Noah’s bones and muscle.
No matter how broken and defective shifters believed him to be, maybe one of them finally thought Noah was worth saving, too.
Chapter Six
Fletcher accompanied Noah to the Vanguard Medical and Imaging Center in the hospital complex, where Dr. Phares kept his office suite. The blonde-dreadlocked Trudy came along, as well as four betas acting as guards and a second, barrel-chested healer whose pinched face resembled a squinty mugger rather than a shifter in Noah’s opinion. The extra healer introduced himself as Bast and said not one word to Noah otherwise.
Wade didn’t come with them.
The alpha lingered in their rooms for once when Noah woke that morning. He reapplied arnica ointment to Noah’s sore knee and helped Fletcher strap a full-leg splint onto Noah to immobilize the joint until Trudy could look at the MRI. In the meantime, Noah and Wade shared a hearty breakfast of bacon, bacon, and more bacon. Traitorous heart leaping with joy at a meal with his mate, Noah didn’t balk at the platter mounded with food. He watched Wade alternate working his phone and shoveling breakfast down his gullet. Noah remembered his own plate only when Wade frowned at him. Without complaint, Noah ate every crispy strip, though. A chaser of pulpy orange juice washed down Trudy’s vile tonic, too.
“I also have a business to run,” Noah said during a lull between Wade’s phone calls. “I need my laptop.”
“Your family isn’t cooperating, little wolf.”
“They offered to bring my things.”
“And their scents would be on every item.”
Noah grudgingly relented. If his father and brothers opposed their mating, Wade’s wolf wouldn’t tolerate risking Noah anywhere near them or anything handled by them. Their scents on Noah alone could set off Wade. “A new computer then. One borrowed from the office downstairs would be fine. I need to contact my clients.”
Wade’s mouth thinned. “You’re still adjusting—”
“No matter what your pack thinks, I’m not useless,” Noah said, not bothering to mask his anger. ”I have a job like everybody else. It isn’t hanging drywall or electrical wiring, but it is work. What I do is as important to me as your company is to you. I can’t disappear like this.”
“Vanguard first.” Sighing, the alpha steepled his fingers over his empty plate. “When you return, we’ll obtain the required computer equipment. I assume you’d rather choose that yourself?”
Floored at Wade’s almost instant capitulation, Noah gaped at him. “Y-yes.”
“Good.” Wade nodded. “We’ll take care of it this evening.”
Reeling from the unexpected ease of his success, Noah wouldn’t let discouragement needle him. The significance of getting his career back couldn’t be understated. Abandoning his clients would be professional suicide, but beyond that, Noah craved the challenges of building and updating his roster of websites. Isolated in their private rooms, waiting for Wade to fuck him, did not appeal. If his job didn’t stimulate his mind, boredom would drive him insane. Besides, he had zero likelihood of convincing city shifters of his worth without a chance to dazzle them with his digital-fu. Shifters flinched at white-collar jobs, and the pack deemed any member who performed those tasks as having offered a great sacrifice to the shifter community. None of them liked being stuck indoors. Lacking the same education opportunities humans took for granted, few shifters excelled at desk work, either. If Noah strutted his computer proficiency, showed them he could contribute vital and sorely needed skills...
Winning his career back had been a huge victory for Noah.
Disappointment lingered, though.
Wade was a busy man. Governing the pack was no small feat. According to Fletcher, seven families lived in the pack house alone. Seven! Forced to avoid them throughout his life, no one was more cognizant than Noah of how many additional families lived in
No matter how broken and defective shifters believed him to be, maybe one of them finally thought Noah was worth saving, too.
Chapter Six
Fletcher accompanied Noah to the Vanguard Medical and Imaging Center in the hospital complex, where Dr. Phares kept his office suite. The blonde-dreadlocked Trudy came along, as well as four betas acting as guards and a second, barrel-chested healer whose pinched face resembled a squinty mugger rather than a shifter in Noah’s opinion. The extra healer introduced himself as Bast and said not one word to Noah otherwise.
Wade didn’t come with them.
The alpha lingered in their rooms for once when Noah woke that morning. He reapplied arnica ointment to Noah’s sore knee and helped Fletcher strap a full-leg splint onto Noah to immobilize the joint until Trudy could look at the MRI. In the meantime, Noah and Wade shared a hearty breakfast of bacon, bacon, and more bacon. Traitorous heart leaping with joy at a meal with his mate, Noah didn’t balk at the platter mounded with food. He watched Wade alternate working his phone and shoveling breakfast down his gullet. Noah remembered his own plate only when Wade frowned at him. Without complaint, Noah ate every crispy strip, though. A chaser of pulpy orange juice washed down Trudy’s vile tonic, too.
“I also have a business to run,” Noah said during a lull between Wade’s phone calls. “I need my laptop.”
“Your family isn’t cooperating, little wolf.”
“They offered to bring my things.”
“And their scents would be on every item.”
Noah grudgingly relented. If his father and brothers opposed their mating, Wade’s wolf wouldn’t tolerate risking Noah anywhere near them or anything handled by them. Their scents on Noah alone could set off Wade. “A new computer then. One borrowed from the office downstairs would be fine. I need to contact my clients.”
Wade’s mouth thinned. “You’re still adjusting—”
“No matter what your pack thinks, I’m not useless,” Noah said, not bothering to mask his anger. ”I have a job like everybody else. It isn’t hanging drywall or electrical wiring, but it is work. What I do is as important to me as your company is to you. I can’t disappear like this.”
“Vanguard first.” Sighing, the alpha steepled his fingers over his empty plate. “When you return, we’ll obtain the required computer equipment. I assume you’d rather choose that yourself?”
Floored at Wade’s almost instant capitulation, Noah gaped at him. “Y-yes.”
“Good.” Wade nodded. “We’ll take care of it this evening.”
Reeling from the unexpected ease of his success, Noah wouldn’t let discouragement needle him. The significance of getting his career back couldn’t be understated. Abandoning his clients would be professional suicide, but beyond that, Noah craved the challenges of building and updating his roster of websites. Isolated in their private rooms, waiting for Wade to fuck him, did not appeal. If his job didn’t stimulate his mind, boredom would drive him insane. Besides, he had zero likelihood of convincing city shifters of his worth without a chance to dazzle them with his digital-fu. Shifters flinched at white-collar jobs, and the pack deemed any member who performed those tasks as having offered a great sacrifice to the shifter community. None of them liked being stuck indoors. Lacking the same education opportunities humans took for granted, few shifters excelled at desk work, either. If Noah strutted his computer proficiency, showed them he could contribute vital and sorely needed skills...
Winning his career back had been a huge victory for Noah.
Disappointment lingered, though.
Wade was a busy man. Governing the pack was no small feat. According to Fletcher, seven families lived in the pack house alone. Seven! Forced to avoid them throughout his life, no one was more cognizant than Noah of how many additional families lived in
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