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Mischa nodded. “If the rumors I’m hearing are true, we’ll need to stand together.”
“Agreed,” said Zak, “but that’s for another time. Simone, it was nice to meet you.”
“You too, Zak. Thanks for showing me the way.” The bear-shifter sheriff strode away. “He seems nice. In fact, everyone seems nice. I needed to pick up some things and stopped at Annie’s store. She’d like to talk to you about stocking and serving Frost.”
“You’ll need to talk to Valentin. He handles all the contracts and distribution of our product.”
“I can do that. I want you to know I tried to apologize to everyone I might have offended last night, and I assured Valentin the dress isn’t important. Being your mate and being with our pack is what I want to celebrate, and I don’t need a special dress for that.”
It seemed Valentin was right. Being knotted and tied, not to mention marked, seemed to have done his mate a world of good. Mischa extended his hand and helped Simone onto the boat.
“I probably should have asked, are you subject to motion sickness?”
“No, not at all. I love the water and am a more than competent sailor. Don’t worry about when you asked, just know that it means something to me that you did ask.”
Mischa was impressed that she stowed her bag and immediately went forward to cast them off when he was ready. At his nod, she very competently untied the boat, coiling the line with efficiency before heading to the stern to do the same.
He pulled away from the dock and headed out of the cove, crossing the Gulf of Alaska to get up to Kodiak. Mischa was glad to see that she hadn’t exaggerated. Not only didn’t Simone get seasick, but she was also incredibly comfortable on the boat and seemed to be enjoying herself.
As instructed by Doc, they pulled up to the back of his clinic and headed inside.
“Simone, this is Doc Hadley. We don’t have our own doctor in Otter Cove but do have a paramedic unit. I told him about your problem, and he’d like to run some tests.”
Doc shook his head. “Dire wolves, in fact wolves in general, are the only shifters less concerned with how they say something than bears. Your mate doesn’t have a problem, but she may have a condition or an abnormality.” He shook his head. “And that claiming mark looks fresh.”
Simone lifted her hand to her throat. “I cleaned it, but I’ve always heard they heal better if they are left in the open.”
“They do indeed, but I would think it would show more signs of healing. Generally, shifters heal so much faster than humans. But, then again, that can also depend on the severity of the bite.”
“She is mate to an alpha,” growled Mischa.
Simone laid her hand on his arm. “That I am. Just let him take a look and he’ll see for himself that it’s fine. It still hurts a bit, but not bad.”
“Well let’s take you back to the lab. I can draw some blood, maybe get you to give me a urine sample and take a look at that bite mark.” Doc turned to Mischa. “You can come if you like but only if you don’t growl at me the whole time for touching your mate.”
“Mischa wouldn’t do that, would you, Mischa,” said Simone with a smile.
Given that he was seriously considering ripping off Doc’s hand that had touched Simone, he gritted his teeth and said, trying to be funny, “Wouldn’t I?”
Doc Hadley laughed. “Don’t worry about it, Simone, I’m used to all the alpha wolves, bears, lynxes, and the like.”
As Simone followed the doctor, she said to Mischa. “Did you see Kitty this morning? I didn’t see her before we left. I kept the balcony doors open in our room and in the one I first stayed in. It isn’t like her to stay out all night. Everyone said they’d keep an eye out for her.”
“Kitty?” asked Doc.
“My pet. She’s an Eurasian lynx.”
Doc cleaned Simone’s neck where Mischa had marked her, clucking his tongue in an unspoken reprimand the entire time. He then had Simone give him a urine sample and took several vials of blood.
Pulling his exam gloves off and washing his hands, he said to them. “It’ll take a little while to get the test results back, but I’ll run them now. I should have them later this afternoon. Are you going to be around?”
Mischa nodded. “We can go to the Workshop and grab something to eat, and we may be out on the boat, but we’ll stick relatively close until we hear from you.”
“Good enough. Simone, it was nice to meet you. Make sure you keep that wound clean. Let me know if it doesn’t start healing up.”
Gripping her arm, Mischa directed her down the street to the Workshop, probably one of the best pubs in all of Alaska. The food was good, the booze wasn’t watered down, and the prices were fair.
Dash Samuels, the owner of the Workshop, approached them. “Mikhail, it’s been a while. How are you? And who is the pretty lady you have decorating your arm?”
