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her mind. Jay hoped it wasn't uncertainties for his fondness of the feral pack. Finally, Dr. Young started to speak, softly and carefully, “In Goldbridge, we restrain our natural instincts. It is refreshing to see one so young and so in tune with their inner wolf.”
     
    Jay cocked an eyebrow and snorted, “Even if that instinct is to bite your face off?”
     
    Dr. Young gave a throaty chuckle and shook her head. She reached for the door, gently shoving it open. “She should be up, if a little groggy.”
     
    “Thank you, doctor.” Jay ducked into the room with a nod of his head. He slowly made his way into the room. The scent of the cave and forest filled every nook of the air: rock, dirt, moss, and pine needles. One scent lingered and it gave him pause: blood. Not a lot, but enough to leave its mark in the air.
     
    As he neared the hospital bed, Hazel shifted. She blearily glared across the distance, but her eyes couldn't seem to focus. She appeared to concentrate as she slurred, “Who's'ere?”
     
    “It's Jay, kid.” He stepped forward, under the moon lamp. The lamp was probably overkill, but the Goldbridge doctors wanted to be safe rather than sorry. He tried to force a grin to his lips as he cocked his head to the side, “Heard you had a run in with a car.”
     
    “Izzat wha'it was?” She grunted, before leaning back into her pillow. The large hospital bed engulfed her small, wiry body.
     
    “Yeah.” Vaguely, Jay wondered how much of the outside world Hazel was familiar with. He always assumed the feral pack did business with farmers or some forest market. He brushed the curiosity aside as he repeated what Doctor Young had relayed, “You have a few fractured ribs and some scrapes, but the doctor says you'll be fine.”
     
    “Doctor?” Concern muzzily dotted across her face. Her hands clenched against the blanket, bunching it up in her fingers, “Human doctor or…”
     
    “Goldbridge has a few humans, but we're mostly lycans here.” Jay didn't want to outright state the town was one hundred percent wolves. He wasn't actually sure. Even further, the hospital's fume always messed with his sense of scent. When he saw Hazel's brow crease further, he hastily added, “But Dr. Young is a lycan.”
     
    Hazel eased at this and nodded her head with a resolute mutter, “Good.”
     
    Jay waited a breath as he regarded the girl. Faintly, he wondered why ferals were so against human medicine and invention. It seemed counterproductive, in the big picture. Shaking the musing from his head, Jay addressed a larger concern, “What are you girls doing here?”
     
    Hazel averted her gaze, her mouth clamping shut. Her hands curled back into the hospital bed blanket, knuckles going white. From the way her lips shifted, Jay could tell she was chewing on the inside of her lip.
     
    “Come on, I worked hard to get the town and the pack to meet.” Jay swallowed his snarl, but couldn't keep the annoyed edge from his voice. He crossed his arms, exasperation taking over his tone, “You coming here and getting hurt – above everything else – could ruin these negotiations, Hazel.”
     
    “We shouldn't have to negotiate,” muttered Hazel as her eyes flew to Jay. Fire licked behind her eyes, her lips twisted into a dark scowl. “And Alpha Kristi deserves better, Jay.”
     
    Jay sighed and sat down on a nearby recliner, the chair creaked under his weight. He rubbed the bridge of his nose as his thoughts tussled about his head. How did you explain to a kid that some things were more important than Mates? Hell, was there a way to explain that to kids? In the back of his mind, where his connection to Kristi always murmured, he felt pain and betrayal. The emotions slightly burned at the back of his eyes.
     
    “Hazel,” Jay growled, dropping his hand from his eyes as he pinned the girl under his gaze, “I love Kristi, but this Goldbridge and Crystal Ridge crap has to stop. We can be together when the bloodshed