"Does it matter to you?" They were the same in that respect, neither of them able to change, and she wondered how it affected him.
"No. And yes. Earlier, when that thug had his hands on you, I wanted to rip his throat out. But I couldn't let myself go. I don't trust myself."
"Will you let me help you? I'm sure between us we can tame your wolf."
"I would like that." He kissed her, awakening her arousal again. She didn't know if she would ever get enough of him. "What about you?" he murmured and she froze in his arms.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"What sort of delicious creature are you? I can sense it within you, and you feel the mating bond between us, so I would love to know what exactly you are, Nadine Dury, other than the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." His mouth stopped teasing her and he pulled back to look at her, his forehead creased into a frown. "I'm sorry, I've upset you. It doesn’t matter, if you don’t want to tell me."
He looked hurt, but he quickly flattened his expression and smiled. She could tell him she didn't want to tell him, she could even tell him that he had it wrong, she was just a normal woman who knew about the other side but wasn't part of that world, or she could just say, "I don't know."
"You don't know about telling me?" His frown deepened and then when he saw her lips tremble he kissed them and then said, "You don’t know what you are?"
She shook her head. "That's what I meant, about being a fake. It's why I ran from you. How could you believe in a woman who couldn't control her other side? I was trying to reach you when you were trapped inside your wolf. Trying to teach you something I have no real knowledge of and no real control of."
"Never?"
She looked down at the sheets she was crumpling in her hand. "Never."
"Did something happen? When you were younger?"
"I don't know. My mom never said, and I can't remember, but when everyone else was beginning to change, it just never happened for me. It's why I pursued the career I did, and I turned the knowledge I learned about the mind onto myself, but still it didn't help. However, I found I could help others in a unique way. If one of us has a problem, you know, a mental problem with our other side, you can't simply walk into a psychiatrist’s office and tell them. So I began to specialise. You would be surprised how many times this happens. Especially with children."
"I can imagine. The first time is always the worst, you are terrified you won’t be able to come back." He kissed her lips, stroking her cheek. "Have you ever talked to anyone else about this? I mean, people come to you with their problems; have you ever sought out someone like you?"
"No. I would be too ashamed and too scared that if my secret got out, no one would hire me. You know, the blind leading the blind. I am blind to the other side of me." A stray tear ran down her face and he wiped it away. "I haven't cried about it for years. But since I found you, it’s scared me. What if I pass on whatever is wrong with me to our kids?"
"That won't happen. Because you are going to teach me how to help you."
"I don't understand."
"You said you would help me to conquer my wolf. Well, I will teach it back to you."
"That's crazy."
"We live in a crazy world. Or haven't you noticed?"
"Kurt, I don't know if that will work." Nadine couldn't allow herself to hope it would be that easy. She had tried talking herself through all of the exercises she taught her patients; she had even tried recording her voice and listening back to it. Nothing had worked.
"Will you try? For me, Nadine."
He kissed her, and the way he made her body ache for him, and her skin long for his caress, meant she had to agree to let him try to help her. "I'll try."
She lay with her head on his chest listening to the sound of his heartbeat, taking comfort from him being here with her, because she knew that soon she would have to get up and deal with what else had happened this evening. Her car was still on the road, with a flat tire. Surely, the wolves were long gone and it would be safe to go back down and retrieve it.
But those thoughts soon changed when she heard a sound outside. He froze, having heard it too. So it wasn't a figment of her imagination. What a pity. Kurt was out of bed and peering out through the window out into the night. Letting the drapes fall back into place, he turned back to her and began retrieving his clothes. "You might want to get dressed."
"Is it the wolves, have they returned?" she asked, reaching for her robe.
"Not exactly. Although there is a wolf outside." He pulled his pants on and was now doing up his shirt. "Plus a couple of bears. I guess my mom was worried, and the search party has tracked me here."
"Search party?"
"My sister, by the look of it, and Joel. I can’t tell who else. All the bears look the same to me."
"This is not exactly how I wanted to meet your sister. It's not terribly professional, is it? Sleeping with a patient."
He came to her and pulled her close. "I am no longer your patient, Nadine. I am your mate and to me that overrides everything else. You are mine and nothing will change that."
"I hope not." She gathered up her clothes and headed for the bathroom to freshen up and change. Right now she guessed she probably looked as though he had dragged her through half the forest, and that wasn’t the look she wanted when she met his sister for the first time.
It took her five minutes, by which time there was a banging on her front door and they went down quickly before her door was split in two. Opening it, Kurt was confronted by his angry sister. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Mom is worried sick." Then her eyes slid past him and settled on Nadine. "Wow, you certainly captured her likeness."
"Hello. I'm Nadine, you must be Mia," Nadine held out her hand in greeting to the she-wolf who would one day be her sister-in-law.
"Hi, Nadine. Yes, that's me, Kurt's sister.” Mia still stared at her. “I must admit, I thought you were a figment of his imagination. That’s not quite true. Mom said you were real, but we weren’t so sure about you being Kurt’s mate."
"Sorry about that," she said shyly.
"I suppose you had your reasons." She looked from Nadine to Kurt and then back again. "I suppose I'll go and tell Mom you are safe and will be home sometime in the morning, Kurt."
"Do you mind?" he asked, looking back to Nadine. "That is, if you don’t mind me staying."
"No. Not at all. But while you're here,” she said to Mia. “Can we walk down and collect my car? That way I can give you a lift back in the morning, Kurt. I think it would be safer if there were more of us. Just in case."
"In case of what?" Mia asked.
"Wolves," Kurt said ironically.
Chapter Thirteen – Kurt
"So let me get this right?" Mia asked again as they walked down the road towards where Nadine had abandoned her car. "They made you stop, and then let the air out of your tire?"
"Yes. When I realised it was flat, I thought I had better get out and run home. I knew it wasn't a coincidence."
"And then they chased you. But in the end there was just one of them. And you fought with him?" she asked Kurt.
"Yes."
"And then another wolf came and called him off."
"Yes."
"None of it makes sense," Mia said. “If they wanted to hurt you, why run off?"
"Maybe they didn’t want to hurt me," she said, stopping in her tracks.
"So, why?"
"They stole my car." She folded her arms, and he could feel her anger growing. "Son of a bitch."
"Well at least it makes bit more sense now," Kurt said.
"You mean the whole chasing me through the woods was not to scare me, just to keep me away from my car."
"Or calling the police. They kept you busy while they changed your wheel and then drove off in your car." If he could have got his hands on them, he would have throttled them for taking advantage of his mate this way. "It's not the fact they took your car that bothers me. It's the animal th
at came after you. The others had left by then, but he came back."
Nadine hugged herself, staring at the place where she had last seen her car. "How am I supposed to get to work tomorrow?"
"Maybe after the shock of today, you might do better to call in sick," he suggested.
"I can't do that. I'm treating a little kid. I can’t let him down."
"Then I guess my reclusive brother is going to have to borrow my car and take you," Mia said.
Kurt couldn't refuse. At least if he was with Nadine, she would be safe. Or semi-safe: he might not be able to summon his wolf, but he would try to defend her with his bare hands if he had to. "If you're sure, Mia."
"I am. I'll drive it over here now. Then Joel can come and pick me up." She moved away from them. "Do you want us to accompany you back to the house?"
"No. I think we're OK now."
"Great. I'll tell Mom you won't need your cocoa to warm you up before bed tonight, Kurt." With a wink, she had transformed into her wolf, and with a bear on either side of her, she disappeared into the trees.
"She loves you a great deal," Nadine told him, taking hold of his hand as they walked back up towards her house.
"I know. I'm not sure I deserve it." He squeezed her hand. "Or you."
"She thinks so, and I would have to agree."
They had just reached the house when the sound of a car, followed by the roar of a motorbike, came up the road towards them. Mia handed Kurt the keys. "Look after it. I'm going to let the sheriff in Bear Creek know about this, Nadine. There’s no point telling the piece of garbage who is the law in Wolf Valley; he’s probably in cahoots with them."
"Wasn't anyone I recognised, Mia. I think they were the raiders from out of town," Kurt said.
"Could be. If it was, it means they are getting closer to town. Might be time something was done about them," said Joel, still astride his motorbike, but with his helmet in his hands.
"You might be right," Kurt said, but he knew he had other things to deal with first. Personal things.
"Nice to meet you again, Nadine," Joel said with a wink.
Mia climbed on the back and they drove off into the night. By the time the sound had disappeared into the distance, Kurt and Nadine were caught up in each other's arms and heading for the bedroom.
"I'm never going to get enough of you," Kurt said, thrusting into her wet sex in one fluid movement.
"I hope not," she said, dragging his head down and kissing him as he speared her again with his hard cock.
Kurt rode her hard, making her cry out his name as she came. He was going to make sure every shifter in the neighbourhood knew she was his and they had better not lay a finger on her again. That wolf raider was going to get a taste of revenge if Kurt ever set eyes on him again.
Chapter Fourteen – Nadine
"Thank you again for taking the time to drive me to work." They were in Mia's car, driving along the highway, heading towards her latest patient, a little boy who was having bear problems. "You can drop me off; I'll catch the bus home."
"I'll wait," Kurt said, looking relaxed, normal even, if she could ever use that phrase to describe the six feet of lean man sitting next to her. She could see he had been exercising, and had got some fresh air since she had seen him last; he looked tanned and toned. Her stomach curled itself in knots, her longing almost too much to bear. If it wasn’t for the little boy who desperately needed her help, she would have called in sick. Because a day in bed with this man would be just heavenly.
"Penny for them," he said grinning.
"Sorry," she said turning pink as she blushed, the colour spreading across her cheeks. "I was daydreaming."
"If your dreams are anything like mine, we will be making them reality as soon as you get off work." He pulled into the road she had directed him to. "Not a hospital?"
"No, he's at home. Are you sure about waiting?"
"I am. So go on, work your magic and I'll be waiting right here for you."
Leaning across the seats, she kissed him and said, "Are you sure? Shouldn't you be painting, or something?"
"Possibly, but I decided this was a special occasion and I would give myself the day off."
"I'll see you in a couple of hours, then," she said, getting out of the car. He waved to her and then smiled as he sunk down in the seat and closed his eyes. "Tiring night, was it?"
"Don't you know it," he said, opening one eye and looking her up and down. "I'll be thinking of you and what I want to do to you every second you're away."
"Promises," she teased.
"One I intend to keep," he retorted and she shut the car door and made her way to the front door of her latest patient, six-year-old Gibb.
"Hi, Nadine," Gibb’s mom, Caroline, opened the door.
"How is he today?" Nadine asked, taking off her coat.
"Good, well, great actually. We haven't had another incident."
Gibb's incidents were a little bit difficult to deal with and had resulted in him not being able to go out and play—well, go out at all really. He spontaneously shifted into a panda bear. He might look adorable, and he really did, a small panda bear cub, all fluffy and soft, but in a world where shifters kept their other side secret, it was totally impractical. Usually these abilities didn't appear until puberty and by then their parents had taught children how to control it. Gibb was a special case.
"That's fantastic news, Caroline," Nadine said, following her into the house. As the door closed behind her, Nadine took one last look at Kurt sitting in the car and felt a surge of love, so great, so profound, even the animal inside her seemed happy.
***
Maybe it was the shift inside her, but something had just clicked today with Gibb. The normally excitable child settled down well to listen to Nadine and practiced the exercise she gave him. They were in the form of games and usually he just went crazy and wouldn't listen, but today they seemed to be on the same level. Nadine was beyond happy about their progress; children were so much harder to treat than adults, because they didn't see the problem in spontaneously changing.
Who could blame them? It was fun to suddenly become this large, furry panda who liked nothing more than rolling into a ball and tumbling down a slide to land with a soft plop at the end. Pandas saw the world from a completely different point of view, and Gibb loved it, making Nadine's job especially tricky. She never wanted to stop a child being a child, but Gibb had to learn not to be a bear cub in front of anyone other than his family.
"Thank you so much, Nadine. It's such a relief to have you here to help us," Caroline said as Nadine was leaving.
"No problem, Caroline. I am so happy with our progress today."
"Maybe it's the change in you. Gibb can sense it." Caroline smiled coyly when she saw Nadine blush. "Sorry. It’s none of my business, but you always seemed a little lost."
"Lost? What do you mean?" Nadine asked, intrigued and slightly worried that being apart from Kurt for the last few weeks had affected her professionally.
"Well, it's like you had part of yourself missing. In the same way you helped Gibb find himself, you look as if you have found yourself." She glanced over at the car, where Kurt was still waiting. "I think we both know what's changed."
"Is it that obvious?” she asked, although she knew the answer.
“Oh, yes. And so it should be. He is the person you have been searching for your whole life, even if you didn’t know it. He completes you.” Caroline looked wistful. “I remember the early days, the mating, the bond, and the pull of it.” Her trance broken, she turned to Nadine. “Go to him, enjoy him. He is a lucky man, Nadine.”
“I don’t know about that,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then was away across the street before Caroline told her once more how lucky her mate was to have her. If only Caroline knew how much of a let-down she might possibly be if she could not learn how to change into her animal.
“There you are,” Kurt said, leaning across and giving her a kiss when she got into
the car.
“Here I am,” Nadine agreed, returning his kiss with a brief one of her own; she knew Caroline was still watching and felt embarrassed. “Shall we go?”
“Where?” he asked, starting the engine and driving off, back towards the mountains where she lived.
“I don’t know. How about grabbing a bite to eat at my place and then going into the mountains.”
“Do you think that’s wise, considering what happened last night with the wolves?” Kurt asked.
“Yes. I think so. I can’t live in fear, and they got what they wanted, didn’t they? My car.” She would have to go home and deal with the insurance at some point today.
“I suppose. It’s just that wolf seemed more interested in you than the car,” Kurt said through gritted teeth.
“Then it is better to get out there and confront my fear of him in daylight. Don’t you think?” Although she wasn’t so sure, but if she put it off, she would never venture out into the woods again, something she would miss.
“You are the expert in these things,” he said, smiling, and her heart flipped over in her chest. What she really wanted to do was spend the rest of the day in bed with him. However, she was committed to getting him back to being whole again. And that meant conquering his beast.
“I’ve been thinking about how I can help you and decided that we should go out into the wild so your animal will feel more at home. There we can practice a few things.”
He winked at her. “There are one or two things I would like to practice.”
She giggled. “Maybe going back to my place might be a mistake.”
“Then let’s go to mine. My mom would love to see you again. She will be beyond pleased that you are my mate. She credits you exclusively for dragging me back from the other side.”
“You did it, Kurt. It was all you, I just pointed the way.” She sighed contentedly. “I don’t mind where we eat, as long as we are together and I can begin to help you.”
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