Page 62 of What a Wolf's Heart Decides

Still holding her gaze, his chest lifted as he took a deep breath. For a moment, it seemed he might say something, too.

Somewhere in the background, an alarm let out a shrill blast.

And just like that, the spell was broken.

Bard looked over her head, his gaze on the nurses’ station. “Come on,” he said under his breath. “Let’s go home.”

Home. There was that word again.

She sat quiet and compliant as he moved behind her and wheeled her down the hallway. If they attracted any attention, she wasn’t aware of it.

No, she was too busy pondering his secrets. Because, without knowing how, she knew for certain he had more.

Bard Bennett was a mystery—the kind that begged to be figured out.

But unraveling mysteries took time. And that was something she didn’t have.

11

Bard exited the highway and turned onto the mountain road leading to Elder Lake. Snowflakes swirled—the start of what promised to be a snowstorm. They were overdue for one, which meant Mother Nature would probably make up for her oversight by dumping extra powder on the mountain tonight.

As if recounting his earlier trek through the avalanche, his bad leg spasmed, red-hot knives stabbing up and down his thigh. The pain took his breath away, the distraction of it making his vision swim as he navigated the twists and turns the narrow road threw at him.

Ordinarily, he could do the drive half-asleep. Hell, most times he did—exhaustion tugging at him after a double shift. On those nights, he went straight from his car to his bed, sleep claiming him as soon as his head hit the pillow.

But this wasn’t most times. Tonight, he brought a patient home with him. An exasperating, maddening, troublemaking patient.

Tonight, Haley sat beside him. Even at rest, energy seemed to buzz around her. It licked against his skin, making the hairs on his arms stand on end and the scars on his face tingle with awareness.

She was quiet. She’d been quiet since he wheeled her out of the hospital and helped her into the SUV.

And she’d stayed that way the whole drive home.

Silent. Thinking.

For what felt like the hundredth time, he fought the urge to look at her—something that, given his ruined right eye, would have required him to turn his head hard to the side and no doubt attract her attention.

Yeah, sidelong glances were a thing long-buried in his past. As it was, he had to be content with wondering what the hell she was thinking.

Not that he didn’t have a few ideas. Thank you, Anna.

He gripped the steering wheel with hard fingers. Unlike most werewolves, he didn’t mind being around humans. Maybe it was the nature of his work. In an emergency room, there was no time for the petty grievances and power games common among wolves. Problems were straightforward. People came in broken. It was his job to put them back together. And because his Gift was next to useless in the human world, he was forced to rely on his training and experience.

Haley’s voice cut through his thoughts. “What made you become a doctor?”

Now, he did turn his head so he could look at her. Darkness had long since fallen over the forest, but the SUV’s interior lights were enough to make out her features.

There was genuine curiosity in her eyes. That meant she was either sincere or good at hiding her real reason for asking. Something told him it was the former. Emotions didn’t hide around Haley Michaels. She wore her feelings out in the open.

It was probably easy for someone like that to get hurt.

Not my problem.

He faced the road. “I’m a Healer.”

She made a scoffing sound. “None of the other Healers I know are human doctors.”

“It’s a job.”

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