Eric scooped me into his arms and I clung and gasped as he jumped down branches. My anxiety attack still raged on as we hit soil. William was already there, worry etched into his face. He held his arms out and before Eric could set me down, I was reaching and pulled myself around his neck like a hurt toddler.

William moved us to sit back against a fallen log and I shifted my legs to straddle his lap, my face digging into his shoulder. He said calming words as his warm hands slid across my back and his nose glided at my neck over his marks.

It was minutes of this, before my breathing slowed and my heartrate returned to normal. But I pressed on into William's shoulder.

"Are you okay Kara?" Eric's words were soft and I twisted just enough to look at him. My cheeks pinked from embarrassment of my melt down. He smiled and stood off a log to the side. He touched at my shoulder. "I've got to get back to the pack. The Alpine Ridge man has woken up. But you're in good hands." He winked, sending my blush darker. "See you around."

"Bye, Eric," I whispered testing the newer name and then bit my lip.

William and I watched as he jogged away.

As more minutes past and I realized I was finally completely calm, the extreme embarrassment of earlier and even this new situation started trickling in. I shouldn't be clinging into him!

But my mind was at war with itself.

I wanted to pull away and hide, but something else kept saying the word mate. Throwing it back at me, telling me it was perfectly fine for mates to need the other for comfort.

Caroline, that's why your panic attack is gone. Because of mate.

And I knew it was true.

It was like I was two people now. Caroline and Kara. Caroline, the human who thinks they know the world and how to feel about a man she just met. How to act around practically a stranger. Heck, how even to feel after getting dumped by a fiancé! Then Kara, the wolf. More adult than Caroline, strong and smart in the ways of the supernatural world. Telling Caroline where to shove it when it comes up how to treat a mate. Kara, always there with me, watching and following the world, even if I didn't know it. Was she the one always holding me back on the relationship with Rick? Was she really always there under my skin?

It felt weird. But Kara knew what mates were and even remembered her grandmother telling her about her absolute submission marks, and Kara's hope for a mate to share that with.

And though I was Caroline for so long, I now know I'm Kara too.

I sighed into William's shoulder and spoke softly to him, the first sounds to disrupt the forest in many minutes. "I know what mates are."

His warm breath blew out over my neck. "Yeah?"

I nodded wordlessly against him. "You might have to give me some time to adjust though."

His warm hand rubbed at my back. It was so lovely. "I can give you all the time you need."

"Thank you." A quiet word, then I pulled myself from William's lap and sat next to him on the log. I looked at the dirt at our feet ashamed. "And I'm so sorry," I spoke awkwardly to my feet.

"Sorry for what?" He asked softly.

"Goodness, don't make me say it." I sighed and closed my eyes, burying my fiery humiliation into my hands. "For coming onto you. For forcing your hand to mark me and... do other stuff." Can I go climb a tree again? I'm going to die.

But he gave a soft laugh and it startled me out of my hiding spot. I looked up at him and immediately felt my stomach fill with butterflies as his piercing blue eyes met mine. I couldn't deny this body reacted to him way more than Caroline wanted it to. "Out of everything that's my favorite part of the weekend."

"Really?" I tried to smile, his laugh contagious.

"Yes," he nodded with a grin. His eyes turned concerned. "Are you upset about last night?"

I looked back to the ground at our feet, a pathetic nervous smile at my lips. "If I say yes, are you going to say, 'I told you so?'"

"No," he said softly.

"Maybe," I conceded. "I'm just embarrassed by how I acted. You were trying to be a gentleman. I was not being a lady. I should have been smart enough to realize it wasn't a dream. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for that. It was amazing." He let out a breath as his face turned worried. "If you want to apologize for something, how about apologize for jumping out of a four-story window. I nearly jumped after you."

I tilted my head in partial agreement. "I kind of remember doing that." I then looked out over the dried streaks of blood on my arms; trying to see the cuts marked into my skin after jumping through two windows today. "I can pay for those."

He fully laughed. "You don't need to worry about that." He sighed the laugh away. "I'm just happy you're okay." He stood and motioned for me to join him. "Come for a walk. I know where there is a stream, you can wash off."

"Okay," I met his glance and stepped from the log following him through the trees for a hundred yards or so.

We came to a lovely softly flowing brook and he helped me sit down at the bank on the soft grass. He pulled the shirt from off his head and a silent gasp filled me. His muscles were so defined and every bit as gorgeous as they were in the nighttime darkness.

The real nighttime darkness, the creeping blush at my chest reminded me.

He must have noticed my wandering eyes, but said nothing and dipped his shirt in the brook. William held the shirt in the water for a few moments before bringing it up and wringing out the excess water. He looked back to me with those striking eyes and asked permission, "may I?"

I nodded and held my arms out.

He used his shirt as a washcloth and rinsed the redness from my arm, the icy cold of the river water making me visibly tense, but I didn't make a noise still watching his bare torso.

"Sorry." He pulled the shirt away and rinsed the blood away in the water. But after he wrung the water out this time he held the shirt against his chest for a minute. "Is this better?" he asked as he grabbed my hand in his and wiped down my other arm. I smiled realizing the motion to his chest was to warm the shirt as now it felt lovely.

"That's okay," I said lamely, my glance from under my lashes.

He grinned and continued on in the same way until all the blood was rinsed from my arms and legs. The warmth of his body heat mesmerizing in the damp shirt.

Being like this together allowed my eyes to fully study him. Each muscle, the way they twisted and pulled as he bent to the brook. The slight dimple he had when his cheek turned to a grin. The stubble of his jaw, one fingertip sized point not filled in on his left side like at one point he could have had a scar there.

His damp warm hand pressed into my cheek and my lips turned to a smile meeting his glance. His thumb tenderly caressed over my cheek and then his eyes followed the warmed shirt again as it touched over my forehead and across the spots on my face.

He sat back and surveyed me. I blushed under his scrutiny. "Better? Do I still look like a Carrie under a bucket of blood?"

"You look beautiful."

I flushed slightly and then looked down and checked over myself. There was so much blood on me, it was amazing to see no marks across my skin now. I looked up to William. "There's no cuts."

"You're a healer. You can use your energy to heal yourself or others. It was a gift some ancestors your grandmother Ruth had as well."

"Really? My grandmother had people who healed?"

He nodded.

"So I can heal cuts and broken bones and stuff?" I looked up curiously.

"Yes." He looked back to me, catching my glance with a smile. "And you fixed all Eric's scars after twenty years. That's a feat."

I bit a smile away and looked to the soothing water in front of us. "Thanks, but I don't know if I understand what I'm doing quite yet."

"Well it seems like something inside you knows what to do."

I nodded softly to the distance. "I guess so." I was quiet a moment before I added, "I think I've done it before."

"Yeah?"

Another nod. "I think I can do it to animals. In my clinic." I bit my lip nervous. "I think Rick's seen it."

"The vet you were with?"

"Yes." My brow came down in worry as I relived a year of healing. "One time we went up north to put a horse down that had been badly hurt from a long fall. As soon as I saw him hurt and in pain, I knew I could do something." I paused thinking of the horse's injuries, so much suffering. "Next thing I know, I wake up in the car ride back home. Rick wouldn't tell me what happened, just that the horse was fine now. I thought maybe I passed out at its terrible injuries and Rick put it down and was saving me the pain of knowing. But I feel like I can see my hands on the horse's neck now and see it galloping away."

He pulled me across his lap. And though I had asked for space earlier, it was like I needed the comfort and dug into it. He answered. "Sounds like it. My dad looked up your records. He said that your clinic has had amazing successes since you started."

"Your dad looked me up?" I leaned back out to see him and smiled.

He gave a slight smirk. "Sorry, I wanted to know everything about you."

I looked away bashful. "I don't mind." A deep breath slid from me. "William, how do I go back there? I have to go back to work tomorrow."

His head shook quickly. "No. No you don't. You can stay here with me."

I leaned my cheek against his shoulder, already needing his solace again. "I can come back. But I'll need to give my two weeks notice."

"What about this morning? You told him you quit. Just quit. He doesn't need your notice."

I met his eyes, gold flecks flashing through. "But I need to think of being able to get another job. It doesn't look good to say I just quit."

"You don't need another job. You can work here at the packhouse. Be our doctor. The pack will pay for anything you need."

I gave a smile and touched down his cheek. "I'm not a doctor William. I'm a vet."

He reciprocated the smile. "You're our healer. And when a wolf needs help you can do that too."

I looked away and let my brow lower. "I need to help the rest of those wolf things in the cages, don't I?"

He nodded softly. "We've never been able to do anything for them. But you healed those men in minutes."

"What if I don't know what to do?"

"I think you'll figure it out. And as much as I don't want you to be in danger in front of those monsters again, I think we need you."

My lips turned to a smirk. "I remember you pushing me out of the way."

He nodded taking a deep breath. "All I knew was that you were going to get bit and turn into one of them. I was hollering a string of curses at Eric to protect you. Then you pushed him out of the way too."

"Sorry," I chuckled lightly.

"I know you can't help it."

"You'll get there," he promised, a sweet looking filling his eyes.

"I guess we should go fix some werewolves?"

He looked down to me lovingly. "Maybe we should wait another day?"

"I think that's what I'm here for right? If we wait then those poor men have to be stuck in the cages longer. I don't want anyone to be hurt while there might be something to do about it."

"You have a very caring heart." He sighed. "I guess if you think you're ready to go back."

Taking a deep breath, I stood off William's lap. "I think I'm as ready as I can be."