Page 10 of Grace of a Wolf 2
She taps her fingers against her thigh in a rhythmless pattern. "You know, it's funny. Humans are so obsessed with knowing things."
What the hell. She's the one who brought it up!
I push myself straighter in the hospital bed, ignoring the protest of my muscles. "Don't get all cryptic and evasive on me now."
"I'm not being cryptic." She rises from the edge of my bed, stretching her arms above her head. "I'm being selective about what I share."
My patience snaps. "You're the one who started talking about it all! You can't just drop bombs like 'special case' and 'transference overload' and then stop."
"Hmm. Well, yes." She wrinkles her nose. "You aren't wrong. But still, some facts shouldn't be spoon-fed, Grace. They need to be discovered."
I press my palms against my eyes, exhaustion and frustration battling for dominance. When I look up, Lyre has moved to the small window, gazing outside.
"You're dangling information in front of me like a carrot," I accuse her.
Without turning, she shrugs one shoulder. "That's because you make a cute little rabbit."
The deadpan delivery catches me off guard, startling a laugh from my throat. The tension in the room dissipates.
"I'm serious, Lyre."
"So am I." She turns back to me, expression contemplative. "Look, I know it's frustrating. But some things—important things—carry more weight when you discover them yourself."
"Is this about my parents?"
The question ambushes us both. I hadn't planned to ask it, didn't even know the thought was lurking beneath the surface until it escaped my lips.
Lyre's expression shifts, caution replacing humor. "What makes you ask that?"
I shrug, trying to appear nonchalant despite the sudden rapid beat of my heart. "Just a hunch."
"Your parents are part of the equation," she admits carefully. "But not in the way you're thinking."
"How would you know what I'm thinking?" I challenge.
Her lips twitch. "You aren't hard to figure out."
Chapter five
Caine: Ten Minutes
CAINE
In hindsight, our arrival to the hospital could have been handled better.
Fenris grumbles, refusing to acknowledge his part in the chaos. He's still upset to learn wolves aren't allowed in the hospital. Service animals only.
… and getting mad at your mate's doctors for refusing him entry doesn't endear you to the hospital staff—or security.
Granted, I could have stood my ground. It isn't as if their pathetic security force is enough to stop the wrath of a Lycan, much less their king. From what I can tell, even an average beta could wreck the place. After all, like most hospitals, they cater to humans. Even a weak shifter can overpower an average human.
A place like this doesn't need someone capable of standing up to an alpha, much less a Lycan. Most of us don't even heal slow enough to require hospital care. A few might require intensive treatment if they're too weak for natural healing to kick in, but such situations are rare. Broken bones do need treatment, but rarely require an overnight stay. By far, the majority of shifters admitted to a hospital are there for one reason: Pregnancy.
Illness and injury may not plague our people the way it haunts a human's lifetime, but even supernaturals can have issues with birthing offspring.
Which explains why the humans became so squirrelly when I threatened to throw her first doctor through a wall, daring to tell me our presence is unnecessary because Grace was just sleeping. A violent environment is no place to bring a fresh pup into the world.
Magnanimous as I am, I allowed their pathetic security force to escort me off hospital grounds…
