“Are you talking to Declan?”

He smiled, one of his cheeks dimpling. “That your wolf?”

I tried to nod, but it hurt. “Yeah.”

“I’ve got a mate myself—a coyote.” He lifted my arm, fitting it with the cuff. “Sweet as pie until I get hurt. Then he loses all sense.” He secured the cuff, throwing the wolf at my feet an amused glance. “I’ve found it helps if I explain what’s going on.”

“Declan’s not…” I was going to say he wasn’t my mate but realized I couldn’t. We were bonded, and Declan being my mate would explain that. If I told Jacob the truth, he would be horrified. He would tell his mate. Word would spread through the shifter community. It would be awful for me and Declan, for sure, but it might also get back to Eva.

“Declan’s not usually like this,” I finished awkwardly. I swallowed and it hurt, so Jacob passed me a plastic cup with a straw in it. “Thanks.”

Jacob shook his head, grin still in place. “Wouldn’t trade my mate for the world, but sometimes I wish he came with instructions.” He hit a button and the machine whirred, the cuff on my arm puffing up.

“He probably wishes the same about you.”

Jacob laughed. “True enough.”

Jacob finished taking my blood pressure and went about taking my other vitals, explaining what he was doing before each one so the wolf would be at ease. Declan must have been really panicked once I’d lost consciousness. If he had gone completely over to the wolf, then there was no way anyone would have been able to get near me. I was pack and I was injured.

“Can you sit up?”

When I said I could, Jacob helped me ease into a sitting position. “Any other problems besides the headache? Pain, vision issues, anything?”

“Just sore.”

He nodded, then pushed down on my shoulders. “Can you raise your shoulders?”

After that, there was a battery of tests which included me smiling, sticking out my tongue, and so on. When he was satisfied, I got to rest and wait for the akesoite.

I’d been resting for about half an hour when Van showed up. She came waltzing into the hospital room, acting like it was no big deal, but I could see the pinched look of worry on her face. The wolf opened his eyes, saw it was Van, and went back to resting mode.

“You look like shit.”

“Thanks, Van. I love you, too.” I hit the button to incline the bed into a better position. “Not that I’m complaining, but what are you doing here?”

“You listed me as an emergency contact in your phone. That was a fun call to get.” She pulled up a folding chair to the side of the bed. “The roommates wanted to descend, but I talked them out of it. I also didn’t call your family yet. Didn’t want to cause panic until I knew what was going on.”