Page 44 of Brock’s Mate

She said, I speak to the human, but she does not know it is me. I will tell her. She went up to Desi’s sleeping form and nosed her face. Wake up, human.

Desi’s eyes flew open.

Chapter 17

Desi came suddenly to consciousness, with a wolf nose inches from her face. She gave a gasp and sat up.

She was in a sunny clearing in the woods, except… not. It was more like being inside a dream. Brock and his wolf were there—both at the same time, which supported the dream theory—but that wasn’t the wolf whose cold nose had left her cheek damp.

That was a cream-and-brown wolf, who she could tell was smirking.

Holy hell. It was her wolf. “Hey there,” she said faintly.

It is time you listened to me properly, her wolf said—inside Desi’s mind. She recognized the voice—it was the little voice that had been in her head ever since Jered Turned her.

Wow. She’d been hearing her wolf all along.

She said, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you. The man who… who put you inside me didn’t tell me that he did it.

The dark wolf, she said. He wanted us to submit. I did not like him.

Me neither, sister. If we see him again, we should bite him. She looked at Brock, who was watching them, a small frown between his eyebrows. She asked, Can he hear us?

Her wolf said, Not unless I wish him to.

Another voice said, I can hear you. It had to be Brock’s wolf—he was staring right at her.

Desi’s wolf gave a little sniff.

Desi gazed at the black-and-white wolf. He was beautiful—magnificent, really. But she also sensed something wrong with him.

He was in pain, she realized. She could feel it inside him, barely contained.

You’re hurt, she said to him. Where are you hurt? Did I do that to you, the other night when I zapped Brock and left the car?

He shook himself, looking almost amused. You cannot hurt me—not like that. The pain you caused is nothing to what I carry.

That sounded awful. And, she realized, whatever pain the wolf carried, Brock carried it too. She asked, Can I see?

The wolf looked startled, and then thoughtful. Desi held out her hand, sensing somehow that this was important. Her own wolf said nothing, just watched.

Brock’s wolf walked over and thrust his head under her hand. His fur was soft, though she could feel the powerful muscles under his skin. But deeper than that, she sensed pain like a giant gray lake, spreading off into the distance. Like hers, only wide instead of deep.

How did this happen? she demanded. Who gave it to you? Because someone had done this to him. Just like they’d done it to her.

It comes from the ones the man healed.

She was shocked, Brock gave you all this pain? How could he do this to you?

The wolf gave a little growl. He did not ‘do it’ to me. I took it, to protect him.

Desi bit her lip. She couldn’t imagine voluntarily taking on something like this. You must really love him.

We are together, the wolf said. He must fix the wounded ones, and he can’t do it without me. I have always protected him. From the beginning.

And she was swept away into a memory.

It was night, and little boy of about four or five with curly chestnut hair and wide hazel eyes stood by a window, looking outside at a wooden shed across the yard.