“That’s the pain meds talking,” Dr. Vega said as he lifted the blanket from her leg. Her ankle was bandaged.
“Still clean,” Dr. Vega murmured to his nurse. “I think she’ll be okay to go home tonight if she can stay off it.” That last part was directed at Ian.
“Of course,” Ian said. “I’ll make sure she takes it easy.”
The fog was lifting from her mind by the second. “Is it bad?”
“No.”
“Yes,” Dr. Vega said at the same time. “You were attacked by a bear, Elyse. You’re lucky to be alive.”
Ian narrowed his eyes at the doctor, then dragged his dark brown gaze back to her. “Four cuts from the claw, only one was deep enough to require stitches.”
“Six stitches.” Dr. Vega grabbed her chart and gave her a significant look.
“I think I prefer my husband’s bedside manner to yours tonight, Dr. Vega. Thanks for saving the leg,” she said dryly.
Ian snorted, but covered it with a cough.
Dr. Vega narrowed his eyes at Ian and said, “She’s free to go. Do see that you take better precautions from bear attacks next time you go gallivanting off into the wilderness.”
Ian nodded once and gave him a little salute as the doctor ushered the nurse out and followed closely behind. After Elyse dressed in the cut-up jeans she’d been wearing earlier, the nurse came back with a wheelchair.
“Is that necessary?” She would limp, but the claw marks didn’t feel wheelchair-bad.
“Afraid so. Vega is in a mood tonight. We don’t get many bear attack survivors in here.” At least the nurse didn’t talk down to her, so Elyse smiled and acquiesced.
Ian wheeled her out front to where his truck was parked at an angle on the curb. The passenger side door was still hanging open, and their supplies had been thrown haphazardly in the back.
“The fish,” she gasped.
“I got them.”
“Of course you did.”
Ian helped her into the seat and shut the door gently beside her.
Jamming the key in the ignition, he said, “Just so you know, it only took me about two seconds to get those fish on a line to carry.”
“Wait, you carried all of our equipment, the fish, and me all the way to the plane?”
“At a dead sprint.”
Elyse scrubbed her hands over her face. “Is that part of the bear-man stuff?”
“Strength?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded.
“This is a lot to process, Ian.”
“Elyse, you should know I’ve never told anyone about my bear. Never. You’re the only one.”
“Are you afraid I’ll freak out and tell the world?”
“It’s crossed my mind,” he said carefully. “It’s not just me who would be hurt by the backlash.”
“Your brothers?”
He nodded again. “There are so few of us, there isn’t safety in numbers. Do you understand?”
“Sooo, is this like a full-moon deal, or can you change into that thing whenever you want?”
“That thing,” he repeated softly.
“Sorry,” she said, eyes on his rigid profile.
“The moon has nothing to do with it, and neither does magic. It takes me a minute to Change, but I can do it when I want. Sometimes I do it when I don’t want to. It depends on if my bear is being reasonable or not.”
“Will you hurt me?”
“Never.” His voice had gone hard as steel. “My animal loves…” A long tapering growl sounded and Ian shook his head hard.
“Say it.”
He sighed a long exhalation. “My animal loves you as much as I do.”
“Because I’m your mate? You said that in the woods. You called me your noisy mate.”
Ian’s Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “Yes. Because you’re my mate.”
“Okay,” she whispered, dragging her gaze back to the dark woods that surrounded Ian’s truck now.
“Okay?”
“Well, I need time to wrap my head around everything, but okay. I don’t want you to leave because of this. I mean, I didn’t know animal people existed before, and it’s a lot, and I have horribly painful claw marks on my leg. And now I’m living with someone who can change into the biggest grizzly I’ve ever laid eyes on, or seen in text books or in a museum. I’m engaged to a bear. Man. A bear-man.” She inhaled sharply and bit her lip to stop her rambling.
“There’s more.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Ian. What else could there possibly be?”
“You’re right. We should talk about it later once you’ve had some time to deal with what I am.”
“Well, spit it out now. Best to get it all out there at once.”
“I hibernate.”
Elyse cast him a prim look and said, “I’m sorry, what now?”
“Every October, I go to sleep, and I don’t wake up again until April.”
“Six months.”
“Yep.”
“You just sleep for half a year straight.”
“Yep.”
“That’s fantastic. Fantastic news for me.”