"You can call me Wade, if you want."

It was the first thing Dr. Collins said when she left the room.

"Wade, I'm sorry we met on shaky grounds the other day," Deacon said.

"If I hadn't given you a hard time, what kind of father would I be?" Dr. Collins smiled.

"Now that you understand that I'm not trying to hide who I am and what I am, I need you to know that I'm not trying to come between you and your daughter. I want what's best for her," Deacon said.

"So do I." Dr. Collins frowned. "But sometimes I'm not always right about what's best for her."

"What do you mean?"

Dr. Collins shook his head. "Never mind that. You'll never hear me saying that boy's name again. When I caught wind of why he'd spent the night in a jail cell, I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it was my daughter who he had assaulted. Thank you for doing what you did."

"It's what I do. I protect what I cherish," Deacon said.

Dr. Collins reached for the box and opened it. "I had to go through hoops to get my hands on this outside of the hospital. I know shifters don't normally like to be admitted. Especially the males for some reason. I was able to reach a very prominent and well known shifter doctor here in town."

"Dr. Jacob Hayes?"

"Yes. Dr. Hayes."

"He says you'll need two shots administered about thirty minutes apart. You'll be able to shift again by this evening."

"Sounds about right," Deacon said. "I've broken limbs before that required the same painkiller before I could properly shift without pain. There was even a time when I knew I couldn't afford the medication and had to shift without."

"You don't have to suffer." Dr. Collins switched sides, coming over to stand on the left side of the bed. He prepped the needle as he talked. "Tell me about that mark on your left forearm there. Not the tattoos…the one that looks like a scar."

Deacon was shocked that he'd asked about something so specific as a birthmark on his arm. "Um…it's a birthmark."

Dr. Collins chuckled. "I know that, Remy. I've seen many, many birthmarks."

"Every shifter has one. It's actually a mate mark, but when asked we usually tell humans that it's just a birthmark. Less explaining to do."

"Mate mark?" He held the needle against Deacon's skin less than a centimeter from the bullet wound.

Deacon grimaced as he drove the needle deep, administering the pain killer. "Yes. Mate mark."

"But you don't all have the same mark, no?" He slipped the empty needle into a plastic bag and put it back in the box.

The medicine was already working it's magic and Deacon settled back on the bed.

"No, every mark is different. The reason it's called mate mark is because the mates carry matching marks."

"Oh…" Dr. Collins looked down at his hands and wrung them together.

The doctor was nervous about something. Deacon could smell it on him.

"Why the hummingbird?" Dr. Collins asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't know why my mate mark is represented by a hummingbird. I suppose that's what the fates decided for me when I was born. It just is."

"Monica doesn't know this, but she once had a birthmark just like that."

Deacon stiffened on the bed, all of his attention on Dr. Collins. "Once?"

"When she was born, she had a birthmark right behind her left ear. It was so tiny. My wife saw it first when she was breastfeeding Monica in the hospital. We looked at it and both agreed that it looked like a bird with a long narrow beak, specifically the hummingbird. The mark was red, a little raised, so we asked the midwife about it. She agreed that it wasn't a skin infection or rash or anything. Just a birthmark. When Monica turned three days old, the birthmark disappeared. We never saw it again. Ever. I took a picture of the mark on your arm and sent it to my wife's Skype messenger. I'm so sorry…I just had to know. She couldn't believe her eyes. She said the mark on your arm is an exact replica of the one she saw behind Monica's ear, only hers is over ten times smaller than yours. Smaller than a penny. Right behind her ear. Hiding in plain sight."

Deacon's mouth had fallen open in shock.

Dr. Collins continued. "She's a grown woman now and it would look foolish for me to go check behind her ears for a little birthmark that we never told her about. My wife nor I are shifters. We don't have it in our bloodline. We're certain. Can you tell me what that might mean?"

"No, you're not shifters. It doesn't mean she will become a shifter. I means that your daughter is my true mate, Dr. Collins."

"That's why you've been together," Dr. Collins said. "That's why she looks at you like that."

Deacon nodded.

"I don't know what to say. That sounds…surreal."

"Do you know the term love at first sight?" Deacon asked.

"Yes, it's why I married Monica's mother."

"It's the same. I'll love your daughter fiercely. Now that I've found her, nothing will keep us apart."