Richard shook his head emphatically. “No, you don’t understand. He’s not my bloodmatch. I had that years ago with Tucker’s mother, and she passed away. I’m in love with Kevin, yes, but…”

The doctor shook his head firmly. “Richard, only the blood of a bloodmate can heal so quickly. You know this. Other wolf blood can certainly help keep someone alive until they can be helped, but only bloodmatch blood heals perfectly and quickly like this. No, Kevin Bryson is your bloodmatch.”

“But that’s impossible, Doctor. My wife…”

“I know it’s unheard of, but it may be that your first love was not a bloodmatch.”

Richard shook his head stubbornly. “No, impossible. You didn’t know her.”

“Of course not, and I don’t mean to offend you. Love matches are often just as strong and long lasting. There are really very few differences in the actual feelings involved. The difference is biochemical. It comes in a couple of ways. First of all, with a bloodmatch, a wolf really can’t live without his mate. The attachment is almost physical, it seems, and wolves often die soon after a mate passes away.”

“I had my son to think about,” Richard said gruffly. “I tried to survive for him.”

“I understand, of course. Still, others have not had the stamina that you’ve shown, even when children were also involved. I’ve already mentioned the blood connection with healing.”

“My wife died in an isolated area, and there was no chance to save her. Maybe if I would have been with her…”

“Well, it’s interesting to speculate, but we’ll never know for sure, of course. What I can tell you with some assurance is that Kevin most definitely is your bloodmatch. His ribs are almost completely healed. I’ve never heard of a wolf having two bloodmatches before, but I suppose anything is possible, especially when, if she was indeed your bloodmatch, your first mate died so quickly after you’d established the mating.”

“And you know all this because of the healing?”

“That, and…tell me, how long have you known him?”

“I don’t know,” Richard said. “A week, maybe. No, less than that. This is only the fourth day.”

The doctor nodded. “Yes, an instant attraction? A feeling that was almost overpowering right away? And tell me, have you noticed a fragrance around him?”

“A fragrance?”

“Yes, some overwhelmingly sweet scent that comes from him.”

Richard nodded. “Yes, all of that.”

“And did it not strike you as strange that after some twenty years of not being attracted to anyone, that you meet this man and fall so in love with him in three or four days that you want to spend the rest of your life with him?”

Kevin’s delicious scent wafted up to him even now, causing him to feel almost dizzy. He’d thought for several days now that he needed to find out what kind of cologne Kevin wore and invest some serious money in the company. He’d never smelled anything like it before, and it was a scent he identified strongly with Kevin. It had been teasing around his nostrils for days now, driving him out of his mind. He looked up at the doctor in shock.

“My God,” he said. The irresistible scent of the mate was well-known in the folklore of the wolves. It was what usually attracted them to their bloodmates in the first place. How could he have been so stupid as not to have realized? It must have been because he hadn’t been expecting it. His bloodmatch had died so long ago.

“Exactly,” the doctor said with a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth. “Get some rest, Richard. Both your mate and your son will be fine. They were extraordinarily lucky. Not many humans survive a wolf attack.”

Richard nodded. It was still hard to believe what had happened. How had Todd dared to attack them the way he had? He could feel the restlessness of the entire pack at what had occurred, but he was too tired and emotionally drained to do anything about it tonight. He kicked off his shoes and lay down beside Kevin, gathering him in his arms.

Kevin sighed as he settled into Richard’s side, his head on his shoulder, his arm around his waist. This was where he’d like to keep Kevin the rest of his life, safe in his arms, except he knew Kevin would balk at the idea. He was too independent, too practical and too unwilling to accept anything he couldn’t see and touch with his own hands. He had to find a way to make him surrender that iron will of his just enough to let Richard in. He had to convince him that what they had was real and true and perfect, even though he knew Kevin would fight him every step of the way.

* * * *

Kevin woke up to find himself wrapped up in Richard’s arms. At first he was alarmed, but as he tried to move away, pushing gently against him so he wouldn’t wake him up, Richard shifted to his back and his eyes flew open.

“Good morning. How do you feel?” he murmured, and Kevin felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He pushed against him, harder this time, to get some space between them.

It was like pushing against a wall. He couldn’t budge him, and Richard looked down at him curiously.

“Going somewhere, baby?”

“Let me go,” Kevin said, still pushing at him. “I know what you are.”

Richard shifted his body and rolled over on top of him, holding him down. He stretched Kevin’s arms up over his head and held them there. “And what am I?”

“A-a monster, damn it! I saw what happened last night. I saw you all turn into those beasts.”

“You saw us shift into our wolves. I know. I’m sorry you had to find out like that, sweetheart. I planned to break it to you some other way, though I don’t guess there’s any way for you to be comfortable with the idea.”

“Comfortable with it? Are you crazy?” He struggled uselessly again for a second and then huffed out a long breath. “I don’t understand. Maybe it’s me that’s crazy.”

Richard leaned down and captured his mouth, kissing him for a long time until those crazy feelings came over Kevin again, and his treacherous cock thickened between them. What the hell was wrong with him that he was still so attracted despite what he’d seen with his own eyes? A sudden thought made him jump. “Tucker? Where’s Tucker? I saw that thing ripping at his throat.”

“Tucker’s fine, and Todd is dead. The wolf who attacked you was Todd, one of Gavin’s guards. No one knows why he attacked you like he did, though we’re going to try to find out. I’m so sorry, Kevin. I know how terrified you must have been. If I could have gotten to you sooner…but you saved Tucker, Kevin. The rock killed Todd.”

“Good,” he said, anger tightening his lips. “The mother fucker tried to kill us both.”

“I know. I can’t explain it. One of our oldest and most sacred laws is to always protect our pets.”

“Your pets?” he said, his voice filled with contempt. “Is that all we are to you? Pets?”

“It’s a term we use for our mates and for the members of the pack who never shift. Those like Tucker. It doesn’t mean the same thing to us as it does to humans.”

“Humans…God, I’m going crazy.”

“I’m not human, baby. You saw that for yourself. We’re wolf shifters, and we’ve existed for as long as humankind. But we’re not evil. All we want to do is to be left alone to live our lives in peace.”

“No, this is crazy. Let me go!” Kevin started struggling again to get away, trying to pull his wrists away from Richard’s grasp.

Richard started kissing him again, and though he twisted his head to get away, it did begin to soothe him, especially when his lips traveled all over his face, slowly, almost reverently. They didn’t speak for several minutes, just lay with their bodies touching all over. The room was filled with sunlight, and he wondered what time it was and where the others might be. Richard shifted to take some of his weight off him and released his wrists.

“Are you okay?” he asked gently.

Kevin nodded. “Can I get up? I have to go to the bathroom.”

“Of course.” Richard rolled away and Kevin sat up shakily on the side of the bed. He felt his ribs. Still a little sore, but not bad. Damn, in his delirium the night before he’d been sure they were broken. The pain had been bad, and he couldn’t catch his breath. Now it was like nothing had happened. Had it been real? Was any of this real?

He pushed up to his feet and staggered a little, but put a hand out to stop Richard when he would have gotten up to help him. “I’m fine. I was just dizzy for a second.” He made it to the end of the bed before he staggered again, and this time Richard was beside him, not taking no for an answer. He put an arm around him to help him to the bathroom and then stood, leaning with his backside against the vanity, patiently waiting while Kevin peed.

“This really isn’t necessary,” Kevin said sharply, glancing over at him darkly. Richard shrugged in that maddening way of his, his arms crossed over his chest. Finishing, Kevin stumbled over to the sink to wash his hands and caught sight of himself in the mirror. There were blood stains under his chin and down in the hollow of his throat. The memory of being held down on the bed while Richard forced his blood into his mouth came back with a vengeance and he staggered again. He kept staring into the mirror again and saw a further horror. There was a fine spray of blood on his forehead, and even in his hair, probably from Todd, or even Tucker.

“The-the blood. You…”

“I gave you some of my blood, yes. Only to heal you, baby.”

“Oh my God,” he whispered and backed up as far as he could in the small bathroom. Richard made a sound of impatience and reached for him, pulling him back into his arms.

“Calm down. It helped you. It’s not going to turn you into a werewolf, if that’s what you’re thinking. Get all that Hollywood crap out of your head. Todd never bit you, or even raked you with his claws.”

“Y-you mean to say that if he had bitten me…”