Luca pushes at the mindlink again, but nope. Not happening right now.
The medical center is quiet today, as usual. Doc runs a tight ship, and the pack has been mostly safe for the past few years, so it’s rare that anyone actually needs his help. It’s mostly resetting bones from warrior training mishaps and delivering pups these days.
“Hi Maria,” I say to one of the pack nurses as I walk in. “Doc available?”
“Sure, Luna, he’s in his office with Stan.”
“Thanks,” I call out with a smile as I round the desk. She was friends with my mom before she left and checked in on me afterwards. Mom finding her fated mate in her forties despite having a chosen mate was huge gossip. There was a lot of talk behind our backs at the time, and I’ll never forget who was and wasn’t supportive when Ryan and I needed it most.
Ryan did his best with me, but sometimes a girl needs a woman’s help.
“Come in,” Doc calls out before I have time to knock. I twist the handle and pop my head in. Doc is perched in his chair, with Stan leaning against his desk. Fifty years mated, and they’re still disgustingly adorable.
“I was wondering if I would see you soon, Sofia. How are you doing?” Doc asks while Stan gives me a small wave and a warm smile.
“Oh, you know, slowly losing my mind, but it is what it is! I’m just here for the usual; see if you need me to order any supplies, check on current patient status, anything else you need. Is now a good time? I can come back later.”
“Now is perfect. Stan and I are just finished,” he says while squeezing Stan’s knee. Stan leans in to give Doc a chaste kiss and then wishes me goodbye before heading out the door. Since Stan retired as a warrior, he has met Doc for a mid-morning coffee break and lunch every day.
They are obviously part of the old type of fated mates, back before the Goddess got everything messed up.
Doc fills me in on current patients: an unranked female who gave birth to twins yesterday, a warrior with a broken wrist after training today, and another who had to have her nose reset but she has gone home already.Oops, that one might have been me. But nothing overly exciting or that requires much attention.
“Are they ready for me to go chat with them and see if they need any support from the pack?”
“Yes, they should be. But, Sofia, before you do that, I want to know how you are?”
“Me? I’m fine. Why?”
“You haven’t accepted Luca as your mate,” he says. His gaze is stern as he glances at my neck and the obvious lack of a mating mark. Like he wouldn’t have been able to tell instantly if I had accepted Luca. It would have changed my scent immediately.
“I’m not planning to. Ryan doesn’t want me to reject him. He wants me to give him a chance,” I say as I try not to sound like a stroppy teenager. “So, I guess I’m waiting a few weeks before rejecting him?”
My cheeks burn at how I made that sound like a question. That is what’s happening. No question about it.
Doc levels me with that look again, and it’s an effort not to squirm in discomfort. For an unranked wolf, Doc gives off serious alpha vibes. Especially within the walls of the pack medical center.
“Do you want some heat suppressants?”
Flames roar up my face. Goddess, this issonot a conversation I want to be having with Doc of all people. “Don’t I have to, uh, have sexual contact with him first?”
“Yes,” he says as he continues to pierce me with his gaze. “And a few weeks is a long time to avoid sexual relations with your fated mate.”
Fuck. I should be able to say that would never happen. That I’d rather sew my vagina closed than let him touch it. But the last thing I need is to go into heat. Emily told me what her first heat was like, and it sounded unbearable. Hot—because she had Jackson to get her through it—but unbearable all the same. She started taking the suppressants immediately afterwards, telling me that she and Jackson want to enjoy each other and focus on themselves for a while before considering pups.
I definitely can’t risk that happening to me. I groan before agreeing it’s probably for the best that I take them. Just in case I lose my damn mind, or more likely, my pussy takes over.
Chapter Fifteen
Sofia
Leaving the antiseptic smell of the medical center behind, I walk to the pack house to check on the unmated wolves' quarters and the kitchen supplies. I’m nearly finished when the heady scent of amber and sandalwood invades my nostrils. My wolf immediately perks up, and I roll my eyes at her. She’s so fucking easy when it comes to him. I miss when I was the slutty one out of us. That was a lot more fun for me.
“Can we talk?” Luca asks. His voice is low and zaps straight to my core.
“Nope, nothing more to say,” I say breezily, moving past him.
“Please?” I glance up at him, and, and for a heartbeat, I see the old Luca. The one who always let me tag along and defended me no matter what. But then it’s gone again. And all I want is for him to leave me the hell alone. I shake my head and turn to walk out, but he follows me.
