Page 58

Nadia

I 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?”

I screech in vile protest, making him burst out laughing as I shimmy out of my pants and underwear, hastily turning on the shower to as steamy a setting as we get out here in the desert, absolutely finished with his superior hearing.

I step out of my clothes and hop into the stream of water as soon as it’s warm enough. I listen carefully as I tilt my head back, soaking my hair, hearing the tell-tale disruption of Cole’s own shower stream that means he’s inside too.

Which means he’s…naked.

I clear my throat, grabbing my soap and loofa-thing, working up a lather and beginning to wash my body.

But as I do, my mind sorts through memories of the day, and as much as I’m so incredibly proud of the work we did…I honestly still don’t understand how it came together so easily.

“Cole?” I call.

“What’s up?”

I smirk a little, listening to the sounds of water hitting his body, slipping off of him and smacking to the floor. But then I shake myself, clearing my throat. “So, like…why did all of the boys immediately do what you said?” I ask. “Were they just scared of you?”

“Fear had something to do with it,” he says, pitching his voice a little louder so that I can hear him better. “But it had much more to do with the Alpha Command.”

I go a little still, frowning at the wall between us. “Yeah, that’s what one of the girls said! What the hell is that?”

Cole laughs. “Not everyone can do it – just…some Alphas. It’s just a particular pitch of voice, saying things with authority that makes people follow your commands even if they don’t want to.”

“What?” I gasp. “You like…enslave them? With your words? ”

He laughs again, and I startle out of my shock, beginning to scrub myself more fiercely now.

“No, it’s nothing like that. It’s just some function of our biology, I think – our bodies responding immediately to commands of wolves particularly predisposed to protect us.

Kids are particularly attuned to it, which is why most of those boys fell in line. ”

“And by ‘wolves particularly predisposed to protect,’” I say, quite dry, rinsing my sponge and quickly beginning to shampoo my hair. “You mean big fat stupid bossy Alphas, don’t you?”

Cole laughs again, his shower turning off.

I scowl. God damn boys and their quick shower processes.

“I mean those destined for command. Packs always have Alphas in charge – it’s not just a social order. Our bodies respond to it, too.”

I rinse my hair quickly and slap some conditioner on, not precisely sure how I feel about this. I’m still deciding as I wrap up my shower, turning off the water and quickly drying off before I wrap my towel around me and pull open the curtain.

I gasp and go still when I see Cole standing there, leaning against my cubicle with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

How – how did he open my curtain without me hearing?

He smirks at me, all wet and gorgeous and fucking – muscled – god damn it –

I squeeze my eyes shut after they spend far too much time taking in the shape of his perfectly carved chest, and his fucking abs , and the – the stupidly hot v-shaped lines at the bottom of the stomach that disappear into his low-slung towel -

God damn it, but Cole Kincaid is good-looking. I mean, I was always aware of this, but there’s no reminder like him standing mostly naked in front of me, leaning so casually against the wall, his hair all…wet and flopping in his face, begging me to push it back.

Cole 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 ensorcell 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 harder. “I Alpha command you to get back here and walk at my side!”

“EW!” I yell even as I laugh, running across the tent toward my bunk with nothing but my towel and dirty clothes clasped to my body. “I will never obey!”

“Yeah,” he calls, laughing too. “We’ll see about that.”

I smile as I reach my bunk, quickly digging through my clothes and searching for something comfortable that I can wear while I steal a few hours of sleep.

Cole doesn’t bother to find something to wear once he catches up with me, falling into his bed wrapped only in his towel.

I stand straight, my eyes going wide when he pulls the blankets up over him and then pulls the towel out from between the sheets, tossing it aside.

“Cole!”

“Oh, be quiet,” he murmurs, snuggling his face into his pillow. “Stop pretending you don’t like it.”

I huff, but I don’t say another word as I quickly and discreetly pull on some pajama pants and a T-shirt.

I’m no liar, after all.

“Oh my god ,” Shayne squeaks later that afternoon, sitting on a cleared area of floor in one corner of the nursing tent, little girlie wolf pups gamboling all over her. “Oh my god, this is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!”

She reaches out, petting as many as she can, one after the other, while Grace fusses over one little wolf who lies curled in her lap.

“I love puppiesss,” Shay coos. “I want one!”

“Shay, they’re people ,” I murmur, laughing at her as I softly stroke Janine’s hair. She’s asleep in her human body, curled in my lap, her head pressed to my chest. “Little girls . You can’t have one.”

“Oh, just try to stop me,” Grace sighs, stroking the little grey pup who has her snout stretched over her knee, her eyes blissfully shut. “I’m keeping this one.”

I grin at her too, my eyes moving over all of the girls.

They just had their second meal of the day and got a significant energy burst, so we cleared this little area for them to play in.

Cole has been more rigid with the boys, who are currently gathered with him on the other side of the tent, but he agreed that since the girls already seem quite devoted to me that there’s no harm in going easier on them.

“So, what’s the plan?” Gracie whispers as the girls chase each other around, clearly delighted by their change in fortunes.

“Getting them safely out of here, I suppose,” I murmur. “And then…I don’t know. Cole says his mother works with refugee children all the time. She’ll know better what to do.”

Grace nods, accepting this as truth.

I sigh, trying to figure out what to do next, even if I’m sure that our Queen will handle it all.

I mean, I still want to be involved - I am very dedicated to ensuring that these pups receive the happy lives that Cole and I promised them.

But I’m still just a nurse. I have no idea how to do that.

I frown, looking towards the door, wondering if I could sneak away for a moment to speak with Jeanie about what she thinks next steps will be –

But to my surprise, my father ducks into the tent, a steady frown on his lips, headed right for me.

“Ut-oh,” I whisper, recognizing that expression on his face. I raise my eyebrows at Shayne, who instantly understands and moves to my side. I shift Janine into her arms and stand.

“Come with me,” dad says, stopping five feet away and nodding seriously to me.

“Why?” I ask, crossing my arms.

My father goes very still and quiet, holding my gaze. Never a good sign. Cold anxiety turns within me.

“Because I told you too, nurse,” he says, even and slow. “You’re one of my employees, after all.”

“We’re not getting paid , dad.”

“Nadia!”

I take a deep breath, lifting my chin. “All right. Please give me a moment to organize things here.” Dad nods and I turn back to the girls. “Hey! Everyone shift so I know you’re listening!”

The girls obey instantly, all shifting back into their human bodies, some of them rolling over and laughing as they abruptly halt their play. But they all look eagerly at me, worship in their eyes.

I smile, thinking that some safety and hot food really did go far with these little girls. “You listen to Shayne and Grace, all right? They’re the Goddesses when I am gone.”

“Okay!” Diana says, grinning and nodding to me.

I smile back at her, knowing that if she agrees to it, then the rest do as well.

I wave to the girls, and they wave back, some shifting back into puppy forms to play more, some moving closer to Gracie and Shay to ask them questions about their new lives.

“Hey, Cole!” I call.

But I didn’t need to. His eyes are already on me, curious as I move to my dad’s side.