Page 21

Chapter 21

Prowl

Doc Paula waved us into her exam room.

“Lydia said you had an altercation with Rage yesterday.”

Daff’s shoulders stiffened.

“Lydia?”

“The on-call doctor who treated you,” she answered, tugging a trolley to the side of the examination bed.

“She moonlights between here and the lab. Who’s first?”

“Knock-knock.” The vet walked in, not waiting to be invited.

“Did I miss anything?”

“You’re right on time. Daff, do you want to go first?”

“Sure,” she said, eyes flicking between the three of us.

I followed her over and lifted her up, my hands lingering on her hips.

We’d been together three more times since I’d marked her, and it still wasn’t enough.

She smiled up at me.

“Thanks, big guy.”

I stepped out of the way but refused to let go of her.

“No dizziness or nausea since we saw you yesterday?”

“Nope.”

“Good.”

She dropped the light from Daff’s pupils and froze.

“Is that what I think it is?”

Daff shifted her weight, and I firmed my grip on her hip.

Her worried eyes flew to mine.

“What is it?” Helliot asked, stepping closer.

“I marked her.”

“Jesus Christ!”

Doc Paula cleared her throat.

“Did you bite her anywhere else?”

“I marked her,” I repeated.

“Not mauled her.”

“Only there, and only the once,” Daff said, clarifying further.

Doc Paula didn’t look relieved.

“Have you had penetrative sex?”

“Of course they have!” Doctor Jerk-off sneered.

“I’ve paged Lara and Jean. They’re on their way.”

Daff’s teeth sank into her bottom lip, drawing a purr from me.

“Do you want me to check your ribs or shoulder again?”

“No, thank you,” she whispered.

Doc Paula sighed. “I’ll be blunt. We can’t undo what’s happened, but you need to be smart going forward, and unprotected sex isn’t smart, hybrid or human. Are you on any birth control?”

“No.”

“You need to be. If I don’t have your preference on hand, I can order it in. But you’ll need to abstain until you’re covered, because we don’t have the condom situation sorted yet, and although preliminary inquiries suggest the hybrids have a resistance to STIs it’s not a theory we want to test.”

“We’re here,” Lara said, entering the room with Jean hot on her heels.

“What’s happened?”

“The hybrid claimed her with a mating bite, and they’ve had unprotected sex.”

Lara blinked a few times.

“Did you fully consent to both?” Jean asked.

The growl escaped before I could stop it.

Daff grabbed my wrist, pulling it off her hip to squeeze between her trembling hands.

“Absolutely yes, to both.”

Jerk-off snorted.

“At this point, she’d say anything to protect him.”

“How dare you!” she shot back, eyes spitting fire.

“You want to know the truth? The truth is I begged him for it! For all of it! Every. Single. Time.”

My cock twitched at the reminder of just how much she’d wanted me.

“Can I see the bite?” Lara asked, interrupting their line of sight.

Daff pulled the neck of her shirt aside, exposing the full length of her shoulder.

“Does it hurt?”

She licked her lips, looking nervous again.

“Not much.”

Doc Paula pulled open the top drawer of her trolley.

“I’ll give it a swab and get you an ointment that will help prevent scarring?—”

“NO! I mean, no, thank you. I want to keep it.”

Fuck, if that didn’t fill my entire being with unbridled joy.

The Doc turned to Lara.

“We’d just started discussing birth control and their need to abstain from sex until she’s properly covered. We don’t know how fertile Prowl is, and we aren’t medically prepared for pregnancy or newborns needing medical intervention.”

“What did you decide?” Jean asked.

“What are my choices?”

Something twisted in my stomach at her question.

Was she asking to keep the peace?

Or because she didn’t want a family with me?

She wanted to carry my mark.

Did she not want to carry my cubs?

“If I don’t have what you want on hand, I can order it in. The easiest to maintain coverage are IUDs and implants. But we can do injections or the oral pill if you prefer.”

Daff nodded.

“Can I think on it?”

Doc Paula pursed her lips.

“I’ll need to know by tomorrow morning.”

“They need to be separated, not put on birth control!” Helliot snapped.

My heart thumped when no one jumped in to argue with him.

“No.”

“It’s not your choice,” the vet sneered.

“A mating bite clearly states a level of connection and dependency beyond healthy for your situation. You should have been separated the moment her calming your lion’s instincts changed from clinical help to emotional connection.”

“We can’t undo what’s happened,” Jean said.

“No, but we can sure as hell start fixing it.”

“What are you suggesting?” Lara asked him, meeting his angry gaze head-on.

“Exposure therapy, starting now. Six hours, twelve hours, eighteen hours, then twenty-four. Repeating the failed window of time as many times as necessary until Prowl can handle their permanent separation.”

Daff’s knuckles turned white from how hard she gripped my hand.

“Do you agree?” Lara asked the other female.

“It’s a reasonable plan. If we don’t intervene now…” She looked at Daff with a hint of pity.

“Everyone here is on a contract, so there’s only one way this can end. We must do what’s best for Prowl’s long-term health.”

“Do we get a say in any of this?” she asked.

“No,” Lara answered, her voice gentle but firm.

“Paula’s right. We need to do what’s ultimately best for the hybrids’ overall health and wellbeing.”

Daff nodded, and I pulled her to me, my sweet Angel doing her best to blink back tears.

“Where will I go?”

“I’ve paged the care centre. Mandy’s being relieved for the day; she’ll be waiting for you at your apartment. I’ll take you there as soon as the Doc Paula’s finished with you.”

“We’re starting now?” I asked.

Jean met my gaze, his expression impressively blank.

“Yes.”

“There’s nothing else I need from Daff. But I will need her to come back in the morning with her choice of contraception. I think it’s the smart choice forward, whatever happens over the next few weeks.”

She nodded against my chest.

I pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“I’ll walk you out.”

“It’s best you don’t. You’ll only make it harder than it needs to be.”

Lara’s words felt like they bordered on betrayal.

She was meant to stand up for us.

For our health and wellbeing, and our happiness.

Daff was all those and more to me.

“And I still need to check your stitches,” Doc Paula added.

Daff swallowed as I lifted her down, her damp eyes staring up at me.

“Six hours, Angel. We’ll see each other again soon.”

“Will you be okay?”

“Knowing you wear my mark and are coming back to me? Yes.”

“Okay.”

Then she was stepping away, following Jean out the exam room door.