Damian was roused from his sleep by his mate’s cool snout nudging at his cheek. His stark blue eyes opened and immediately connected with hers. She growled.

“Good morning to you, too, my love.” He smiled. Damian glanced over at the IV bag and saw it had been completely drained. “Are you hungry?”

There was no reply. Her eyes slowly closed, then opened.

“Trinity says you have to eat some protein. I’ll go get you something small. A rabbit. We can share it. Does that sound good?” he asked.

Her eyes shifted down to his beautifully sculpted, tattooed arm. It was as if she was assessing her mate in his human form. She scanned back up to his beautiful face and stared.

“I need to stop by the hospital this morning, too. I need to see Jordan, my Beta, before he leaves with his parents. I’ll go get us something to eat first.” He reached out and stroked her fur from her head to her neck. “Trinity will be here, so you won’t be alone. And I won’t be gone for very long. I promise.”

Damian rose from the bed, kissed her on the side of her face, and then turned to leave. He nearly ran Trinity over as he rushed through the doorway.

“Where’s the fire?” Trinity asked.

“I’m going to hunt for a rabbit. We’re going to share it before I go see Jordan.”

“That’s great news. Then I’ll examine her now while you’re gone.”

Damian returned with the rabbit and quickly cut a few bites off and set them on a plate, then made his way in to feed his mate. While she was chewing, Trinity came in and provided her quick health update. Everything was the same for the most part. Once his mate’s Wolf finished eating, Damian let her know he would be back shortly, as he was going to see Jordan.

“You’re not going to believe this,” Maverick said when he saw Damian walking down the hall toward him.

“Well, if it isn’t my long-lost friend. Where’d you go yesterday?”

“I decided I had to do something for Jordan. Something to cheer him up. I knew it was a long shot, but she came.”

“Who? What are you talking about?”

“Mindy. She’s here. She’s in with Jordan now. I went to The Canteen last night in hopes that she’d be working, and she was. She asked about you guys and I told her Jordan stopped drinking after that night, and what a really good guy he was. Then I told her Jordan had been shot and was in the hospital. I may have lied a little and told her he might not live.”

Damian shook his head. “That’s pretty fucked up that you lied to her.”

“Yeah, well, I knew since he’d called her name so much when he was out of it, I needed her to come see him. She may not have come if I hadn’t told her that.”

“Maybe not, but to lie to her? That’s not cool. It could backfire. Then what?”

“I wasn’t worrying about that. And if it happens, I guess I’ll have to deal with it then. She seemed like she was pretty concerned when I was talking to her. And she came. She’s been in with him for about thirty minutes. By the way, how’s your mate doing? Is she getting any better?”

“She ate a few bites of rabbit this morning before I left. Trinity said she needs more protein to get strong enough to shift.”

Maverick waggled his eyebrows and laughed.

“You sick bastard,” Damian said, then laughed and punched Maverick in the arm. “The IV doesn’t provide the proper nutrients. She needs to eat more raw meat.”

Maverick doubled over, laughing.

“I’m glad you find this all amusing. Get your mind out of the gutter, asswad. Anyway, today was a huge step in the right direction. I’ll be hunting for her and making sure she eats enough to get her strength back.”

“That’s good. I hope she gets back up and on her feet soon. Oh, and I talked to Chuck. I guess you volunteered me to be his apprentice.”

“Actually, my dad suggested it. But it’s a good idea. We’ll need someone who can do specialized work so we don’t have to depend on outside help for everything.”

“That makes sense. It looks like I’ll be starting tomorrow.”

Damian paced outside the closed door, shielding Jordan and Mindy from view.

“I should knock on the door,” Damian said, then laughed.

Before Maverick or Damian could say another word, the door opened and Mindy emerged. She glanced at Damian, then shifted her scowl and gaze toward Maverick.

“You lied to me,” she hissed, then rolled her eyes and quickly walked down the hall and out the door.

Maverick inhaled deeply, then raised his eyes to meet Damian’s.

“I told you,” was all Damian said to his Beta. The look on Maverick’s flushed face and grimace was more than enough of a reply, letting Damian know how embarrassed he was.

“At least I got her here,” Maverick said.

“That you did. Let’s go see how things went. I don’t know about you, but I’m dying to know if Jordan made an ass out of himself. Maybe he asked for her number, again.” The two of them laughed as they entered the room.

Jordan’s brows furrowed. “What’s so funny? You guys better not be laughing at me.”

“And what if we are? What are you going to do about it, lying flat on your back?” Maverick asked, then chuckled.

Jordan looked at Damian, then at Maverick, then back at Damian before he crossed his arms. “You’re such a child, Mav,” Jordan said.

“Anyway, how did it go?” Damian asked.

“How did what go?” Jordan questioned.

Maverick sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, who knows? Maybe with Mindy? You know. She did just leave,” he said sarcastically.

“Oh yeah.” Jordan laughed. He lifted his head. “Well, when I explained I wasn’t dying like someone told her, we had a pretty nice conversation. Well, nice until we got to the shifter part. Since she’s a human that was a bit tough for her to comprehend.”

“I’ll bet. How was the conversation after you told her that?” Damian asked.

“Well, it was, um, weird. Not like weird like a bunch of small talk, but weird like she kept staring at me. I don’t know if she thought I was going to shift and show her, or what.”

“Well, that’s good to know you guys at least had a decent conversation. I’m sorry I lied, but I had to get her here to see you, and it just came out. I know she’s pissed at me right now,” Maverick said.

“I think she’s going through information overload. You told her Jordan was dying, then she gets here and finds out he’s a wolf shifter. How much can one human take?” Damian said.

“I agree with that. And the fact that I told her she was my soul-mate and that I loved her probably didn’t help,” Jordan said.

Damian smiled, and shook his head. “That poor woman. What did she say when you told her that?”

He looked up at Jordan, biting his lip in an effort to not start laughing. Poor Mindy. She had one hell of a visit, he thought.

Maverick stared at Jordan, waiting for the answer to Damian’s question.

Jordan ran his hands through his hair before he lowered his head onto the pillow. His gaze shifted from his friends to the wall. He took a deep breath and sighed loudly. “All she said was ‘thank you’.”