“Maybe it
’
s because I’m around such a beautiful woman,” he teased weakly.
“You’re such a charmer,” Amari said with a smile. “Seriously
,
I would like to get you evacuated by chopper to the hospital
.
Y
ou need a full course of antibiotics for your injuries. I don’t understand why you aren’t in a military hospital.”
He’d told her about how he got hurt in Afghanistan
,
and she was like a dog with a
bone and wouldn’t let go
of
the fact that he coul
d be getting better care. He didn’
t tell her all the rest
.
B
ut for him to get past this stage in his healing
,
h
e would need to be
in
his second skin
in order
to speed up his body
’s restoration
.
He cleared his throat uncomfortably
before speaking. “
Listen
,
I need to do something to help me get better and to take away some of the pain.”
Amari frowned. “You mean dru
gs
,
don’t you? I know a lot of soldiers come back and get messed up
,
but I can help you with cravings and even get you methadone if you need it to take the edge off.”
Stavros shook his head. “No
,
nothing like that shit
.
I’m not a drug addict.”
She looked at him with
apparent
confusion. “Then what?”
“I’m something more than just a man, I’m a shifter.”
Stavros explained.
Amari laughed. “Ok
ay,
your fever has you hallucinating, Stavros
.
T
here is no such thing.”
“Don’t freak out
,
ok
ay?
P
lease don’t,” he begged and slowly moved from the bed to stand. “I’m still me even after you see this.”
Stavros
,
you shouldn’t even be up
.
G
et back in bed please
.
”.
He didn’t listen but called out
to
his second nature as quickly as he could. Shifting was causing
a great deal of p
ain over wounded muscles and skin
,
but he embraced it a
nd let it flow over him. He heard
a small scream come from her lips
,
and saw her scramble up on the bed against the headboard. He thought she would run away as fast as she could
,
but Amari sat where she was with her knees pulled up to her chest and watched him with wide eyes. When he was in his tiger form he gave a sign of relief
,
already feeling his body trying to heal itself.
He sagged to the floor and stared at her
,
waiting to see what she would do next. She moved toward him slowly until she was on her knees on the hard wooden floor.
“C-can I touch you?” Sh
e reached out a hesitant
hand and then pulled it back. “
Will you bit
e
me?”
Stavro
s gave
a
low purr and butted her knee with his head. She laughed in surprise
and ran her fingers through his thick fur.
“You’re as white as the snow around here
.
M
y
G
od
,
you’re gorgeous.” Amari laughed again. “How is this possible
?
Do you need to stay like this to mend your body?”
H
e gave a
small purr in response. He liked her hands on his fur
,
stroking him. He closed his eyes half way as she watching him with amazement. There wasn’t horror on her face, not like his father said would happen when anyone found out about him. No
,
she saw him as beautiful and wondrous.
“
This is why you wouldn’t
go to a hospital
.
Y
ou can’t let them see
you like this
,
.”
s
he said to him
. “You
r
team, the ones you spoke of
,
are
they are all like this as well
?
I
―
I
guess we all have secrets.”
Stavros wondered what kind of secrets she could possibly have. She was the sweetest person he’d ever met
,
with a heart of gold.
“Do you want to get on the bed?” she asked. “Meat
.
,
Y
ou probably need red meat protein to help in healing. I’ll go in
to town and buy us some steaks and stuff and make your
s
medium rare. I don’t think I could watch you eat it raw. But that’s ok
ay.
T
hat’s what tiger
s
do
,
eat raw meat
,
so if that’s how you want it you paw the ground or something.”
Her idle chatter
amused
him. He knew it was because she
was still dealing with the shock of seeing him change
. Still
,
she handled it very well
.
H
e certainly didn’t want raw meat
,
so he climbed on the bed without pawing the ground and looked at her calmly.
“Ok
ay,
I’m going
.
D
o you need a blanket
?
Of course not
.
Y
ou have all that amazing white and black fur. You are so beautiful.” She shook her head and gave a laugh. “I’ll be back soon.”
From there she
became
accustomed to seeing him in his tiger form and asked a lot of questions
,
including why he didn’t contact his team mates. One night over dinner the subject came up
,
and
that first inkling of attraction came into play.
“You’re healing well, Stavros
.
Y
ou should contact your friends,” she said
,
and took a for
k
ful of pasta from her plate.
“They are
better of
f
thinking I’m dead,” he said
,
and looked down at his plate.
“That’s so not true… I mean
,
they love you…”
“Amari
,
leave it alone please
.
I’m no use to them
,
” Stavros
said. “Look at me
.
I’m scarred and I limp. Hell
,
I don’t even know how
you
stand looking at me.”
“
I think you’re handsome
,
and a few scars doesn’t change that. You
’
r
e
amazing inside and out.” She bit her lip and looked down at her food.
It was the most endearing thing he ever saw
,
but while she saw him as handsome, he saw himself as flawed. She was to
o
good for him
.
A
mutt like him
,
thrown away by his family as if he
were
nothing. What could he give her?
That thought brought him back to reality. A year later and she still
came
to the cabin to visit him in his seclusion.
First it was to tend to him
,
a
nd now because they had become accustomed to the routine. She was just as alone in the town as he. Stavros knew she was hiding something but didn’t know what.
He wished she trusted him enough to tell him
,
but he didn’t pry. He couldn’t ask her to
divulge
her life
story when he was living in anonymity.
He walked back into the bedroom and pulled a pair of sweats
and a T-shirt
from the drawer. He put on a hoodie and his running sneakers. He ran every day getting a little
farther each time
. He needed to strengthen the man and the beast inside him. The life he had with the Army Beasts seemed to
o
far away
.
H
e wondered if
Zander finally saw himself as an honorable man, or if Malachi settled down. Was Cam still pulling pranks
,
or Kale fixing a new bike
?
His best friends
,
Casey and Zane
,
both had women in their lives, married more than likely. Did they have children? Three hundred and sixty five days and some change without contact with people whom he loved. It felt like an eternity.
Even though his muscles ached and his body protested.
He pushed on in his run and when he finally saw his cabin
,
he sighed in relief, collapsing on the wooden steps to catching his breath. Today was
a
little better
,
but he knew without a doubt his left leg would never be the same. There was just something that could not be fixed in human or shifter form.
He saw the black SUV coming up his rocky driveway and knew it was Amari. He knew her vehicle like the back of his hand down to the ladybug stickers on the back. An instant smile crossed his face and his heart leap
ed
with joy. Seeing her was the best part of any day
.
T
oday she was earlier than usual. She parked close to the tree line
as
she usually did
,
got out
of
the driver
’s
side
and greeted him
with a small wave.
“I brought you some groceries
,
including
Oreos
.
A
nd the
G
irl
S
couts had a sale outside the supermarket.” She thre
w a smile at him before she pulled bags from the passenger side of the truck. “Can you say
Do-Si-Dos?
”
“
Do-Si-Dos,
” he repeated with a grin. “What do I get?”
“A pat on the head,” she teased and put the bags on the patio before sitting on the step with him. “You’ve been pushing yourself to
o
hard again.”
“How do you know
,
smarty pants?” Stavros replied.
“Because of the pain lines around your mouth
.
” Amari touched his face. “You know
,
people take longer than a year to recoup from what you’ve been through.”
“Most people don’t share their body with a tiger
,
either,” he commented.
“Even he needs healing,” Amari pointed out. “But I came bearing gifts, ge
t
showered and changed.”
“Why, maybe I like being sweaty and dirty
.”
H
e smiled as she stood and
held out her hand to help lever him upward.
“Sweaty
,
dirty men do not get to share a picnic with me in the clearing where the spring flowers are blooming
,
”
s
he said simply. ‘There’s potato salad in there.”
‘Well
,
then
that’s enough incentive for me
.
” Stavros grinned. “Picnic and a beautiful woman
… W
ho could say no to that
?
”
“I thought you might say that, so I even stashed cake in the basket
,
” Amari said. “Now chop
-
chop, Stavros
,
let
’
s get a move on. I’ll keep the motor running.”
“Yes
,
ma’am
.
” Stavros saluted and limped up the stairs.