“I had to find Alexander,” I said simply. “I heard he was in danger.”


    The doctor’s hands paused on my injured feet. “And did you find him?”


    I nodded, heat creeping into my cheeks at the memory of that perfect, naked body standing in front of me. “Yes.”


    “On instinct?”


    “I… I think so.”


    “Interesting,” Dr. Evelyn said, pulling over the monitors as she reconnected me to them. “Hm … Your vitals look better than before, which is surprising after all that. It’s almost as if…”


    She trailed off, looking at me intently.


    “As if what?” My heart pounded excitedly.


    “As if your wolf is trying to surface.”


    I sat bolt upright. “Is that possible? Could my wolf really being back on her own?”


    “I’m not sure,” Dr. Evelyn said, gently pushing me back down onto the bed. “But perhaps strong feelings made your wolf’s energy surge. Can you exin what happened when you ran off? Did any particr emotions or events trigger anything? A feeling, a scent, anything that might indicate your wolf returning?”


    I furrowed my brow. “Well, I was afraid that my mate was in danger, and I didn’t feel pain…”


    “Anything else?” She tilted her head.


    My cheeks flushed as I recalled the one other thing that may have indicated my wolf returning: the scent of my arousal.


    “Nothing happened,” I blurted out quickly. Too quickly.


    Dr. Evelyn’s eyebrows shot up, wrinkling her forehead. “Are you sure? Because if we could identify the trigger, we might be able to recreate it. It could be the key to bringing your wolf back permanently.”


    I thought about Alexander standing naked in the moonlight, his muscles gleaming, his impressive manhood on prominent disy. I thought about the heat that had surged through me, the way my heart had raced, the tingling sensation between my legs. During those moments, all I had wanted was to finish what we had started in the alley,


    But I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud. Not to Dr. Evelyn. Not to anyone. There was no way in hell I was recreating that moment. Alexander certainly wouldn’t allow it, and I had little intention as well.


    “Nothing specific happened,” I lied. “I was just worried about Alexander. That’s all.”


    Disappointment shadowed the doctor’s face. “I see. Well, we’ll continue monitoring your condition.” She sighed. “Get some rest. And no more running off!”


    “I won’t,” I muttered. My feet hurt too much anyway. And to think I had done all that just for Alexander to treat me like a nymphomaniac, curtly telling me that our contract didn’t involve sex, as if he hadn’t almost fucked me behind The Howling Moon a week ago.


    But that was all in the past, and now I knew for certain: that night was a mistake for both of us. There would be no finishing what we’d started.


    Despite everything, Alexander still couldn’t stand me. Whatever had happened between us was pure biology, including what had happened tonight. There were no true feelings behind any of it. It was just a cruel joke from fate.


    After the doctor left, I leaned back against the pillows, exhaustion taking over me. But even as tired as I was, my mind kept circling back to one image: Alexander’s naked body in the moonlight. The breadth of his shoulders. The narrowness of his waist. The strength in his thighs. The size of his cock.


    I squeezed my eyes shut, but that only made the image more vivid.


    I’d never wanted anyone the way I wanted Alexander at that moment. Never felt such a primal, visceral need. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how many times I told myself that there was nothing between us except for hatred and frustration, the images wouldn’t go away.


    As sleep finally pulled me under, I drifted into dreams filled with moonlight and bare skin, with green eyes and red hair, with strong hands and soft lips.


    Dreams of Alexander.