But even though his dad was a jerk, he was still
alpha, and he’d made a promise to Acksel that the papers would be
signed.

“What are you thinking about so seriously?”
Malachi asked as he dredged a corner of toast though runny eggs and
took a bite.

“I’m wondering what would happen if he
doesn’t send the papers on Friday.”

“He will,” Acksel said, leaning back in his
chair.

He seemed so confident that Nila didn’t want
to question him in case it made him mad.

Brynn said, “Worry about Friday on Friday,
okay? Let’s talk about how adorable your son is.”

Nila looked at Jack as he sat in a highchair
that Brynn and Acksel had bought for their own baby. Jack was going
to town on banana slices and strawberry yogurt.

“I hope he was good for you last night,” she
said as she tucked a lock of hair behind his ear.

“He was a dream. There was one thing,
though.”

“What?”

“He kept asking for carrots, but when I gave
him some, he wouldn’t eat them.”

Malachi’s face flushed and Nila tried to keep
from laughing, but she couldn’t help it. Her amusement bubbled up
inside her and spilled out her mouth. It felt good to laugh. She
felt like she hadn’t done much laughing in the last few years.

“I’m missing something,” Acksel said.

“Yeah, well, it’s private,” Malachi
groused.

Nila stifled another wave of laughter and
helped Jack grip the plastic kid-size spoon better so he could
shovel the yogurt into his mouth faster. “He loves his carrot.”

Malachi kissed her cheek. “Carrot loves him,
too.”

After breakfast, Malachi drove them home, and
when she put Jack down for his nap, she insisted on checking over
Malachi’s wounds once more.

He humored her as she tugged the shirt over
his head and tossed it to the bedroom floor. “You already did this
last night and again this morning,” he pointed out. He didn’t stop
her, though, as she gently poked and prodded where she’d seen so
much damage the night before. Although Malachi was a better
fighter, Damien had used his claws on him, and he’d also landed
several good punches and kicks.

“You saw the ultrasound, sweetheart, you know
I’m okay, inside and out.”

She ran her fingertips over the smooth skin
of his side. She could still see the deep gouges and smell the
blood that had flowed freely from them. Her clothes had been
covered in his blood by the time they got to Doc’s, but she hadn’t
cared. She really hadn’t even noticed until Sam brought in clothes
for them to change into, which he’d sent one of the omegas to their
home to gather. Then she’d seen the evidence of what he’d
endured.

After they’d arrived at Acksel’s home, she’d
checked on Jack and found him asleep in the playpen in the spare
bedroom. Then she pushed Malachi into an attached bathroom and
insisted on helping him clean up. They’d stayed in the shower until
every bit of blood was washed from their skin and then fallen
asleep together while Jack slept soundly next to the bed.

“I can still see it,” she whispered.

He picked up her hands and kissed her palms.
“I’m okay. You’re not going to work today, and neither am I. Sam is
handling my shift at the clinic with Brynn, so it’s just the three
of us.”

“It’s technically just the two of us right
now,” she said, stepping close and looking up at him.

“So it is, love.” He smiled, cupping her face
and lowering his head to kiss her. She let herself go into his
warmth, letting him lead where they’d go in this precious time
alone. He’d given himself for her last night. He could have died,
or been seriously injured, but he was standing in front of her
without a mark on him, and she would be forever grateful for her
mate and protector.

* * * * *

Friday came fast, and Nila felt like there
was a gun pointed at her head all morning. She wasn’t sure that
Damien would sign the papers or that Isaiah would send them. If
that didn’t happen, she didn’t know what Acksel would do, but
Malachi had hinted that it wouldn’t be good. Alphas apparently took
their promises very seriously.

Every time she was called to the front to get
a patient, she expected to find a furious Damien there, ready to
attack. She knew she was being silly, but old fears died hard.

At lunchtime, Malachi pulled her into the
breakroom and held her. “It’ll be okay.”

“How can you be sure? The day is half over
and we haven’t heard anything one way or the other.”

“Because Isaiah might be an asshole, but he’s
still an alpha and their word is important to them. Isaiah is
old-school and follows the laws. He swore that the papers would be
delivered, and I trust that they will be.”

“What happens if they aren’t?”

He shrugged slightly, a non-committal
movement, but she could guess what might happen. A war between the
packs. More blood. More pain.

“I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. Worrying
doesn’t solve problems.”

“That’s very philosophical.”

He snorted good-naturedly. They ate together
and talked about everything
except
whether the packs would
end up going to war because Damien was an asshole. When they were
finished eating, he walked her to the reception desk and tugged her
around to sit with him behind Brynn for the last few minutes of her
lunch break. Brynn spun in her chair and said, “I’m hungry for ice
cream.”

Malachi’s brow rose. “I’m a guard not an
errand boy.”

Brynn laughed. “I wasn’t asking you to go get
some, I was just making a statement. Since Nila is up here, do you
mind if I run back to the breakroom? I think I saw a tub of ice
cream in the freezer a few days ago.”

Nila opened her mouth to tell Brynn it was
fine, when Malachi tensed suddenly, rising slowly from his seat
behind the reception desk. In a heartbeat, she and Brynn were
behind him as a man walked into the clinic with a manila envelope.
The man paused at the open door and glanced around the waiting
room. Two mothers were sitting with their sick kids, but they
didn’t pay him any attention.

He strode to the reception desk.

“I’m to give these papers to the human,” he
said.

Nila peeked around Malachi’s body and said,
“I’m the human.”

Malachi snarled and the man’s eyes widened.
Nila stepped to Malachi’s side and reached for the papers. “Check
them,” Malachi said. His voice was deeper than usual, growly and
angry.