by T. S. Ryder
Grinding his teeth, Simon trotted behind the garage and slipped through the doggy-door he'd built in for himself. Once in the garage, he dressed quickly and unlocked the house. If Clint was just going to let himself into the house whenever he felt like it, then Simon would take that key back. He found the nurse in the living room, two open pizza boxes on the coffee table, the credits for a movie playing on the widescreen television.
Simon winced. Right. They were supposed to have a movie night. Lana had filled his thoughts so much that he had completely forgotten about his friend.
"Movie's done," Clint said shortly. "Spoiler, the hero dies saving the world, but the girl has his baby and names it after him."
Simon sat on the couch and grabbed a slice of pizza. "I forgot."
"I can smell that." Clint leaned over and sniffed. Damn him for having the most sensitive nose in the pack. "That's Jennifer Blossom, isn't it?"
"Naw, it's Shauna, right?" Simon frowned. "Or Cheryl. Jennifer?"
Clint rolled his eyes. "You really disgust me sometimes, you know that? It's bad enough that you go around sleeping with dozens of women, but would it kill you to remember their names?"
"Hey, her husband's just as bad. They're only married for the money. It's no wonder why divorce rates are so high when these humans keep marrying people they don't even like."
"Stop acting like you're completely blameless," Clint snapped. "If you had any—" He cut himself off and stood. He paced away and stared out the window for a moment. "It's like I don't even know you anymore, Simon. We were best friends all our lives, and then you hired me and I thought it would be like old times. But you're completely different."
Simon scowled. He didn't need a lecture. "And you're a stick in the mud."
"I'm worried."
Simon scoffed. "Worried about what? That I'm enjoying my life?"
Clint turned back to him. His face was hard, much unlike the normally open, friendly expression that he wore. "Worried about these self-destructive habits that you have. Ever since Katie—"
"Don't talk to me about Katie," Simon snarled, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.
"Ever since she died, you've been distant, arrogant, and cruel," Clint pressed on. His hands were clenched at his sides, and Simon knew that he wasn't going to let it go that easily. "You decided to be a doctor so you could help people. You wanted to make their lives better."
Simon pointed at the doctorate on his wall. "That piece of paper means that I am making lives better. I'm giving families more time with their loved one. I am making serious headway against a terrible disease."
"You also go through women like paper napkins. You use them and then throw them away like they're nothing. God forbid that they start developing feelings because then you have to make sure they know they're not worth your time." Clint's eyes were glowing, the tell-tale sign that he was on the verge of shifting and lunging at him. "You don't care who you hurt and what marriages you break up."
Simon snorted and turned his back. They'd been over this before, and he was done talking about it. Bringing up Katie was crossing a line, and Simon wasn't about to let Clint manipulate him into feeling guilty for things he shouldn't have to feel guilty about. When they were teenagers Clint was just as bad at chasing skirts, but now that he was mated and had kids, he was in a position to look down at the men who continued that time-honored tradition?
"Have you even visited her grave since the funeral?" Clint's voice was soft, but it woke fury in Simon anyway.
"This is none of your business!"
"Katie told me she was worried about how you'd react to her death. She wanted me to look out for you."
Simon clenched his fists to avoid swinging at Clint. Right now, he didn't feel much like a friend, a fellow pack mate, or even an employee. The guard hairs on Simon's arms stood on end. He narrowed his eyes, his muscles trembling. An open, raw pain sliced through his chest. What right did Clint have to come into his home and put him through this sort of pain?
"Get out," Simon growled, claws forming at the ends of his fingers, canines sharpening in his mouth. ''Get out!"
Clint stared at him for a moment before grabbing his coat. He moved slowly, so slowly that Simon was tempted to just grab him and toss him out on his ass. His fists shook with fury and his whole body was rigid. If he moved, he might just snap. He tracked Clint's movements as he left the room. As soon as the other Wolf was gone, something inside him eased.
Simon stomped into the kitchen and pulled a vodka from storage. He quickly made himself a martini, his hands shaking as he did so.
There was nothing wrong with what he did. Other people did it all the time and Clint didn't go hounding them about their actions. Hell, Clint had quite a reputation as they grew up. It wasn't like he was some sort of sinless saint. The girls he had been with could probably tell a few stories. So why was it different for Simon?
He gulped his martini down and made another one. A tremor moved up his arm, and he growled, flexing his fist. Phantom pain flashed through his knuckles. When Katie had gotten sick, he had beat the wall so many times he almost lost his position at the hospital. Her death had nearly ruined him in more ways than one. He had found a way to live without her. Why couldn't Clint just leave it be?
Katie had been human. Dark curls, dark eyes, and a smile like sunshine. He met her when they were both in elementary school, and from that moment, he knew she was his mate. It took a bit of convincing over the years. During high school, he had started to doubt it himself and played the field a little, but he always circled back to her.
And now she was gone.
As he sat drinking his second martini more slowly this time, Lana suddenly intruded into his thoughts. Her mischievous green eyes and bubblegum lips. The knot in the pit of his stomach eased a little and he closed his eyes. Her naked body appeared in his mind's eye and he smiled. A tightness built in his loins as he remembered that night in the hotel: tearing her clothes off, how meek and submissive she had been towards him.
The desire to call her and ask if he could come over had him reaching for his phone before he could stop himself. His hand froze inches above the phone.
He knew her too well. There was always distance between himself and his lovers. A bit of mystery. They weren't fully realized persons, only fantasies that he could escape into. They didn't have children. They didn’t have deadly diseases. They weren't patients.
Besides that, he was her doctor. That automatically made any further sexual relationship impossible between them. He was her doctor and it simply wasn't appropriate.
That didn't stop his desire to call her. It burned into his palm like the cellphone was seeping radiation into him. He pulled his hand back. It wasn't right.
Her laugh sounded in his ears, so audible that he had to check to make sure he was alone. He was, of course, but that didn't comfort him. Simon let out a deep sigh. It didn't hurt to fantasize a little bit, did it? Wonder about what she was doing right now.
Had she enjoyed their night together as much as he did? What other lovers did she have? A swell of jealousy rose in him just thinking about that, but he pushed it aside. Only for another swell of pain to rise. His mind flashed to Katie, and a raw wound opened in his chest again. He grabbed his phone and dialed a number. He hadn't seen one of his former nurses – Maria? Mandy? – for quite some time.
"Hey," he greeted her when she answered. "What are you doing tonight?"
Chapter Five – Lana
The sound of whimpering woke Lana. The room was utterly dark, but there was a shuffling at the foot of her bed indicating movement. A soft scraping on the carpet and another whimper. It sounded like an animal. A dog? The covers tugged to one side, and then a soft weight on her feet. Adrenaline shot through Lana's body. With one hand, she grabbed the baseball bat she kept by the side of the bed, and with the other, she turned on the lamp beside her bed.
She uttered a short cry, jumping out of bed. There were two wolves in her bed. Or rat
her, wolf pups. The two furry bundles yipped and tumbled back over the bed, onto the other side. Lana stared, jaw hanging slack. Her hands gripped the bat, held up in preparation. How had two puppies gotten into her bedroom? She checked the window. Closed. The door was closed as well.
The two wolves started to howl plaintively. Lana edged around the bed, keeping the baseball bat on hand in case the mother was somewhere around as well. The sound of the howling changed, and by the time she rounded the bed, it had turned into the sobbing wails of two little girls.
Elaine and Evie sat on the floor, their golden hair braided as Lana always did for bedtime, faces scrunched up and red as they cried. Lana gasped. She managed to push aside her shock long enough to gather her twins onto the bed and start soothing them.
"Mama scared me," Evie sobbed.
"I'm sorry." Lana kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry, baby. I didn't recognize you. I've never seen you as puppies before."
Her stomach twisted as the girls still sobbed. Shifters. Her daughters were shifters. Which meant that the anonymous donor that was their father was a shifter. Wasn't that something the hospital could have told her? She understood not giving her his full file since he wanted to be anonymous, but this was something that had a huge impact on both her and her daughters . . .
Kari came to knock on the door a few moments later, asking about the noise, but Lana didn't tell her what she had just discovered. She didn't know how to handle it herself yet. After her step-sister left and the girls fell back asleep, Lana slipped out of her bed and grabbed her cell phone. She padded into the bathroom and called Dr. Wolfe. He was a shifter. He'd be able to help her with this.
It was only after he answered that she realized what a stupid thing it was for her to do. For starters, there was no reason why he should be at his office – why was he at his office at this time of night? – and he didn't want to become involved in her personal life. He was her doctor. Nothing else.
"Hi," she said awkwardly. "This is Lana Flores."
"Miss Flores." The doctor's voice was pleased but confused. "What can I do for you?"
"Uh . . . " She wanted to hide her face in her hands as the silence stretched on, but, considering that he couldn’t see her, it would only make the silence linger longer. "Um . . . it's about . . . Well, it's not about my medical condition. It's personal."
A pause. "Go on."
Was it her imagination, or did he sound even more pleased? It must be her imagination.
Fumbling with her words, Lana explained what had just happened with her girls. When she finished, Dr. Wolfe was silent. Lana swallowed hard. "I'm sorry for calling you. I just sort of panicked. I didn't know their father was a shifter, so I wasn't expecting this. I thought about you because you're a shifter, too. I thought you might be able to direct me to some sort of . . . I don't know – shifter group for children?"
As she finished, she realized that it was a lie. She wasn't looking for information about shifters. She had wanted to hear his voice and have him reassure her that everything was going to be fine. Her girls being shifters was unexpected, but as long as she didn't bar them from their heritage, it would be fine, wouldn't it? But she knew very little about shifters and their culture.
"I don't know about anything geared to children myself," he said slowly, "but I’ll tell you what. You can bring your girls and meet me at the shifter cultural hall tomorrow. I have appointments all morning, but I'm free after three."
Relief washed over her. Lana closed her eyes, fighting back the desire to thank him over and over again. She wasn't going to fall into becoming some hysterical, sobbing woman every time she felt any little emotion. It was bad enough that she had called him in the middle of the night.
"Thank you," she said, just once. "I'm sorry to disturb you so late."
"It wasn't a disturbance," Dr. Wolfe replied kindly. "I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to get more work done. I'll see you tomorrow."
He hung up and Lana let out a sigh. Tomorrow. She went back to bed and her two girls crowded in next to her. The fact that they had been wolves mere moments before still stunned her, but she relaxed as she pulled them closer. They were still her girls, and it was just that she had to learn more about them. She smiled as she stroked their soft hair. Tomorrow, she would begin to plan on how to handle this unexpected development in her life.
And Dr. Wolfe would be there to help her along.
***
The shifter cultural hall was smaller than Lana had expected. From the outside, it looked vaguely like a large church: white stone exterior, stained glass windows, large wood double doors. It was attached to a large, well-maintained yard that was lovely to look at. Dozens of trees grew throughout the yard, and children ran among their shadows.
Inside, a bouncy castle was set up. Streamers hung from the ceiling and helium balloons were everywhere. It appeared that they had come upon some sort of birthday party. Lana held her girls' hands, chewing her cheek as she looked around. She couldn't tell if any of the others in the buildings were non-shifters like herself, but she couldn't help but feel like she was on unstable ground. What if she did something to offend them?
Taking a deep breath, she strode in. Evie looked around studiously while Elaine's gaze latched onto the woman dressed like a fairy princess. It was three o'clock sharp, and she saw Dr. Wolfe was already there. If she thought he was attractive in his doctor's outfit, he was even sexier when he wore tight jeans and a black t-shirt that stretched over his generous muscles. Why was it that he was more attractive every time she saw him?
Relief washed over Lana, though she instantly scolded herself for it. She really needed to put a stop to the teenage fluttering her heart did when she saw him. They had had a one-night stand. Period. There was nothing more, and she certainly didn't have the time or emotional resilience to start up an affair with her doctor while she was undergoing cancer treatments and learning as much as she could about shifter culture for her girls.
He could teach you about shifter culture, a voice in the back of her mind said. She shoved it away.
"Dr. Wolfe," she greeted when they got closer.
He smiled, tight-lipped, at her. "Please. It's Simon here. I can't be a doctor all the time."
"Simon," Lana said, refusing to acknowledge the way her heart fluttered. Again. She turned towards the party, trying to look calm.
Evie tugged her hand. "Mommy, can we go play?"
"Yes. Just make sure you share."
Her girls raced off, clasping each other's hands. They went straight to the bouncy castle. Lana couldn't help but giggle a little. Elaine tried to climb in wearing her shoes, but Evie pulled her back and pointed to all the footwear lying around. Elaine huffed. Evie rolled her eyes and untied her sister's shoes. They were so similar but so different.
"So, you didn't know until yesterday they were shifters," Simon said, glancing at her. "Sounds like a story there."
Lana repressed a sigh. "It is. Three years ago, my sister and her husband were having a difficult time conceiving. They tried a lot of different things, but nothing worked. Eventually, Kari came to me. We agreed that we'd use artificial insemination so that I would have a baby and they'd raise it. Well, there was a mix-up at the hospital, and I ended up pregnant . . . but not with the right . . . sample."
She glanced around, her cheeks warming. She couldn’t actually say 'semen' or 'sperm' with all these children around.
"A hospital mix-up." Simon shook his head, looking disgusted. "And then your sister didn't want them anymore?"
"No. That's not it at all. Kari and Robert were going to take them anyway. They wanted children so badly. But when I had my first ultrasound and I heard their heartbeats . . . " A smile spread across Lana's face. "I couldn't bear to think of them not being my children. It wasn't an easy choice for me or for Kari. I think that if she didn't end up pregnant herself, it would have been absolutely devastating for both of us no matter what we decided."
"And you didn't know that the donor was
a shifter?"
Lana shook her head. "It was anonymous."
"I see." His face pulled into a thoughtful frown. "You know, as a doctor I have certain . . . pull. I could look into this for you. I might be able to find out a little more information about it all. It'll be good to have more history about the donor, anyway. I understand finding this out can be a bit of a shock."
"You're telling me. I put two little girls to bed, and I woke with two little wolves trying to snuggle me. It scared the life out of me. And it didn't do them any good, either. I scared them pretty bad."
Simon touched her hand but withdrew quickly. "I can imagine. But whatever else you're feeling, there is one thing you have to be very thankful for."
Lana rose a brow quizzically.
"Shifters can't get cancer. You don't have to worry about your girls ever going through what you're going through."
She hadn't even thought about that. The air left her lungs in a rush of relief. She actually laughed, tears coming to her eyes. Her girls were shifters. They would never get sick. They'd be hardier than human children. Everything was going to be just fine. She grinned broadly at Simon.
"Thank you."
Simon smiled back, but it was short lived. A shadow crossed his face as he glanced past her, then shook his head and mumbled something under his breath. Lana turned and was surprised to see the nurse from the clinic coming straight for them.
"Simon," he greeted him when he got nearer, suspicion twisting his features. "Miss Flores."
"Clint." Simon smiled. "Seems like Miss Flores here is a mother to two little shifters."
Lana nodded. She wasn't sure if Simon was going to pretend like they just happened to bump into each other, but she decided to play it safe and act like that was the only thing that happened. "I'm sorry, I don't remember your name.
"Clint Webb. Which ones are yours?"
Lana pointed. Evie was chatting with a brown-haired boy while Elaine fondled the fairy princess's shiny satin skirt.