Page 25 of Full Moon Frenzy

And it was only a few weeks after that when she decided she hated him, and she’d never had the chance to find out how well her body could take his knot.

As she stared, his attention bounced between concentrating on the troll’s words and glancing down to the elderly faun with a reassuring smile. There was no beer gut to be found, and his hair was thick, curling over his collar, probably overdue for a haircut.

“Delivery status,” he prompted, his voice pointed but not unkind. Adriana winced as if his tone was a knife.

The troll nodded, his grey skin darkening to slate on his cheeks. “All bays are full at Healers’ General; dispatch advised coming here.”

She forced herself to nod, her voice not working quite yet. After all, the clinic was meant to ease the burden at the hospital next door.

“Since this is where she was seen forty-eight hours ago,” the dark-haired wolf continued, taking over for the troll, his eyes raising to hers at last.

Adriana could not tell if he recognized her, only that his glare was rancorous. She was trapped there, frozen in place like a small prey animal, and not the predator she was. A low whine came from within her, the smell of his wolf dwarfing her. More muscular, a touch of weariness replacing the sparkle of youth, but every bit as striking as he’d always been. Trapp Hemming was possibly even more attractive now, in his late thirties, than he’d been in his twenties, an insult to the rest of the world, quite frankly.

“Suspected kidney infection,” he went on after a moment. “Presenting with acute left-sided costovertebral angle tenderness. Temperature is currently normal, but the patient reports that she felt feverish yesterday. Vomiting within the last twelve hours. I’ve started her on a bolus of intravenous fluid. Forty-eight hours after she was seen here. Although seen is generous, since active treatment lasted only six and a half minutes.”

Her head snapped up, the ferocity of his words breaking through her stupor, familiar indignation boiling her blood.

At that moment, the doors opened again, a younger faun coming through in a rush, exclaiming when she saw her mother.

“Shileen, let’s get her into exam two,” Adriana scraped out, forcing her voice to life. She watched the way the older goatwoman gripped his huge hand, not letting go until it was replaced with her daughter’s, only stepping away to allow the big werewolf and the troll to carefully transfer her from the stretcher to a wheelchair, Shileen waiting to whisk the older faun back.

“The record is synced,” the goblin confirmed over her shoulder, instructing the older woman’s daughter to have a seat momentarily.

By the time Adriana turned back to the door, both men were gone. Through the doors, she could see the troll sliding into the passenger seat of the ambulance.

She needed to let them leave. She needed to attend to her patient. But a red mist had settled over her eyes, temper getting the better of her for the moment. They were too close to the moon, their feral natures too close to the surface, and she hated him too much to let him get the last fucking word, the automatic door sliding open as she stormed outside.

He was here. Trapp Hemming. Here! In Cambric Creek! In this nice place that she was supposed to turn into a home, the first real home she’d ever had, where she was meant to be someone brand new. And he’s still the same prick he always was.

“Urinalysis showed elevated white blood cells and presence of bacteria,” she spat out the instant the driver’s side door reopened. “A broad-spectrum antibiotic was prescribed for—”

“But you didn’t do imaging,” he snapped back, cutting her off, no different than he’d done in med school. “You didn’t do blood work. She’s been here twice this month! You have no idea what sort of antibiotic resistance she might have at her age with her history, which you didn’t bother taking fully.”

“An appointment was made with her PCP—”

“And if that kidney infection turns septic, she’ll be dead before then.” Her voice failed as he sneered, shaking his head. “Congratulations, doctor. One week on the job and you nearly caused your first fatality. For what? Because you want to be fast? Faster than who?” He made a show of looking around before giving her a patronizing smile, one that nearly turned her inside out with its familiarity. “Some things never change, I guess. This isn’t a contest for you to win, in case you weren’t sure. And it’s only a matter of time before your fuck-ups kill someone.”

The ambulance was long gone before she shook herself back to the present, forcing her feet to carry her in, to tend to the faun. A full blood panel, imaging, another urinalysis. She hated him, and he was here. She hated him. This is supposed to be a fresh start. You’re supposed to be someone brand new. Not the stressed-out wreck you were in school. Not the anxious disaster you’ve been for five years. A brand new life.

She didn’t know how she was meant to create a new life, not when the old one was evidently not finished with her. She hated him, and she was going to make sure he knew it.

Fucking Trapp Hemming.

Part 2

Trapp

The monthly post-moon brunch at his parents’ house would never have been described as a staid affair. There were too many of them and they were too noisy a bunch for that, particularly when they were all together . . . but even that had changed in the past year, and the house seemed quiet as Trapp let himself in that morning.

Liam was gone, attending university at the same prestigious school that Trapp had, the same pre-med program, a step away from the medical school where he’d first met Adriana Brunelli. He glowered at the mere thought. Trapp didn’t begrudge Liam the future path that he himself had been meant to follow. He’d been there at his childhood home every week for months, helping the youngest Hemming sibling study, prepare for entrance exams, craft his essay. Liam was going to make a great doctor, and Trapp was proud of him. And if his brother decided late in the game that he didn’t want to follow the path, well, Trapp knew how to pick up the pieces from that fallout as well.

Lowell made the noise of three people on his own, but Lowell had been gone for years at that point. Now with Liam gone as well, six became four, and brunch grew ever quieter.

Trapp walked in that morning to find Jackson, Owen, and their father already seated at the table, deep in discussion over some zoning issue that was impeding the long-planned parking garage around the corner from their father’s office. Owen’s girlfriend leaned back in her chair beside him, tapping on her phone, while Victoria sat in the big room beyond, her head tipped back against the sofa, eyes closed, as Little Jack sat on the floor playing a video game on the huge television screen.

“I know you want to take a big bite, don’t you, princess?” his mother cooed at baby Cecily, who showed she had no interest in the spoon, blowing out her pureed mangoes in response.

He breathed it in slowly, a bit of his tension ebbing away. Home was always reliable, even if it was a bit quieter as of late, and his parents’ house would always be home.