by Bru Baker
“I’m a doctor who specializes in emergency medicine. This is literally what I do for a living, Nick. I’ll be okay.”
Even if Drew wasn’t experiencing the same terrifying crash Nick was right now, he was still wet and cold. He could feel Drew shivering. Nick maneuvered out of his hold long enough to spread the blanket over both of them. Drew sighed but cuddled close, pulling Nick back into a tight embrace.
Nick turned his head and burrowed into the wet fabric of Drew’s chest. “That was horrible, and I never want to do it again.”
“At least you were doing something—I had half a dozen hysterical wolflings up here and no idea if either one of you was still alive.”
Nick understood the feeling. It was the cold, heart-stopping dread he’d felt when he’d seen Rory’s lifeless body resting on the bottom of the lake. “He’s alive thanks to you.”
Drew’s arms tightened around him. “He’s alive thanks to us. You’re the one who dove in and brought him out. Rory is lucky Jefferson saw him go down. They weren’t supposed to be out here without George, but George got stuck in town getting supplies. Rory was already in his wet suit and decided to go down and see what they’d be working on.”
That explained why Rory had been in a wet suit and Jefferson hadn’t.
“When he didn’t come back up, Jefferson jumped in. I don’t know how long Rory was down there, but Jefferson said he’d already been up and down twice when you got there. I’d just jumped in when you surfaced.”
“Little old lady who swallowed a fly,” Nick murmured.
Drew’s laugh bordered on hysterical. “Little old lake who swallowed a werewolf. It’s catchy.”
“Maybe we’ll adopt it as a campfire song after Rory gets back.” Nick swallowed. “He is coming back, right?”
“He was breathing on his own and responsive. They’ll run cognitive assessments at the hospital, but physiologically he’ll be fine. As soon as he started breathing, his healing factor kicked in, so any damage to his lungs from aspirating water would have healed before they even got to the hospital. I don’t anticipate him having any deficits. He’ll just be exhausted and probably more than a little traumatized.”
Traumatized. Shit. Like his friends who’d witnessed the whole thing. “We need to get the wolflings together and let them know about his condition as soon as we can. Set up some extra counseling hours so they can get some support. I’ll—”
Drew tugged him back down when he tried to stand. It was a testament to how weak he was that Drew managed it easily.
“Kenya and Harris will already be taking care of it. You can touch base with them after we get you into some dry clothes.”
Dry clothes sounded nice. He was freezing, which didn’t happen easily with his werewolf metabolism.
“I’m going to help you up, and we’re going to the infirmary. You can go up and take a quick shower to warm up and wash off the lake muck. I’ll put some clothes out for you after I check on Jefferson.”
Nick saw through what Drew was doing, but he appreciated it too much to call him on it. By narrating everything before it happened, Drew was following protocol for dealing with an injured or confused Were. His senses were in overdrive right now, so a sudden movement or unfamiliar scent might send him into an unwanted shift. Really, anyone other than a Pack member in his space right now should be engaging his fight or flight reflex. Drew’s presence was helping him calm down, which wasn’t something Nick wanted to think about too deeply at the moment.
Nick let Drew lead him up to the infirmary, which was mercifully close, just behind the row of cabins facing the pier. Scott was on the porch talking quietly to a group of half a dozen wolflings. He stepped away from the cluster when they approached.
“Kenya has Jefferson in room two,” Scott told Drew in a low voice as they passed. “She says he’s shaken up but seems okay. Check in when you get a chance. Anne Marie called. Rory was fully aware and functional in the ambulance. They’re getting him checked out at the local hospital. If he gets cleared by their neuro then he won’t have to be transferred to Bloomington. Harris already left to meet them there.”
“That’s good news,” Drew told Nick as they made their way inside. “If they can handle it at the little regional hospital here then he’s A-OK. That place isn’t equipped for anything more serious than a broken arm. They send just about everyone to Bloomington or Louisville.”
He paused at the base of the stairs. “You okay to get up there? My room is on the right. Bathroom is straight through the little sitting area. Help yourself to anything you need.”
He’d left Nick with the blanket, so Nick used one hand to hold it around himself and saluted with the other. He didn’t need Drew’s directions to find his room. It was easy to follow his spicy-sweet scent, narrowing in on the room that was soaked in it.
Nick’s knees wobbled when he opened the door. He took in a big lungful of air, savoring the comforting scent. It did more for him than a shower would, but he still made his way to the bathroom, shucking wet clothes off on the way and leaving them in a pile on the tile floor. The shower would warm him up, but Drew’s familiar scent had grounded him. He didn’t feel like his wolf was on the edge of his control anymore. Everything was back to manageable levels, even his sense of smell, which was revolting against the sour tang of lake silt that covered him.
He half hoped Drew would join him in the shower, but the door remained firmly closed. When he emerged, Nick found a neatly folded pair of sweatpants and one of the Camp H.O.W.L. T-shirts Drew seemed to have an endless supply of waiting for him on the bed. No underwear, but that was probably for the best.
Nick toweled off his hair and slid into the clean, dry clothes. Having Drew’s scent surround him felt like a hug.
He made his way back downstairs, hovering outside room two where he could hear Drew inside talking quietly to Jefferson. He debated knocking and going in, but before he could decide what to do, the door opened and he came face-to-face with a startled Drew.
“Ah, good. You’re done.” Drew swept the door all the way open, revealing Scott helping Jefferson into a sweatshirt. “I’m going to go up and grab a shower myself. Scott is taking Jefferson back to his cabin to shower and take a nap.”
A nap sounded fabulous, but Nick had too much to do. He was sure Anne Marie would have a metric ton of incident reports and other paperwork for him to fill out, and he also wanted to check on the other wolflings who’d been involved.
Drew’s arm shot out to snag him by his borrowed shirt before Nick could start down the hallway. “Hold up. Scott is on Jefferson duty, and I’m on Nick duty. Neither one of you should be alone right now. So you’re going to come back upstairs and cool your heels while I get dry, and then we’ll see about getting you something warm to eat.”
Nick wasn’t the slightest bit hungry. “I’m fine. I need to talk to Kenya and get—”
Drew’s face tightened. “I’m your doctor, and I’m putting you on emergency leave until I’m sure you’re fit to work. Spoiler alert, that’s not going to happen until you’ve had some time to crash and relax.”
“Kenya has already been by,” Scott said as he guided Jefferson out of the room. “She has all the wolflings who were at the lake gathered over in the rec room. Harris is on his way back from the hospital to help. They’re keeping Rory overnight as a precaution, and Anne Marie is staying with him until his parents can get there.”
“So really, all you have to do is follow doctor’s orders,” Drew said smugly. “We’ve got everything else taken care of. Jefferson, you have Scott call me if you don’t feel more like yourself by dinner, okay? It’s normal to be shaky and chilled, but by this evening your appetite should be returning, and you should feel less on edge. Being back at your cabin surrounded by familiar scents will help, and I encourage you to find a nap buddy and curl up for a few hours. We call that nesting. It will calm your wolf and give your mind a chance to process everything that has happened.”
Jefferson
managed a slight nod. His gaze was glassy, and he looked pale and shaken.
Nick leaned in and pitched his voice low. “Are you sure he’s okay to leave?”
“He’s on the mend. He can’t relax here, so being in his own bunk will speed up the recovery process. I’d have them transport Rory back here if I could, but he’d be checking out against medical advice, and that could raise some red flags. He’s got Anne Marie there, and his parents should be arriving by this evening, so I think he’ll be all right. I don’t know if they’ll bring him home or if he’ll be coming back to camp, but either way he’ll be released tomorrow, and he’ll be able to settle fully once he’s somewhere familiar.”
Scott hustled Jefferson out the door, and Drew studied Nick for a few moments before heading toward the back of the infirmary.
“I’m going to make us a pot of tea, both because I know you won’t drink any if I don’t join you and because I’m fucking freezing. And then I’m going to tuck you into bed and grab a shower.”
That sounded like heaven, but it also sounded intimate. Like something a Pack member or lover would do, not just the staff doctor. “You don’t need to coddle me.”
Drew’s glare could have melted ice, but it didn’t do anything to warm Nick’s still-chilled toes.
“I’m not coddling you. Jesus. I swear, wolves are the worst patients.”
“That’s specist.”
“It’s also true,” Drew muttered. He opened and closed cabinets, clearly not finding what he was looking for.
“What do you need?”
“Tea. The kitchen came fully stocked, so I know it’s here somewhere.”
Nick scented the air and opened the cupboard near the stove. He pulled out a tin with several different kinds of tea in it. Drew took it from him with a snort.
“Thanks, Lassie. Care to use your parlor trick to find the kettle too?”
Nick bent and opened the cabinet underneath the counter, then wordlessly handed over a cherry-red electric kettle. Drew’s mouth dropped open.
“Are you kidding me? You could smell that?”
Nick thought about letting him believe that but decided not to fuck with him, no matter how much he deserved it for the Lassie joke. “It’s common sense. There are a lot of cabinets in here but only a few outlets. I figured the electric appliances would be stored under here because there’s an outlet right above it on the counter.” He opened the cabinet again. “See? Toaster, coffee grinder, food processor—common sense.”
“What, so it wasn’t enough you have enhanced senses, supercharged speed and reflexes, and preternaturally good looks, you also have to be logical too? You’re killing me.”
A smile teased at the corners of Nick’s mouth. He was feeling better by the minute. Drew disappeared into a walk-in pantry and came out toting a picnic basket with crackers and peanut butter in it. He loaded in the tea and some mugs and handed the kettle to Nick.
“Fill this, would you? I’m heading up to shower. You can plug it in and set it on the table in the little alcove by the window upstairs in my room. We’ll have some tea and nest a little.”
Drew took his basket and disappeared into the hallway, clomping up the stairs a moment later while Nick stood there, baffled. It was one thing for Drew to understand physiologically what a Were needed in a crisis situation, but quite another to see him so nonchalantly giving Nick exactly the kind of support he needed. He would never ask for any of this, but Drew was absolutely right. His instincts were telling him to curl up and sleep off this adrenaline, and he wouldn’t be able to do that anywhere he didn’t feel completely at ease. His suite might work, but he hadn’t spent enough time there to really make it his yet. And besides, his wolf probably wouldn’t let him relax and let his guard down if he was by himself—he felt too raw and vulnerable at the moment to be alone.
He’d be a fool not to take Drew up on his offer of a comforting cuddle session. It would be the fastest way to get himself back to level ground, and doing that would ensure he could be there for the wolflings who would need him. Logical. That’s what Drew had called him. And letting Drew help him right now was just being logical. Right?
Chapter Six
DREW woke to Nick’s stubble tickling against his neck. His pulse jumped at every warm exhale, and for a moment he couldn’t remember why they were in bed together. Surely they hadn’t—
Right. Nick had fallen asleep when they’d curled up together after Rory’s accident. Drew supposed he shouldn’t be surprised Nick had slept through the night—he’d slept the night they’d spent together in the airport hotel too. Either Nick was an extremely trusting person or he felt connected to Drew on a level he wouldn’t admit.
Drew was intimately aware of what feeling safe enough to sleep with someone meant in the werewolf world. He’d been the only kid in his class who wasn’t allowed to have sleepovers at his house because it would have made his stepfather and stepbrothers territorial and uncomfortable. Hell, he’d had to fight to even be allowed to sleep over at someone else’s house because they were protective of him and didn’t want him to be vulnerable without them there to guard him.
The way Nick had gone pliant for him yesterday was surprising, but Drew didn’t know if it was because he’d accepted Drew as part of this ragtag Pack they had at camp or if it was something more. God, he hoped it was the latter. Seeing Nick day after day was a special kind of torture, especially since Drew had to lock down his attraction as much as he could so he didn’t force Nick to smell it. He didn’t understand Nick’s outright refusal to have a relationship with a human, but he didn’t have to understand it to respect it.
That was getting harder and harder the more Nick snuggled up against him. Drew needed to get out of bed before he did something he regretted. It had been easier last night while Nick was clearly out of it—he’d never take advantage of him, and Nick had needed comfort to get his wolf calmed down. But this morning was a different story. Nick was far from the pale, shivering, hollow-eyed Were Drew had tucked into his bed and curled up around last night.
No, this morning Nick was his old self. Or rather, the self he’d been before he realized Drew wasn’t just a random human he’d never see again. This felt a lot like waking up with him in their hotel bed, and parts of Drew’s anatomy were starting to take notice.
Nick mumbled something incoherent and rubbed his face against Drew’s neck, sending a jolt of want through him. Drew tried to ease away, but Nick tightened his grip, rolling slightly and throwing an arm around Drew’s shoulders to keep him close.
Oh for fuck’s sake.
Drew sent up a silent prayer for strength—both physical and mental—and wiggled out of Nick’s grasp. He almost rolled off the bed but caught himself before he tipped over the edge, his stomach lurching with the near miss. The lamp on his nightstand went crashing to the floor as he flailed, and Nick sat bolt upright, going from zero to sixty in a blink.
He looked around, confused, until his eyes landed on Drew balancing precariously on the edge of the bed frame. He reached out and tugged Drew back, rolling him so he was between Drew and the nightstand of doom.
“The hell?” Nick asked, his voice sleep-thick and rough.
Drew was less than six inches away from his face, and there was no way he could pull off a lie, so he went for vagueness instead.
“I was trying to get out of bed,” he said, his face flaming with embarrassment at his clumsiness. He was naturally inclined to catastrophe, but he usually took great pains to be careful. His stepbrothers had been preternaturally graceful even before their Turns, so he was used to being the butt of klutz jokes.
“Fuck, why am I in your bed?” Nick turned his head into the pillow. “Too bright.”
Drew had taken down the werewolf-friendly blackout curtains within hours of moving in. What was the point of having a gorgeous wall of eastern-exposed windows if you covered up the sunrise? Natural light was his favorite alarm. Then again, his eyes weren’t sensitive enough to warrant burr
owing into the bed to escape it.
“You needed some Pack time yesterday, and since your Pack isn’t here, I tried to help.”
The litany of curses that streamed out of Nick’s mouth were muffled by the pillow, but Drew got the general idea. Nick wasn’t happy to find himself in Drew’s bed. Never mind that they were both fully dressed and Drew had just been trying to help him.
“You aren’t my Pack.” Nick turned his face to the side and squinted. “Time ’sit?”
“Just after seven. I was about to get up and go for a run.”
Nick groaned and arched his back, stretching before he rolled over. “I’ll go with you.”
Drew ground his teeth together and bit back an oath. “You’re still recovering from shock. You don’t need to go with me. Stay here and sleep a little longer.”
Nick glared at the window with slitted eyes. “It’s brighter than the sun in here. I couldn’t sleep more even if I wanted to.”
Nick had shown up to run with Drew the last four mornings. Never with any announced intent but acting like he happened to be jogging the exact same path at the exact same time, day after day. It was a transparent attempt to keep Drew safe, and Drew didn’t like the implication he couldn’t take care of himself. Drew wasn’t afraid of the wolflings, and going around with a bodyguard all the time would give the impression he was. He didn’t need protection, and more than that, he needed the wolflings to feel comfortable around him. They’d never come to him with problems or injuries if they kept thinking of him as the token human.
“Well, then, go nap on the porch. Or go back to your own cabin. You don’t have to babysit me. No one is going to hurt me here.”
Nick grunted and swung his feet over the edge of the bed, peering blearily down at the shards of ceramic on the floor.
“Shit,” he said, abandoning his effort to escape the bed. “I’m sorry, Drew. I don’t mean to be an asshole. It’s just—”
“It comes naturally to you?”