“You’re not making any sense.”
“Lindsey, I landed at a bad angle. I think I broke my arm.”
“Oh my God, Rafe! Why didn’t you say that before?”
“Because it wouldn’t change anything, and I didn’t want you to worry.”
“God. Sometimes you are such a…guy.”
He actually chuckled, while I wanted to shriek. Now I understood the strain in his voice. He was fighting the pain. I didn’t know whether to have an aw-isn’t-that-sweet-for-not-wanting-to-worry-me moment or a how-stupid-can-you-get-you-obviously-need-help moment, because he was trying to protect me in a strange kind of way. I settled for keeping my voice even when I asked, “How bad?”
“Bad enough that you’re going to have to hold it together for a little while after I shift so it can mend straight.”
One of the perks of being able to shift was rapid cell rejuvenation. Unless we received a fatal head or heart wound or the weapon that struck us was silver, we had the ability to heal quickly.
“We should take care of it before we try to scale back up to the top,” I told him.
“You’re not going to be able to see.”
Probably a good thing since he’d have to remove his clothes to shift.
“I’ve got touch. Which arm?”
“Left.”
Great. I knew he was left-handed. So he was going to try to get us back to the top with one good arm, and it wasn’t his strongest. Because he’d already moved my hand to his belt, I was at a good starting point. I tugged his T-shirt out of his jeans, then very carefully skimmed my hands across his back, over his shoulder, down his arm—
“Oh my God, Rafe!” I cried when my hand encountered a hard edge that had to be bone. He inhaled a sharp breath. I could smell the metallic scent of blood now and felt the warmth of it coating my fingers. His bone had lacerated the skin. “You think it might be broken?”
“I didn’t want to worry you,” he repeated.
Tears stung my eyes. He had to be hurting. As gently as I could, I maneuvered his T-shirt over his head while he bit back a groan. For the first time in several weeks, I found myself wishing for a full moon so I could see more clearly. The sliver of moon and a few stars scattered across the night sky were pretty useless. And it didn’t help that we were at the base of the cliff, with brush and trees all around us.
Once the T-shirt was free, he said, “I can take care of the rest. Just sit there and when I come over, you’ll have to search for the break and push the two pieces of bone back together.”
“Okay.” Still clutching his T-shirt, I dropped down to the ground and tucked my legs beneath me. So much for our plan to sneak away for just a little while. We’d probably already be heading back if I’d just let him kiss me.
I heard the brush rustle as Rafe shucked off his boots and jeans. I refused to envision him naked and shifting into wolf form. The shift would happen in the blink of an eye, faster than I could imagine it.
I barely made out his silhouette as he limped toward me, in wolf form now. I was glad there wasn’t enough moonlight to allow me to see the pain in his eyes. He rested his head in my lap. Very gently, I buried my fingers in his fur and followed the line of his shoulder until I reached his left foreleg.
“I know this is going to hurt, and I’m so sorry,” I said as I struggled and snapped the broken bone back into place. He stiffened, but made no sound. Even in wolf form, he had to be macho. “It’ll be okay now.” I released a self-conscious laugh. “I don’t know why I’m talking to you. You can read my mind, right? I wish I could read yours. Or maybe not. Yours is probably filled with pain right now.”
When we shift, we become telepathic. It’s how we communicate with others while in wolf form. As a bonus, we can also read the minds of those who aren’t in wolf form.
Rafe licked my forearm, maybe to stop my babbling or just to let me know that he was okay. I wanted to bury my face in his fur and weep. I hated that he was going through this. I felt helpless. There was little I could do. He licked me again.
“Not fair,” I said. “Don’t think I don’t know that’s a wolf’s version of a kiss.” I tried to blank my mind so he wouldn’t know how much I enjoyed having him this close to me, even if it was in animal form. I became aware that there was no more flowing blood. I dared to skim my thumb over what had been torn flesh. It was smooth now, healed. The muscle and bone would probably take longer.
Our healing abilities were one of the reasons that Bio-Chrome was interested in us. But I didn’t want to think about that. Even as I tried to empty all my thoughts, I couldn’t help but think about how beautiful Rafe was as a wolf. I’d seen him in wolf form before, so even with the low moonlight, I knew what he looked like. His fur was as black as his hair, so black that at certain angles it appeared a deep blue. It was gorgeous, the most gorgeous fur I’d ever seen.
Lucas’s coat was a combination of black, white, silver, and brown. Connor, with his sandy-blond hair, was more of a golden color. My hair was a pale blond that was almost white. I wondered how I’d look as a wolf. Would I resemble the white Arctic wolf? Would I be pretty? Or would there be nothing special about me?
It was bad enough to worry about my hair, makeup, and clothes, to always want to look attractive, but now to start worrying about my appearance as a wolf….
Rafe nuzzled my arm, and I realized that he was letting me know that I didn’t have to hold onto his front leg any longer. I stroked his neck and shoulder, relishing the sensation of his fur touching my fingers. “I know healing, not to mention shifting, can be tiring. Just rest for a bit.”
I guessed I was talking aloud out of habit.
You’re beautiful, I thought. It was something I’d never say out loud. Just like I’d never tell him that I thought he was good looking—sexy, to be precise—in human form.
My thoughts were traveling where they shouldn’t. I started silently humming a Nine Inch Nails song, trying to fill my mind with a chaotic beat that drowned out anything else.
Rafe moved away from me. I immediately missed his warmth and the feel of my fingers brushing over his fur. I wanted to call him back. Instead, I started humming aloud.
Something landed in my lap.
“My clothes. Bundle them up.” He’d shifted back to human form to speak to me, to let me know that his arm had healed. “Then grab onto my fur. I’m stronger, more surefooted as a wolf.”