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"Oh my God, Max! What happened?"
He whipped around and his eyes widened. "You're awake."
His ribs were black and blue and bore the same open wounds as his back. She swallowed hard to fight back the nausea and rushed over to him, her arms outstretched. But she stopped, quickly crossing her arms over her chest, not knowing where she could possibly touch him. "What happened to you?"
He shrugged. "I'm fine. Trust me, these aren't as bad as they look."
Shaking her head, she followed him as he left the bathroom and headed into the bedroom. "Max, stop it! I don't understand. How can you be standing here, talking to me in a normal voice, when your body is nearly ripped to pieces? Please tell me what happened."
But she knew already. He'd come to save her, and the wolf had attacked him. Guilt settled in the pit of her stomach as she realized the havoc she'd created. He was hurt because of her, because instead of staying here last night and fighting it out with him, she'd run.
His hair fell in unruly black waves over his forehead. Quickly brushing it back with his hand, he said, "We have a lot to talk about. Give me a minute and we'll sit down and discuss this."
"Sit down and discuss? Are you insane? We need to get you to a hospital, now! Those wounds aren't going to heal on their own."
He offered her wry smile. "Yeah, they will. Watch."
Stripping the towel away, he stepped in front of the doorway leading to the balcony. Sunlight streamed through and shined on him. This was ridiculous. Was he hoping for a miracle? She was about to turn and run for the phone to call an ambulance when she noticed one of the wounds on his shoulder closing.
She blinked, certain she imagined what she'd just seen.
Dear God in heaven. He was healing right before her eyes. The wounds closed, the bruises disappeared, no scars were visible. In less than a minute, he was whole again.
"What the hell?" She flopped down on the bed, suddenly feeling very lightheaded.
"I can explain this." Grabbing for a pair of shorts, he stepped into them and sat next to her on the bed. She half-turned to face him.
"Explain what? How you healed? Maybe you should start with how you got those injuries in the first place. The wolf did it, didn't he? The one that sat by the tree with me last night. You showed up, he attacked you, right?"
"Not exactly."
"Okay, then tell me how exactly."
"I was attacked, but not by the wolf. By wolves. Six of them, to be exact."
The six that had attacked her. "How? When? Six wolves followed me into the woods. I ran and tried to get away but couldn't."
He smiled and nodded. "I know."
"And then this other wolf...what do you mean, you know?"
"I know what happened to you last night."
"How?"
"Some of it, I saw. The rest, they told me."
Maybe he had a fever. That had to explain his delusion that he could talk to wolves. "They told you."
"Yeah."
"How? Do you commune with wolves psychically?"
He arched a brow. "Sort of."
She reached out and laid her palm on his forehead, realizing her hand was shaking. "No fever."
Max laughed. "I'm fine, Shannon. Really. Now listen closely, because I have a lot to explain to you."
She'd try to sit still for his explanation. Then she'd call a doctor or take him to the ER. Whatever happened to him last night affected his brain. Although that didn't explain the devastating wounds healing as if by magic. This was all so confusing!
"Last night, you ran from a half-dozen wolves. You ran into a lone wolf who then fought with the other six."
Her pulse began to race. "How did you know that?"
He reached for her hand, his thumb gliding over her wrist. "Because I was there."
She searched his face, looking for a glassy-eyed stare, anything that would make this seem like some kind of dream. Maybe they were connected and he'd read her mind, pulled her memories. Hell, anything was possible.
"I don't understand. What do you mean you were there?"
"I'm surprised you haven't put it together yet."
"Put what together?" As soon as she said the words, something flashed in her mind. No, it couldn't be. Too farfetched. Too ridiculous.
"How could I be there to see it last night, Shannon? Search your heart. You know the answer; you're just refusing to see it."
How could she think straight when his thumb caressed the inside of her wrist, massaging her frenetic pulse? "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You were there, so were the six wolves. Who else?"
"Just the gray..." No. He was insane.
"The gray wolf? Yes. The one who approached you, then went around you to fight with the others. Do you know who the gray wolf is, Shannon?"
"No!" She wrenched her arm away from his grasp and stood, hugging her arms around her middle, refusing to put to words what ran through her mind. "That's not possible!"
He stood and approached her, reaching for her hands. She backed away and he dropped his hands at his side. "I'm surprised that you'd be so shocked, considering the magic you and your family possess."
She didn't want to believe what her mind told her was true, and yet the evidence stared her in the face. "You were outside my condo that night."
He nodded. "Yes. I followed you."
"Why?"
r /> "Your scent called to me. I've wanted you as my mate from the first moment I saw your picture in a magazine."
She stared at him, open-mouthed. "What?"
His lips curled in a smile that made his face look boyish. How could this handsome man be the snarling wolf she'd seen last night?
"I felt a connection to you even then. After I met you, it became even stronger. I've come to Louisiana to set up my own pack, Shannon. I come from a very long line of Devlin wolves, and we're branching out. That's why I'm here. To start my own pack. I've already chosen my mate."
This was all too much to process. She didn't understand it, had more questions than she could possibly ask him at one time. "Mate?"
"Yes. Why do you think I wanted you to move in after last night? We're mated, Shannon. You're already mine. You can't escape that. It's your destiny."
Confusion turned to a burning anger. Anger that he didn't tell her what he was before he took her to bed. Rage at once again being told what was expected of her because of destiny.
She'd never let her family tell her what to do, and she'd sure as hell not be led around by Max.
"Listen to me very carefully, Max. I am not your destiny. I am no man's destiny. I make my own choices about what men I want to be with. You will never decide for me. My family won't decide for me. No one will decide for me."
"Shannon, I understand your--"
"You don't understand a damn thing! All you understand is what you want, when you want it and how you want it. You want me, but that's all I've ever heard from you. You've decided I'm your mate, that I should move in with you, but have you ever once asked what I want? No, you haven't. I'm sick of you and everyone else telling me what I should do and how I should feel!"
She knew she was nearly hysterical, but she couldn't help it. The last twenty-four hours had been too much to bear. She needed space, time and she needed to get the hell out of here and away from Max. Her feelings for him ran the gamut from gratitude that he saved her life at the risk of his own, to profound anger that he continued to tell her what to do.
He held out his hand to her. "Shannon, if you'll just let me explain..."
She backed away from his outstretched arm. "Don't touch me! I don't want to hear it, Max. The fact that you're this...this creature instead of a man...it sickens me. To think I had sex with an animal!!"
