Page 45 of Before the Bond
“We prefer to call ourselves wolves,” I explained. “But, yes.”
Olivia started putting away the medical supplies, a habit of hers to keep her hands busy when she needed time to process things.
I went on, a little more quietly. “We live in packs, and we hold territory. The Ashwood estate is the one that belongs to my family.”
Olivia’s brows lifted. “Jake,” she surmised.
I nodded. “Yes,” I said. “And the ‘condition’ he has is him experiencing his first true ‘shift.’ The first shift takes a toll. It hurts. His body’s changing.”
My voice trailed off.
I thought about how much Jake suffered since his shift first showed signs. The guilt of keeping it from Olivia weighed on me for his sake as much as for hers.
“I had no way to tell you ways to properly help him,” I said. “Not without telling you everything.”
“If he’s turning into a werewolf,” she said. “Then why have a human take care of him at all?”
“We needed someone who could be present for it medically. Jake’s still mostly human. If the shift took too much of a toll on his body, it would be hard to say if he would survive.”
“Hence you hired me.”
I nodded yet again.
"We hired you specifically." My fingers drummed once against the table before I caught myself. I was getting closer to what I had always wanted to say. "You were already here. Bringing you into the estate was the safer option — safer than leaving you in town, in a place I couldn't watch, before Voss did."
“Voss?” she asked.
“Our rival pack,” I said. “They’ve been prowling the territory for ages. Our conflict is as old as the mountains themselves. If they found you, it would be far too dangerous.”
Olivia circled back to the larger point. “So why would they be looking for me? I don't know anything. I'm just a travel nurse who —"
She stopped. From her scent, I could sense the slow arrival of realization. Something that she herself never examined until just now.
Her eyes finally met mine. Compassionate but unwavering.
It was time.
“It's because of seven years ago," I said.
I was on a run. Northern California.
We have allied packs scattered through the Cascade corridor, and a few times a year I head south to reconvene with them. Allies only stay allies if you maintain them, after all.
During one of my patrols there, I made my way through the Redwoods. I made it a point to avoid the tourists hiking along the trails.
But then…
I caught your scent.
At first, I didn’t know what it was. There’s no warning. It just… hit. The wolf knew first, and then it bled through, and suddenly everything else went quiet. Whatever you were thinking about a second ago — gone. Like it never mattered.
For me, it felt like a shockwave. I almost lost my footing along the mountainside.
It was followed by the gentle spread of warmth.
I followed it. Recklessly. Desperately.
You were there. With your family. I believe you were eighteen at the time.
