Chapter Nine

Two Weeks later

Hadley

The din of a Thursday afternoon in the hospital during influenza season was something best left behind. “Leaving early, Hadley?” one of the assistants said to her.

Hadley barely acknowledged their words. She’d taken every double shift since coming back to Winston. Leaving at the end of her tenth twelve-hour shift in a row wasn’t even worth the time to comment.

All Hadley wanted was her bed and eight hours of peaceful forgetfulness. She hated the life she was carving out for herself and didn’t know how to fix it. How to stop the endless train of work, sleep, and trying to forget.

Forget the way his midnight dark eyes would crinkle around the corners when he smiled. Forget about the way his arms felt as he held her. Stroked her spine. Her hair. Her soul.

Forget about the way his tongue had felt, prying apart her pussy, delving in. Sweetly sucking her need and desire into his mouth.

Hadley felt the response. The softening. The ache for him. How could a vacation fling turn into so much more?

There was no anger left inside of her. Hunter had been quite clear that his bear was broken. She didn’t know what she had expected when she’d driven off Maxwell Mountain two weeks ago. A phone call? A visit? What she hadn’t expected was the extended silence.

Her phone chirped. Lacey. With a sigh, Hadley put the phone back in her purse. Her heart was heavy, and her emotions were full.

Hadley stopped off at the nurse’s station to get her purse.

“Hey, Hadley. You looking for a new job, sugar?” Dara, one of the other nurses asked.

Hadley shrugged as she got her things out of her locker. “Haven’t decided, Dara. One of my friends married a shifter, and I was looking into maybe working at the Shifter Veterans Hospital. Read a report they’ve been understaffed for a while.”

Dara sniffed. “Doesn’t surprise me. Who’d want to work on those filthy animals anyway?”

Hadley stared at her co-worker in shock. She’d known there was resentment towards the shifters but hadn’t expected it from a medical professional.

“It’s not natural,” Dara said. She recorded something down on a patient’s chart, her hands growing jerky with her agitation. “DNA is better off left alone if you ask me.”

“Yeah, I don’t know why they didn’t ask you,” Hadley commented dryly. Every cell in her body wanted to shout and rant at the woman only yesterday she’d considered a friend. How had she missed Dara’s blatant bigotry? But fatigue drained her of anger and all Hadley could do was stare in numb disbelief at Dara.

A patient beeped for help, and, Dara, still avoiding Hadley’s gaze, ran to answer it.

“Coward,” Hadley muttered, but to herself or Dara she wasn’t sure.

Warm Carolina sunshine kissed Hadley’s face as she left the air-conditioned confines of the hospital. Warm April air cleansed her.

Hadley had done all she could. Had loved a man too broken to stay human. Had given all she had to the doctors and patients she worked for. She was drained. Empty. Desperately seeking a glass of chilled Riesling and a long sleep.

Legs aching, feet crying from the long shift, Hadley began the trek out to the employee parking lot. Hiding behind exhaustion wasn’t working. Not for her temper, her peace of mind, or her ability to function.

Hadley closed her eyes, swaying slightly on her feet. It was two weeks of no contact. If that wasn’t a sign, she didn’t know what was.

When she’d been a girl, her mother had a saying. When life gets you down, pull up your socks and try another day.

I’m pulling, Mama, Hadley thought.

Hadley’s steps slowed as she neared her car. There, leaning against the trunk like he’d been there all day, was Hunter.

He looked up, black eyes nearly feral with need, and zeroed his gaze on her.

“Hey,” she said lamely. Just what did one say to a lover who left you? She’d have to ask her mother if there was an etiquette guide to that.

“Hey,” he responded He cleared his throat nervously. “I um. Was wondering if we could talk?”

“What’s left to say, Hunter? You took off before I woke up.”

He nodded. “I came back. You’d already left without saying goodbye.”

“It’s difficult to have a conversation with a man who refuses to stay in human form,” Hadley said with more than a little tartness in her tone.

Hunter nodded. “I deserve that. But I’m here now. And human.”

“For how long?” Hadley asked. She felt his pain but wasn’t sure how to fix it.

“I realized something that week.” Hunter’s eyes were stark. Unguarded. “I have too much red in my ledger. Too much blood on my hands.” Hunter held his hands out for her to take. “But saving those kids? That was what I needed to do. That helped bring me back from the brink.”

Some soldiers die all at once. Others by inches.

Hadley slipped her hands into his and held their warm palms close to her. “I’m tired, Hunter. I don’t want to have this conversation in the parking lot at work.”

To emphasize her point, a car went past them a little too quickly. “We can talk at my place,” she finally said.

Hunter

The ride to Hadley’s apartment was quieter than Hunter would have liked. He was a shifter. He preferred action. Movement. Talking wasn’t in his wheelhouse.

“This is cute,” he offered as she parked in front of a condo with neat rows of flowers and a perfectly manicured lawn.

“Thank you,” Hadley said, but the words were by rote. His girl was tired. No, not just tired. Bone-deep fatigued. He’d seen it in the field.

Hadley poured them both a glass of wine. Hunter accepted his with a smile but didn’t drink it. It was only eight in the morning.

After a fortifying sip, Hadley looked up at him. “So, what’s this great revelation of yours?”

Hunter took her hand and led her to the couch. “Come here,” he urged, bringing her close. Tucking her into the V of his arm. “I realized my life was off its axis. I need to save lives, not just take them.”

Hunter brushed his nose against the silken strands of Hadley’s hair. He’d missed the way her body matched his. Two puzzle pieces that were built to fit each other.

“But for each child I save, I can maybe add some black in there, too. You know? I can’t bring back people who have died, either directly or indirectly by a war I’ve been involved in. But I can make it right in my soul.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?”

“I still have time owed to the government. But I’m no good to them like this. I don’t even think I can use my skills right now.” Hunter slid one hand out of Hadley’s and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “The government agreed to let me switch off. I’m still technically in the service, but I’ll be working for the National Forest Service. Fighting fires and being a smoke jumper.”

“The haze of battle will follow you forever,” Hadley said. “I can’t have a mate who hides from me.”

Hunter’s head bent. He nodded. “I can’t promise never to go bear,” he said. “I scared myself when I shifted in bed with you.” Tears clogged his throat, making each word hard to understand. “If I had hurt you, I was prepared to end my own worthless life, too.” He looked up, and Hadley felt a pulse in her heart. “I don’t want to live in a world without you, Hadley Mills.”

His chin tightened, and a single tear slipped down his lean honey-colored cheek. “I have appointments set up with the therapist at the Shifter Veterans Hospital. I’m not going back to another hotspot the government gets involved in.” A rueful grin kicked up one corner of his lips. “Just the hot spots in and around western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.”

He wiped at his cheeks until the tears were gone. “I can’t promise anything except to love you with all my heart. Be there. Talk to you. I might slip up. I might want to hide for a while. But I vow, I am doing all I can to heal Bal. To heal me.

“Will you be a part of that life with me, Hadley?”

Snuffling through her tears, Hadley nodded. “Yes,” she said.

Hunter produced a blue velveteen box from his back pocket. “Hadley Mills, will you do me the honor of—”

“Yes, omigod, yes, a million, zillion times yes,” Hadley shouted as she barreled into his arms. Hunter caught her. Of course, he did, she thought as she peppered his face with kisses. He would always be there to catch her.