Friday, finally. Only one more week of school. She skirted around the large group in the rec room talking loudly about where they wanted to eat and headed outside to her ride.

"Hey, Aiyana, doing anything fun tonight?" one of the guys on her volleyball team called.

"Going to work."

"Girl, it's the last Friday before finals!"

"I'll party when they're done."

"But everyone will be gone then."

"Not everyone."

"I will be gone, that's the important thing."

She rolled her eyes. He was such as flirt. "I'll survive. See ya at the game tomorrow."

It was a beautiful evening and the perfect temperature. The only flaw was that she couldn't enjoy it on her bike. It had been three days but they still hadn't found the man who attacked her. Alpha Miguel had assigned several wolf students to guard her during the day and give her rides to work in the evening. For extra protection, she'd started carrying around the ancient silver letter opener her aunt had given her when she got her first letter in the mail. It looked like an ornate dagger complete with mysterious symbols down the blade and hilt. It was one of the only things she had from her father. As far as her aunt knew, every wolf on both sides of the family had been allergic to silver, so why her father had owned a silver letter opener was a mystery. If she actually managed to stab the wolf with it, it probably wouldn't kill him, but it would burn.

She thanked the Freshman who'd given her a ride, then hurried inside. The only people in the front room were one patient and the receptionist, but she could hear loud voices coming from the back where Nate still lay. One of them was Dr. Richardson. That couldn't be good. She pasted on a smile and opened the door. Dr. Richardson was again facing off with Dr. Patel, the were-gland expert Nate's parents had brought in. Luna Salma was frowning behind them.

"Dr. Richardson, I thought I heard you in here."

"Is something wrong, Aiyana?" Dr. Richardson asked without looking at her.

"No. There's a patient out there. I was surprised to hear you in here is all."

"Just making sure this patient is getting the best care possible."

"Shall I tell the receptionist it will be a few minutes then?" Aiyana asked, knowing how he hated to make patients wait very long.

"No. I'll see them now." He paused in front of Aiyana right before he stepped out of the room and glanced back at Dr. Patel. "Keep an eye on things."

She nodded. Dr. Richardson was a nice guy, but when it came to what he felt was his territory, he was worse than the most possessive wolves. He was probably miffed that an expert had been called without his consultation. She waited until he'd made it out to the reception area, then closed the door he'd left open, on purpose no doubt.

"It's good to see you again," Dr. Patel smiled as Aiyana turned around. "And you're just in time. I was about to give him another treatment before Dr. Richardson decided I needed to consider steroids again."

"Did the other treatments work then?"

"Take a look."

The doctor waved toward the shaved areas on Nate's flank. Not only were the sores gone, but the fur had regrown.

"Is his head looking better?"

"It is on the surface. His eyes still aren't responding to light though."

"Can the hormones get through the blood-brain-barrier?" Aiyana asked.

"They should be able to. If Dr. Brown can get us into the university lab tomorrow, we can take a look with the MRI. No matter what happens, I think this whole idea of treating non-healers with serum is worth a paper. I'd like to see if the healing properties can be extended to non-wolves too. Can you imagine how that would change the medical field!"

"I can imagine how it would make it even more dangerous to be a wolf," Salma said behind her.

The doctor waved her hand in dismissal. "We wouldn't tell them where it came from. We could purify it and put it in a gel or something - make it topical to start with. I don't think the FDA regulates that as closely. Aiyana, I know you already have an internship lined up with Dr. Brown for the summer, but I'd love to have you come work with me at some point, maybe next summer? I should be able to find a little research money by then."

She'd only known her a few days, but Dr. Patel seemed to be one of those energetic people who could grab a basketball and take it all the way to the hoop before even the refs knew what was going on. Aiyana felt like she barely knew what she'd be doing in the fall, let alone next summer.

"It sounds interesting," she said cautiously.

"Great!"

"Don't you think you should make sure it works in wolves first," Salma said wryly.

"You are a very wise luna, as always," Dr. Patel smiled. "Although, it's already clear it works at least partially."

She picked up a large syringe filled with pale yellow liquid and moved toward Nate's front leg where she started injecting it into the catheter that was already inserted into his vein. Aiyana wondered who had donated it.

Luna Salma rubbed Nate's back with a sigh. "I wish it worked well enough it could heal Jeremy."

"They found Jeremy?" Aiyana asked.

"You didn't hear?"

Aiyana shook her head. "I've been in class all day."

"He's dead. The found him and a man in a truck in a lake somewhere northwest of town. There was a gun in the cab. The wolves on the force think it's the same gun that was used to shoot Nate."

"Was Jeremy shot too?"

"No. He was in human form. He was tied up. It looks like he drowned."

"You think the hunter caught him? Why would Jeremy be in human form then? Was he dressed?"

Nate's mother shook her head sadly. "I don't know. I can't believe he's dead. I keep picturing the last time I saw him. He was in a good mood. He and Nate were best friends, always teasing each other and getting into trouble together. It's...," she put her hand over her mouth and shut her eyes.

Should she hug her? She wanted to help but she wasn't sure what to do. "I'm sorry."

"I keep thinking that could have been Nate. What if I'd lost him?"

Aiyana dropped to her knees and put her arms around Nate's mother. After a few moments the woman started running her hand down Aiyana's hair. "Being a mother is a wonderful experience, but it's one of the hardest things a woman can do. You think it's tough raising them from a child to a teenager, then they turn into adults and leave and suddenly you don't know where they are or what they're doing and they never listen. Jeremy's mother is going to be devastated. I hope you call your mom often and let her know what you're up to."

"Both my parents died when I was a baby, but I like to think she's watching over me," Aiyana said quietly. She couldn't remember either one, but she could imagine them from the pictures her aunt had. Her mother was always smiling, her native American heritage evident in her long dark hair, tan skin, and high cheekbones. Her father was tall and slim and pale with red, curly hair and a thick red beard before it was cool. She wished she could have known him.

"How did they die?" Salma asked.

"Hunters."

The hand stopped on top of her head. "I'm sorry to hear that. Do you have any brothers and sisters?"

"No."

"Who raised you?"

"My aunt."

The hand started to move again. "Well, she did a fine job. I hope you call her often."

"I try to," Aiyana said guiltily. She'd forgotten to call her aunt back the other day. She should do it now - her aunt would be just getting home from work. "Can you excuse me for a while? I need to go walk the dogs in the kennel."

"Of course."

Her aunt didn't answer. She sent a text apologizing for being so lax, then finished walking all the dogs that could walk so they could do their business.

Don't worry, there's more!