Warren

Charlie orders two wolves to flank her, keeping her safe but also making sure she follows my order.

'Alpha?' Charlie asks in the mind link.

'She's my mate.'

'Oh shit.'

'Yeah.'

'Does she know? She doesn't act like she recognizes you as her mate.'

'I'm not sure. She's a lone wolf, but she's going to school for human and veterinary medicine.'

He turns and looks at her. 'Wow. A smart one.'

'Apparently.'

'What did she say about your leg?'

'That I need surgery.'

'Well, no offense, but I could have told you that.'

'Let's see what she says when we get to the pack. And find her a shirt. I don't like her walking around our warriors with no clothes on.'

He takes off, rushing toward our pack lands. When he returns, his wolf carries a shirt to her in his mouth. I watch while she looks up at me.

"We're about to enter my pack. You're an unmarked, unknown young female. I thought you might like a shirt to put on to cover yourself," I say. If she says no, I'll insist, but I'm hoping she'll choose to put it on without me having to demand it. Thankfully, she does, looking almost relieved. Good. She's not the kind of woman who flaunts her beautiful body for all to see.

When we arrive, I'm taken straight to the pack hospital, asking Charlie about other injuries and what happened to Brady's pack. He gives me the list of injuries as we walk in, shifting and continuing to talk to me out loud as Dr. Stevens rushes up.

"Alpha, let's get you into a room so we can look at your leg. You'll need x-rays," he says.

"Yes, I will," I say. "The girl comes, too."

"The girl has a name," she mumbles. I stop and turn to look at her, her eyes going wide. She obviously hasn't been around a lot of Alphas, or it's been a long time. She keeps mumbling to herself as if I can't hear her. It's kind of cute.

"If you give me your name, I'll be happy to use it," I say to her.

"Yara."

"Yara. I'm Alpha Warren. Come with me," I say, turning back and letting the warriors help me into the x-ray room.

"Who are you? Get out!" Dr. Stevens barks at her as we walk into the room.

"She's with me," I say, ignoring his blustery attitude that a young woman is in the room with us.

She looks at him, and I'm pleased when she instinctively moves closer to me.

I get settled onto the table, and Dr. Stevens sets up the X-ray machine. While he does, I watch Yara. She has a very expressive face. Now that I can see her in the light, I can tell that she's a pretty little thing. I'm sure I'd think so even if she weren't my mate, but based on the glances my warriors keep giving her, she's a natural beauty. Yep, it's a good thing she's got that shirt on, or I'd have to rip their eyes from their sockets.

Because I'm watching her, I see her frown, her head tilting to the side as she watches Dr. Stevens. I crook my finger at her as Dr. Stevens leaves the room, beckoning her forward.

"What was that look?" I ask, realizing that my mate's eyes are a grey-green color, almost sage. My eyes are green, too, but not as dark as hers.

"What look?"

I just raise an eyebrow at her. Perhaps the pain in my leg is making me less amenable to small talk. I'm trying to ignore it, but it's not easy, and Arric can't heal me until the bones are set properly. So, I'm not as patient as I might normally be in this situation.

She turns and looks behind her to see if the doctor is there, then she leans in, her scent filling my nose.

"Why isn't he taking side views? He only took a view from the top," she whispers as Dr. Stevens walks back in. He glares at her but puts the X-ray up on the lightbox.

"Well, Alpha, your leg isn't salvageable. I'm afraid we're going to have to remove it," he says dispassionately as if he didn't just tell me that my entire world was about to collapse around me. I feel my stomach clench, and my heart skips a beat. At the same time, I hear Yara suck in air.

"Dr. Yara, what do you think?" I ask her. If she has any suggestions for me to save this leg, I'm doing it. I don't care how much pain it'll cause me or how long it will take me to recover. I've been an Alpha for twelve years. Before that, I was an Alpha in training. Without my rank, without a pack to lead and protect, I have no idea who I am.

She looks at me, then at Dr. Stevens, who is glaring at her again.

"Doctor?" he asks condescendingly. He's of an old-school mindset where women are nurses, meant to be at the beck and call of a male doctor. It's another reason he has to go. My nurses are constantly complaining and threatening to leave.

"Studying to be, but I would suggest getting x-rays of the sides of the leg before determining if the leg has to be removed," she says, more confidently than I was expecting. She may not be comfortable around me or even in the pack, but here, in this hospital room, her confidence is clear.

"You heard her, Dr. Stevens. Side x-rays," I say, seeing her glance at me appreciatively for supporting her. In truth, I'm thankful she's giving me an option, any option.

"Young lady, what are your credentials?" he demands.

"HER credentials are not what's in question, doctor. I gave you the order. Side x-rays! NOW!"

Yara jumps as I yell, but really, this asshole is going to tell me my leg needs to be removed and think that I'm not going to fight it?

He continues to glare at Yara while he does the x-rays, and when he comes back, he puts them on the lightbox and turns to her with a sneer on his face. I'm about ready to come off this table and rip that smug look off his face.

"What do you think now, doctor?" he asks, as if questioning her credentials.

Yara walks to the lightbox, looking closely at first one, then the other x-ray. "Do you have the original?" she asks, turning to Dr. Stevens. He huffs but hands it to her, and she sets it up on the lightbox, too.

She stands back, her head tilting from one side to the other.

"Yara," I ask, unable to stop the flutter of hope in my chest.

"We can salvage the leg," she says, turning to me and making me sigh in relief.

"You've got to be joking!" Dr. Stevens says. "His leg is shattered!"

"Yes, it is. And it will take a lot of time and patience. But Alpha Warren has time, and I have patience," she says, looking at me.

"Do it," I tell her, putting my future into this woman's hands and hoping I won't regret it.

Yara

I'm not sure if Alpha Warren brought me here because he recognized me as his mate and he didn't have the strength to reject me in the woods or if he knew that his pack doctor was well past his retirement years. Either way, I'm here, and since I am, I'll help this Alpha. This is the reason I chose medicine.

"I'm assuming you want to do this now, Alpha?" I ask him.

"Yes, the sooner the better."

"Okay." I give him the list of items that I'll need to get his bones put back together properly. "Oh, and we'll need to sedate you," I say, looking around the room to see how they have their hospital rooms set up. "Is there where..."

"No," Alpha Warren says. I turn and look at him.

"No?"

"No sedation."

"Okay then, a nerve block, I'll just need..."

"No," he says again.

"Alpha, please, I'm going to have to wash the area and scrub it clean. I'm going to cut your leg open, pin your skin and muscle back so that I can get to the bones, and then slowly put them back where they belong. The pain will be excruciating. You need the nerve block."

"No," he says again, holding my gaze.

I finally look away, mumbling about stupid, stubborn Alphas. When I turn back, he's watching me with a raised eyebrow as if he heard me. I wasn't that loud, was I? Crap, I've been hanging around humans who can't hear anything for too long. How much can he hear of my mumbling?

The irritable Dr. Stevens comes in, throwing the things I asked for on the table. I jump when I hear a warning growl, looking up to see Alpha Warren glaring at him.

"Will there be anything else, doctor?" Dr. Stevens asks. He somehow makes my title, which is the same as his, sound like a dirty word.

"No, thank you, doctor. I'll take it from here."

I go to the sink and begin scrubbing my hands. I'm nervous for a lot of reasons. First, I'm in an unknown pack with an Alpha who is my mate. I have no idea what to expect from him or really why I'm here. And almost worse than that, he wants me to operate on him while he's awake! What the hell kind of crazy Alpha is he?

"You're thinking so hard that there's steam coming out of your ears, Yara. What are you so worried about?" he asks me.

I turn and look at him over my shoulder. How does he even know I'm worried? Why is he paying so much attention to me? Is this the mate bond? I've only had exposure to two Alphas in my life, Alpha Solomon and Alpha Simon. Alpha Solomon is a good Alpha, but he was never this in tune with what I was doing or thinking. And Simon...a shiver of revulsion rolls through me. He was in tune for a whole other reason. The man just gave me the creeps.

When I finish scrubbing my hands, I turn back to Alpha Warren. I see he's waiting for a response to his question. "This is going to be very painful. Can I at least give you a local anesthetic?"

"No, I need to be alert so I can protect my pack," he says.

"You can't exactly protect your pack with only one leg, Alpha."

"Warren. Call me Warren, and you said you could save my leg."

"I can, IF you were under sedation, and I'm not worried about you flinching or yanking your leg away while I'm operating."

"I have a very high tolerance to pain."

That doesn't surprise me. He wasn't even whimpering when Annika and I found him. He also has multiple, very faint scars all over his body. The man has been fighting in the pack wars for a long time. He must have a very strong wolf that is able to heal him over and over.

"How strong is your wolf right now?" I ask, getting his leg prepped to wash.

"I am very strong, little one," a deep voice says, and my eyes snap up as Annika begins purring in my head. Warren smiles, once again looking as if he knows the effect his wolf is having on mine. Can he hear Annika purring?

I shake my head, trying to clear it. I need to focus my attention and NOT on Warren's incredible teakwood scent.

"If I hold the bones in place, one at a time, how long will it take for you to set them?" I ask.

"Not long, little one," he says, but it's practically a purr. "I am a very strong, powerful Alpha wolf."

The way he says it isn't bragging but more like preening. My brain flashes an image of a peacock strutting around, flaunting his feathers for his chosen mate.

"Right," I say, feeling my body responding to the deep tenor of his voice. It feels like his voice is flowing over the nerves in my body, making them all light up with a need I'm unused to feeling, especially when I'm about to do surgery.

I look up into the intense, jade-green eyes of Alpha Warren. "Are you ready, Alpha?"

"Warren," he corrects. I nod.

"Are you ready, Warren?"

"Yes, Yara."

I grit my teeth, hating that I know this is going to hurt him, but if he won't let me at least numb his leg, I can't help it.

I begin washing the blood off his leg, laying a wet cloth over the bloody area, careful that I don't tug on the bones that are still jutting out. His body is covered with caked blood, guts, and bits of bone, just like I thought it would be. Under the teakwood scent, he smells like war and death. It's good practice for me, learning how to ignore the smell of war while I work. I don't get this kind of training at the university.

"Talk to me," he says through gritted teeth.

"What do you want to talk about?" I ask, not looking up.

"You know what you are to me?" he asks, although it's more of a statement than a question. My stomach feels like it's twisting into knots.

"Yes," I say without looking up. "After you have healed, you can reject me. If you do it before, it could impact your healing." I don't know why the thought of this man rejecting me feels so painful. I don't even know him. I have no intention of becoming his mate and returning to the packs, not until I'm done with school anyway. And this pack is much too close to Simon for my comfort.

"Who says I'm going to reject you?" he asks, sounding offended. Now, I do look up at him.

"But I'm a lone wolf."

"What you are is my future Luna."

"You don't even know me," I say, going back to my work.

"I know that you're intelligent, you're compassionate, you're brave, and I know that you're lonely," he says.

The intelligent and compassionate parts I get. That could easily be discerned from my being a doctor and helping him; those two make sense. The brave part, I'm not sure about, but the lonely part...

"Why do you say I'm lonely?" I ask him, wiping off the blood and turning to get the scalpel. I lift it up, showing him that I'm about to cut into his leg. He nods and continues.

"The closest university with a medical school is about an hour north of here. Between here and there, there are many areas where a lone wolf could run if she wanted to. But instead," he stops, grunting as I carefully slice into his leg. "Instead, you chose to come to an area that is full of wolves."

He's partially right. Annika misses being in a pack. She misses the companionship of being with other wolves. As for me, I'd be fine living alone the rest of my life, but my wolf likes the smell of the forest, and it makes her feel more settled to smell the scent of other wolves.

Warren hisses, and I glance up at him, watching him take deep breaths to control his pain.

"How do you do that?" I ask.

"Do what?"

"Manage this level of pain?"

"Mind over matter. Physical pain will break you mentally if you let it. That's why people get tortured for information. If you can break the body, you can usually break the mind. My mind is stronger than my body, and my body is very strong."

I glance at the scars on his legs again.

"You've been fighting for a long time?" I ask, cutting and pulling the muscles away from where his bones have snapped into pieces.

"Since I became an Alpha nearly twelve years ago."

"Twelve years?" I exclaim, standing up and looking at him. He's older than I thought.

That eyebrow shoots up again. It's an arrogant look, but on Warren, it's oh so sexy.

"I took over the pack when I was eighteen. I'm now thirty, that's twelve years, little wolf."

"Annika's not that little," I say, returning my attention to his leg.

"She is compared to Arric."

"Well, Arric is an Alpha wolf. Only another Alpha would be larger than an Alpha wolf," I say as I carefully pluck out the first bone. I look at it, checking to see where it goes, and then I press it against the bone it snapped off of.

"Okay, Arric, let's see what you've got," I say, carefully holding the bone in place so Arric can begin to heal the fracture. I watch as the bone begins to connect and seal in front of my eyes.

"Cool!" I say, forgetting where I am and who I'm with. I've been working with humans for so long that I forgot how quickly wolves can heal, especially Alpha wolves.

"Is it that exciting?" Warren asks me drolly.

I shrug. I know not everyone finds medicine and surgery thrilling, but I do. "It is for me."

"Then it must be my lucky day," he says, just as there is a knock at the door.

I look at the door, then at Alpha Warren, wondering who could possibly be knocking.

"I told you I would protect you," he says, smiling. His smile is so beautiful that it nearly takes my breath away. "Come in, Charlie," he says, not taking his eyes off of me.

"Alpha ... what the fuck are you doing in here?" he asks angrily, striding quickly to the table and looking at Alpha Warren's leg, filleted and open on the table.

Warren

As much pain as I'm in, I'm enjoying watching and talking to my mate. She's unlike any woman or she-wolf I've ever met. Besides the crazy notion that I would reject her, she's funny. I love how she's constantly murmuring to herself, talking to herself as if no one else can hear her. I can hear every word, and without being marked, it's a good second to knowing what's going on inside that interesting mind of hers.

Her face is nearly as expressive as her murmurs. She hasn't learned or doesn't care about hiding her facial expressions. Once again, I find it refreshing. She isn't trying to be coy or impress me because I'm an Alpha. On the contrary, it's almost as if she's trying to get away from me BECAUSE I'm an Alpha. Not going to happen. I've searched for this little doctor too long to let her go now.

"To answer your question, Charlie, Dr. Yara here is piecing me back together, slowly and painstakingly, which is preferable to Dr. Stevens' plan to remove my leg," I say.

My Beta's eyes flash up to mine. He understands the ramifications of what I've said. And as my Beta, he's in line to take over the pack. Thankfully, I trust my Beta, and I know that he has no desire to be an Alpha. It's not an easy job, but he makes it easier by being an incredible Beta.

"Are you at least numb?" he asks, his lip curling as he looks at what Yara is doing.

"Utterly ridiculous Alpha," Yara murmurs, obviously listening in on our conversation and giving her own opinions of me that she thinks we can't hear.

Charlie looks at me, frowning. 'She knows we can hear her, right?' he asks in the mind link.

'Apparently not,' I say, smiling.

"No, no numbing," I tell him out loud.

'I might agree with her,' he says, scowling at me.

"Give me the rundown on Brady. Did you kill him?" I ask, watching my mate.

"Arric, you ready?" she asks softly, all her concentration on her work.

"Yes, mate," Arric answers, and Charlie turns to look at her again, leaning over to watch as Arric heals my bone.

"Oh shit, that's fucking awesome!" he says.

"I know, right," my mate says, smiling a huge fucking smile at my Beta. Without thinking, I snarl jealously.

Both of them jolt, and while it fucking hurts that she tugs on my newly healed bone, it doesn't break again.

"Sorry, Alpha," Charlie says, showing his neck.

She looks at Charlie submitting and then at me, and her lips press tightly together. She doesn't approve. I lean forward so she's sure that I'm talking to her.

"You're MY mate."

"What I am is your DOCTOR. Temporarily. And if you don't want me walking out of here and letting Dr. Stevens take your leg, I'd suggest that you not pull that shit while my hands are in your shattered leg again," she snaps.

I sit back, having to fight hard not to smile. Damn, I like her spunk.

I turn my head to my Beta, not looking away from Yara. "So, what happened with Brady?"

"When you couldn't cut him off, he made it back to his pack. Since we know it's booby-trapped, we didn't pass his borders."

"Booby-trapped how? Arric, again," Yara says, again not looking up at us.

I tilt my head. Does she think that she's part of this conversation? I don't care if she is. I just know that most doctors would pretend to ignore the conversation going on around them. Not my mate, though. She's not pretending anything. And somehow, she's multi-tasking, listening to us, and still working on my leg, letting Arric know when he needs to start healing a bone.

"Spring-loaded wooden stakes buried in the ground," Charlie answers her, careful now in the way he interacts with her.

"Stupid pack wars, killing for no good reason," she mumbles to herself.

Charlie's eyes snap back to mine, and I smile.

"Anywho," he says, refocusing on me. "We did get one disturbing piece of information."

"What's that?" I ask.

"Alpha Solomon is dead. Simon is Alpha now." If I hadn't been so focused on her, I'd have missed it. Her very steady hand slipped. I lift my hand, letting Charlie know to stop. I frown as her hand begins to shake.

"I'm sorry, Alpha. I need a break," she says, stepping away and not waiting for me to release her. She pulls off her gloves and rushes from the room.

"Follow her. Don't approach, but make sure she doesn't leave," I tell Charlie.

"Yes, Alpha."

When they're gone, I sit back, thinking, which is hard because my leg is throbbing and lying open on the table in front of me.

The door opens, and Dr. Stevens walks in. "I knew she wouldn't make it, Alpha. I mean..." he stops staring at my leg. "Just look at this mess! I'll get ready to remove the leg."

"The fuck you will. She's taking a break, and for your information, she's getting my bones back together. So, get the fuck out of my surgery room, doctor," I snarl.

"Alpha, I must insist..."

"What you must do is listen to your fucking Alpha. GET OUT!" I shout.

The door opens, and Yara rushes back in, seeing Dr. Stevens.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You don't leave a patient in the middle of surgery!" he barks at her.

"CHARLIE!" I growl.

"Dr. Stevens," he says, holding the door open and gesturing for him to leave.

Dr. Stevens huffs but walks out.

"My apologies, Alpha. Dr. Stevens is right. I shouldn't leave in the middle of surgery." She's not looking at me, and I look at Charlie who shrugs.

"What did you call me?" I ask, my irritation with Dr. Stevens tainting my tone.

Her head snaps up to mine. "Alpha?"

I crook my finger at her, and she walks over to me. "And what did I tell you to call me?" I ask her, forcing my tone to be gentler as I take her chin between my thumb and forefinger, forcing her to hold my gaze.

"Warren," she says, her dark green eyes nearly making me forget that I'm in a surgical room.

"Warren," I confirm, reluctantly releasing her. "Continue, Dr. Yara."

She nods and returns to my leg. I watch her take a deep breath before picking out several more bones until she finds the one she wants.

"Arric?"

"Ready, my mate," he purrs, helping her to steady her hand and her nerves. When she does, I gesture for Charlie to return.

"Any other serious injuries that Dr. Stevens is threatening to do something ridiculously over the top with?" I ask.

"Yours is the worst, Alpha. There are a couple with deep wounds that he's washing out with alcohol.

Yara sucks in air again and stands up straight, looking at us.

"Not the right course of treatment?" I ask her, starting to trust her medical knowledge much more than my current doctor.

"Why wouldn't he just stitch them up?" she asks.

"He said it would take too long, and there are too many injured," Charlie says, watching her closely. I like my Beta a lot. But until my mate is wearing my mark, I don't like all the interest he's showing in her.

Yara, however, turns to me. "Don't you have omegas in your packhouse who sew your clothing?"

"Yes," I say, frowning at her.

"It's basically the same. Yes, skin feels a bit different, it's a bit tougher than fabrics, but they could do it and not cause the pain that pouring alcohol into their wounds is causing," she says.

I look at Charlie. "Call the omegas, get them over here. Tell Dr. Stevens that he can go."

"But who is going to assess the warriors?" he asks me.

"Have the nurses give a diagnosis and recommended treatment, then bring it in here to ask Dr. Yara's opinion."

"My opinion?" she asks me, obviously surprised.

"Yes, Yara. Your opinion. I'm beginning to think that you are the perfect replacement for Dr. Stevens."