Chapter Nine
Cassie
I was still angry the next morning. Only now I was angry and tired and that was never a good thing to be. Add that to the fact that I hadn’t had breakfast because I couldn’t be sure if Julian had come back and was sitting waiting to ambush me with his unfounded accusations again.
Of course, my lips twisted ruefully as I slipped from the car and headed towards the hospital entrance and the start of my shift. One of the accusations hadn’t been wrong. I had cheated on him and on our wedding night.
He hadn’t even turned up for a wedding though, not even to sign the contacts so it couldn’t actually be called a wedding night.
Not that was any excuse.
No. I shook my head as I walked into the cool corridors and towards my office. He could never find out the truth. He could suspect all he wanted but he couldn’t find out. If he did, my life would be over.
Hell, maybe my life as I knew it was already over. He wanted a divorce and we hadn’t even claimed each other. I would have nothing.
Nothing but my freedom anyway. And I was beginning to think that was enough. Or it would be if my mum didn’t need me to stick this out.
Slotting the key into the lock I stared around the office. Everything was as it should be and I let out a sigh of relief. This was the only sanctuary I had now. The only place I could be myself and breathe. Plus I had a stash of protein bars in my desk drawer. I had learnt quickly in my career to keep food I could eat on the go. I needed one of those bars now and a large coffee as well. Then I could go about my rounds and forget that I was unhappily married to the heir of the wolf king.
Even the thought made me groan. I was the wife of the wolf prince. It was something most young wolves would dream of. I was a princess. And yet I was so unhappy I could cry.
How could a fairytale go so wrong?
Maybe I wasn’t in a fairytale at all but a horror story. Julian was definitely the bad guy though.
“Cassie, I need you.”
My head snapped up to meet those of Mandy’s. She looked worried. And it showed in her eyes. Instantly I was on my feet. “What’s happened? Has there been another accident?” Usually, I could pick up on the bustle of the accident room one floor under my office when there had been. Even before any patients had arrived but the hospital today felt quiet.
“No,” Mandy chewed on her lip. “It’s in the annex -“
The annex. What we called the werewolf and shifter part of the hospital. Connected but at the same time now. The annex was where the paranormal community were treated.
“I see. I’ll be there-“
“Now Cassie.” She snapped and I glanced at her quickly. I had never heard her sound like that before.
I gave one forlorn look at the desk drawer than held the protein bars and followed after her.
“What’s going on?”
For several long seconds as my feet squeaked on the floor she didn’t speak. “I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on. But he’s hurt and he’s important. This is a diplomatic situation and -“
I did a double take. Was this very important person the same person I had treated not long ago? The one that was so important that he had covered his face so I couldn’t see his identity. Or was it someone else?
How many VIPs were getting hurt and coming to me?
It wasn’t the same person.
Or at least I didn’t think it was. The width of the shoulders was wrong.
“Good morning.” Forcing a professional smile onto my face I started to cross the room and halfway across the room froze.
The moment his eyes had lifted to watch me it had felt like I was moving against quicksand. His eyes were too dark. Like looking into bottomless pits.
“Well.” He leaned back on the bed and smiled. “You are definitely what I was expecting.”
I frowned. What did he mean by that? Not that I would ever ask him. It wasn’t my place to question patients about anything apart from what ailed them. And it was pretty clear what was wrong with him. The left arm of his pale blue shirt was stained heavily with blood.
“You were expecting a male doctor?” Scooting a small stool over to the bed I took a seat and reached for his arm.
“No.”
I could feel his eyes on me but I didn’t look up at him. My eyes were trained on the gash in his arm. “Sorry Mr-“
“Bill. My name is Bill.” He answered softly.
“Well Bill, I’m going to have to take a better look at your arm. Could you possibly-“ I made a motion with my hand that swept up and down his body and blushed.
I never blushed at work. I wasn’t asking him to strip off for me, I was asking to look at the wound.
“Of course.” He jumped up and it put my head in a very awkward position. Forcing me to scoot backwards on the stool so my face wasn’t pressed against his groin.
“And you are Cassie right?”
“Yes.” The moment his shirt was off I had his arm back in my hands. Probing at the ragged edges of the cut that dissected the length of the forearm from wrist to elbow.
“You’re lucky you didn’t bleed out.” And he was lucky.
“I don’t think luck had much to do with it. My alpha power is -“
My head snapped up. “Alpha power?” I frowned. “Alphas have powers?”
Even as I said the words I knew how stupid it sounded. “So your alpha Bill?” I giggled and I didn’t know why.
“Yes and yes.” His thumb moved and stroked across my palm so suddenly that I wasn’t sure it had happened until he did it again. “What is your power, Cassie? I had always been told it was your healing but now I’m starting to think it’s your beauty.”
Moving my hand away, I threw my head back and laughed. “And maybe your power is flirting?” I teased. “But I can assure you I don’t have any powers. Just a normal wolf.
“A beautiful-“
“You should see me first thing in the morning-“ I said and instantly regretted it. That sounded too much like flirting. “And as for the healing. I went to school for a long time. This isn’t a magical power. It is years of training.” Pulling out some bandages, I began to unravel them. “This is already starting to heal but I will cover it and come back later to check. There’s some discoloration and I don’t want any infection to take hold. This was made my claws right? Another wolf?” I lifted an eyebrow.
What was going on in the community recently? All the upper classes seemed to be fighting each other.
“Oh, I think it’s more than training and med school Cassie.” Suddenly he caught hold of my wrist. His fingers were tight around my skin so I couldn’t yank my hand away but not so tight that he was hurting me. “Like you knew there was an infection in my blood. You knew what was wrong and why I was here.”
“You are here for me to dress your wounds.” I began to say but stopped.
That wasn’t true.
“What do you feel now?”
“Uncomfortable,” I murmured.
He laughed, a loud booming sound that seemed to vibrate through the room and into my body. Heat flowed down through my arm.
“Look.” He whispered in a hiss. “I was right.”
Following his gaze I gasped. The fire that had been flowing down my arm had magnified at my fingertips. They were glowing with a soft warm light.
Using all my strength I tore my hand away. Breathing heavily.
“What was that?”
Dark eyes met mine. “Your power. Or the start of them anyway. I really think-“ he grinned. “You should be somewhere that will nurture your natural gifts Cassie and that place isn’t here.” He looked around with scorn. Like the state of the art building was beneath him. “I can help you with that. A job, a home, a pay rise.” He winked. “The chance to start a new life.” Again he reached for me. Pulling me slightly closer. So my thighs bumped into his knees.
“I think you would be happy in my pack Cassie. Ig would be a chance to grow after the set back with the unit.”
“You heard about that?”
“Yes, the prince pulled some strings for his-“ he shook his head. “Well, their loss I hopefully my gain. Think about it Cassie, I really do believe we could have a very-“
“Well isn’t this cosy?” Julian’s booming voice spoke from the doorway.
I jumped back like I had been electrocuted.
“As professional as I expected.”
Ignoring my husband I turned towards the door, skirting around his hulking body that seemed to fill the room.
“Why are you here?” I countered. It was bad enough that I had to be married to him and live in his house. The last thing I needed was for him to start turning up at my place of work.
I needed some kind of break.
“I am here to make sure Bill is being properly cared for.” He smirked at me. “Which of course I can see you are taking extra special care of him.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Nothing but a misunderstanding I assure you, Julian,” Bill said smoothly.
“I have to start my rounds now.” I couldn’t stand to be in this room one second longer. I didn’t know whether it was testosterone or something else that cackled the air around us but it was making me feel uncomfortable. “But I’ll be back before the end of my shift to make sure there’s no sign of infection. It was nice to meet you, Alpha Bill.”
He beamed a smile at me and between us, Julian growled low in his throat.
“Your Highness.” I ducked my head in a small bow towards my husband and made my escape.
I just wanted to get away from him.
Luckily soon I would get the chance to actually be free for a few hours. The full moon was almost upon us and I couldn’t wait to run and set my wolf free.
But until then I would be polite to him. What other choice did I have?
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