Page 5 of The Devil on my Chest

“I wouldn’t do that. But what happens now? Ra, that’s our friend back in Arrowtown, wanted me to get some more information about curses so my friends could help track down where Rocky used to go. They want to help, and that’s the only thing we really don’t know about Rocky, apart from his past, obviously.”

“I’ll share what I’m thinking, only because I don’t want you believing I’m not doing anything at all. My working theory at the moment is that Rocky was cursed well before he met you.”

“But how did he function?”

Doctor Nelson held up his hand. “It’s just a theory. It is possible for a person to carry a curse for the longest time without it impacting their day-to-day life. In those cases, the curse only starts to get destructive when something triggers the magical mechanism. Now that trigger could be anything, which I know isn’t very helpful.

“But the theory I am running with is that Rocky was under some form of curse when you two met. For what it’s worth, I also believe you two are mates, but we’ll come back to that in a second. If we assume that Rocky was under a curse from the beginning – something minor that simply stopped him from being able to recognize his mate – then there are two possibilities from there.

“Either the conditions of the curse changed due to an outside event, or Rocky was recursed which caused his obsession with sweets. Looking at the data Farriday provided, Rocky’s obsession, addiction, or however you want to categorize his behavior, is causing behaviors very similar to those experienced by a wolf who has been kept from his mate. He’s being tortured by it.”

“Except that instead of reaching for me, he breaks into Fergus’s bakery to take out a cake.” Mal huffed out a long breath. “All right. I’ll accept that theory about the curse angle for now. What evidence do you have that supports the theory that Rocky and I are mates? He’s an alpha. He was already hardwired to protect a wolf he perceives as weaker.”

“It’s not his behavior toward you that leads me to that conclusion, it’s the anecdotal evidence Farriday provided about you two as a couple.” Doctor Nelson held up a sheaf of papers. “Your doctor has been working on this case for months, and hedocumented everything he thought was remotely connected to changes in Rocky’s behavior. For example, if Rocky was angered by anyone, you were the only one who could soothe him. You were the only one who’s opinion he valued.”

Mal frowned. “Rocky was close to all of the friends we rode with – Ra, Lucian, Liam, Simon, and Brutus – not just me.”

“Farriday provides examples where Rocky has faced off against all of them at some point or another, and that in each case, you were the only one who could get Rocky to see reason and stand down. He never liked to ride without you. You said yourself he automatically assumed you would work in the sheriff’s office with him. Aside from sex, you two have lived as mates pretty much from when you met.”

Mal closed his eyes. He wanted to believe that so badly, but after decades of living with hope and never having it be realized, Mal wasn’t sure he had the strength to cope if the doctors were wrong.

“I can see this is overwhelming for you. You have to remember to look after yourself or you will be no good for Rocky as we work through this. We’ll leave off the questions for now and I’ll just explain what’s going to happen next.”

Plans. Yes.Mal nodded.

“With your permission, I’m going to take some blood from Rocky and from yourself. I know Farriday already did extensive blood work on Rocky, but we have a few extra machines here that might shed some further details on how this curse is impacting Rocky at a cellular level. I also want to run a small experiment with both of your bloods, to see how they will react with each other in a test tube.”

“You want to try and get our blood cells to claim each other?” Mal chuckled and Doctor Nelson smiled.

“Something like that. You also need to get some sleep because in the morning I am going to reduce Rocky’s sedatives and the moment he’s conscious and starts to get obsessed again, I will force his shift.”

Mal winced. Even though he expected it, and Ra had said it was a good idea, his own wolf wasn’t happy about that plan. Forcing a shift could be really painful.

“I want to see for myself how his wolf reacts to you in human form, and perhaps later in your wolf form too. But we’ll take this one step at a time.”

Mal nodded. “I do realize this needs to be done. If Rocky lost his wolf form…”

“Rocky would die or go mad from it.” Doctor Nelson nodded. “There are risks attached,” he warned. “Once in his wolf form, Rocky will have to stay that way until we can find a way to break that curse. We’re going to be under a time crunch. As you know, there is as much danger to a shifter who remains in animal form for a long time as one who refuses to shift at all. The spirit that is being suppressed can die, or in Rocky’s wolf case, he could forget their humanity. You’re going to be key to making sure he doesn’t forget he has a human side too. Do you understand the risk?”

“You didn’t see him when our friends were bodily dragging him out of the bakery after hours,” Mal said in a low voice. “Likewise on the plane. Rocky knows something’s impacting him. He called it a devil sitting on his chest. The Rocky I know, the one that I love – he would risk anything to be well again. Anything at all.”

“Then I suggest you get some sleep.” Doctor Nelson stood up and moved the chair back to the wall. “I’ll send in a nurse to take some blood from you and Rocky and I’ll see you both after breakfast.”

“Thank you, Doctor. Thank you.” Once the doctor had left, Mal rested his elbows on the bed, taking Rocky’s free hand as he let his tears fall.

Chapter Four

Mal got barely any sleep. He didn’t expect to. The worry about Rocky, about being in a strange place, and thinking about what was to come, made for disjointed naps rather than a solid rest. For all that Doctor Nelson had tried to make the place comfortable, trying to sleep in a chair wasn’t the easiest thing to do - although it wasn’t the first time Mal had done it. But that didn’t stop him thinking longingly of his own bed back in Arrowtown. He finally gave up on getting any further sleep as the room slowly started to lighten, the peak of sunlight coming in from the huge window that took over one-half of a wall. A window covered in bars.

In the harsh morning light, those bars were a concern. Did Doctor Nelson think that Rocky was going to try and make his escape out of the window?Don’t take it personally,Mal reminded himself. He was sure they weren’t the first occupants of the room and likely wouldn’t be the last.

Mal managed a smile when a young nurse came in not long after, offering him a cup of coffee, and asking him for his breakfast order. He asked if she could get him a breakfast sandwich, because he really couldn’t think of anything else.

“I’m going to disconnect his sedative line now,” the young nurse said. Her nameplate said Amy. “Depending on how strong your friend’s wolf is, it will take between about an hour to two hours for the sedative to completely flush out of his system. Given that he’s an alpha wolf, think more toward the hour than the two.”

Mal nodded his thanks for the information.

“We’ve got cameras in this room. They have just been turned on,” Amy said, indicating to two small red lights that were opposite corners of the room. “Doctor Nelsen will initially justobserve from the moment your friend starts to stir. He wants to see how Rocky will react to you and his new surroundings from the moment he wakes up.”

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