Karen Whiddon - The Wolf Princess

He busied himself with pretending not to notice her arrival and rechecking his equipment.

“Hello? Earth to Doctor.” A trace of amusement colored her husky voice.

He started, still playing her game, all the while suppressing the urge to lash out with some comment about the time. “Ah, Princess Alisa. I didn’t hear you arrive.”

“Obviously,” she drawled. “Well, I’m here. I’d like to get this over with as quickly as possible. Shall we get started?”

He couldn’t help it—he saw red. Over with as quickly as possible? They could have been halfway done with that morning’s tests if she’d actually showed up when she’d agreed to. This—and more, in fact all the remonstrations he wanted to say—simmered right at the tip of his tongue.

Rather then spewing them, he swallowed hard, taking a deep breath, trying to compose himself. If he gave in to his temper, he’d make things even more difficult.

He wasn’t used to exercising such restraint.

His watch chose that time to speak the hour. Twelve-fifteen. More time wasted. Perfect.

And then his stomach growled. Loudly.

“Have you had your lunch?” he managed, hoping there was the smallest semblance of civility in his voice.

“Lunch?” Again she laughed. “I’m not hungry. Since I overslept, I barely just finished my breakfast.”

Which would explain why she was only now showing up. She must have slept in. Of course she’d slept in.

If she’d been a graduate student at CU, he would have given her a severe tongue-lashing. Instead, he fiddled with the EKG machine, aware she’d have no idea that he wasn’t resetting it or something.

Restraint, he told himself. Restraint. Difficult to maintain when his agitation had stirred up his wolf even more, making the beast restless and angry.

“I ate breakfast hours ago,” he said, wondering if she’d take the hint.

“Yes, you mentioned you were an early riser.”

When her cheerful comment got no response, she moved closer, bringing with her that fresh fragrance of peaches and vanilla. “Are you all right, Dr. Streib? You sound sort of … strangled.”

Perceptive, wasn’t she? To a point, that is.

“I’m fine.” He ground out the words. “Let’s get you hooked up to this machine.” Pointing to a curtained-off area in the corner, he worked hard at keeping his voice level and emotionless. “You can change there. Put on the robe, making sure it opens to the back. My assistant will hook you up to the electrodes.”

“Your assistant?” She sounded skeptical. “We’re alone in this room. I see no helper.”

Jaw aching from clenching it, he counted to three for patience. “That’s because I sent her to have lunch. She was hungry.” After they’d waited nearly four hours for the princess to put in an appearance.

“I see.” She was on the move, her voice drifting to him from around the room. “What did my mother say her name was?”

“Katya.” He hoped she wasn’t messing with any of his equipment. “Your parents were kind to offer her. I believe her normal duties are as personal assistant to the queen.”

“Ah, okay.” Now she spoke from his left. “I know her. And how long do you think it will be until she returns?”

“Not long. She should be back any minute now.” He hoped. “She’ll need a urine sample and then will draw some blood.”

She made a sound, no doubt meant to convey distaste, but since he couldn’t see her expression, he couldn’t be positive.

“What about you? What will you do while I have this test?”

“I’ll be eating.” Using his cane to guide him, he stomped toward the door, needing to escape her before his anger boiled over. “I’m hungry. As I said, some of us ate breakfast hours ago. In the morning, when most people do.”

Unable to resist that parting shot, he shook his head. Hopefully he could get his temper under control so that when he returned, he could participate in the experiments himself without thoroughly pissing her off.

He could always hope. Maybe food would do much to calm him down.

He passed Katya the personal-assistant-turned-research-assistant as he rounded the first corner. “The princess is waiting for you,” he told her. “I’ll be back after I grab some lunch.”

“Are you sure I should do this on my own?” Katya asked, a hint of desperation in her heavily accented voice. “I’ve never done this before and I’m afraid I’ll do something wrong.”

Good Lord, even she didn’t want to be alone with Princess Prima Donna. “You’ll be fine,” he said.

“Before I go to the lab, I think you will need my help?” Katya persisted. “I can show you the way to the dining room. It is a very long walk, though it is on the same floor.”

“I’ll be all right.” He shook his head. “Don’t keep your princess waiting. Please do the EKG like I showed you. Also, see if she will give you a sample for the urinalysis, would you?”

Without waiting for her answer, he moved off in the right direction, at least judging by the scent of food. He’d gotten quite good at following his nose.

After he’d eaten, he got to his feet and made his way slowly back to the lab, dreading the next confrontation.

At least Katya should have finished the preliminary tests by now and hopefully she’d managed to coax the princess into cooperating. Since they needed to make up for the time lost that morning, if he had anything to say about it, the princess would be spending the entire afternoon in his lab. Luckily for him, his wolf appeared to be sleeping.

“Here he is,” Katya said immediately when he entered the room.

“Did you enjoy the meal?” the princess asked, without inflection.

“Very much.” He wondered if Alisa was smiling or frowning, then decided he didn’t really care. Instead, he directed his next question at his assistant. “Katya, have you run all the tests?”

“Yes, Doctor. The computer has done all the analysis and the report is ready for you to hear.”

“Hear?” Princess Alisa chimed in. She actually sounded interested, which surprised him.

“I have a computer program that reads to me, since I obviously can’t read myself. It assimilates all the data, computes a result and then relays that result to me.” He inclined his head, dismissing his assistant. “Katya, thanks for your help. I won’t need anything else from you today. You can leave now.”

He got a sense of the other woman curtsying to him, which almost made him smile. His imagination apparently had become particularly vivid since arriving here in Teslinko. He’d actually started seeing things despite having no way of knowing if they were actually happening. This blindness thing was messing with his mind. Not good for a scientist. Not good at all.

“Thank you, Doctor,” Katya said, moving past him so quickly he felt the disturbance in the air.

Leaving him alone with the high and mighty one. Who was no doubt glaring at him this very instant. A second later, he scoffed at himself. He usually went with facts, not suppositions.

“I’m glad she’s gone,” Alisa finally said, surprising him. “I don’t like her.”

“Why not?” he asked, curious despite himself.

“Good question.” Silence while she appeared to be musing over her answer. “I don’t know. I don’t like her energy. She doesn’t give me a good feeling.”

Energy. Feeling. Next she’d be talking about vibes. Par for the course. He wouldn’t be surprised if she mentioned she studied astrology or the healing powers of crystals. After all, how else could a bored and rich princess amuse herself?

Rather than comment, Braden concentrated on his equipment. Fumbling on the tabletop—he hated fumbling—until he located his headphones, he flashed an utterly fake smile in her general direction before he slipped them on and pressed the play button.