The Moon's Legacy

Too Close

Willow POV

My hands were trembling as I brought them up and pressed against the Alpha's chest to move him out of my personal space. I realized too late touching him was a mistake.

The mate bond snapped into place between us as soon as my hands landed on his chest. I closed my eyes in defeat. I was hoping I'd be able to keep him from finding out he was my mate. He hadn't detected us by smell the same way Ivy had known him, and I'd been holding onto that.

I felt him stumble away from me. When I opened my eyes, he was standing back against the door leading to the exam rooms. He was frowning, his jaw clenched tight, as he stared at me.

'Ivy, stop masking our scent.'

She didn't respond, but I saw his nostrils widen, which told me she'd stopped hiding us.

"You're a wolf."

I raised an eyebrow. "Obviously."

"You don't have a pack scent."

"Nope." I popped the "p" as I said it.

"But you don't carry a rogue scent either."

I shook my head. If he was going to keep stating the obvious, I was going to have to lower my initial opinion of his intelligence.

"How is that possible?" His brow furrowed as he tried to puzzle it out.

"I'm just special, I guess." I shuffled some of the paperwork in front of me. "Look. Now you know, and that's all well and good, but I'm not on your pack's territory and I'm causing no trouble here. We helped your wolf, and he should be healed enough to travel by morning." By nightfall, if I went back and gave him a boost, which was looking more and more attractive to me as the dark-haired Alpha continued to stand and stare.

"We can just go our separate ways."

He shook his head. "It's not that simple. You're a female lone wolf and there are rogues in the area. I wouldn't be a good leader if I left you here to deal with them alone."

Rogues near Maple Glen? That sent alarm bells ringing in my head. The injuries on the wolf in the other room must have come from a rogue attack. If rogues were sniffing around, then I wasn't as safe here in Maple Glen as I thought. My face fell.

"What is it? What's that look for?"

"None of your concern."

"Something I said obviously upset you."

"You don't get to interrogate me in my workplace. Go back to your wolf."

He was quiet for a moment, watching as I continued to organize papers and files on the desk that didn't need organizing.

"Damian."

"What?" My head snapped up.

"Since you're determined to argue with me, you might as well know my name."

Ivy purred in my head. 'Damian. That's a sexy name for our mate.'

'Not happening, Ivy.'

'He's ours, Willow.'

'I'm not getting dragged back into pack politics because fate decided to play a joke on me. Not to mention, we may as well take out a banner that says 'Here we are!' for Keith if we mate with an Alpha.'

"Okay. Alpha Damian, please go back to your wolf. I've got work to do."

He twisted the knob on the door. "Fine. But we're not done here." He stepped through into the hallway and let the door shut behind him.

"We are if I have anything to do with it," I muttered.

He spent the next hour in the exam room we'd closed off for Archer. His men had come back and climbed into the bus. Eventually, the tall blond wolf exited the large vehicle and came through the doors. "Hello again. I'm going to give Damian a break so he can go grab some food. Can you point me to him?"

"Through that door, the first door on the left," I said, pointing.

"Thank you. My name is Caine, by the way." I simply nodded at him, turning back to the tasks on my desk.

A few minutes later, Damian came out. He paused at the front desk. Finally, he asked, "Can I get you something from the diner?"

I tried not to let the little flutter in my belly at his kindness get to me. "No, thank you. I've brought my lunch." My eyes stayed focused on the computer screen in front of me. I heard the bell on the door jingle as he left and let out a breath.

Once I was sure he was gone, I pushed back from the desk and went back to the room Archer was in. Caine was sitting in the chair beside the exam table, scrolling through his phone. He looked up when I opened the door.

"I need to check his wounds." He shrugged, then went back to his phone.

Archer was lying still, his breathing steady. I could see that his wolf healing had kicked in, but he still had a lot of healing to do. I put my back to Caine and laid a hand on Archer's head and his flank. Ivy opened to me, and healing energy threaded through us and into the wolf.

"What are you doing?" Caine's voice was curious.

"Just making sure his wounds are healing properly," I said. I cut off the flow of power. Caine was too close, and I was already risking too much by healing the wolf in front of me. But I needed them to leave, so a little risk seemed worth it.

When I turned to leave, Caine was standing directly behind me. I glared up at him. "Can you move, please? I have work to do."

He slowly shook his head. "I want to know what you just did. I felt…something."

"I helped your friend, and that's all you need to know. Now get out of my way."

He looked around me to see Archer's wounds looked better than they had five minutes ago. Better than they should. He looked back and forth between the wolf and me. "He shouldn't be that healed yet."

"Well, he is. Maybe he's just a fast healer. Now move."

He finally stepped aside, and I pushed out of the room. I rushed back to the break room, sat down and put my head between my knees to keep the nausea at bay. The stress of these wolves being here was starting to get to me.

Doc Blake walked in a minute later. "You okay?" he asked as he moved to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water.

"Fine."

He leaned back against the counter, sipping from the bottle as he watched me. "You don't look fine."

I shook my head. "I'll be fine. We just need the wolf to heal so he and the men who came with him leave."

He straightened up then. "Are they giving you trouble?"

Were they ever. But Doc Blake didn't know about shifters, and I couldn't tell him. All I could do was shake my head. "Not really. Not specifically, I mean. I would just prefer it if they weren't hanging around here."

His eyes danced over my face as I answered him, somehow seeing more than I wanted him to. Finally, he sighed. "Willow. You should know…I know about werewolves."

"What?"

He held my gaze with his as he went on. "I've known about them for years. A family thing. Just like I know there's something extra about you. You don't have to tell me. I don't need to know. But I do need to know if the wolves being here is what's causing your stress to spin out. I will ask them to leave if I need to."

I didn't know how to respond. It had never crossed my mind that Doc knew about the shifter world, that anyone in this town did. "I…" My mouth was dry. I cleared my throat and tried again. "I didn't realize you knew." It was the best I could come up with.

He crossed to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "It's not something I advertise. You talk about werewolves and, town vet or not, you end up getting a visit from the psychiatrist. But I've known there was something special about you since the first surgery you assisted me with when Jillian was out sick. The animals you spend time with heal faster and stronger." He shrugged. "I figured you'd say something when you were ready. Or you would keep it to yourself, and that was fine, too. But I want you to know that you're safe here. Always."

"Thanks, Doc." I grabbed a bottle of water for myself and took a long sip. "I'll be okay. The wolf should be healed enough for them to leave by nightfall, and that will be good enough for me."

He nodded. "Okay. If that changes, let me know."

I smiled at him, then stepped past him and through the breakroom door. And right into Damian's chest.

The bond snapped tight between us. Heat surged through the invisible thread connecting us, sharp enough to steal the air from my lungs. Ivy lunged forward in my mind, delighted.

'Mate.'

Strong hands closed around my arms before I could stumble back. I jerked my head up. Damian was already looking down at me, his dark eyes burning as the bond pulsed between us.

“Running away again?” he asked quietly.

Oh, hell.