Defying Destiny (31 page)

the fly of her pants closed.

“This was a lot more fun the last time I

undressed her,” the doctor murmured.

Nash’s eyes narrowed and he barked

ferociously, not sure what the man was

implying. He wasn’t insinuating that he

and Maralee were lovers, was he?

Maralee started at the sound of his bark.

She struggled to open her eyes. Nash

looked down into her face anxiously, but

she never got a handle on consciousness.

She settled quickly back into sleep. When

he glanced at the doctor again, he had

removed her boots and was working her

black, wool pants down her legs.

“You have no reason to be jealous of

me. She doesn’t have room in her heart for

men or even dogs,” he said, glancing up at

her overprotective ‘pet’, “whoever broke

her heart ruined her for everyone.”

Nash wasn’t sure if he should feel

relieved, flattered or guilty. He assumed

he was the one who had broken her heart.

Perhaps she really had loved him, at least

the human part of him. He almost wished

that he was human right then so that he

could kiss her slightly parted lips. Almost.

“Well, I guess that does it,” the doctor

said, covering Maralee with a blanket. He

checked her pulse, shook his head with

concern, and then patted Nash’s head. “If

you’re going to stay with her, you have to

promise to come fetch me the moment she

wakes up.”

Nash nodded and woofed softly in the

affirmative. The doctor chuckled.

“You are an unusual dog,” he

commented. “Watch over our sweet

Maralee. I’ll be down at the end of the

hall.”

Nash settled down beside her, his

snout resting lightly on her shoulder. The

doctor turned the lamp down. He left the

room, leaving the door slightly opened.

Nash watched her sleep for hours. Long

after the cursed full moon had set, he

succumbed to his exhaustion and fell

asleep.

Just after dawn, Maralee blinked awake.

Something large and warm was curled up

against her side. She rolled over and

found herself face to face with an

enormous black Wolf. There was a

crescent-moon shaped white marking

across his left eye.
Nash.
He was

beautiful. She lifted a hand to touch him,

to prove to herself that she wasn’t

imagining him. His fur was thick and soft.

At her touch, his golden eyes opened and

focused on her.

“You’re really here,” she murmured.

He surprised her by climbing to his

feet and jumping down from the bed. He

left the room. She was too weary to call

after him. She hadn’t meant for him to

leave; had wanted him to stay. She stared

up at the ceiling, blinking hard to hold

back tears. Perhaps he would never

forgive her for being blinded by hatred. A

few minutes later, Nash returned with Dr.

Jared Sabin in tow.

“You’re awake already,” Jared said,

smiling broadly. “That’s a very good sign.

How do you feel?”

Maralee looked from Nash to Jared

and then back again. How had these two

met?

“I feel weak,” she said, concentrating

on her broken body rather than her broken

heart. “And my neck hurts.”

“Are you thirsty?” Jared asked,

coming further into the room. “You’ll need

lots of liquids to replace the blood you

lost.”

“Blood?” Maralee murmured, lifting

her heavy hand to touch the bandages on

her neck. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure. This dog led me to you.

You were lying in the middle of an

intersection with large puncture marks on

both sides of your neck. It looks like a bite

wound, but Fido here, assured me that he

was not responsible.” He patted Nash on

the head. The Wolf’s eyes narrowed

dangerously.

“Fido?” Maralee echoed, smiling

broadly. She managed a feeble laugh

before weariness threatened to deliver her

back to a state of unconsciousness. “Did

Jared give you a new name, Nash?”

“So he
is
your pet,” Jared said. “He

seemed to know you, but you’d never

mentioned having a dog before.”

Maralee laughed again. “Please don’t

make me laugh,” she begged. “I’m so

tired.”

“I’ll get you some water,” Jared said.

“Are you staying here, Nash?”

Nash’s response was to cross the

room and jump up on the bed with

Maralee. Jared left the room. Maralee

lifted a beckoning hand to Nash. He licked

her fingers, but stayed out of reach.

“So you’ve got the doctor convinced

you’re my pet dog,” Maralee commented,

staring deeply into his eyes.

Nash made a sound of protest, and

settled down beside her so she could

stroke his ears. She was almost asleep

when Jared returned with her glass of

water.

She took a sip. “It’s salty.”

“Just a tad,” Jared told her. “If I gave

you plain water, you’d just end up

urina…” He blushed. “Well, it wouldn’t

stay in your body.”

He forced her to drink it all before he

would allow her to rest. He pulled the

window to block the early morning

sunshine.

“Get some rest, Maralee,” the doctor

said. “I’ll be in to check on you in a

while.”

“Could you send word to the inn that

I’m here?” she murmured drowsily. “You

know how they worry.”

“Will do.” He shut the door on his

way out.

When she and Nash were bathed in

darkness, she wrapped both arms around

his broad neck and buried her face in his

thick fur. She hoped he would revert to his

human form now they were alone, but he

remained a Wolf.

“I’m sorry I was cruel to you,” she

murmured. “I understand if you hate me. I

expect you to. The Wolf I killed the night

we met. That was your brother, wasn’t

it?”

Nash went very still. For a moment,

she thought he was asleep. His golden

eyes were open when she looked at him.

They glowed faintly in the darkness.

“I know my apology won’t change the

fact he’s gone,” she said, “but I truly am

sorry from the bottom of my heart.”

He licked the tears leaking from her

eye and buried his nose in her hair,

breathing deeply. She wished she wasn’t

so weary. She had many other things to

tell him, but despite valiant attempts to

stay awake, her eyelids became too heavy

to keep open.

“But what shall I do with the rest of

my life,” she whispered, “now that I’ve

turned my back on my destiny?”

Maralee had been in the clinic for three

days. She slept almost constantly. She

wasn’t sure if this was because her

nightmares had stopped and Nash’s

presence was so comforting, or because

she was still suffering from anemia.

Whatever the reason, she spent most of her

time curled around Nash’s warm body,

lost in blissful slumber.

Jared enjoyed having her near. He no

longer had to trudge through the snow to

visit her. In the evenings, when he was

finished with appointments, he’d draw a

table beside her bed for several games of

chess.

For the first two nights, Nash merely

watched intently, learning the rules of the

game, as Maralee lost spectacularly. On

the third night, he assisted her. Jared

gaped at the Wolf when Nash’s huge paw

touched a white chess piece, and then one

of Jared’s. Maralee followed Nash’s

instructions carefully, taking Jared’s

bishop, but not leaving herself open to

attack. Nash continued to help her, until

there were less than half a dozen pieces

remaining on the board. Jared stared at the

smug Wolf in amazement.

Realization dawned on Maralee.

“Checkmate!” she cried excitedly. She

wrapped her arms around Nash in an

exuberant hug. “I just knew you’d be good

at this game.”

“You should sell that dog to the circus.

You’d make a fortune,” Jared said,

collecting his chess set after only one

game.

“Don’t you want to play another

game?” Maralee asked

“I just lost to a dog. I think my chess

playing days are over.”

Nash’s tongue lolled out and he

wagged his tail.

“Don’t be silly, Jared,” Maralee said.

“Perhaps it was just a fluke. You’re not

really going to give up so easily, are

you?”

“There’s something eerie about that

dog of yours. It’s almost as if he’s

human.”

Maralee scowled at Nash. “Do you

think so? I haven’t seen any evidence of

that lately.” She was confused as to why

he refused to revert to his human form.

Nash’s ears perked. He jumped off the

bed, barked, and left the room. Jared

followed him. Someone was knocking on

the front door of the clinic. Jared unlocked

the door and found Phyllis Smithy standing

on the step. In her arms was a little girl

who was clinging to the woman, sobbing.

“Where is she hurt?” the doctor asked,

reaching for the girl.

“She’s not hurt,” Phyllis said. “She

came to the village by herself looking for

her uncle. Luckily, she found the inn. Is

Maralee still here? I thought maybe she

knew where we could find the fellow.”

Nash howled and the girl gasped. She

looked down at the Wolf from her perch in

the woman’s arms.

“Uncle Nash!” She squirmed to get

down. Phyllis set her on her feet.

Carsha squeezed Nash in a fervent

embrace. “Oh, Uncle Nash. I was so

worried about you. I thought that wicked

woman had killed you with her sword.”

The girl kissed every inch of his face.

He tumbled her to the ground, licking her

cheeks enthusiastically, tail wagging.

Carsha giggled, fingers clinging to the fur

around his neck. Maralee had wobbled

down the hallway to see what all of the

commotion was about. She smiled when

she recognized Carsha.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

Nash stopped licking her and allowed

his niece to sit up.

“I came looking for Uncle Nash,” she

said, scowling. “I should have known you

were keeping him prisoner.”

Nash emitted a string of barks, yips

and howls, which Carsha listened to

attentively.

“Oh,”

she

murmured,

looking

crestfallen.

“You can understand…” Maralee

broke off, glancing from Jared to Phyllis

Smithy, who watched the scene with

confusion. “Thank you so much for

bringing her to me here, Mrs. Smithy.

Carsha, why don’t you come to my room

so we can talk in private,” she said,

hoping she didn’t appear too suspicious.

“Bring Nash along if you like.”

Nash lowered his body to the ground,

and Carsha climbed on his back. Grinning,

she hugged him as he carried her through

the clinic to Maralee’s room. When the

two of them were inside her room,

Maralee closed the door and locked it.

Nash lowered his body to the floor.

Carsha remained on his back, holding on

to him as if afraid to let him go.

“Carsha, can you understand Nash

when he is in his Wolf form?”

“Of course. He said that he stayed in

the village to make sure that you were all

right because he felt responsible for

Grandma Stacia hurting you.”

Maralee’s eyes widened. She looked

down at Nash who was avoiding her eyes.

“It was your mother who bit me?”

He emitted a murmur of a howl and

Carsha looked up at her.

“What

did

he

say?”

Maralee

prompted.

“He said that it was for Cort.”

“Cort?”

Carsha’s lower lip trembled. “My

daddy,” she whispered.

“Her son.”

No wonder the woman hated her so

much. And Carsha hated her as well. She

deserved their malice. Maralee sank to the

floor and drew her knees up to her chest.