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Stephanie shook her head. “No. It’s a cool day, and we didn’t see anyone else on the trail. I didn’t call animal control because I knew they’d never get to you in time. You were dying. I had to do something, and it needed to be quick. I figured I’d practice medicine first and then answer for it later.”
“Thank you, and I think animal control would be grateful, too. They wouldn’t appreciate finding me in a cage. Actually, that’s something else I don’t understand. You found me when I was still in my wolf form. I never would’ve voluntarily shifted in front of you, Stephanie. I wouldn’t have put you or myself through that.” This was a big part of what’d been bothering him ever since he’d woken up. Bennett knew he’d been injured, but it took energy to shift. He definitely hadn’t had it, and this whole scenario never should’ve happened.
“You said this is something you have control over?” She was going back and forth between putting her head in her hands in complete despair and staring at him like he was the most fascinating thing she’d seen. Right now, it was the latter.
He might be offended if that look was coming from anyone else, but he knew how much she loved science. Stephanie was the girl in all the advanced placement classes, the one who won all the science fairs, the one who voluntarily spent her free time doing research and learning new things. It was a passion that he’d always admired. “Usually, yes. Once I learned how.”
“So your parents had to teach you? I’m sorry.” She swallowed as she continued to stare at him. “It’s just…kind of fascinating once you get past the scary parts.”
Seeing the hint of a smile on her face made him relax a bit, but Bennett knew he couldn’t relax for long. If he had to let his secret out in front of anyone, he was glad it was Stephanie. She was a human, but she was probably one of very few he could trust, if any. The secret was becoming less of a problem to him now. He was more concerned with the consequences of how he’d gotten there. If anyone had seen her pull him from the woods, they’d have a much bigger situation on their hands.
“Listen, Stephanie.” He had to figure out how to explain the rest of this. Bennett swept his hand down the back of his neck. His palm brushed something, and a tingling sensation moved through him. Reaching back, he plucked a tiny gold needle out of his skin. “What the hell is this?”
“Oh.” She shot to her feet and moved around behind him. Stephanie’s hand grazed against his skin as she carefully plucked several more out of him and dropped them in the sharps bin. “They’re acupuncture needles. I was trying to figure out what was wrong with you. The traditional methods weren’t getting me anywhere, and I sensed that your qi was blocked. I tried these.”
A shiver moved down his spine, but it wasn’t because of the needles. They’d never been more than a few feet away from each other over the last few minutes, but this close proximity was difficult to bear. Still holding the one needle in his hand, Bennett turned to her. “Just what kind of vet’s office do you run, anyway?”
“An integrative one,” she explained simply. “I use traditional methods when they’re called for, but there are a lot of other techniques out there that get ignored by vets. I think they fill the gaps in rather nicely, and acupuncture is one of them.”
“Interesting.” He twirled the little needle in his fingers. “When did you do this?”
She thought for a second, and her brows shot up. “Right before you shifted, actually. Do you think that had something to do with it?”
“I’m not completely sure. I may look like a human on the outside, but not much is known about shifters in terms of medicine.” They could ponder the implications all night, but Bennett forced himself back on track again. There were always certain priorities in a shifter’s life, and right now, he had to be sure he took care of one of them. In fact, he had a hell of a lot he needed to tell her, and this whole experience had been disoriented enough that he wasn’t sure he’d ever get it all out. “I need you to do me a favor.”
“What’s that?” She’d relaxed a bit when they’d spoken of acupuncture, but he could sense her getting tense again.
He moved closer, reaching out and taking her wrist. Her pulse thumped unsteadily under his fingers. Bennett felt his body electrifying. “You can’t tell anyone about who I really am. It’s a secret that my family and many families like us have been keeping under wraps for a long time and with good reason.”
Stephanie’s eyes searched his face. Was she looking for the wolf again? “I see why. But what about my daughter? How am I going to explain this to her?”
“You’re not,” Bennett replied quickly. Now that Stephanie was no longer screaming or waving tongue depressors at him, he hopped down from the exam table. He’d only held off before because he hadn’t wanted to scare her any more than he already had. “Think about how you reacted; you’re a woman of science and logic. And you even knew who I was. The impact would be catastrophic for everyone like me, and it probably wouldn’t go over well with the general human population, either.”
“No.” Stephanie looked down at his hand where it gripped her wrist. “It wouldn’t.”
“I know we didn’t leave off on the best of terms the last time we saw each other.” In fact, the pain of that day had come flooding back to him the moment he’d realized it was her. He’d hurt her, but he’d had no choice. “Please, just promise me that you won’t tell anyone. I need to know that my secret is safe with you.”
3
Stephanie looked up into those familiar dark eyes. She couldn’t believe what she’d just seen. A creature she’d been absolutely certain was a wolf had transformed right in front of her. He’d become a man she hadn’t seen in over twenty years, one she’d never expected to see again. Now, he was standing there in her office, asking for her help.
He’d meant so much to her back when she was a teenager. They’d been young, and so many friends and family members had spoken of young love as something that was sweet but would never last. That hadn’t stopped Stephanie from believing it was much more. She’d had a sense of certainty that they belonged together, and her conviction had been so strong that she’d barely been able to handle it when he’d shattered her dreams about a future together.
She’d put that pain aside for a long time, but it stabbed through her heart anew as he stood there and asked her to keep his secret.
“This is, um, really wild.” Stephanie turned toward the exam room door. She could tell him to get the hell out of her office. She could go to the news or whoever else and explain what she’d just seen. There was a chance that someone would believe her and she’d get money or fame for outing these shifters, or there was a chance she’d be tossed in the looney bin. The thing was, she found she didn’t want to tell anyone at all. Bennett might have broken her heart, but that didn’t mean she could do that to him.
“I know.” His voice was desperate behind her. “I’m really sorry all of this has happened the way it has. If it helps at all, I was tempted to tell you many times. This isn’t how I would’ve done it, though.”
Stephanie let out a long sigh. “I feel like there’s a lot I don’t know about you, but I do believe you on that. It’s kind of funny, isn’t it? That I would happen to be the one to find you? I mean, it could’ve happened to anyone, right?”
When she turned back to him, his eyes looked darker than before. “Right,” he replied in a near-whisper.
She got the feeling there was something else he wasn’t telling her. Hell, there was probably a shit ton he wasn’t telling her. How could he even begin when he wasn’t human? “Don’t worry about it, Bennett. I’m not going to say anything. No one would believe me, anyway.” Stephanie meant that last part to be light-hearted, but the truth of the statement prevented that.
“I should probably get going. I’ve caused enough trouble for you.” He moved toward the exam room door.
“I’ll give you a ride home. My truck is out back. You’ll just have to excuse the dog hair.” The words were out of her mouth before she’d really even thought about them, but she didn’t correct herself. Was she just trying to find a way to spend more time with him? That was crazy. Granted, he was still just as hot as he’d ever been back then. Stephanie hadn’t been the only one to notice his striking good looks, and several girls had done anything they could to try to undermine their relationship. Not everyone aged well after high school, but Bennett was definitely the exception. No longer as wiry as he’d been, he’d filled out with wide shoulders and a chest that you could lay your head on for hours. His square jaw was strong, almost enough to make him look a bit too cocky, but then those soft dark eyes let you know he was far more than just muscle.
