Galen felt the warmth of her breath on his lips, sending a ripple of pleasure and anticipation through his entire being. Her seductive voice danced in his ears and played like music down, creating a rhythm in his body until his pants began to feel a little too tight.

A soft blush crept over him, beginning at his throat, and spreading to the tip of his ears. He quickly ducked his head out of her arms and pushed himself off the desk. Throwing his body back against the opposite wall. A good three feet of space now dividing them.

He saw a satisfied grin on Bell’s face. She leaned back and crossed her legs, bouncing one of her feet.

‘This one is dangerous,’ he thought to himself. He remembered having the same thought about Alice, except he also felt irritated by her attention. With Bell, however, it was not unwanted.

“Guess I missed you more,” she pretended to pout.

Galen cleared his throat.

“So, I heard you are a doctor,” he said in an attempt to change the subject and get back on mission.

Bell pursed her pouting lips together and cocked her head to the side, glaring at him impishly.

“Fine, have it your way,” she sighed dramatically, “we’ll talk ‘serious’ now.”

Bell hopped down from the desk.

“Am I a doctor?” She repeated his statement as a question. “Well, that depends on what you consider a doctor. Do I have a medical license? No, that would require being involved with the human world. Have I gone to school for medicine, also no, same reason._.

Have I read every book within the territories of Winter about medicine? Probably. Have I had many years of training under multiple medical professionals and watched countless hours of procedures and operations? Yes.”

“So, you ARE a doctor?” Galen asked.

“Technically no, technically yes,” she laughed.

“Ya know,” he replied, relaxing a little and crossing his arms over his chest, “you don’t have to have a license to be a doctor. Not in the packs. Sure, if you wanted to be a doctor among humans, you need one. But our system exists for us and us alone. From what I know, you are more than qualified. You ARE a doctor. Period.”

Bell looked him up and down, smiling to herself.

“Ok, I am a doctor,” she said, raising her eyebrow slightly. “Did you need a checkup?”

“Are you offering?” he smiled back, a slight suggestion in his voice.

“No, no, no,” Bell chastised playfully, “you already quit that game, remember?”

Galen nodded his head with a grin. He enjoyed his time with her. Bell was bright, beautiful, and her smile gave him a kind of warmth he couldn’t describe.

‘Your mate is a lucky man,’ he thought to himself sadly. ‘Whoever or wherever he is.’

“As much as I enjoy our chats, and I really do,” she smiled, “I do need to get this charting done and check up on some of my patients. So, if there was nothing else?”

“Actually,” he said as she picked up the fallen chart, “I really did come to check out the facilities. To see how the hospital operates, what your treatments look like, the general knowledge level of the staff.”

“What for? Oh no,” she gasped dramatically, “you’re not a spy, are you? Coming to steal all our secret healing ways? Or filling our medicine bottles with those chalky candies?”

Galen was confused. He knew, of course, that she was joking, but the odd specificity of the joke had him curious.

“What?” he chuckled.

Bell laughed.

“So, cards on the table, I already knew you were here. I didn’t think I would run into you, but I knew you were in the hospital.”

“You did?” he asked.

“Yea,” she chuckled, “a few people saw you outside. They came up with all kinds of reasons and theories behind your presence.”

Galen raised an eyebrow, “Oh really?”

“I was quite interested in the one where you might have a health concern that you were too embarrassed to see your own doctors about,” Bell smiled, “down there.”

Bell brought her hand up near her mouth, curling her index finger and then pointing down. His eyes followed the direction she pointed, landing where his pants had grown a bit too tight before. He shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat.

“I have no health concerns,” he replied quickly.

“Hmm,” Bell said with a teasing smirk, “so why do you need to inspect the hospital?”

“It’s basic combat tactics. Medical teams are a vital part of any pack and defense, whether preventative medicine or after-care treatment. They affect the pack as a whole.”

“I thought you were here to learn about attack tactics?” Bell asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I am, but while I’m here, Saul has asked that I look at the defenses as well. To see if there are any recommendations that I believe would be for the good of the pack. He didn’t ask me to look at the hospital specifically, but as I said, the hospital and its staff are all a key part of basic combat tactics.”

His reply was, generally speaking, accurate. Saul had asked him to look at the overall defenses, and Galen firmly believed that the medical facilities were a key component of proper combat tactics.

He just didn’t reveal his other reason for being in the hospital.

“Ok, well, I can squeeze in a tour and a few questions,” she said happily. “But I really do need to do this charting first.”

He agreed and followed her down the hall to a small office. She sat at the desk, and he looked around the room while she got to work. He looked through the books on the shelf before he pulled out one that piqued his interest. It was black leatherbound, with a piece of thick cord wrapped around it. It looked more like a journal than a published book.

As he turned the book in his hands, he realized there was no title written on the cover, so he began to unwrap the cord. When it released, and he was able to pull back the leather, he discovered that his instincts had been right. It was a journal.

There were handwritten notes on every page, some with anatomical drawings and sketches. Here and there were images of plants, tools, and some things he didn’t recognize right away.

Bell had glanced up from her charting. She saw him looking at a book with interest; the look on his face was curious.

‘He’s so adorable,’ she smiled to herself.

He had been flipping through the pages; finally, he pulled the book up closer to his face to read.

‘He must have found something that interested him,’ she thought.

Glancing at the shelf, she tried to identify which book he had picked up. At first, she couldn’t figure out which one it was. Not until he turned the book in his hands and she finally caught sight of the black leather. Her eyes widened as she jumped up from her chair.

Just as he was about to read some of the notes, he was surprised as Bell pulled the book out of his hands, holding it protectively against her chest.

He looked up at her, and at first, he was surprised. But quickly, his surprise turned to concern as he saw the look in her eyes.

“Bell?” he said, “I’m sorry if you didn’t want me to touch anything. I wasn’t trying to snoop.”

She swallowed and moved away from him. Then, opening a drawer at her desk, she placed the journal inside.

“I’m really sorry, Bell. I wasn’t trying to invade your privacy. I thought it was just some medical notes.”

Bell sat down timidly, staring down at her hands. It was strange to see her this way. She always seemed so strong, so sure of herself. But at this moment, she seemed so small and fragile. He wanted to hold her in his arms and assure her that everything would be alright.

“It’s ok,” she said quietly. “It’s not what you think.”

He sat down in the chair across the desk, keeping his focus on her the whole time.

“It’s not my journal. I’m not scared of you reading my private thoughts,” she said softly, lifting her head and smiling at him.

But all he saw were the unshed tears that glistened in her eyes.

“Then what is it?” he asked warmly.

“It is a journal,” she replied, “but it belonged to my mom.”