THE BROKEN WOLVES
e's
e was always in his lap on that bridge, having sex, m
lids f
ember to turn on cruise control or, you
t is the on
aten minutes before. "Guess he just couldn't wait." A gaze sweeps my face. It's so intensely penetrating that I wan
ionalism I'd expect from a
h you staring at her tits. Just what the
off, B
it so tightly I couldn't move ev
le scent that tells me I'm in a hospital aren't near
door creaks open, letting in a cool wind. "Officers? Is there anything I
ve away from me, I relax for the first
een no change since the last time. Is
t doesn't like cops in general. After what I just overheard, and from how little t
one who smells of onions asks. Or is
ld be a week," the doctor res
s dead, and we need to k
li
and stop. Someone leans over me. It isn't either of the cops because food smells or male sweat a
e cop asks, sounding l
she is," the doctor mu
ng? Reading th
e machi
We see the same thing in our long-term coma patients. T
raped around his neck. Dark red hair, small brown eyes, and a pale face. Younger than I was expecting. He must
, she's not r
s l
clear. And he didn't shine the light that doctors like to blind you with.
t the cops to
t
show you the way out?" The doctor's voice is plea
leasant because he knows he's not wanted
ft click announces their departure and alone, at least for the t
till
but somehow,
be the othe
my eyes fly open. White walls, white sheets, and
me brown-eyed, red-hai
ut expression before he lifts his hand from m
t say
Dr. T
has been peeled back, so that's one less thing trapping me. It's just the nee
ave to worry about seeing
before. It must have been the morning, or maybe lunchtime if the cop smelled
cracked lips. "
y bed. I glance at it. Something rich and savory
t me. "I won't use it if you don't want to, but we've got three Jane Does at the hospital
ely register
up, but I don't have time to eat. Even if I
ing to have to move fast if I want to stay that way
s his throat. "Y
efore shifting my attent
into the staff changing room, or steal another patient's clothes since I doubt my dress a
waiting for a response, he continues. "The fire department pulled you from the water. Between the shattere
river with me inside or out of it should hurt. My gaze darts to the tube in the back of
r goes away, I need to know the extent of my inj
uries?" I ask,
laceration on your hea
hose weren't serious enough to require stitches. From the shattered glass, most likely." His hand moves to his right shoulder. "
sound bad.
head. "No in
's nothing to sto
n. How is your v
his stethoscope hanging from around his neck. Surely, he's supposed
s ok
vision, blu
Not
efore. Not everyone recovers from that sev
in me still
t I wince when it triggers
hat's how long you'
found me and dragged me back yet is in itself a miracle. A week is more than enough time f
me two miles before Rylan was stepping
and
llow
and the handcuffs beside his bed so he could always keep a
as lucky," the doc
iend," I interru
le
The car pinned him to the riverbed, and he
can drown
ld live through a stabbing, drowning, a clubbing over the head, and get up with little more than a headache.
e on the coffee table, sometimes I'd have a bruise for the rest of the day, but never Rylan. His skin was perfect, unmarked, and unsca
at never
was born a shifter instead of bein
, if only sometimes,
doctor's revelation. Wh
want me to call? We d
ell, there's Dad, but since I have no ca
x is
atter how much I screamed or begged him to stop as my blood soaked through h
hich didn't happen as of
er. He was the only one who fed me. It didn't happen all the times that I went with him, but
my hand. Just once. After that, he ne
g he did to me. Things I learned the hard way would only hurt wor
iles were flawless, my moans so convincing no one could've guessed I was counting down t
t to fall because no shifter deserves my
'm only sorry I wasn't co
n you later," the doctor
, and I hear him open the door
a seated position. My world goes hazy with pain and I swallow
has, I turn my head to the side and spot a slim white remote that must control the small black screen on the wal
driven off a bridge and into a r
. The second is a sports game. Baseball. But the
rf
d the remote, for an image of my face to flash on TV wit
the cause of the fatal car crash on the Lancaster Brid
st of the female
hat's all yo
ings, burglaries, the usual bad things that happen in every major city, then the weather, and it's over. So
ort, is there any report other than a tragic fatal car crash o
sn't found me yet? D
clatters to the floor. A round-faced nurse in her forties, with her dark hair pulle
no
y beside my bed. "You ha
not h
y ribs. "My ribs hurt, so..." I let my voice trail off so
ribs are no fun. Well, I'll make a note on your file and we'll see if the doctor can do som
utter and jelly sandwi
that's okay. Maybe tomorrow it w
e. After retrieving the remote from the floor, she flicks the TV off and returns it to the side table. With brutal efficiency, she tu
e collects the tray and
that I let myself relax as
hink I
slow breat
bond, no walking away. No shifter will ever let what's his go. And especially not an a
know it? Or will he watch the news, think what I just thou
w, but a gi