Kissed by Fire (Book 5 of Wolves of Milano)

16.Talking helps

Lyana is proud of Mateo. He opened up to her about something. It’s baby steps, but every one of them counts. She wonders what else is there? What else did he keep from her? And the hint about his wolf was confusing. What would the wolf do? Is she guilty of something? Did she do something wrong? Is the wolf the one who doesn’t like her? Is that the reason their bond is not complete? What can she do about it? It’s just more questions with no answers. They keep getting back to her in numbers. He answers one and she suddenly has a thousand more.

He told her about the kids games he creates. She is impressed. It’s not easy to come up with something new and original in the gaming world. The newest trend is book and movie adaptations. The fact that he made something different is astonishing. He said he doesn’t earn much with those, but she doesn’t care. He’s not playing games all day long, he makes them. It’s a huge difference in her book. It’s a job, no matter the pay. She spends most of her time at work for a paycheck that just barely covers the costs of living.

Now, that he’s contributing to the budget, she can afford a few luxuries as well. She has to get ahold of Nina. Their small after work outing is on standby. If her mother is better, they might finally go out. Lyana needs to talk with someone. She knows it’s not good to be alone most of the time. Elio advised her about it. He’s a good listener, but the guy is too busy with everything going on to have time for her. Besides, it would look bad. She heard Elio is with Allegra. If that is true, she has no business talking with him. It could cast a bad light on them both. She would be labelled as a slut in no time, and that is something she doesn’t want to. Her life under the radar of the pack is fine, she would like to keep it this way.

“Hey, gorgeous.” Liam nudges her. “You seem lost in thoughts. Isn’t that a bit dangerous, considering where you are?”

“Nah.” She winks. “The others have everything under control. I trust my team.”

“Sure. Keep telling yourself that, you might believe it one day.” Andy chuckles. Liam’s partner is a bear too. They have known each other since primary school. The easy bickering has never stopped, even though he has a mate and kids.

“Nice to see you, too.” She smiles. “What brought you around?”

“Looking for Vito.” Liam sighs. “We are all searching for him. He needs to be brought to justice for his involvement in the burning of Rialto.”

“Oh. I can tell you the same thing I told Vittorio.” She tilts her head sideways. “He’s not here. Conscious, unconscious, or otherwise. We have no patients that are not identified.”

“It was worth asking.” Liam nods. “So? What’s going on with you?”

“Huh? Why do you ask?” She evades the question. She really can’t talk about it here. There are two nurses that are wolves present at the time. She might be overheard.

“Fine.” Liam scoffs, but he winks at her. He caught on to her hint. “Be that way. But you have to talk with someone. Don’t be a hermit, it’s not good for you.”

She watches them leave. There is not much she can do about it, but she has to think it through. Now she got the same advice from two different people. She never had many friends, but she didn’t used to be so closed off before. She talked with the bears, and she had Mateo. Since grandma died, she lost touch with most people. It’s just Mateo now. Did she close off on purpose? Is that why suddenly everyone is concerned about her? And she still has a job to do. No matter how well her team works, she is responsible for everything in the end. So, she pushes her personal thoughts aside and makes her rounds.

“The bears are nose deep in our pack business…” She overhears one of the nurses.

“They are too close to Lyana. She is still a wolf, she shouldn’t associate with them.” The other one responds.

“We need to get some wolves on the police force. I don’t think they should be meddling in our affairs.” The first one says, quietly.

“You two need to do your job, or you can go sign up to the police academy instead. You’re both young enough to do it.” Lyana growls behind their backs. She is pissed off right now. She hates to hear the others gossip about her and who she talks with: “I don’t appreciate it being dragged through your teeth when I can hear it. Have decency and do it behind my back like everyone else.”

“I…I didn’t mean it that way.” The girl stutters.

“Of course you did. You think I’m so stupid that I don’t know what the majority of the pack thinks about me?” She glares at the girls. “Right now, we are at work, and I’m your boss. Do your job! You can gossip in your own time.”

Lyana walks away from them in anger. She needs to cool down and just breathe. She glances around at the semi-peaceful emergency room before she walks out the door. She needs air. She needs to see the clouds. She needs to be away from the bimbos for a minute. She is liable to hurt one of them. Nobody is stopping them from joining the police. Any wolf could join. She has heard that a few are cadets at the academy at the time. Elio is training them at the martial arts school as part of the course. It’s not common, but the bears have beaten them to the punch in this aspect of public life. The current mayor is a bear, there are a few detectives and five ordinary police officers. The wolves have stuck to medicine and firefighting. Nothing wrong with it. So, why complain? The change can’t happen that way, unless people do something about it.

She stops thinking about it for a while, because the peace is over. There were a few accidents on the highway. All hands on deck for a few hours and she gets to coordinate everything. Somewhere in between, she thinks she saw Alessio come in, but it could have been someone else in the same uniform. She knows he’s not the only paramedic assigned to the professional fire brigade. But he might be interested in a chat with her. He was always nice to her, not like the she-wolves she works with.

So, she has two potential friends. Could she call Alessio a friend? He is gorgeous, but she has no feelings towards him. He has a mate and she is sure that Mateo is hers. But, would he talk with her? Does he even have time to? He never listened to the general propaganda of the pack. He’s not interested in that at all. So, he might. Nina is a sure thing. Probably. Maybe? She’s about ninety percent sure. Why is she questioning it?

‘Because she cancelled on you.’ Her wolf scoffs.

‘That was not her fault. Her mother was in hospital.’ She answers.

‘But you feel like she might cancel again.’ The wolf says.

‘Maybe. I don’t hold it against her.’ Lyana tells the animal part. ‘She’s human. She normally keeps her word. And she did tell me why she had to cancel.’

‘True.’ The wolf nods. ‘You might want to pay attention. Your patient doesn’t look too good.’

‘Oh, s**t!’ Lyana exclaims in her mind. She presses the emergency button at the side of the bed. She needs a few more hands and a doctor. The patient looked slightly shaken when brought in, but he took to the worse really fast.

“Will you be fine on your own?” Nina asks her later. The patient died on the way to the operating room. Naturally, Lyana blames herself. She missed the signs, because she was all up in her head.

“Yes.” She nods. “I have no idea how I missed it. It was right there.”

“Don’t beat yourself up. We can’t save everyone.” Nina shakes her head. It’s the harsh reality of the emergency room. Death is a constant companion.

“Later.” Lyana nods back. “How is your mom?”

“She’s fine. My sister is taking her in. She will have more control that way. Lucy is on maternity leave.” Nina chuckles. “It was her own words, she’ll have two children instead of one.”

“It’s that bad?” Lyana asks.

“Yeah. If mom’s dementia gets any worse, she’ll have to have round the clock care. We’ll have to put her in a home.” Nina whispers. “She can still take care of most of her own needs. She just has to have control over the pils.”

“I’m sorry. I know it’s hard.” She tries to comfort her friend.

“Talking helps.” Nina smiles. “How about that drink later?”

“I’d love to.” Lyana smiles back.

Getting a drink with Nina was just what she needed. Sitting in a bar just down the street from the hospital and doing nothing is perfect. She leans to Nina, so she doesn’t need to shout over the chatter of other people in the bar. She is ready to tell her it was great to go out, but she catches a whiff of a scent that is not supposed to be there. Why does she smell a shifter on Nina? Is she wrong? Not likely, but that is a scent she hasn’t smelled in a long time. She can’t talk about it here. She has to get Nina to come outside. They might be work friends, but with all the antiseptics in the hospital, a single scent is close to impossible to make out. And they are never this close to each other at work. Is the scent on her clothes or on her skin?

“Come outside with me. I need some air. It is just too crowded in here.” Lyana finally says. She needed an excuse and she fabricated one. She remembers a lot more people here from the past. Today is a slow day in terms of a crowd.

“Sure. When was the last time you went out?” Nina shouts over the chatter.

“Some time in college.” She answers as they reach the door. Her plan is simple. She will drag Nina into the alley and ask. Just like that. She might sound crazy, but she can prove it without scaring the woman. She just needs to know.

“Oh. I thought we’re just going to stand out front for a minute.” Nina laughs. “Kinky.”

“Not even close, my dear.” Lyana snickers. “I want to ask you something. The hospital masks it well, but… Why is there a scent of a cat on you? You don’t have pets.”

“s**t!” Nina exclaims quietly. “How can you smell that?”

“Sweetie. I’m a wolf. Of course I can smell it.” Lyana shakes her head. She opted for the truth, because she could see it in Nina’s eyes. She’s gonna tell her everything.

“A wolf? For real?” Nina gapes.

“Yeah.” She nods. She lets her eyes flash golden just to give Nina something. “Who is the cat in your life?”

“My husband. I’m not supposed to say anything. I feel like I just betrayed him somehow.” Nina whines.

“Don’t worry. Bring him around for lunch on Sunday.” Lyana winks. “Cats are solitary creatures by nature, but the human part isn’t.”

“Are you sure? What about Mateo?” Nina wonders.

“He’ll be fine. We’re wolves, not dogs. We don’t automatically hate cats.” She explains to her friend. “Oh, by the way. What kind of cat is he?”

“Leopard.” Nina whispers.

“Nice. I think we’ll get along just fine.” Lyana smiles. “Let’s be crazy and get another drink. What do you say?”