Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 63: Caine: Ten Minutes

CAINE

In hindsight, our arrival to the hospital could have been handled better.

Fenris grumbles, refusing to acknowledge his part in the chaos. He’s still upset to learn wolves aren’t allowed in the hospital. Service animals only.

... and getting mad at your mate’s doctors for refusing him entry doesn’t endear you to the hospital staff—or security.

Granted, I could have stood my ground. It isn’t as if their pathetic security force is enough to stop the wrath of a Lycan, much less their king. From what I can tell, even an average beta could wreck the place. After all, like most hospitals, they cater to humans. Even a weak shifter can overpower an average human.

A place like this doesn’t need someone capable of standing up to an alpha, much less a Lycan. Most of us don’t even heal slow enough to require hospital care. A few might require intensive treatment if they’re too weak for natural healing to kick in, but such situations are rare. Broken bones do need treatment, but rarely require an overnight stay. By far, the majority of shifters admitted to a hospital are there for one reason: Pregnancy.

Illness and injury may not plague our people the way it haunts a human’s lifetime, but even supernaturals can have issues with birthing offspring.

Which explains why the humans became so squirrelly when I threatened to throw her first doctor through a wall, daring to tell me our presence is unnecessary because Grace was just sleeping. A violent environment is no place to bring a fresh pup into the world.

Magnanimous as I am, I allowed their pathetic security force to escort me off hospital grounds...

Only because Lyre threatened to lock you out of her home if you didn’t, Fenris huffs. You can’t keep treating humans like this if you want Grace to like you.

She does like me. This fact is now established. Granted, she liked me a little too much and fainted afterward...

I check my phone again, a growl building in my throat. Nothing. The screen remains stubbornly blank, no new messages from Lyre.

Ten minutes. Ten goddamn minutes since her last update.

She said Grace is stable. You heard the doctor yourself.

"I don’t trust them," I mutter, pacing outside of the gas station conveniently located across the street from the hospital. They want me one hundred feet away, which is fine... but I’m not going any farther. "How hard is it to send a text?"

She’s ignoring you. Stop demanding updates every five minutes. She has better things to do, like actually watching over Grace.

I grit my teeth over the annoying truth of his words. "Don’t start."

Maybe he’s right, though. Five minutes might be extreme. Ten minutes should be fine, though.

I wasn’t the one who threatened to disembowel the nurse for asking you to fill out paperwork.

My eyebrows snap together. "He was keeping me from Grace. Her IV was pulling at her skin—"

He was doing his job. And Lyre fixed the IV.

The rainbow-haired enigma had even slapped my hand away again, telling me in no uncertain terms to stay away from Grace. That’s when it all started. The humans had given me strange looks.

Fine. Maybe he’s right about the one instance, but the rest...

You mean the doctor you pinned against the wall?

"He told us to leave."

at for asking you

"She was disrespectful."

sound a little out of control. Not as much as normal, but my mind has

the receptionist you made cry when she couldn’t access

bare my teeth. "Are

Someone should.

woman clutching a coffee cup flinches, scurrying to her car and slamming the door

my transgressions. Like he’s

me. It’s about

trying to keep it a little quieter than normal. These humans find talking to yourself strange, despite it being

humans aren’t a great

my Grace, though. She’s comfortable

afraid, Fenris points out, ruining the small surge of pride and affection coursing through me

"I’m not—"

worried because you almost killed Grace. Instead of admitting it, you’re lashing out at everyone else. Kings have pride, but

clench my jaw, pointedly ignoring Fenris’s sanctimonious lecture. The silence stretches

a new notification. Every muscle in my body tenses as I

[LYRE: She’s fine.]

if it might reveal more information under threat. "What the hell

making me wait fifteen minutes. The

determined to make his home. It’s all an act, though. I can feel the anxiety

furiously, thumbs punching

awake? Still

appear, indicating Lyre’s typing a response, then disappear. Appear

Ask nicely, Fenris suggests.

"Fuck off."

before

phone remains stubbornly silent.

that sterile building across the

try it Fenris’s

Please update me on

comes almost

Still waiting on test results. She needs

exhale sharply, relief flooding through me. She’s awake. Conscious. Speaking. The

I come

response:

extend reflexively, scraping against my phone case. A growl builds in my throat, rumbling so loud a car pulling into the gas station diverts to

They’ll call security again. She doesn’t

suppose

"High Alpha?"

idiots to speak with the Lycan King. It’s common knowledge not to approach a stronger opponent from downwind. Unless, of course,

I snap, turning to

stands before me, shoulders pulled back, chin tipped up in an almost challenging posture. Dark brown hair swoops across his forehead, and he smiles at me with perfect white teeth. His stance suggests

Deputy Marshal Dawson. Everyone calls me Marsh." He extends a hand