“Ben.” Dean called out.
Ben straightened from his position. “What? Me?” His brows rose so high they melted into his hair.
“Good lord.” A new and very feminine voice sounded behind Ben. “You’re both freaking shifters. Wolves. You hunt, kill, and eat things that totally make me want to vomit. But you can’t handle a little blood when it’s on an examination table?”
At the sound and sight of his mate, Dean’s eyes morphed from bland curiosity to a love so intense that it made Jackie tingle all over.
“Hey,” Dean’s voice was husky in greeting, snatching Kaylie’s hand and pulling her to him for a hot, sloppy kiss.
Jackie dropped her gaze at the intimate contact, which was just shy of the bedroom, but sneaked a look when Dean gave a growl of irritation.
“Down boy. I’m working here.” Kaylie dodged out of Dean’s reach and went to the sink. “Hey Jackie. Looks like we’re tag-teaming tonight.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” Jackie responded. “Not only is this your area of expertise, but getting any help from the testosterone twins over there was going to be fruitless.”
“Figures.” Kaylie Gentry winked at Jackie then eyed the wolf as she dried her hands. “What do we know?”
“Only that he was shot. I’ve only done a cursory examination. I was about to get a sedative in him but I don’t know the animal doses off the top of my head.”
“Got it.” Kaylie reached for the black bag she’d brought before joining Jackie at the table. “I had to stop at the clinic to get some supplies, which is why I’m late.”
Jackie gracefully moved to the other side of the bed, knowing if the wolf woke, she was better equipped at handling those dangerous claws and teeth than a human. Plus, as her Lupa, Jackie would never risk Kaylie in any way.
“So,” Kaylie asked conversationally as she and Jackie worked on their furry patient. “Where did you find him?”
“About two miles northwest of the compound.” Dean told her, his voice louder to be heard over the buzzing of the electric razor.
“Get the asshole who shot him?”
“Saving him was priority.”
Neither woman responded until they got their first look at the creature’s bare flesh. “Hand me those... Thanks.” Kaylie prodded into the side wound with the large tweezers Jackie expertly set in her hand. “Damn. He’s already started to heal around the bullet. I’m sorry big guy.” After several minutes of silence, Kaylie let out a triumphant grunt. “Got you, sucker.” When she dropped the object into the metal pan Jackie held in her hand, the women stared at it for a moment, looked at each other, and then dropped their gazes back to the pan.
“What is it?” Ben asked.
“It’s a silver bullet,” Jackie whispered. “An actual silver bullet. What the hell?”
The twitching of a paw caught her attention. “He’s coming around.”
“No way,” Kaylie responded in disbelief. “I gave him enough sedative to knock him out a couple of hours.”
While Kaylie readied another needle, Jackie half-turned to set the shallow pan on the stool she had pushed toward the head of the bed, and froze.
Actually, everyone in the room froze.
A slice of fear skated up Jackie’s spine. She knew better. Knew to keep her arms and legs inside the car at all times, and to keep them away from snapping teeth. But somehow, in less than a blink of an eye, her wrist and the majority of her left hand found it’s way into the brown wolf’s dangerous jaw. While the animal wasn’t crushing her bones like tissue paper, it’s razor-sharp teeth had penetrated the glove and was sinking into bare flesh. He didn’t bite through though. No. This was a tell-me-what’s-going-on-before-I-tear-off-your-hand maneuver.
Jackie looked into amber eyes full of intelligence, determination and pain, and rushed to explain. “I’m a doctor. You’ve been hurt. Shot actually, and you have several other wounds we’re tending to. We’re trying to help you, not hurt you further. We know you’re a shifter.”
While she’d hoped her last words would reassure him, they instead caused him to clamp down just a fraction further, still not drawing blood, but with enough pressure to send her heart racing.
She licked her dry lips. The animal’s eyes followed the nervous gesture with a human-like intensity that shocked her. “There are four of us here. My Alpha, another male shifter and a human doctor. A vet actually.” She drew in a deep breath, and then let it out. “The bullet is out. We need you to shift so we can stitch up your wounds.”