Nadia Dad glances at me, a rare smirk on his lips, before turning his attention more completely to Cole. “Kincaid,” he says – his formality making me smile in turn. I mean, dad has been part of our nation’s military for a long time and has known Cole since he was a little kid.But, I guess we’re in a military operation now.“Some interesting information has come through.” Dad raises his left hand, indicating the slim laptop held there.“Great,” Cole says, nodding. “Let’s have a look.”The two start off together towards one of the therapists’ little fire circles. I hesitate for about a quarter of a second before I stride along with them, certainly not leaving until someone makes me.“You don’t really need this information, Nurse,” dad says, glancing up at me as he takes a seat on one of the logs and opens the laptop. His voice is gentle though, soft. I know his subtle moods well enough to know that he’s entertained by my persistence, not bothered. Cole settles in on his left.“Yes, I
Cole nods, understanding, still keeping his eyes on me. “I understand your hesitations, Nadia. But you may not have all the information. It’s important to know that the Children of Solace is an institution that is not beyond threatening its own citizens to keep us out. And they’ll follow through on their threats. Taking them out fast saves lives, if we can manage it. I promise.”My dad nods, agreeing. “I understand the logic. We have to take the shot.”I exhale slowly, realizing that – as Cole says – I’m out of my depths here. My hand clenches on my knee, frustrated at that. I…I want to know everything – as much as they do.But, as my dad says, I don’t have clearance for that.Or at least I haven’t. Until now.“Okay,” I say, nodding, understanding but wanting to give it more thought before I voice my opinion anything more. That always seems to get me in a great deal of trouble with these wolves.“Well, Head Nurse?” Dad asks, slipping the laptop to Cole so that he can explore the map a
Nadia “Hey, Cole,” Rose says, laughing and twisting her hips as she says it. She wrinkles her nose at him and my hands clench in my lap. God, this girl thinks she’s so cute.And I mean, she is. But…whatever. I hate her anyway.“So?” Rose asks, lifting her chin again after my dad. “Updates?”“Sorry,” Cole says, smoothly standing from his spot next to me on this log. “That’s classified information, Rose.”Suddenly aware of being the only one sitting and peering up at the rest of the group like a toddler, I stand too.Rose scoffs, I think genuinely surprised to be denied. Suddenly she turns her head to glare at me. “Well, why does she get to know?”“Hi, I’m…Jeanie,” the therapy student says, giving an awkward wave and attempting a smile that doesn’t stick as she looks
Cole “Who is that girl, Cole?” Rose asks, her voice low and cold as she glares up at me.I sigh and look down at her, studying her face, realizing that this riled-up jealousy used to be precisely the thing that worked my wolf up into a frenzy. But now my wolf just studies Rose with his ears pricked, more curious than anything else. Then he yawns, placid, and turns away.I smile, pleased at this relative freedom from the power Rose has traditionally held over me. “You already know the answer, Rose,” I say. “She’s one of our nurses. Their representative, actually.”She scoffs. “But she’s just a human, surely she doesn’t have the capacity –“I tilt my head, glaring hard at Rose, and she stops mid-sentence, her lips still parted. “Don’t go there,” I say quietly. “Things are different in Oseania, but you’re in Clyth
ColeRose snarls, baring her teeth when I don’t take her bait. “Who is it that you’re dating, Cole? Is it that redhead I saw in all those pictures at Midwinter -”I smirk, suddenly grateful that Iris invited some friend over for Midwinter – the girl was perfectly nice, but certainly not someone I was interested in. Still, she was in all the tabloids as part of Midwinter celebrations, and she’d be the perfect distraction to get Rose’s mind off Nadia. But still, I don’t want to outright lie or put Rose on that girl’s tail. No, Daph doesn’t deserve that. “No, not the redhead.”“Then who the hell –“ Rose storms forward again. I just lean back, letting her come, knowing that I’ve got the trump card that can end it all.“Rose, I met my mate.”She freezes, the blood draining from her cheeks, her expression fa
NadiaMy group and I work through the afternoon and into the evening, getting everything ordered and set up. By the time we’re finished, night has fully fallen and most of the nurses have stepped out to go get dinner and hang out by the fire or take some time to themselves in their bunks.But I’m still here, munching on a sandwich and organizing the little office space we set up, ensuring that everything is labeled and where it should be. I like things neat, after all.Or, well. I like things in the clinic neat. My room at home is always a disaster.But one can’t be picky. Nobody’s health is at stake if my bed goes unmade, but sterile syringes need to be kept that way.“Are you all good here?”I look up to see Jeanie smiling down at me. I smile right back. “I think so,” I say, nodding eagerly and looking around. “Nearly done.”
Nadia I can hear the grumble of Cole’s growl resonating through his chest as the two figures hesitantly move forward. But after only two or three seconds it’s apparent that they’re not threats –They’re patients.People who need my help.Immediately I step to the side and then rush out ahead of Cole, striding for them. He sighs and calls my name, but I ignore him. He catches up easily and hurries at my side – not stopping me but certainly not letting me go alone.I glance over to the larger group by the fire, some of whom have started standing, noticing that something’s up. “They need to stay back,” I say bruskly to Cole, turning my eyes back to the people at the edge of the camp. They shrink away from me in fear and my heart seizes for them.Cole falls back a step, giving some sort of hand signal to his men before coming back to my side.&l
Nadia“Easy, Jade,” the taller woman says, putting her hand on Jade’s shoulder. “She’s helping.”Jade hesitates but then her face falls in apology. “Sorry,” she says, working the word around her wheezing breath.“Here, darling,” Grace says, taking the blanket from the bottom of the bed and wrapping it around Jade’s shoulders. “Let’s get you cozy warm while we work.”Jade gives Grace a small smile and lets me continue to probe at her wrist.I smile at Jade, trying my best to be friendly – which doesn’t always come naturally to me. I work the wrist as gently as I can, stopping when she flinches. “It hurts a lot, yeah?”She nods and we go through a few experiments to see how much mobility she has, stopping when it hurts too much. A tall woman with red hair streaked with grey comes into the tent in a white coat, look
Nadia“Hey,” Cole snaps, his hands tightening on my waist. I blink and look up at him, focusing on his face as he frowns down at me. And then I look around, realizing that we’re in the nurse’s bunk tent.When the hell did we get here?“Are you all right?” he asks, all stern.I frown at him again. “I’m fine.”Cole narrows his eyes. “You’re not fine. But you will be. Okay? I need you to trust me on that.”I blink up at him, hope and clarity coming to me as I realize that…dad was right. I do have a royal connection. Cole took that phone for a reason. He’s – he’s going to make some phone calls – he’s going to fix this –I straighten my shoulders, nodding to him. Cole’s eyes move over me and he nods too, buying it. “Go and wash up, okay?” he says, lifting his
Nadia“Dad wants a meeting,” I say, gesturing to my father with my thumb.“That’s unnecessary,” dad says, pitching his voice higher so Cole can hear. “My meeting is with you, Nadia.”I slowly turn to him with a frown, narrowing my eyes. What on earth is going on here?Cole murmurs to Tommy and another of his guards for a moment, clearly ordering them to take the same command with the boy pups that Shayne and Grace just took with the girls. He moves quickly towards us.“What’s going on?” Cole asks, slipping his hands into his pockets.“It’s not your concern, Captain Kincaid,” dad snaps, glaring at Cole.Cole just looks evenly at dad, his expression turning cold, clearly implying that if dad’s meeting has to do with me then it damn well does concern him too.Dad glares between us. &ld
NadiaCole laughs, quite pleased with himself, and I straighten up, my hand clasped in my towel over my chest. “If you please, sir,” I snap, eyes still closed. “I’d like my privacy while I dress.”“Back into your dirty clothes?” My eyes snap open in time to see Cole raise an eyebrow at me. I realize that he’s right – all my clean stuff is at my bunk.“Oh, shut up,” I mutter, stooping to gather up my dirty outfit.“Come on,” he says, reaching for me, aiming to put his arm over my shoulders again.I squeak, darting past him so he can’t touch and fucking ensorcel me with his stupid body – which is probably all warm -“Get back here!” Cole calls, laughing as I dash past him out of the shower room.“No!”“Do it!” he shouts after me, laughing
NadiaI scowl as I blush, which feels appropriate when one is stripping down in a little cubicle with Cole Kincaid naked on the other side of a very thin wall. There are four little showers here, all in a row, and each not only has a curtained shower stall but also this little dry cell next to it with its own curtain to block out the rest of the room. But luckily, we have the shower room all to ourselves for now, which is rarely the case.“You good over there?” Cole calls.I stop with my shirt pulled halfway over my head. “Why would I not be good?” I snap.He laughs, low and pleased. “I can just hear you seething.”“Oh, shut up.” I finish pulling my shirt and bra off in one go, throwing them on the floor.“Was that your shirt?”“Cole!”“Wait, so, are you topless?”
Nadia“All right,” Cole says, nodding to the pups. “I want everyone to remain in wolf form, and young ladies, I’d like you in two even lines on either side of the boys, please.”Janine looks up at me. “What’s a young lady?” she whispers.I laugh, tapping her on the nose and whispering that she is, quickly giving her an explanation that makes her smile.When all the kids have lined up Cole holds his hand out to me. I take it and together we move to the front. “You ready for this?” he murmurs, glancing down at me.I shrug, looking up at him. “I was born for this.”Cole smiles, exhausted but terribly pleased with me, and together we walk into the camp with one little wolf girl in my arms and twenty-five pups following neatly behind. Tommy’s mouth falls open as he sees us approach. He quickly radios for backup,
NadiaCole frowns down at the boys. “No, I’m not going to kill you,” he says, steady and strong. “I don’t come from a world where we kill children. We raise them and educate them in warm and happy homes. If you obey, you will be given food and warm clothing, you’ll be sent to school. You’ll be safe and protected – and you won’t have to work until you’re much older and can decide what jobs you’d like.”A confused little hum starts in the children, the girls looking at me, clearly wondering if this promise extends to them as well. I slowly nod, dedicating myself inwardly to ensuring that that promise is kept.“But it all starts with you all falling into my command,” Cole says, steady and unyielding. “Can you do that?”Most of the little boys immediately nod, great smiles breaking out on their faces. Only the
Nadia“Fine,” I say, turning my hand over and nodding towards the backpack which I can’t reach anymore. “You handle that, I need to bandage this,” I say, nodding down to the little girl’s cut arm. It’s not deep, thank god.Cole nods and quickly grabs the backpack, passing it to the closest girl, who hands it to me. I concentrate on being a nurse as Cole turns back to the boys.“Who sent you?” Cole asks, voice rough and displeased. He crosses his arms, glaring down at the little ragged crew, some of whom sniff and look miserable. Others just stare at Cole, fully awed.“No one sent us,” the head boy says, his head hanging. I note for the first time that he’s a handsome little boy, larger than the rest, with brown hair and freckles over his cheeks and nose. “Or, well, we’re scouts, so our Superior sent us. But we attacked you because
Nadia“Wake up!” A voice snarls. “You are our captives now!”I lurch out of sleep, my eyes flashing open. They widen at the sight in front of me.But I barely have time to process the sight of the little boy baring his teeth at us, a sharp knife clutched in his hand, a whole pack of other little boys gathered behind him before a vicious snarl erupts from Cole, whose arms tighten around me.I gasp – but then the whole world goes to shit.Chaos reigns as all of our little girls seem to leap to their little puppy feet at once, yelping and barking and snarling, some lunging at the boys who shout and wave knives, or shift and attack. Other girls dash behind behind rocks or tuck themselves into the shadows. Janine cries out, pressing herself closer to me as Cole launches to his feet, pushing me behind him as he shifts into his wolfI shout, clutching Janine to me
NadiaWe run for about thirty minutes, I think – but even after that relatively short time, I can see that the pups are flagging – weak, exhausted, starving. Cole barks twice and slows, allowing the pups to catch up as he moves into the shadows of a cliffside, well protected from sight. When we’re all tucked in he lowers himself to the ground. I help Janine climb down and then follow after her, looking curiously up at Cole as he shifts back.“Think we’re far enough away?” I whisper.“As far as we’re going to get,” he murmurs. “They’re flagging. They need food and water.” He looks carefully around, sniffing the air. “I think we’re okay for now. I haven’t sensed anyone near all night.”I nod, trusting him to know far better than me.“Let’s get the sandwiches out,” he murmurs, lifting his head towards the ba