(I really need to come up with proper titles for this thing lol)
“Regardless of what you thought, or what you felt, you don’t
have the right to touch someone who doesn’t want you to touch him,” Doc
stressed. “According to pack law, you assaulted him and his mate was within his
right to use violence to defend him. While I prefer seeing wolves solve their
problems with words instead of bloodshed, I don’t mind the extra work when
someone is clearly in the wrong.”
“So you’re saying I should have kept walking past him and
left him there like everyone else?”
“No. I’m saying you should have thought of a way to help
properly. Like asking him what was wrong, helping him sit down, and waiting
with him for his mates to get there. The bond marks on his wrists are bright,
no way you didn’t see those,” Doc said. “You could have alerted the rest of the
runners when you saw him fall back. His brother-in-law was out there. All you
had to do was speak up.”
Luka sighed heavily while Doc ran the thermometer over his
brow again, glad to see that his temperature was already coming down.
“I wasn’t on the run.”
“Then what were you doing out there?”
“Going to see the lanterns.”
Well, that confirmed Doc’s suspicions that Luka lived well
outside of town, but if that was the case, then how in the world had he ended
up on Doc’s doorstep alone?
“Your actions were reported to the council,” Doc informed
him.
Luka gave a little shrug at that, rankling Doc with his
flagrant disregard for pack rules and authority.
“And you don’t care in the slightest, do you?” Doc asked.
“If the council knows what I did, then the fact that Raine
was alone and unprotected is on record too. Now if something happens, the
council will know it wasn’t the first time.”
Okay, now that was just odd and mildly threatening. It
looked like dinner was going to have to wait until after he’d sent Luka on his
way and reported the conversation to whichever head elder was on duty tonight.
Joy.
Merrrrow.
Oh yeah, and there was still the cat.
Luka rolled, falling off the exam table in an effort to see
the cat. He landed on all fours though, and knelt eye to eye with Mister Meow
and merrrowed right back at him. The marmalade tabby flicked its tail and
stalked towards him, arching its back to run its fur along Luka’s jawline,
making him laugh and rub fluffy ears before skirtching beneath Mister Meow’s
chin. It earned him purrs, loud, eager ones that Doc had never heard him make.
“Never heard of a wolf with a pet cat before,” Luka said.
“Kinda cool in a weird and slightly twisted way.”
“He’s not my pet, he’s more like a barely tolerated mascot
that my secretary seems to have forgotten is not supposed to be indoors.”
“It smells like frost out there,” Luka said. “Even if he
curled up in a leaf pile somewhere, he’d still be cold. What harm does it do
for him to sleep in here at night where he can be comfortable?”
“This is a clinic, not a vet's office,” Doc grumbled. “There
isn’t supposed to be fur everywhere.”
The moment those words left his mouth, Doc wanted to smack
himself. Clearly, Luka grasped how utterly ridiculous the statement was because he was holding his side, laughing and grimacing at the way the wound
pulled.
“So what do you say when someone gets carried in
here in wolf form, shift so you don’t get fur on the floor?” Luka asked,
an edge of sarcasm that hadn’t been there before.
