Page 9 of Briggs
I nodded, but when Dr. King raised an eyebrow at me, I sighed. “I was thinking about being back in that cage in Mexico.” I waited, and when Dr. King just stared at me, I grumbled a bit. “I saw you magically produce tea, and I was thinking that if I’d been born a warlock instead of a cheetah, I either wouldn’t have been taken, or I would have been able to get myself and the others out of there, and we wouldn’t have had to go through what we did.”
“That might be true, but it’s possible that you would have still suffered the same fate. They gave you something to keep you from shifting, no?” I nodded. “That same drug, whatever it was, could have very well been used to keep a warlock from using his magical powers.” Dr. King shook his head. “Trust me when I say I wish nobody ever had to suffer because of others’ actions. Sadly, we live in a world where that isn’t the case.”
Before I could respond though, there was a loud knock at the back door. That was unusual because everyone used the front door. The only people who ever used the back door were Dr. King and me or Dr. Rothwell when he was here helping. I became a bit concerned when the knocking continued, only getting louder as it went on.
“Stay here,” Dr. King said. I nodded.
Dr. King went to see what was so urgent. It wasn’t as if the front door wasn’t unlocked. The only time the clinic was actually locked was when we went home for the day. I had a key code for the door, and of course, Dr. King could access the building at any time as well.
The knocking stopped, and although I could hear voices, I was a bit too far away to understand the words that were being spoken. A moment later, I heard footsteps, but not just one set of them. Dr. King came back into the break room, and there was aquiet growl behind him. Dr. King froze, turned, and pointed his finger.
“That stops now.”
I still couldn’t see who it was, but my cheetah was on edge. I knew I was safe here, but the fact that someone was growling in the clinic caused a bit of panic.
“Sorry,” the voice said. At the sound of the stranger’s voice, my cheetah had a completely different reaction.
“Todd, I believe that you and Briggs here need to have a discussion about certain things.”
I slowly stood. “Have I done something wrong?” I didn’t know who Briggs was, but I had to assume he was a fairly safe person since he was here on Treasure Ridge.
Dr. King chuckled. “No, Todd. You’ve done nothing wrong. It’s not anything negative that Briggs and you will be discussing.”
In that moment, the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen stepped around Dr. King. The first thing I noticed was his eyes. They were a crystal blue and looked like gemstones. His hair was sandy brown, curly and messy on top. He had a short beard, which was something I’d never found attractive before, but on this man—on Briggs—it was sexy. He was tall, had wide shoulders, and was definitely muscular.
I heard chuckling, and it took me a moment to realize that I was staring and being completely rude. I managed to break my stare and looked to Dr. King, who was smiling.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “Staring is rude. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“I don’t mind. In fact, it gives me a bit of hope for things to come.”
I glanced up at Briggs’s words. “What do you mean?”
“You haven’t come into the room enough yet,” Dr. King said. “Maybe if you get a little bit closer, he’ll be able to scent you.”
I glanced between Dr. King and Briggs, completely lost about what they were talking about. That was, until Briggs smiled and did exactly what Dr. King had suggested. When he stepped closer, I was able to scent him completely. My cheetah knew immediately, but it took my human brain a bit longer to catch up. When it did, my eyes widened, and I sat back down slowly and shook my head.
Briggs’s smile slowly fell from his face. “You’re shaking your head. No what?”
I shook my head a bit harder before I glanced up at Dr. King. “I can’t have a mate,” I told him. “You know what I’m like.”
Dr. King offered a gentle smile for me before he turned to Briggs. “Briggs, if you would wait for me in my office just across the hall, please?”
Briggs looked as if he wanted to argue, but after a moment of looking back and forth between the two of us, he nodded once and walked away. I could only watch him go, and when he was out of sight, I relaxed, but my cheetah yowled in my mind. Briggs was our mate! Why now? Sure, I wanted my mate, but I knew I wasn’t ready for a mate.
“Todd, tell me what you’re thinking.”
Dr. King was sitting across from me again, and I shook my head. “I can’t have a mate,” I said quietly. “I’m broken. I barricade myself in my bedroom at night. Well, I used to. But what if…he’s going to want to claim me. What if I can’t do that? You know…that part of things? And what about my cheetah? What if I shift in the middle of the night and I hurt him?”
Dr. King smiled. “First, Briggs is an enforcer, so I’m sure that if you shift in the middle of the night, he and his wolf will be all right. Second, they say that we are sent our mates when we need them most. Perhaps having Briggs at your side to navigate through things will help you, not cause issue?”
I thought about that for a moment. “He’s so gorgeous,” I whispered. Then I realized what I’d said and peered at Dr. King with wide eyes. “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did. But that is all right. He’s your mate, and you are supposed to feel that way toward him. Would you like to go across the hallway and talk to him? Or I could have him come back in here?”
Did I want that? Possibly. But I was trying to be honest with myself. I knew I couldn’t offer Briggs all that he was expecting from finding out I was his mate. I was certain I could have sex with the alpha. Well, maybe. I’d started having dreams of that sort several months ago. I knew my body was ready for sexual pleasure, but the rest of me?
“Can I talk to him? Do you think he’ll understand?”
