The Cougar's Timid Little Lynx (Sweet Water) (3 page)

“Hi.” Joey’s voice was low.
Alice had sensed him before he even came through the door, and her lynx had risen up, recognizing her mate instantly. To say she was shocked to feel her animal move so swiftly to the surface was an understatement, because never had she felt anything as powerful. But even though she should have felt ease and relief that her animal had suddenly made itself known, Alice felt anything but. It was a foreign sensation, and she didn’t know if she liked it. And then the doctor had come into the exam room, and it was as if the world had stopped when she got the first look at the male that was deemed hers by fate. His hair was short and blond, and his eyes were so blue she felt herself become lost in them. She knew the moment he sensed that she was ruined and broken. It was the way he looked at her, the pheromones that came from him and sensation of his cougar rising up and wanting to protect her. It was a strange feeling, to have a male that was a stranger to her want to protect her instantaneously. Joshua had been like that at first, but it had been more of him being possessive and less of him wanting to make sure she was always safe.

“Hi there.” Doctor Landon offered Joey a smile and cast a glance at her mother. “So, I hear you’re not feeling very good?” Joey shook her head. “Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong.” Alice placed a hand on her little girl
’s shoulder and started rubbing her hand up and down in a soothing manner. She listened to her daughter tell the doctor what her symptoms were, and Alice focused all of her attention on Joey. It was hard not to feel his presence in every part of her, which had the hairs on her arms stand on end. It was like an electrical charge, and she knew she didn’t like it. She had just found herself free to be the mother her daughter needed.

Once Joey was finished telling him what hurt, Alice let her attention slid
e to the cougar. He was busy writing down everything her daughter said, and she allowed herself that moment to examine him. His head was down, and his light colored hair fell across his forehead. He was a big male, clearly very muscular by the way he filled out his khakis, and the way the hard ridges and bulges were evident under his oxford and white lab jacket. As if he sensed Alice’s stare he lifted just his eyes and stared at her. They held each other’s gazes for a prolonged moment, and Alice’s heart started to slam hard in her chest. It was like an invisible chain was between them, slowly being pulled taut and dragging them closer and closer together. Breaking eye contact, she went back to trying to soothe Joey. Alice didn’t like how she felt, how unstable and off balance being in his presence made her feel. Her throat was dry and felt like it was closing in, and the way her heart beat a frantic tattoo, was like she had run a marathon and couldn’t find that peace she had felt when she first came to Sweet Water. She could still feel his gaze on her, and although it was as though he watched her for a very long time, she knew it had only been seconds. She was a lynx shifter, but that didn’t mean she knew everything there was to know about finding a mate. The life she had lived had left a lot of information missing when she was growing up, but what she knew for a fact was that when a male shifter found their mates they didn’t let them go.

The sound of him clearing his throat had her looking back at him. His focus was on Joey
again, and a gentle smile was on his face. “How about you lie down and I’m going to feel your belly, okay?” Joey glanced over at her. Alice ran her hand over her daughter’s head.

“It’s okay, sweetie.
This isn’t a stranger, but a doctor, and he is going to check you over.” A low rumble left the cougar, and she snapped her head in his direction, and she instinctively moved closer to Joey. The animalistic sound that came from him wasn’t a warning, and she knew that it was one of unrestrained emotion. She just didn’t know what kind of emotions caused him to lose that moment of control. Joey leaned back and lay on the exam table. As quickly as he had lost that moment of control, he was right back to being the professional. After he pressed the pads of his fingers into Joey’s belly, and then helped her sit back up, he felt her neck, looked in her ears and throat, and felt her neck. He jotted a few more things down, and then sat back down on the too tiny chair in front of her daughter.

“Well, Joey, I think what you have is a virus.”

“What’s a virus?” Her voice was so little, and her exhaustion was evident. Over the course of the night Alice had been checking on Joey, and when her fever didn’t break and she was throwing up more frequently, she decided she needed to be seen.

“Well, a virus is a bug that lives inside of
you.” The horrified look on Joey’s face had Alice smiling in sympathy.

“How did it get in there?”

“There are a lot of ways for a virus to get in your body. Drinking from someone’s cup that isn’t feeling well, not washing your hands after touching something that has germs all over it, or just being around someone who was sick.” Alice didn’t miss the way he broke it down so a child would understand. It was genuine, and told Alice that this male didn’t look at his patients as dollar signs, but as actual people.

“Will I have it forever?”

He offered Joey a smile and shook his head. “No, but unfortunately there isn’t really medication I can give you that will make it better. It just has to run its course.” He stood, and she swore he took up the entire room. He easily towered over her five-foot-two frame by a foot, and the masculinity that poured off of him would have knocked her down if she wasn’t pressed against the exam table. “You’ll have to get lots of rest, Joey.” He looked over at her then, and once again they stared at each other for far longer than she felt comfortable.

“I’d like to see her in three days just to check up on her. If her vomiting or fever gets worse, take her to the hospital, because dehydration can occur
, but we are seeing a lot of viruses lately, and it just has to run its course. You can also give her an over the counter electrolyte drink to help balance out the fluids she is losing through the vomiting.” He pulled out a script pad and wrote out a prescription for some nausea medicine. “Make sure she drinks plenty of fluids, although I know the file said she is drinking pretty well, and have her stay in bed to rest.” Alice licked her lips and nodded. She also didn’t miss how he lowered her eyes and looked at her mouth right after she slid her tongue along her bottom lip. He cleared his throat and rubbed the side of his face with a large hand. “Do you have any questions?”

God, his voice was so low, so deep, that it only took that sound to make everything inside of her grow weak. This wasn’t good, and she needed to get out of here. She
was finally free from Joshua, and no way would she allow this cougar shifter to place any claim on her, no matter if he seemed genuine, honest, and kind in his emotions and intentions. Now, she didn’t know for a fact if that was what he would do, but by the way he looked at her, and the fact he wasn’t making it any kind of secret that his cougar had recognized her as his mate, and that he wanted her, she had a feeling he wouldn’t let her get very far without making those silent things known. But Alice wouldn’t let any male, human or shifter, take away what she had just now gotten … her life back.

She picked up Joey and held her in her arms. She refused to look at this male, to allow his penetrating blue gaze to hold her captive
, because she was starting to feel the intense pull to him, and it scared the sit out of her. She needed out of this room, out of this office, and as far away from him as she could get. Alice hated these feelings inside of her, and cursed fate that caused total strangers to feel this connection with each other. It was too frightening, too new, and she didn’t want to be dragged back down in the saccharine promise of love and happiness. She had learned the hard way how perfect things were not.

Keeping her head lowered, she murmured, “Thank you,” and promptly left the room.
Stopping at the front desk, she breathed out roughly and saw the receptionist talking to the cougar. A wave of jealousy slammed into her when the petite blonde human female reached out and placed her hand on his arm, but Alice pushed those ludicrous emotions to the back of her mind. Apparently she hadn’t hidden her feelings well enough because Doctor Landon snapped his head up, moved away from the female’s touch, and held Alice’s stare with his own. His mouth moved as he spoke to the receptionist, but he continued to watch Alice. The human female looked over her shoulder at Alice, and her brows knitted in clear confusion.

God, Alice just wanted to pay her bill, which she knew would be astronomical since she had no insurance, but she didn’t care, because this had been the only doctor’s office in this small town
, and the only thing she had cared about was making sure Joey was okay. And apparently it had been a waste of time since he hadn’t really been able to do anything for her anyway, aside from telling her to drink more fluids and giving her some nausea medicine. The female came back to the front desk, and she noticed the cougar didn’t move from his spot in the hallway, or averted his eyes form Alice.

“How much is the office visit?” Alice reached in her purse and grabbed her wallet. When she looked up at the receptionist,
she saw her name was Claire courtesy of her nametag placed right over her huge boob. The perky blonde shook her head, and Alice felt her own confusion rise.

“Doctor Landon isn’t going to charge you for this visit.” Alice looked back at the doctor, and even though the gesture was generous, she didn’t want to be in anyone’s debt. She shook her head and looked back at
Claire.

“No, I insist on paying for his time. How much is it?” She opened her wallet and looked back at
the receptionist expectantly. Claire looked over her shoulder at the doctor, and Alice did the same despite the fact she told herself not to. A scowl covered his face, but it didn’t matter. Alice wouldn’t budge from this. She had felt like she was in Joshua’s debt throughout their entire relationship because he had taken care of her, and paid for every little thing. Never again would she allow herself to be that vulnerable with another person. “I’m grateful, but really, I’d just like to pay for the services rendered, and get my sick daughter home where she can rest.” Claire looked uncertain, and glanced at the cougar again. Alice was starting to think the small human had feelings for the doctor, and that was soon verified when he came into the front office and stood right behind Claire’s chair. The young woman’s arousal filled the small waiting room.

“Doctor Landon, Mrs.
—” Claire looked at the file in front of her, “Mrs. Stratton  wants to pay for her office visit even though I told her there wasn’t any need per your request.”

“It’s Ms. Stratton.”

Claire knitted her brows. “What?” The receptionist couldn’t have been older than twenty, and her bright pink scrubs with little hearts all over, overly made up face, and curled hair made it even more painfully clear that she was very young.

“I am
Ms
. Stratton, not
Mrs
. seeing as I’m not married.” She couldn’t say that enough, and the exhilaration she felt every time she let the words fall from her lip never got old. Maybe she should have felt guilt for having happiness fill her at the fact she was no longer tethered to Joshua, even though he had passed away. But she didn’t feel sorry, and she didn’t think she ever would.

“Um, okay.” Clearly
the receptionist didn’t understand or care. Alice shook her head, just wanting to get her sick little girl back home, and get away from this cougar that was making her feel far too many emotions. It was just her luck to have a taste of freedom only to have it squashed and meet her mate less than twenty-four hours after moving away from her old life.
You might just be jumping to conclusions. Maybe he doesn’t want this as much as you don’t?

“Ms. Stratton
.” Doctor Landon’s voice had her shivering, and she grew angry over that. “I do a lot of pro bono work for the community.”

She knew he had said that because he thought it would make her feel better about not having to pay for the visit, but she’d be lying if a part of her wasn’t embarrassed and angry over the fact she also felt like a charity case. She had been through a lot in the last four years, and maybe it was bigheaded to turn down the kindness he was offering her, but Alice wasn’t use
d to such things. She always felt guarded, and didn’t mean to turn down any sort of generosity, but she could admit to herself that she was a broken female, and didn’t know if she could ever let her walls down.

Unwanted tears prick
ed behind her eyes, and she adjusted her hold on Joey. In her humiliation that these people would be seeing her cry in a matter of seconds, she tried to grab onto her strength. How did she ever think she could do this, be strong and put her past behind her? There had been a small part inside of her that thought maybe he would just let the whole mate thing go, but right now she sensed the monumental wave of possessiveness that poured from him, and the fact his inner animal was right below the surface of his skin told her that no, this male would not let this go. She didn’t want to argue, and shoved her wallet in her purse. When she looked at the male that was her mate, she allowed herself one single moment to wonder what it would be like to have a male that just wanted to see to her safety, wellbeing, and make sure she was okay. This doctor was a good male, but she wasn’t a good female, wasn’t good for anyone, and certainly could never be anyone’s mate. That much was clear by the empathy, but also the underlying rage that came from him, because there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he sensed just how fucked up she really was.