Page 10 of Sapphire Flame
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Grant felt better as well. Maybe he was experiencing a residual effect of Emma’s care for the woman. Or maybe it was the additional wolf’s blood flowing through his veins. He would need to return the favor and give a donation of his own to the refuge in the coming weeks. The least he could do.
Natalie believed this woman was important to Five Bridges, though she didn’t know why.
Within a few minutes, he experienced a conviction he could now withdraw his touch from the woman. Emma truly was gifted and most of the cuts on her arms and legs and were completely gone.
The more serious abdominal wound might require another full day of healing to see her completely restored. He had to agree; the whole thing was a miracle.
As he backed away from the bed, Natalie moved with him.
The nurses began to bathe the woman and it no longer seemed appropriate to be looking at her mostly naked body. One of the nurses must have felt the same way, since she drew the curtain to conceal the bed from view.
He moved close to the wall opposite the emergency bay to allow traffic to move easily. He no longer felt like he would faint again, though he kept one hand planted on hisIVstand.
The refuge had close to thirty employees and there was still quite a bit of activity even though the early morning hours were closing in on dawn.
“So, you’re a wolf.”
He glanced at Natalie and his lips quirked. “Seems I am. And you’re fae.”
“Hopelessly.”
Her response made him chuckle.
When a nurse drew near and began unhooking him from theIV, he stole a glance at the woman who had saved his ass in the Graveyard.
She was lovely. That was the exact word that went through his head. She had a light complexion and a faint pink bloom on her cheeks. Even her lips had a rosy color. Her eyes were large, hazel and fringed with dark lashes.
Her long and curly, light brown hair was scattered everywhere like a wind had come up or at the very least a battle with three rogue wolves. Yet it suited her face and the light in her eyes. She wore a patterned silk tunic in teal and violet shades. She no longer wore her holster.
He realized with a start that if he’d been in his human form, he would have asked for her number. As it was, he’d no more date a fae woman than he’d put his boots on the wrong feet. He didn’t have anything against her kind, some of his good friends were fae Border Patrol officers. But he was one solid dominance fight away from taking over the Meldorin Pack and wresting it from the worst alpha wolf ever born. He wanted a female wolf for his alpha-mate. A fae was not even on the farthest reaches of his radar.
Still, he kept looking at her. “You’re a good shot and you saved my life. I don’t know if I could have handled all three wolves once they shifted.”
“You were wounded as well. Honestly, I didn’t think you’d make it to the refuge.”
He chuckled. “I couldn’t figure out why, if I had the victim’s abdominal wound held tight against my stomach, I kept feeling all this blood flowing down my chest and under my arm. One of the wolves had a blade.”
“I figured.”
He narrowed his gaze. “You aren’t with the Border Patrol or the Tribunal Law Enforcement service, are you? Because I’m sure I’ve met everyone.”
“No, I’m not.”
He narrowed his gaze. “Then, why were you even out there, with a weapon? When I heard the shot, I thought it was one of my pack-mates or a fellow officer.”
She looked away, her softly-arched brows high on her forehead. “As to that, it seems your wife, I mean her spirit, showed up at my studio, in the middle of a futurist session, and told me to get my ass out to the Graveyard.”
His wife? Renee? He didn’t understand. “My wife?” His voice had dropped almost to a whisper. How many times had he begged for her to pay him a ghostly visit? Six years ago, when she died, he’d spent a small fortune with deadtalkers trying to bring her back, to have one last conversation with her, to apologize for not being able to save her.
Yet, here she was somehow involved in saving a fae female from a Graveyard mauling.
“Well, she said she was your wife. I had no reason not to believe her. She had an attitude, real no-nonsense. I liked her.”
“Sounds like Renee.”
“Sorry for your loss.”
