Without Reservations

human form, slower than an alert, awake wolf, but not slow enough to indicate extreme distress.
    He ran his hands through the pale fur, enjoying the softness as he searched out the head wound. Frank was right, it didn’t appear to be too bad, but Chay needed to clean it to make certain. He turned to the 12 www.samhainpublishing.com

    Without Reservations
    cabinet behind him and got out the gauze and antiseptic he needed to tend the wound. After determining that it was only a nick, he bandaged it.
    He didn’t need to bother with an antibiotic and a tetanus shot.
    Werewolves didn’t get infections or viruses. His kind had an extremely efficient immune system. After shifting back to human form, the head wound would heal completely. In normal cases, it would have already healed, but his mate’s blood loss slowed the immune response.
    Chay leaned forward and buried his nose in his mate’s neck for a few seconds.
    The scent was spicy and…woodsy? It was sort of musky. That was strange, most females had a sweet, floral smell to them. The odd scent was actually very nice. Intoxicating. His cock twitched, making him groan. He stood and told himself to behave. He needed to finish taking care of his mate. There’d be time enough later for other exploration.
    He stepped back, smiling like an idiot. “Okay, Little Bit, let’s get rid of this.” Chay grabbed the edge of the blanket and began gently removing it.
    “Gotta make sure there are no other injuries.” Chay finally got the blanket untangled and tossed it off the still body.
    He studied his mate’s form starting at her head. Smiling at all the platinum fur, he gazed further down the slim frame. “I bet your eyes are—” He gasped and stumbled backwards. His hand flew to his mouth.
    No, that couldn’t be right. He was seeing things… things that shouldn’t be there. Chay blinked and looked again. No, it was there. It had to be some sort of mistake. His body, his senses, they must be confused. This wasn’t his mate. It couldn’t be…
    Chay closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It couldn’t be, but it was . He couldn’t deny what he felt. This was his mate, but how? It didn’t make sense. Apparently, he’d been right to begin with. Females were not wolves and his mate wasn’t a female.

    www.samhainpublishing.com 13
    J.L. Langley

    Û

    His brain hurt.
    Chay had gone through every possible scenario he could think of trying to come up with another valid excuse for his body’s reaction to the white wolf. None of them made as much sense as the mate hypothesis.
    Even more puzzling than his response, was the fact that he wasn’t as disturbed as he should be. There was something really appealing about the little wolf. That more than anything supported his feeling that this was truly his mate. He’d never found men that appealing before. He’d looked at other men, sure, but everyone did. Didn’t they? A beautiful person was a beautiful person…right? Sure, he and his college roommate had jerked each other off a couple times, but that was just innocent fun, wasn’t it? The point was no other man had ever had him this hard before. His dick had been hard enough to cut glass since he’d first caught scent of the white wolf.
    When everyone else had left for the day, he’d closed up shop, changed out of his scrubs and even gone and warmed his truck up. The day was a little cool for early fall and he did not want the other man to be cold. And after all that, he still had a hard-on. Oh well. His jeans concealed it good enough and his coat reached mid-thigh.
    Chay packed his bag to take out to Bob McIntyre’s place and loaded his mate in the backseat of his quad cab. He tucked the blanket around the small body and pulled the seat belt over him. Giving the pale fur one last gentle caress, he closed the door and climbed behind the wheel.
    Once he got on the road, he picked up his cell to give his old man a ring.
    Joe Winston answered on the second ring. “Hey, Son. Whatcha doing?”
    “I really wish you wouldn’t do that. It’s creepy.”
    “What?” His father’s voice was laced with amusement.
    “You know what.”
    14 www.samhainpublishing.com

    Without Reservations
    Joe laughed. “But that’s what the caller ID is for. So I know who’s calling before I answer it.”
    Chay chuckled. They’d had this conversation a dozen times. “Yeah, but it’s still weird. What are you doing?”
    “Watching TV. What are you up to?”
    “Going out to Bob