Page 9 of The Doctor's Wolf: Part Two
“Hmm.Good point.But then again, he’s a grown-up and a vampire.No more school for him.”
Mil sniffled.“I knew that.”
“I know you did.I was just being silly.”
“Okay.”Mil sounded scared, and Adler knew he was out of his depth.He dealt with crime and murder, not with little wolf girls who were clinging to their teddy bear because they were scared.
“Mil, I’ll put you down, okay?We’re going to the kitchen.Do you know how to use a toaster?”
Mil made an undignified sound as Adler put her back on her feet.“Of course.”
“Alright then.You’re going to make some toast for me and you.Not for Gordon.He doesn’t eat that kind of thing.”
Mil nodded and let herself be led into the kitchen where Adler left her with the bread and the toaster for long enough to grab his phone.He watched the girl from the door when he texted Willa.This kind of thing was something for the alpha to deal with, not for Adler.
Gordon came running back, poking his head in the door.
“I called an ambulance from the Forum Hospital.They’ll be here in a few minutes to get her treated for a stroke.You good in here?”
Adler looked up from his screen where Willa was typing.“Yeah.Mil’s making breakfast for the two of us.Do you—”
“I’m good.I don’t think they’ll need me to ride with them, but I have my phone, just in case.”
Adler gave his mate a thumbs-up, but Gordon was already back outside and opening the building’s front door it sounded like.
“What’s wrong with Granny?”
Adler turned to the girl who stood at his counter, a slice of bread in her trembling hand, her cheeks tear streaked.
Adler went to her.“She’s going to the hospital.”
“For how long?Can I go with her?”
“I don’t know yet, and not right now.Maybe Gordon will go with her.”
Adler looked at his phone.Willa had texted.She was on her way, and Adler relaxed.His alpha would handle all of this.
Chapter 6
WillamadeittoAdler’s apartment building in record time, arriving just as the ambulance people had carried Emma out the front door.Mil was nibbling on a slice of toast, buttered and with strawberry jam.Without a doubt, she could follow the sounds from her grandma’s apartment and the hallway outside just as well as Adler could.They shared the werewolf hearing after all, not as acute maybe as that of a vampire, but still decent enough for the echoey stairwell outside.
The alpha walked into Adler’s place through his still open front door, exuding calm.When Adler would have wanted to present his mate to Willa ordinarily, he now stepped aside, cast his gaze to the kitchen floor, and let Willa take over.Hoped that she would, in fact.
“This sucks,” Willa said.“But we’re going to help you through it, Milea.”
The little wolf swallowed the tiny bite of toast she’d eaten, and her eyes filled with tears when she met the alpha’s gaze.
“What if Grandma—”
Willa pulled one of Adler’s kitchen chairs up to Mil until the two of them were sitting closely, as if they were sharing secrets.
“Let’s think about the now and not the if, okay?Look, you got your grandma help, and now she’s being taken to the hospital.That’s good.You did very good.I’m proud of you.”
Willa put her hand on Mil’s head, an alpha affirming a pack member.She looked at Adler.
Without missing a beat, he said, “You did great, kiddo.”
Willa seemed satisfied.Gordon joined them then, uncomfortable if the vampire’s subdued demeanor was any indication.He searched for Adler’s touch, or that’s how Adler saw it when his mate reached for him, the gesture almost shy.
