I open my eyes, smiling a little as I watch the military transport pull into camp. Nodding, eager to get my patients loaded onto it, I start to turn –And nearly bang right into Jeanie.She laughs at me, reaching out her hands to steady me as I start to stumble back. “Easy, Nadia,” she says, grinning at me. “You all right?”“Yeah, yeah,” I say, only scowling a little in my embarrassment. “We just need to –““Nad, I’ll handle the transport,” she says, nodding to me, smirking. “You’ve been working all night –““Well, so have you!”“No, I haven’t,” she says, raising her eyebrows at me. “I got five solid hours between midnight and now. You didn’t notice?”I sigh, raising a hand to cover my eyes, wondering if it’s exhaustion or idiocy that made me miss that. “I am very dedicated to my work, Jeanie,” I say, pretending to be stuck up and too cool to care. “I cannot be bothered to notice everyone’s breaks –“She laughs at me and gives my shoulders a fond squeeze before dropping her hands. “Se
NadiaWhen I raise my head again I groan, feeling like my head is full of cotton. I work my tongue in my sticky mouth – desperate for some water –Like a wish granted, my eyes fall on the bottle of it resting on the pillow next to me. I frown for a second before I grab it, twisting off the top and taking a long sip as I read the note next to it.Gone to dinner with the Prince because we are fancy. Love you Na-na, you dehydrated psychopath workaholic! Come join us when you wake up!I smirk, looking at the line of scrawled hearts and stars that follow the words, knowing immediately who wrote it even if it’s unsigned.I sigh and sit up, looking around at my familiar little bed, wondering…how the hell I got here. And then a desperate little frown takes my lips as I realize that there’s only one realistic answer to that question. One I don’t like at all.It takes a minute to gather some of my stuff, but then I head into the bathroom for a quick, much-needed shower and tooth brushing. But w
His smirk deepens incrementally as he glances at me from the corner of his eye. Without a word, he returns to his soup.“Fine,” I say, lofty, turning to my own bowl. “If you know me so well, I don’t need to ask questions. Proceed to inform me.” I crumple a bunch of crackers into my soup. “You smug-ass wolf.”He grins, laughing a little. “The patients got to the hospital just fine. A few came in during the day today while you slept, but nothing major. Well, one very broken leg, but the doctor handled it.”I nod, frowning, considering this. “Any kids?”Cole turns to me in surprise. “What?”“Grace noticed it,” I say, raising my chin towards her. “All these women, very few men, not a single child. Not even anyone like…adolescent.”Cole sits straighter and goes a little pale, glancing at Grace. He stays silent for a long moment, his mind clearly working through this information. “Shit,” he whispers, turning to me. “Do you have data on that?”I shrug, even as I narrow my eyes at him, wonder
NadiaThe next few hours are incredibly challenging. The evening shift starts out pretty normally, but everything changes when a military transport arrives with a whole bunch of people from the Children of Solace who are much, much more wounded than the patients that we’ve been seeing so far.My father even comes out of the command tent to greet the transport, taking charge in a way he didn’t when people were simply finding us on their own.I stand close with Grace and Shayne as people – mostly men – are unloaded from the truck, bloody and moaning, some of them unable to walk on their own. Our guards – Cole and Tommy among them – join in on the effort to get everyone into beds as doctor Arbroth quickly marks which cases take top priority.“Still no kids,” Grace murmurs, frowning, her arms crossed.I nod, agreeing, wondering again where they all are.Shay exhales
By the time midnight rolls around and my shift ends, I am very ready for it.I step out of the tent and stretch my back, looking around for a place to rest. My eyes catch on a bright flash of red hair by the fire and I look over to see Grace and Shayne eagerly waving to me. I start towards them, my footsteps only hitching a little when I notice the very large dark form sitting to Shayne’s right.Stupid wolves. I need a wolf break tonight, but of course the universe intuited this and decided it wasn’t done messing with me, so it sent the future King of the wolf people to hang out with my girls.I don’t say a word to Cole as I step close. I just glare at him and then deliberately flick my gaze to the sliver of space on the log between him and Shayne.When I look back up at Cole’s face, eyebrow raised, his mouth slowly spreads into a smile. “Oh, Nadia,” he says, graciously moving aside and leaving plenty of space
Nadia“These people you’ve been treating today?” Cole says, looking at each of us in turn. “They’re not the people you saw running away last night. Some of these – many of them – were the die-hards clearing the path for Slaken to escape.”“Shit,” I whisper, shaking my head at the Prince. “So, he’s gone?”“Wait, sorry,” Grace says, leaning forward and looking fascinatedly between us. “What’s a Slaken?”Cole smirks at me for a moment, realizing that I truly did keep my promise of secrecy. Shayne scoffs at me, figuring out the same thing at the same moment. But Cole just nods and quickly fills the pair in. Something in my chest glows like a happy little firefly to see him trust my best friends so easily – I mean, they’re wonderful people and he couldn’t put his trust in a better spot.But whatever that little
I wait a moment for all of our laughter to fade, silently grateful for Shay, even if she did shove me to the ground. Because despite everyone being very irritating, I have to admit that I’m in a much better mood than I was when my shift ended.“Okay, yes, Nadi’s right,” Grace says with a sigh, untying her knot of brown hair and massaging her scalp for a bit. “Cole, is that why our patients were so difficult tonight? They were the enemy?”He shrugs, a noncommittal gesture. “I mean, it’s hard to call anyone an enemy, Grace,” he says. “They’re all our citizens.”“Did they shoot guns at our military?” I ask, dry.He flashes his eyes to me, grim.“Then they’re the enemy.”“You know it’s more complicated than that.”“Not on the battlefield it’s not.”He narrows his eyes at me for
Nadia“Fine, whatever,” I say, working hard to be breezy and failing completely. “If it’s Will’s shift now, let him take it.”Cole gives us a little cursory bow that seems more instinctual than deliberate as his way of saying goodnight, but it sets Shayne beaming regardless. He goes one way to the command tent as Will walks with us to the nurse’s quarters, sending us off to sleep.“So, you’re all in love with the Prince?” Will asks, his voice terribly disappointed. “None left for us poor regular guys?”“I wouldn’t say we’re all in love with the Prince,” Grace says, shooting me a wicked glance. My fingers itch to shove her but I magnanimously refrain.“Well, it’s not our fault,” Shayne says, turning at the dormitory tent to give Will her prettiest smile, looking up at him beneath her lashes. &ldqu
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