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God damn it, all cute. And making me blush.

“Eat something real!” He calls. “A granola bar! Anything!”

“No!”

“Do it for me!”

I blush again, hating it, and don’t answer, thinking angrily that stupid Cole Kincaid doesn’t get to tell me when to eat.

But I passively grab a power bar off the table at the front of the nursing tent when I step in, forcing my thoughts to other things – my job, the people who need me.

Anything but that stupid boy.

I slip the bar into my pocket for later, ready to get to work.

Chapter 23 – Nice Juice

Nadia

The 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 Tommyamong 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 slowly. “Come on, questions later,” she says, striding forward when Arbroth lifts her head from the computer at the desk, looking for someone to give instructions to. “Now, we help.”

Shayne’s spirit is in the right place, but we each immediately find that the task itself is somewhat more difficult than it has been before.

“Get the fuck away from me,” a huge wolf snarls, half sitting in his bed as I approach with my little medical tray. My steps falter in the face of his aggression, as I feel myself very much the prey to his predator.

“Um, I’m…here to help,” I say, lifting the med kit as if that proves something.

“No humans,” he snarls, his whole body trembling before his arms give out, forcing him to fall back on his mattress, panting with pain and exhaustion. “You’ll…poison me because you’re either wicked or stupid. Either way, I don’t want your hands on me –“

I just gape at him, not knowing what to do. But Jeanie quickly comes to my side, her hands already on her hips. “Problem here?”

“I won’t be doctored by a human,” the wolf whispers, wincing in pain.

“All right, cool,” Jeanie says, her voice rich with sarcasm as she turns to me. “You can move on to the next one, Nadia, this one hasclearlychosen death –“

“What?” The wolf’s body jolts, trying to sit up. But he moans, forced to lie back.

Even if he is a dick, my heart hurts to see him in so much pain. Hereallyneeds medical care, and it’s against all of my instincts – personal and professional – to walk away.

“This is thenurse,” Jeanie says, gesturing her hand at me and waving it slowly up and down like a game show model showing off a great prize. “Sheis the one who helps you. If you refuse, you’re making your choice.”

“Give me a wolf nurse!” the Alpha shouts, at the end of his rope with both frustration and pain.

“Ain’t got none,” Jeanie snaps, her frustration matching the wolf’s. “All human nurses today.”

“You fix me up, then!”

“One, you don’t get to tell me to doanything,” Jeanie says, stepping towards the man and holding her ground. “Andtwo, I don’t have the training. So, this is the last time I’ll say it – accept aid from Nurse Amir or die quietly in that bed. Or! You can choose to fuck off into the woods to die – I don’t care.”