He wasn't being childish. Something was wrong. He couldn't remember what or why but his instincts were telling him that his mate - and she was his mate, of that he was certain - was in danger. If he had to ride in a cage to be close to her, he'd ride in a cage. What he wasn't going to do was ride away from her.
As soon as the truck started moving, he turned his attention to the latches. He'd heard three slide into place after Doc had shut the door and he could smell the scent of the doctor's hands on the metal wire in front of his nose. It turned out to be amazingly easy to open them. All he had to do was swipe at each one with a nail until it lifted, then swipe it sideways to shift it over. The only thing preventing the cage door from swinging open by the time the truck stopped and the passenger door opened, was the nail he had hooked over one of the wires.
He could tell by the scent and through the bond that connected them that his mate was walking back to say goodbye to him. He nearly gave himself away by trying to reach her through the bars with the wrong paw, but he caught himself just in time and offered her the paw that wasn't holding the door shut.
"I'll see you later. If Doc doesn't bring you back to the hospital, I'll ride out to the farm, but I can't stay tonight. I have an early class tomorrow morning."
That's what she thought. He licked the fingers reaching through the metal to cover his paw and they disappeared.
"You have got to stop doing that."
He whimpered. If he could kiss her like a human, he would, but a wolf kiss was all he could do right now.
As soon as the truck started moving, he let the gate swing open. It went about six inches and stopped. No! How could he have forgotten about the tailgate? The wires in the gate felt thin - maybe he could bend the door enough to escape. He pushed on the top of the door panel and felt a thrill at how easily it gave way. It should be easy to bend it a little and squeeze through the top.
The wire rubbed painfully against sore thigh as he passed through, but he was free! He hit the ground harder than he expected and stumbled. A loud, blaring sound went off close to his ear. He jumped, nearly took off in panic, then remembered what it was - a horn. He must be in the road. He should get to the side, but which side? He'd been paying so much attention to the cage door he hadn't paid attention to the turns. Horns were blaring all around him now. That was good - nobody would hit him. He paused for a moment and felt for his mate. That way.
"Nate! Get back here."
He ignored the doctor and loped toward what he guessed was the edge of the road. There was a curb, but the slight change in sound caused by the soft surface of grass instead of pavement alerted him in time. After two steps the surface under his feet changed again, but it was harder and smoother than the asphalt. He sniffed. Cement. He must be on a sidewalk. Yes, he could feel the cracks between the sections, and there was the smell he'd noticed just after they drove away. Someone was doing their laundry. What else? Dandelions, freshly mowed grass, clouds laden with rain, her. He turned toward the smell. Steps, a threshold where smells and sounds changed, a hallway with a voice yelling at him. He ignored the voice and followed her scent. More steps - a staircase with a landing in the middle. He wished the male behind him would stop yelling - the echos made it hard to think. A carpeted floor. Her scent was strong here. She had to be close. A few more feet. He could smell her under the crack of what must be a door. He scratched the door and whined. The hard surface beneath his paw disappeared.
"Nate? What are you doing here?"
"Is that your dog?" someone asked angrily behind him. "No pets are allowed."
Her hand fell on top of Nate's head before he could growl at the man for talking to her in that manner.
"No. He must have followed me from the animal hospital. How did he get in the dorm?"
"Some idiot propped the door opened."
"Oh. The vet just dropped me off. I'll have him come get him."
"Take him outside while you wait."
"Sure, of course. Come on, Nate."
No way was he moving. He sat down.
"Na—ate." She pushed on his shoulder. "Don't do this to me. Come on, move."
Her ineffectual attempt amused him. He licked whatever was closest.
"Nate! Ugh. Darn you."
"Want me to help?" the male voice asked.
"No, the vet can help me. He'll have a leash. I'll give him a call."
He felt her move into the space which was filled with her scent, so he followed.
"Really? Now you move? Look, Michael...right, I'll keep him locked in my room until the vet gets here. He won't cause any problems - will you Nate?"
She sounded irritated. He yipped in agreement, then walked closer and laid his head against her chest. Her hand rested on the top of his head as she released a loud sigh. "What am I going to do with you."
"What's the vet's name? I'll bring him up as soon as he gets here."
"Doc Brown. Thanks Michael."
She moved away from him. The sounds of voices in the hallway grew suddenly quieter so he guessed she'd shut the door. He wished he could see what her room looked like. It smelled like...he turned his head to get a good whiff and hit something with his nose - a tall pile of books by the sound.
Aiyana sighed behind him. "Nate, my room is too small for you to move around in. I've got things piled everywhere. Come here by me and sit down. There's room right in front of the door."
He obeyed with his head down to show how sorry he was for making a mess. She rubbed the top of his head through his bandages. "All right, you big sneak. I need to get ready for church. I'll get you some water though if you promise not to step in it this time."
He nodded.
He lapped up the water while he listened to her move. He heard a scraping sound and he imagined she was brushing her hair. What did it look like? What did she look like?
"Aiyana, you in there?"
The doctor had found him already?
"Yes. Hold on. Nate, can you move so I can open the door?"
As long as he was in here and the doctor was out there, the doctor couldn't take him away and his mate would be safe. He melted onto the floor.
"Nate, come on. Even if I were your mate, this behavior would make me think twice about admitting it."
"You are my mate. Stop saying you aren't," he told her. Unfortunately it came out as a string of moan-like barks.
Hands pushed against his hip and he felt himself sliding over the slippery tile floor. She was strong for her size. The voices from outside became louder again. Darn, she'd managed to open the door.
"Hi Doc. He's being very stubborn. I tried to get him to go downstairs to meet you and he refused."
"Yes, the boy at the front desk told me. He bent the door of the cage completely out of whack."
"Do you think he's acting like this because of his brain injury?"
"I don't know. It would be nice if he could answer more than yes or no questions."
"There's a sand volleyball court out back. Maybe he could try writing."
Yes! Why hadn't they thought of that sooner? Why hadn't he? He sprang to his feet.
"Looks like he's interested. Lead the way Aiyana."
He found it harder to go down the stairs than up without his sight, but he made it without running into anything. They turned into a hall which expanded into a wide-open space. Somewhere a TV blared. Voices and the musk of fully human males surrounded them.
"Aiyana, wow, is that your dog? He looks like a wolf."
"Why is his head all bandaged?"
"Can I pet him?"
"No. Accident. No. He might bite. He can't see, so can you guys just move out of the way? We're trying to get him out of the dorm."
"Hey, you gonna be around to play volleyball later?" a deeper, closer male voice asked.
"Maybe," Aiyana said.
An unwelcome thought struck him. Did Aiyana have a boyfriend? If she thought she'd never find a wolf mate, maybe she'd decided to let her human side pick a mate. He growled under his breath.
Something hit his shoulder. "Stop that."
"Looks like the rain has begun," the doctor commented as Nate got a whiff of outdoors.
"Mmm," Aiyana agreed.
It wasn't raining hard yet, but he could feel the sand sticking to his paws as Aiyana led him onto the court.
"Okay Nate. Everyone's going inside to get out of the rain. If you can make it look like you're sniffing and digging for something, I don't think anyone will realize you're writing," Aiyana said. "Now, why are you...I mean, is there some reason other than you think I'm your mate, that you followed me here?"
He started clawing out the letters.
"U..R..N. Urn?" Aiyana asked.
"No, I think he means You are in...danger," the doctor read.
"Me? Why would you think I'm in danger?" Aiyana asked.
Can't remember.
"Then how do you know I'm in danger?"
Feeling.
"So you're trying to protect me?"
Nate nodded.
Her arms went around his neck. "That's very sweet of you Nate, but I'm not in any danger. Why would I be? I'm a nobody."
U R my mate.
"I'm in danger because I'm your mate?"
Maybe? The information was there, he just couldn't reach it.
He could feel her shaking her head against his shoulder. "Even if I were your mate, which I'm not, until a couple of days ago you'd never even met me. The only people who you've told are Doc, your parents, your uncle, and my alpha. I doubt any of them are going to hurt me. In fact, by following me around, you're making it more likely that someone is going to think I'm your mate."
She was right, but not about everything. U R my mate. I feel... he couldn't think of a word to adequately describe it. Whole? Happy? Amazing? Like he was about to explode with joy? complete next 2 U.
"Oh, Nate." He thought she might have kissed his bandage but it was hard to tell. "We need to figure out how to heal you so you can find your true mate. She's a very lucky wolf."
Why wouldn't she listen?
"If you want to protect me you should act like I'm just another worker at the hospital. Go with Doc. Your parents are probably wondering what's taking so long and I'm sure they'll have plenty of fresh meat at the farm. You've barely had anything to eat since you woke up."
He whimpered.
"I'll be fine. I'm going to go to church and then out to eat with some friends. If the weather clears and the roads aren't too wet, I'll ride out to the farm to see you later, okay?"
His heart, his mind, his whole being was telling him not to leave her side, but his being there might be putting her in danger. He lowered his head in a sad nod.