Chapter 70: Inseparable

Daphne

Nate was staring at me with an expression that made my insides twist, and not in a good way. And then, like a book being slammed closed, his eyes went dark and unreadable, his face flat. “Why did you follow me out there?” He demanded.

It was hard to focus with him standing so close to me. I could feel that magnetic pull, and all I wanted to do was sway into him, wrap my arms around his solid strength, and forget all about bears and secrets and all the ugly things that stood between us. But given his cold expression, I didn’t think he would welcome my affection. I forced myself to take a step back, put more breathing room between us.

“I wasn’t following you,” I said tightly. “I was following the bear.”

“Why? Why would you do that?”

“Why were you?” I challenged him. I saw some shadow shifting behind his eyes, some truth that he wasn’t going to tell me.

“I wanted to check the cave,” he said turning suddenly and raking his hands through his hair. “After you mentioned the caves at the scenic overlook trail, I thought Devil’s Den is the only other cave in the vicinity.”

“Devil’s Den is too wet,” I said, even though I had also entertained the same thought.

“Now I know. I’d never been there before.”

“What did you find in the cave?”

He shrugged, keeping his back turned. “Nothing. A camper’s stash maybe. Water, a sweater, candy.”

“M&M’s”

“Yeah, how did you…?”

“That’s what I found behind the swamp. They are hers. She might not be living there, but she’s leaving herself supplies.” It made sense, I supposed. If Cody was a trained assassin, she’d leave herself several hiding places, in case she needed to back-track in a hurry. I reached under my bed and pawed through a cardboard box I had stashed underneath for a small first aid kit.

I hissed as I pulled off my t-shirt, and strained my neck to try and get a good look at the claw marks on my own torso. They weren’t that bad, but they could have been. Another inch and she wouldn’t have just scratched me, she would have disemboweled me. I pulled out hydrogen peroxide, a tube of antibiotic ointment and some bandages. Werewolves heal faster, thanks to our supercharged metabolism, but that doesn’t mean we are susceptible to infections, just like any other mammal on the planet.

I soaked a wad of cotton in peroxide and dabbed it against my tattered flesh, and hissed when the peroxide burned and bubbled in the wound. Nate whirled around and looked at me and for a moment I saw something raw on his face, almost like my wounds were causing him physical pain. But I must have been imagining it.

He closed the distance between us again and swiped the plastic bottle of peroxide out of my hand. “Let me do it,” he commanded. “It will be easier if you lay down.”

“I don’t want to stain my comforter,” I said stubburnly.

He solved that issue easily, and pushed me over toward his bare mattress. He put heavy pressure on my sholders and forced me to sit. I could have resisted, but that would have been pointless. He was trying to help me after all. With a tired sigh I reclined back on his bed and held the sides of the mattress while he poured the antiseptic right over my skin. He said nothing, and his brow wrinkled into a frown as he dried the skin, gently applied the ointment, and then taped on the bandages.

He then turned his attention to the wound on my leg. Without ceremony, he took hold of my pants and pulled them down, pausing only when I whimpered because the cotton fabric had stuck to the drying wound. When he finally pulled them off my feet, the deep gash in my thigh was oozing blood again.

He leaned closer to examine it. “This needs stitches.”

I craned my neck to look. “Nah, it’s not that bad. If you hand me the tape, I can butterfly it together."

“I’ll do it,” he said flatly, and went through the same procedure to clean the cut. His hands were sure and gentle, and I guessed, experienced. He’d dressed his share of wounds before. When it was clean, he used the tape to pull the two sides together. “This won’t hold,” he said grimmly.

“It will be okay,” I said, pushing up onto my elbows to examine his work.

He straightened, crumpling up the wrappers from the bandages. “Of course it will. Werewolves heal fast, right?”

I clamped my mouth shut, neither confirming nor denying.

“I should have figured it out when I found your shirt in the woods,” he said, seeming to be speaking more to himself than to me. He went to the trash can to dispose of the wrappers and blood-soaked cotton. He then turned and looked at me with accusing eyes. “And you should have told me, from the start.”

I suddenly felt vulnerable and exposed, laying on his bed in only my underwear. I swung off and walked back across the room, and pulled out fresh pajamas from my drawers. “If you know about werewolves, then you know why I wasn’t supposed to tell you.”

He sighed, and went to sit on the edge of his bed. “Why are you looking for the bear?”

“Because I knew it couldn’t be a random wild bear,” I said, once I pulled on my clothes. I retreated to my own bed and sat down. I picked up my pillow and hugged it to my breasts. “I don’t want innocent students to keep getting hurt.” I looked across the room at him. “Why are you looking for her? And how do you know about shifters?”

He stared at me for so long I didn’t think he was going to answer. “I have friends in the werewolf community. And maybe I don’t want to see anyone get hurt either.”

He was only telling me half the truth, I could tell, but I didn’t push it.

“What on earth were you thinking? You could have been killed.” I felt his words like the lash of a whip.

“I can handle myself,” I snapped defensively. I was defensive because he was right. Jumping a bear by myself was a huge, stupid risk. But the alternative, letting that bear rip my lover into shreds was equally unimportant. A quick assessment of the situation made it clear that there was no talking her down. There was no time to deescalate the situation. I had to act swiftly, while I still had the element of surprise.

And I had to keep her engaged long enough for him to escape. Which meant going in for nip, and then retreating before she could flatten me with one of those massive paws. Circling, jumping, biting - all knowing full well that with all that fur, my teeth were barely drawing blood. I was pissing her off, but I wasn’t going to kill her, not without help.

I was fast, but not fast enough. She’d gotten a few good hits, knocked me flat, raked those razor-sharp claws across my skin. And then, when it looked like losing was inevitable, I ran. Bears are fast over short distances, but wolves are faster. I cut through the woods, using my smaller, lithe body to my advantage, darting through thick undergrowth that would impede a big, lumbering bear.

If my brothers found out what I had done, they would probably kill me themselves. Not literally. But they might try to lock me in my room for the rest of my natural life.

“Look,” I said, feeling a bit shaky as the adrenaline began to tank. But I didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry I’m not a human? I’m sorry I put my life on the line for you? I’m sorry I can’t stop thinking about you? I’m sorry that I want to climb into your bed right this instant and drown myself in your arms?

“You saved my ass out there tonight. Thank you.” He finally admitted grudgingly.