Drake couldn’t know any of this, couldn’t understand what she was doing. Drake’s drive to release was wholly physiological, the result of her tumultuous transition. How could she willingly accept the bonding when she could barely manage the chaos within her still-evolving body?
How could she possibly comprehend that once mated, she would be joined physically and mentally to Sylvan for life—and if Sylvan died, she might too. One member of a mated pair rarely survived the death of the other. Sylvan was certain her father would not have survived if he hadn’t been determined to protect the Pack until Sylvan could ascend.
He had begun to fade as soon as Sylvan reached maturity. He hadn’t wanted to live without his mate.
She would not force such a destiny on Drake. She would not take a mate when so much of the future was uncertain. She was a target of humans and Weres alike, she knew that. Even if Drake accepted the risk, Sylvan wouldn’t. A mate would make her vulnerable and the Pack needed all of her energy, all of her attention. She was Alpha. That was all. That was enough.
Distance was the only safeguard against another impetuous coupling. Drake should be all right for at least the rest of the day, and when the frenzy resurfaced, she would have to take someone else.
Her need would be too strong, too powerful, for her to resist. Sylvan imagined another Were pleasuring Drake, stroking and caressing and teasing her to release—coating themselves with her essence when she erupted for them. She pictured Drake biting them, forcing them to come on her, absorbing their scent. Heat blazed through Sylvan’s chest and she started to shift, her spine bowing, her facial bones shifting, elongating, claws and canines extruding, a blaze of silver exploding down the center of her body. Panting, she dropped to her knees and battled her raging wolf. She would not shift. She would not claim a mate. She would not.
Niki burst into the room, Lara right behind her. Lara, less dominant than Niki, was already in mid-shift, called by the ferocity of Sylvan’s wolf. Niki’s face contorted in pain as she fought her own need.
“Alpha?” Niki groaned, searching the room for signs of danger with eyes gone hunter green.
“It’s all right.” Still on her knees, Sylvan forced herself to straighten, although she couldn’t yet stand. A sleek brown wolf now guarded the open door against intruders. Lara.
“What is it?” Niki asked, her breathing easing as Sylvan calmed and got to her feet. “I’ve never felt your call like that before.”
“Nothing you need to worry about.” Sylvan draped an arm around Niki’s shoulders while running her other hand down Lara’s back. She kissed Niki’s temple as Lara whined softly and rubbed against her leg.
“Why don’t you two stand down for a while. Max can take over.”
“I’m fine, Alpha,” Niki said quickly.
“Get some sleep,” Sylvan whispered, rubbing her cheek against Niki’s hair. “We’ll be going back into the city in the morning.”
Niki’s eyes widened in surprise. “So soon?”
“Yes.” Sylvan released her centuri and went into her bedroom to dress.After pulling on jeans-style leather pants, a white cotton shirt, and black boots, Sylvan walked back to the Compound in search of Drake and Sophia. She found them in the infirmary center. Drake had showered and wore clean jeans and a T-shirt. Her gaze went immediately to Sylvan, and heat curled through Sylvan’s belly at the hunger in her eyes. Sophia, her blond hair loose and curling delicately around her face, sat next to Drake on a sofa by the fireplace, their shoulders nearly touching. Sylvan barely managed to keep from snarling at Sophia’s proximity to Drake.
“Have you eaten?” Sylvan demanded. So soon after Drake’s tumultuous transition and their heated coupling, Drake would be dangerously depleted. In her weakened state, she was more susceptible to a return of the frenzy or even a recurrence of the fever. If Sylvan had been thinking instead of half crazed with need and trying to ignore it, she would have seen to it that Drake got the proper nourishment.
“Yes, Sophia dragged me back to the mess hall,” Drake said, smiling at Sophia. “I pretty much devoured everything in sight.” Sylvan rumbled and stalked to the far side of the room, turning her back until she could control her temper. Sophia had done what she should have done, and she ought to be grateful to Sophia for taking care of Drake. Instead, she wanted to drag Drake away from the beautiful Were. When she dampened her possessive anger enough to walk back to them, she noted the anxious way Sophia edged away from Drake.
“Thank you for taking care of her,” Sylvan said, briefly caressing Sophia’s cheek before resuming her pacing. She couldn’t be anywhere near Drake without a painful urge to touch her.
“Of course, Alpha,” Sophia said softly. “I’m honored.” Drake looked from Sophia to Sylvan, trying to decipher the unspoken. She could feel Sylvan’s agitation, and she could scent her need. Sylvan prowled, a low steady growl emanating from her chest.
Drake doubted she was even aware of it. Sophia was, though. With each passing second, Sophia grew more uneasy.
“Wait outside,” Drake said quietly to Sophia. When Sophia hesitated, Drake smiled. “It’s all right. I’d like to speak to the Alpha alone.”
When Sophia cast an apprehensive glance in Sylvan’s direction, Sylvan nodded curtly.
“We’ll meet you in the treatment room,” Sylvan said. “Go ahead.”
Drake waited until the door closed behind Sophia, then went to Sylvan. She wanted to calm her, to stroke her, but she was wary of the fury riding hard just below the surface. “What’s wrong?”
“Our scientists want to study some specimens from you—to understand what happened.”
“Good,” Drake said immediately. “I was talking to Sophia earlier—”
Sylvan snarled, her canines flashing.
“Stop,” Drake murmured. Not caring about protocol or what the Pack might think or even the dangerous glare in Sylvan’s eyes, she cupped Sylvan’s jaw and smoothed her thumb over the corner of her mouth. “You’re all I think about. Don’t you know that?” Sylvan closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek against Drake’s palm. “I don’t want you hurt.”
“Nor I you.” Drake allowed herself a few more seconds of touching her, but she knew she had to stop. Niki had said there was still time for her to break whatever bond was forming between them, and even though she knew it would tear her heart from her body to let Sylvan go, she would. If it meant keeping her safe, she’d leave. She had no idea where she would go or how she would live or even if she could live.
Already she felt a tremendous connection to the Pack, to the community of wild spirits who filled the forest with the sounds and scents of home.
For the first time in her life she felt as if she belonged somewhere.
She belonged to Sylvan, but she knew Sylvan was fighting the forces that drew them together. And she understood why. Niki had made it very clear. Like Niki, she would die before she would let anything hurt Sylvan— anything, even her own need for her. She wouldn’t allow Sylvan to put herself in danger or weaken the Pack because of her. The imperative to protect Sylvan flowed through her blood more strongly than any other need she’d ever known, even her own need to survive.
Calling on every ounce of strength she had, Drake dropped her hand and moved away.
“Who are they? Your scientists?” Drake asked.