"Right, this is not going to be fun for you," Doc said.

"Wait, what?" Nila asked.

Malachi's vision cleared enough for him to see her perfectly. "Faster."

"Shouldn't you shift? I thought..."

Her voice trailed off as Doc came to the bedside and handed Nila a small vial of clear liquid. "Put this on his wounds. It's a healing potion that will speed up his natural abilities. He'll be able to walk out of here in an hour." Doc glanced at him and said, "It won't be a fun hour, though."

Malachi didn't care. Shifting meant he couldn't talk to Nila for several hours, and the stress of shifting while wounded would make him tired and he'd probably pa.s.s out. He was already p.i.s.sed off that he'd pa.s.sed out in the SUV on the way to Doc's; he didn't want to do it again. The healing potion would keep him awake, and he'd be better able to protect her and take care of her.

Nila uncorked the bottle and sniffed at the contents. "It smells a bit like eucalyptus."

Malachi ground his teeth together for a minute as his vision blurred out from the pain. When he could talk without cursing, he said, "Sweetheart, please."

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 st.i.tched back together by s.a.d.i.s.tic doctors.

He blinked and Nila was pressing a cool cloth to his forehead. Had he pa.s.sed 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 hoa.r.s.ely.

"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 f.u.c.k'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 s.e.x 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 n.o.body is having s.e.x 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 a.s.sistant. 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 amus.e.m.e.nt.

"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 pa.s.senger 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 amus.e.m.e.nt 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 a.s.shole, 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 a.s.shole. 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.

She opened the envelope and pulled out the stack of papers, quickly checking the sticky tags that marked where Damien was supposed to sign. She found his scrawled signature everywhere, even on the papers that waived his parental rights to Jack.