Reid

The trip to the hospital was exhilarating. The Nor’easter made for a challenging ride, but I had preternatural reflexes and plenty of skill and practice in handling the machine.

Once I was convinced Alyx had a good hold, I opened up the throttle. With her arms wrapped tightly around me and the thrill of the high-speed run, it was easy to leave everything behind and enjoy the moment. For that all too brief period of time, it was just the two of us, zipping over the snow under the emerging stars as the storm moved away.

When we arrived at the hospital, Alyx insisted that I come in with her. I wasn’t too crazy about the idea. I tried to explain that I wasn’t good with kids, but when she looked at me with those big amber eyes and said please, I found myself trailing along behind her like an obedient pup anyway.

The boy was maybe nine or ten, it was hard to tell. Between the cancer and the chemo, his little body was ravaged. But when he saw Alyx, his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

In that one second, I understood what she had been trying to tell me, and I knew that all the effort to get here had been worth it.

“Is he your boyfriend, Alyx?” Dylan asked, his sunken eyes sparkling with mischief.

She blushed profusely, something I admit I found adorable.

“Reid is my friend, Dylan. He brought me here on a snowmobile. A really fast, powerful one.”

“Awesome! They told me you weren’t coming because the roads were closed, but I knew you would.”

I stayed for a little while, but didn’t want to intrude on their time together. I told Alyx I would be back for her at the end of her shift and prepared to leave. Alyx asked if I would hang around for just a few more minutes to keep Dylan company while she went to grab a few things. How could I possibly refuse?

The moment she walked out of the room, Dylan gestured for me to come closer.

“Alyx is special,” Dylan confided seriously.

I nodded in agreement. “Yes, she is.”

“She doesn’t see the cancer,” Dylan said quietly. “She sees me.”

I stilled as the realization hit me. How odd that I felt exactly the same way. When Alyx turned those beautiful eyes my way, she didn’t see death. She didn’t see a freak. She saw me.

“You know, she thinks you’re pretty special, too,” I told him.

“Yeah?” Dylan’s eyes lit up again. I knew that look. I figured it was the same one I had when I thought about Alyx. “She really likes you,” Dylan confided, making me wonder if Alyx ever mentioned me.

“You think?”

“Oh yeah,” Dylan whispered. “She looks at you like I look at an ice cream sundae.”

I chuckled, but something wriggled inside my gut.

Yeah, I had seen the interest she tried to hide. Heard the way her pulse sped up around me. Scented the sweet musk of her arousal. Just thinking about having her naked and pliant in my bed lit a fire in my blood. The fact that she was fighting it every bit as hard as I was only stoked the flames.

“Reid?”

My thoughts jolted back to the boy, whose expression had turned serious. “Yeah?”

“You’ll be good to Alyx, right? She needs someone big and strong like you. She works too hard.”

I swallowed hard. The kid had no idea what he was asking, but I did. I couldn’t make that kind of promise, not long-term. I had a couple of weeks left on my leave before I would have to find the strength to walk away.

“Yeah, Dylan, I’ll be good to Alyx.”

“Good, because I’m not going to be here forever, you know.”

* * *

Alyx

“What are you two whispering about?” I asked when I re-entered the room, feeling as if I had just interrupted something important. I gently pushed the extra pillow behind Dylan’s head and shoulders to ease his labored breathing, looking from one to the other.

Dylan looked content, but there was something else in Reid’s gaze. Something raw and powerful that made my stomach tighten and my core clench.

“Ice cream,” Dylan replied, sharing a conspiratorial glance with Reid. “Think you can get some?”

“For you, anything,” I promised.

“Well, you two certainly seemed to have bonded quickly,” I told Reid as I walked with him toward the exit. It was on the way to the hospital cafeteria and had the added benefit of giving me a few extra minutes with Reid.

I was at a loss to explain it, but I just felt better when he was around. Less alone. I couldn’t even summon any residual ire at his earlier bossy behavior. He had gotten me here, just like he had said he would, and riding with him hadn’t exactly been horrible. It had been pretty fun, actually. I had enjoyed the thrill of the high-speed, hair-raising trip through woods. I’d always had a thing for speed, and it appeared that Reid did, too.

“Yeah,” he agreed distractedly. “He seems like a great kid.”

“He is,” I agreed. “Thank you, Reid, for getting me here.”

“No problem. Call me when you’re ready to come home.”

My knees suddenly weakened. Home sounded so good when he said it, conjuring crazy visions in my head. I dared not even think about what it would be like to come home to him every night because unlike most fantasies, I could see that one too clearly.

“The roads should be clear by then, and you’ve done more than enough, Reid. Your leg’s got to be hurting. I’ll catch a ride with someone.”

“I’m not asking, Alyx.” His words were firm, but the tenderness in his eyes nearly did me in. I had to admit, I preferred his company to any other.

With my current situation, anything serious was an impossibility. Besides, I was pretty sure Reid wasn’t exactly the type of guy who did relationships. He had a serious don’t-fuck-with-me alpha vibe going on, and those injuries he had weren’t the type of thing a guy got by sitting behind a desk.

The reality check was kind of disappointing, but it made me realize that I had been living my life on hold, and that was no way to live.

The thing with Roger had to end. I was tired of running. I had to accept the fact that he wasn’t going to give up, not ever. He was simply biding his time. There was no doubt he would catch up to me again. I only prayed it wouldn’t be while I was still in Nowaskannock. I didn’t want Gram or Reid involved. It was my problem, and I would take care of it. Then, and only then, would I allow myself to think about what might be.

For now, I had to think about today. About doing what I could. About getting Dylan and the other kids in my unit to a point where their bodies could take over the healing process. About spending time with my grandmother before I had to move on. About taking advantage of any opportunities that might present themselves with the man who made me feel safe and warm and incited a riot of fantasies.

“You’re very bossy, you know that?”

He grunted. “Yeah, so you keep telling me. Got a problem with that?”

I smiled. Surprisingly, I didn’t.

“Not this time, no. But don’t push your luck.”

* * *

Reid

Goddamn, the woman lit a fire in my blood. Few people had the courage to challenge me like she did. If binding myself to another was an option, she would already be wearing my mark.

The ride back to the house was noticeably colder without Alyx’s warmth at my back, and strangely devoid of the thrilling excitement it had held earlier. I wondered if other things were going to be like that, too—uninspiring without Alyx at my six.

It was a sobering thought.

From the moment I had left the pack lands at seventeen, I never looked back. There had been nothing that mattered so much to me that I couldn’t afford to lose it, including my own life. That was the key factor to my success, if you could call my effectiveness in killing a success. Caring about anyone or anything was a weakness I hadn’t permitted.

Until now.

Now I had no choice. Fate had placed Alyx in my path, like it or not.

I shut those thoughts down because, as far as I was concerned, they were irrelevant. I couldn’t be the kind of mate she needed, and I wasn’t about to start something I couldn’t finish. The most I could do was keep my word to Dylan and be there for her while I could, while discreetly putting an end to whatever or whoever she was hiding from.

I would leave, but I would leave her safe.

Grace’s lights were still on, so I stopped by to check on her and give her an update on Alyx. Promising to deliver her granddaughter safely in the morning, I begged off a cup of coffee and went back to my own place, now much darker and much colder without Alyx in it.

By the time her shift was over, the roads had been opened, but they were still in bad shape. I didn’t care. I made it to the hospital in record time.

Alyx seemed surprised to see me, but pleased, too. As always seemed to happen when we were near each other, the air between us charged and drew us closer together.

She walked over to me, stopping only a few inches away. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do since my interactions with women up to that point had been fairly limited and hadn’t extended to this level. I would follow her lead, I decided.

She took one more step forward and pressed her body against mine, wrapping her arms around my waist.

Everything just clicked into place. With one arm wrapped around her back, the other cupping the back of her head, I held her to my chest and pressed a kiss to her hair.

I could feel how drained she was. My wolf demanded I take her home, feed her, and care for her. For once, the man didn’t argue.

“Come on,” I said softly, “Let’s go home.”

I led her out to my Jeep. She leaned against me as I opened the door for her, then offered no resistance when I scooped her into my arms and placed her in the passenger seat. I took satisfaction in thinking she probably wouldn’t allow such privileges from anyone else.

Was this what it was like for her after every shift? I shuddered to think of her driving back to Grace’s on that little crotch rocket while in this kind of shape. One thing was for damn sure, she wouldn’t be doing that anymore while I was around.

The pieces were starting to fall into place. When Grace had said Alyx was special, she wasn’t just talking about her big heart. I remembered how tired she had been after she had taken care of my leg, and seeing her now, after spending the night with a bunch of sick kids, I was pretty sure I knew what it was that made her so damn special.

Well, one of the reasons, anyway.

I pulled into Grace’s driveway, then drove down to Alyx’s apartment in the back. I figured she would want to be alone, but she made no move to get out.

When I reached for my door handle, she wrapped her much smaller hand around mine and looked at me with those big eyes. “I don’t want to be alone,” she murmured.

I wasn’t stupid enough to question her sudden compliance. My wolf howled in agreement, wanting to care for her.

I threw the vehicle in reverse, turning around to pull into my garage instead. I tried to pull my hand away so I could get out and go around to her side, but she held on firmly, climbing over the gear shift so I wouldn’t have to let go.

That was how I carried her into my house—her face tucked into my neck, her arms wrapped around me. I quickened my pace, anxious to get her upstairs and in my bed where I could wrap my body around hers and ensure she got the rest she needed.

I took the steps two at a time, holding her easily with one arm to pull down the covers when we got to my bedroom. Alyx loosened her hold enough so I could remove her shoes and kick off my own before crawling in beside her.

We said nothing. I simply held her, petting her with gentle caresses across her back, her arms, her thighs, her shoulders as she clung to me. I allowed my wolf to rise to the surface; he needed to care for her, too. To nuzzle and soothe and protect.

Because for a brief time, she was mine.