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do you?” She shook
her head. “I do. And he was really nice to me in the office too. When I asked
him about the cut, he didn’t act like I was some kid that he had to lie to. He
told me that I should have gotten help, and then told me that I was brave for
finding it afterwards. Nolan wasn’t like Mike. He listened to me and didn’t
treat me like some bug that he wanted to squash.”
    “Mike is an asshole. Do I do that to you?” He
shook his head and lay back on the bed. “I’m sorry you got hurt, Shane. I had
no idea that he was hurting you as badly as he was. I wish that you had told
me.”
    “I really thought I could handle him. I mean,
he’s really big, but he’s stupid too. And you said that fists never solved
anything.” Which was complete bullshit. She wanted to hit a good looking doctor
again just to keep him away from her. “And, most of the kids in my class are
afraid of him.”
    That didn’t seem right either, and she
wondered if the teachers were aware of it. When the police arrived at just
before noon, she was ready to tell them to start, but Joey Bentley came in a
few seconds after they arrived and told them he needed a moment with his
client. Thinking it was her, she asked if he wanted her to go with him.
    “Oh. I’m sorry. I’m here for Shane. My
brothers think it might be best if he….” He grinned at her, and she took a step
back from him. She had no idea why, but he really did sort of put her on edge
too. “You’re his mate? Nolan and you are…you’re his mate. Well hot damn, that’s
the best news I’ve heard all day.”
    “I’m nothing to that arrogant bastard.”
Before she could tell him she was sorry for her outburst, Joey started laughing.
“Are all of you men certifiable?”
    “Pretty much. And welcome to the family.” Then
he started talking to the police about the man who had cut Shane. Rylee felt as
if she were on a roller coaster that had more loops in it than a spring. And
she had a feeling it wasn’t going to get much better any time soon.

 
    Chapter 3
     
    He kept forgetting what he was saying in
mid-sentence. Nolan had to look down at the chart he was using with his patient
and she suddenly laughed at him. Mrs. Jacobs was an old and dear friend of his mom’s,
and she was also a cat.
    “Got you tied up in knots, I’m guessing. This
girl of yours, you got yourself a good one?” He nodded and sat on the bed with
her. She was dying, and soon too. Her age was undetermined, as she had made it
perfectly clear she didn’t want anyone to ever know that, so the chart had no
year of birth but was a thick file on what she’d gone through as a panther.
    “She’s human, of course, and she’s full of
spit and fire. And I find myself pissing her off just to see her get that
befuddled look in her eyes just before she tries to tear me a new ass.” Mrs.
Jacobs nodded and laid her head back on the pillows. “And she has a fourteen-year-old
nephew that she’s raising.”
    “No worries on that score, is there? I mean,
you’ll take him as your own.” He told her he would. “Good. So much like your
father. More than the rest of them boys. He was a good man, your dad. Always
knew what to say and how to say it. Could be meaner than a snake when the mood
took him, but kind as that wife of his when he needed that too. He did right by
you boys and Gracie.”
    “Mom loved him with all her heart.” She
nodded and said that he would his mate as well. “I think I might have made her
mad earlier. I marked her, as you know, but she’s mad at me. And her nephew has
had some run-ins with a bully.”
    “You’ll get him straightened out. My boy, you
remember Donnie? He had him some problems with one of them mean boys. When
Donnie would try to ignore him, it only got him in more trouble. Teach this boy
how to fight dirty. You should remember how to do that from your younger days.”
He tried to look shocked, but she snorted at him. “Seen you boys scraped up so
bad when you