“Is this why you get twitchy?” I asked as a shiver ran through my body. My heartbeat was still fast as I battled with myself over what I wanted and what I needed.
“Yeah I guess,” Alex laughed and pulled me closer to him. I nuzzled against his neck and caught an amazing scent. It smelled like sweat and soap and the forest. It took me a moment of sniffing to realize that it was his smell and that he was still laughing at me. I peeked up at him and glared. He just laughed harder and pulled the blanket up around us both.
“Get some sleep, little wolf,” he whispered and pressed a kiss to the tip of my nose. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I snuggled into his embrace and felt sleep start taking over. “Thank you, Alex.” I drifted off without hearing his answer.
******
For the first time in over a week I stretched my body as I woke up without being stopped by pain. I cracked open my eyes to find myself alone in the room. The cast on my arm was itching and uncomfortable. I wiggled my fingers, testing for pain and was happy that there was none. I sucked in a deep breath, noticed the smell of bacon and eggs, and smiled when my ribs didn’t hurt.
I still moved cautiously from my bed in case a wrong move sent me to the floor. Once I was standing straight, I looked down at my hip and was pleased to see my skin back to its normal color. I wanted to undo the binding around my ribs, but I knew it would be better to wait for Eli. I pulled on my flannel pants and t-shirt from the previous night and decided to go search for the breakfast I smelled.
I found Mackenzie washing dishes from breakfast. She looked up at me and gave me a knowing smile before pointing to a plate on the counter. It was piled with fluffy scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon. My mouth practically watered as I grabbed the plate and a fork and went to sit at the kitchen table. Mackenzie waited until I was half finished shoveling food into my mouth and my pace was slowed down before she spoke.
“I thought you might be extra hungry this morning,” Mackenzie came and sat down across from me. “Wait until you’re pregnant, you’ll eat more than three of the males combined.” I stopped eating at the idea of having a baby so soon.
“I don’t think I’ll be worrying about that anytime soon,” I spoke a bit uncertainly. Having children was not a conversation Alex and I had had.
“No, I expect you will want to get used to being a wolf first,” Mackenzie said patting my hand in a very motherly fashion. She stood and went back to the dishes. Eli and Alex came into the kitchen discussing the healing process of werewolves. They stopped talking when they saw me.
“Ah ha, the patient,” Eli’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I hear you’ve been changed. I guess that means we better check those bones.” He turned without waiting for my response and I glanced at Alex in question. He shrugged his shoulders at me and snatched my last piece of bacon off my plate. I swatted his hand as he pulled it away, but before I could get my bacon back, he shoved it in his mouth.
“Jerk,” I grumbled. I took my plate to Mackenzie and then headed off to see what Dr. Eli would have to say. He was already in my room setting up his portable x-ray machine. He didn’t acknowledge me when I came in and I worried that maybe I’d offended him in some way.
“Is something wrong Eli?” I questioned as I sat on the chair waiting for his instructions. He looked up at me for a moment, his eyes sad.
“I was just surprised by your change,” Eli replied carefully, as if he were testing the waters. “Alex has never changed a human before, and I’m surprised that he would do it to someone he loves.” I stared at him for a moment, trying to be sure I understood him correctly.
“I asked him to Eli,” I said. Eli’s head snapped up at my admission. His brow wrinkled in confusion. “I have been thinking about it for a while. I weighed my pros and cons and told Alex I wanted to be a wolf. It wasn’t against my will if that’s what you’re thinking.” He seemed to contemplate my answer for several moments. Finally, he gave me a brief smile acceptance.
“Well let’s see how those werewolf genes have helped your recovery,” Eli said. He had me place my casted arm on the table he had set up so he could x-ray it. Then he inspected my unmarred left hip, pressing in several places and asking about my pain and mobility. He had me lift my shirt so he could unbind my ribs. The skin under the bandages was equally as normal as my hip, but he still had me lie on the bed to take x-rays of my ribs. When he was finally finished, he looked at the pictures on his computer for several moments before turning to me with a grin.
“It is always remarkable to me how werewolves can heal,” he told me as he motioned to the laptop. “You’re completely healed. I would love to be able to harness that healing power and use it for every person. If I could find what causes it perhaps I could. Either way, you are perfect. I’ll just remove the cast, and I suspect you have a bit of running you’d like to do.”
The friendly twinkle was back in the doctor’s eyes as he spoke. I was pretty sure if anyone could find a way to heal to heal humans as quickly as werewolves it would
