Everett

Fifty minutes later I had packed my bags and gotten permission from the alpha of my pack, Neil, to work remotely for the next couple of weeks. If I needed more time away, we would have another discussion. I found Meleri in the dining hall with a mostly-full cup of lemonade in front of her. She was talking on her phone when I approached, but offered me a smile and a wave.

I grabbed myself a prepackaged sandwich and a bottled water for the road, then met Meleri at the door. She had hung up the phone and was looking at me expectantly.

"I really appreciate this," she said as she held open the door for me. I had to twist a bit to fit through with my duffel bag and my laptop bag, but we managed without much trouble.

"Don't thank me," I said. "I'm glad to help. Can you tell me more about her, though? What happened?"

"Can we talk about this later? It's a long story and we need to hit the road. Did you want to take your own car or ride with me?"

I considered this. I knew vaguely where the Lakota pack's territory was, but I had never actually been there. In that sense, riding together would be simpler. Then again, I hated not being self-sufficient, transportation-wise. Begging for rides had been awful as a teenager and I never wanted to live like that again. "I'll follow you. I'll meet you at the visitor's lot exit?"

Meleri agreed and we split up. Pack members parked in the garage instead of the lot out front. I hurried my steps, not wanting to make Meleri – or my mate – wait any longer than necessary.

The car ride took almost two hours and my nerves escalated the longer I drove. My mind reeled with the knowledge that I was on my way to my mate's hospital bed. Even knowing where she was would have been huge news, but her mysterious injury was terrifying. My mother had always described the mating bond as the source of her highest highs and lowest lows. I didn't even know my mate and already I felt sick at the idea of losing her. The faded second-hand scent I had picked up from her shirt filled my mind and drove me to act completely out of character.

I wasn't that man, the one who could change plans at a moment's notice. I liked plans and changing them last-minute usually left me out of sorts for hours. I wasn't feeling grumpy now, though. I was just scared... and exhilarated.

Meleri got me through the checkpoint into Lakota territory without any trouble. I followed her to a small parking lot tucked away in the woods, where we both left our cars.

"We don't do visitor lots here. You just park where you find a spot," she explained when I nervously asked whether I was allowed to park with her.

I brought both my laptop bag and my duffel bag. My mate would need me with her, would need some kind of skin contact with me to help speed the healing process. As long as I held her hand or made sure our arms touched, I could still do my work. I had to look into a potential property investment by Monday morning and had barely started doing any research into it, so unfortunately, work would be a requirement.

Meleri talked as she led me down a paved path to the pack's hospital, not letting me get a word in. I didn't mind. In fact, it was nice to not have to find anything to say to this woman I'd just met. She would be like a sister to me, I thought as I let her words wash over me. Meleri was telling me about her younger brother, who was on his way back to Lakota, too. He had apparently also been out hunting for me.

When we got inside, Meleri stopped talking. The atmosphere was more welcoming than I was used to for a hospital, but I kind of liked it. The lights were warm instead of being a cold, glaring white. The furniture was made from dark wood and the walls were full of windows that let in dappled light from the forest and a beautiful view of the trees around us.

We went up two sets of stairs before Meleri paused outside a door not far down the hall. She looked nervously over her shoulder at me before opening the door and stepping aside, letting me precede her into the room.

The sense of hurry that had driven me to follow Meleri here without any details and without any hesitation fled. I stood frozen just before the threshold, my heart pounding again as my mate's scent hit me full-force. It took almost all of my focus to keep my feet rooted, to not launch myself into the room and at my mate. My blood rushed south, which really didn't help the situation. I forced my mind away from my arousal, gritting my teeth with the effort it took to restrain myself.

She was there. If I took two more steps, I would see her.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to tamp down my excitement. It didn't belong here in this hospital. When the excitement drained away it left only fear and nerves, which seemed appropriate enough that I finally felt okay about entering.

I took one step forward, then another, and looked at the figure laying on a large bed.

I froze again, my mind going completely blank.

I couldn't force my eyes away from my mate, though I wished with every part of me that I could unsee this. I had spent years imagining what my mate would be like, but there was one possibility that never crossed my mind. The person on the bed, the person who was destined for me, was a man.

A hand touched my arm, pulling me out of my frozen state. I looked down and saw Meleri, who looked apologetic. "You just assumed your mate was a woman," she said. "I was afraid to correct you. I didn't know if you would come if you knew your mate was my brother."

I shook my head, still trying to wrap my head around this. I mentally reviewed every conversation with Meleri and now that I thought about it, she never had used a pronoun when talking about my mate. "It's still dishonest," I accused. "You intentionally misled me."

Her eyes hardened. "Would it have changed anything? Would you have abandoned him if you'd known?"

I tore my eyes away from her and looked to the sleeping figure on the bed. He was laying on his back, his limbs and head arranged neatly so that I could take in his whole face. He had a warrior's build and a face to go with it, all hard edges. He embodied strength. Further shoving his gender down my throat, I noted that he had a couple weeks' growth of facial hair.

Would I have come if I had known my mate was a man? I hoped I was a good enough person for that, but I wasn't sure. I looked down at Meleri, who had stepped back so that she was blocking the doorway. What, did she think I would try to escape? If I did, would she try to stop me?

"I'm sorry," she said. "I really am. But I can't let him die. You're the best chance he has at survival. Please stay."

She didn't need to look so worried. As much as I wanted to leave, I didn't think I could now. His scent was thick in the air, making it hard to think about anything except how badly I needed to be close to him – an uncomfortable thought, but one I thought I could manage, at least for now. "I'll stay," I decided. "I'll stay until he doesn't need me here anymore. But you need to promise me that you won't tell him anything about me. Not my name, not where I live. Do and say nothing that will lead him to me."

Horror overtook her pleading expression. "If he lives, you'll leave him here?"

"Do we have an agreement?" I asked, not seeing the point in trying to answer a question that I had no answer to.

Meleri took a long time to answer. "Yes, we have an agreement. I'll be back soon." She hurried out of the room, but not before I saw the tears that were spilling from her eyes again. I felt a pang of guilt, knowing I had caused it. I couldn't agree to commit myself to this, though.

I knew about the Lakota pack and could see the story of it written on my mate's body. There were thick, long scars across his shoulders where he had clearly been clawed and bitten. There was gauze around his neck and I shuddered to think of what it hid. Another part of me – a part I was really not prepared to deal with – wondered whether his neck was too damaged for my mark to stand out on it. The point was moot, since I wouldn't be marking him.

No, I didn't think I could live in the Lakota pack. And I couldn't imagine bringing him home to mine. My pack hadn't seen true battle in over a decade. What would this warrior-type do there? And that's if I even managed to wrap my head around the fact that he was a man.

Not that I had a problem with men being mated... I had just never considered that it might happen to me. Every single attraction of my life had been to a female. And didn't the evidence of old battle wounds mean he had been through some violent situations? How could I bring someone like this into my structured, peaceful life?

I couldn't.

I took a careful step toward the bed, testing the effect of moving closer on the bond that was even now screaming for me to rush to him. When the increased proximity didn't make me lose my mind to the bond, I cautiously took another step. I proceeded like that, stepping and pausing to assess my own reaction, until I made it to the chair next to his bed.

I set my laptop bag down next to it and took a careful seat, then stared at his hand as though it might attack me at any second. He needed my touch to speed his healing, I told myself. Touching him wasn't committing to anything. If I left before he woke up he would have no way to track me down, so I should just do it.

It was hard, though. I lifted my hand and watched as it neared his. I let my fingers hover over the back of his hand until my arm trembled before carefully brushing them over his skin.

Warmth rushed through me and my heart raced. How could such a small, simple contact feel so good? I closed my eyes to appreciate it. All hesitation forgotten, I took his hand in both of mine, enjoying the tingling sensation where we touched. Acting on instinct, I brought his hand up and turned it over so I could press my nose to the skin of his wrist, where his scent was stronger. My mouth watered and I grew painfully, distressingly hard. I jerked his hand away from me, though I wasn't able to convince my fingers to relinquish their grip.

I stared down at my mate in dismay. How was I supposed to sit here for however long it took for him to wake up – if he woke up – and then leave again? If I didn't even have the strength to let go of his hand, how could I go back to my life like none of this had happened?

I swept my gaze over his features as though they held all the answers. He was attractive. I thought I could admit that much, at least. He had a strong jawline, but not too strong, and good cheekbones. His eyebrows swept a graceful curve over eyes fringed with long lashes. His hair, a deep brown color, fell in waves over his pillow, reaching to just above his ears. With my free hand, I stroked through a particularly wavy piece, fascinated at the texture of it and the way it held its form. My palm brushed against his temple, sending another jolt through my system.

I hastily pulled my hand away from his head while my other hand clutched at his. Hand-holding was okay, I thought. I was supposed to be holding on to him; that was the whole reason Meleri had brought me here. A mate's touch could accelerate healing, and whether I wanted to be or not, I was his mate. I could do this much for him before going back to my life.

Later, a woman walked in and beamed brightly when she saw me. "You must be Everett, Felix's mate. Meleri mentioned you would be in here."

So, his name was Felix. My heart pounded as his name carved indelibly into my mind even while I stood, keeping my hold on Felix as I offered her my other to shake. The woman's smile didn't falter as she took my hand in her own. "I'm just so relieved Meleri found you. I'm Paula, Felix's doctor."

"Nice to meet you," I said, awkwardly taking my seat.

Paula consulted the clipboard she carried before checking on Felix, recording his vitals and checking his pupils for responsiveness.

"How is he?" I couldn't help asking.

The smile remained fixed on her face, but her eyes softened and she regarded me with a sympathy I knew I didn't deserve. "About the same, Everett. But you only just arrived this afternoon. I have hope that things will turn around in the next day or two. I'll be back to check on him again in a couple of hours, then the night shift will be taking over. I'll be sure to introduce you before I go."

"Thank you," I said.

"You're encouraged to stay the night, of course," Paula continued on her way out. "If you need anything, there's a button by Felix's bedside. We prefer that you not leave him any more than you need to, so dinner will be delivered to the room around five."

"Sounds good. Thanks again." Paula left me to contemplate the strange turn my life had taken. It was common practice for pack hospitals to be set up to accommodate their patients' mates. The expectation would be that I would share Felix's bed so that even while I slept, he would have heightened healing. That was why the bed was so large.

If it was so hard to pull my hand from his skin, how would I manage to get out of bed in the morning when more of us would be touching? But what was the alternative, staying in this chair indefinitely, even when sleeping? Because I knew I couldn't leave. I had already passed the point of being able to abandon Felix.

At least until he recovered, I was his.