work sounded like the perfect distraction. But in spite of the influx of shifters into the pride, there likely wouldn’t be much work to throw herself into. Things at the infirmary had been slow since their last patient—a hawk refugee—had been given a clean bill of health and released.
Generally speaking things were always slow at the infirmary. Shifters got sick less, healed more quickly, and were far less likely to come to a doctor when they were sick or injured in the first place than their human counterparts. Moira had regular appointments with the pride females who wanted to keep their birth control shots up to date, but other than that, she pretty much had to drag her pride mates in for check-ups kicking and screaming.
She’d never seen Hugo inside the confines of the infirmary.
And that, right there, was why she would accept Brandt’s offer.
Her focus was fractured. She couldn’t seem to stop thinking about the foolish bear. He crept into every corner of her thoughts in a way she hadn’t allowed in years. She needed to take some time and come to terms with this change. Get her pragmatic, practical self back on track.
“I think I will take the night off, if you don’t mind,” she said. “Nip this thing in the bud.”
“Excellent. I promise not to burn down the building in your absence.” He squeezed her arm. “Go heal thyself.”
Outside at a fork in the path, Moira split away from Brandt’s side, giving a wave as he headed down to the infirmary and she climbed a small hill to the pride condo complex where she lived. The building was one of the newer additions to the pride and more human in design than most of the more rustic structures that were part of the old pride compound. Many shifters liked to live close to the land, keeping in touch with their animal sides and rigging doors to open for both hands and paws, but Moira had always preferred more human comforts. When she felt the need to indulge her bear side, she went into the wilderness to do so, but the rest of the time the other half of her soul slumbered in contented hibernation.
She rounded the corner of the building, her thoughts already on the bubble bath she would draw for herself, when a large shadow separated itself from the darkness and roused the ursine instincts sleeping inside her.
He’d always smelled like home. Maybe that was why it was so hard to push him out of her thoughts.
“Moira.”
The rumble of his voice vibrated through her core and she clenched her thighs against the sudden, unwanted response of her body. “What are you doing here, Hugo?”
He lived on the opposite side of the compound. It was part of the appeal of her place.
He flushed—that stupid, guilty flush—and didn’t quite meet her eyes. Embarrassed as always by her mere existence. “I wanted to get your take on your former patient. The Hawk. He’s going to be involved in more of our missions against the Organization and I wanted to make sure he was physically and mentally sound enough to continue—”
“Dr. Brandt can tell you everything you need to know. He’s at the infirmary.”
He did meet her eyes then, the liquid brown making something hot and unwelcome stir in her abdomen. “I’d like your opinion. You have incredible instincts.”
About everyone except you.
She wanted nothing more than to snipe at him again. She was so irrationally angry with him. Angry that he was officially beyond her reach. But he was also trying to protect the pride and so she reined in her own pointless emotional folly.
“You don’t need to worry,” she said, speaking of the hawk shifter who had recently escaped Organization clutches and found his way to Lone Pine. “He’s conflicted. Things are more complicated than they seem in his relationship with the Organization doctor he’s searching for, but he is a good man and he won’t hurt the pride if he can avoid it.”
“Good,” Hugo rumbled—and Moira’s lady parts shivered in delight.
“I
Generally speaking things were always slow at the infirmary. Shifters got sick less, healed more quickly, and were far less likely to come to a doctor when they were sick or injured in the first place than their human counterparts. Moira had regular appointments with the pride females who wanted to keep their birth control shots up to date, but other than that, she pretty much had to drag her pride mates in for check-ups kicking and screaming.
She’d never seen Hugo inside the confines of the infirmary.
And that, right there, was why she would accept Brandt’s offer.
Her focus was fractured. She couldn’t seem to stop thinking about the foolish bear. He crept into every corner of her thoughts in a way she hadn’t allowed in years. She needed to take some time and come to terms with this change. Get her pragmatic, practical self back on track.
“I think I will take the night off, if you don’t mind,” she said. “Nip this thing in the bud.”
“Excellent. I promise not to burn down the building in your absence.” He squeezed her arm. “Go heal thyself.”
Outside at a fork in the path, Moira split away from Brandt’s side, giving a wave as he headed down to the infirmary and she climbed a small hill to the pride condo complex where she lived. The building was one of the newer additions to the pride and more human in design than most of the more rustic structures that were part of the old pride compound. Many shifters liked to live close to the land, keeping in touch with their animal sides and rigging doors to open for both hands and paws, but Moira had always preferred more human comforts. When she felt the need to indulge her bear side, she went into the wilderness to do so, but the rest of the time the other half of her soul slumbered in contented hibernation.
She rounded the corner of the building, her thoughts already on the bubble bath she would draw for herself, when a large shadow separated itself from the darkness and roused the ursine instincts sleeping inside her.
He’d always smelled like home. Maybe that was why it was so hard to push him out of her thoughts.
“Moira.”
The rumble of his voice vibrated through her core and she clenched her thighs against the sudden, unwanted response of her body. “What are you doing here, Hugo?”
He lived on the opposite side of the compound. It was part of the appeal of her place.
He flushed—that stupid, guilty flush—and didn’t quite meet her eyes. Embarrassed as always by her mere existence. “I wanted to get your take on your former patient. The Hawk. He’s going to be involved in more of our missions against the Organization and I wanted to make sure he was physically and mentally sound enough to continue—”
“Dr. Brandt can tell you everything you need to know. He’s at the infirmary.”
He did meet her eyes then, the liquid brown making something hot and unwelcome stir in her abdomen. “I’d like your opinion. You have incredible instincts.”
About everyone except you.
She wanted nothing more than to snipe at him again. She was so irrationally angry with him. Angry that he was officially beyond her reach. But he was also trying to protect the pride and so she reined in her own pointless emotional folly.
“You don’t need to worry,” she said, speaking of the hawk shifter who had recently escaped Organization clutches and found his way to Lone Pine. “He’s conflicted. Things are more complicated than they seem in his relationship with the Organization doctor he’s searching for, but he is a good man and he won’t hurt the pride if he can avoid it.”
“Good,” Hugo rumbled—and Moira’s lady parts shivered in delight.
“I
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