Drake didn’t see Sylvan lying on the table. She didn’t see the Alpha. She saw her own heart. And she saw an enemy. An enemy threatening to take from her everything that mattered. She would not surrender Sylvan to that enemy while her own heart beat. With a wild cry, she plunged her claws into the wound. The poison deep in Sylvan’s body, festering and vile, drew her like the feral scent of an intruder in her territory. She attacked without mercy, defending what was hers.
Protecting the one most precious to her.
She found the first bullet and ripped it free. Bright red blood bubbled out in her wake and Elena quickly pressed a clean bandage to the wound. Drake didn’t hesitate, but tore into the wound in Sylvan’s belly. She found a second bullet, then a third nearby.
“That’s all,” Drake gasped. “How is she?” When no one answered, Drake looked up from the wounds and found Elena and Sophia staring at her with shocked expressions. She followed their stunned gazes and found that her arm had shifted again.
She hadn’t felt it or intended it. She should probably be frightened, but she didn’t care what was happening to her. Sylvan was dying, and with her, Drake’s every reason for being.
“Sylvan? How is she?”
Sophia jerked back to awareness and quickly scanned the monitors.
“Her fever is coming down. So is her heart rate.”
“Look,” Elena said in amazement. “She’s healing!” Drake turned back to the gaping holes in Sylvan’s chest and abdomen. The necrotic tissue was receding, and healthy skin and fur were growing back. The wolf was healing. Sylvan would live. Drake’s vision dimmed and her legs trembled, and for a moment she thought she would fall. She gripped the table to steady herself.
“We need to get her somewhere quiet. She might be disoriented when she wakes up.” Drake saw Sophia and Elena exchange worried glances. Sylvan had survived the fever, but would she emerge undamaged and in control of her wolf, the deadliest wolf in the Pack?
Drake wouldn’t believe otherwise. She wouldn’t lose her now. “Get her ready to move. I’ll tell the others.”
Drake stripped off her coverings and went out into the hall. Niki and Andrew crowded around, enclosing her. They needed contact, and she realized that she did too. She slung her arms around their shoulders.
Their unyielding presence steadied her.
“The Alpha?” Niki asked gruffly.
“She’s healing. Now we just have to wait for her to wake up.”
“Has she shifted back?” Andrew’s face was creased with fatigue and worry.
“Not yet.” Drake knew they all shared the same unspoken fear. A rabid wolf could not shift form. “I’ll stay with her until she does.”
“That’s dangerous,” Niki protested. “If she wakes up rabid—”
“Would you have her fight this fight alone?” Drake asked softly.
“She’s not alone, she has the Pack.”
Niki’s eyes were tortured and Drake doubted she could survive Sylvan’s loss. The Alpha and her second weren’t mated, but they were bound almost as strongly. She caressed Niki’s face. “And your strength will help her. Hold on to your connection to her—” Drake scanned their faces. “She needs the Pack with her. It’s you she lives for. It’s you she needs.”
“Not as much as you,” Niki murmured.
“All of us,” Drake repeated. “Is the Compound secure? She’ll want to know.”
“Yes,” Niki said, her voice stronger. “We’ve had a few reports of incursions in our Northern Territory, but that’s not unusual. The Blackpaws test our border defense regularly.”
“What about Lara?”
“She’s most likely turned,” Niki said, her eyes and voice devoid of inflection.
“What will happen?” Drake asked.
Niki shook her head. “I don’t know. She might lose some or all of her Were traits.”
“Her turning could prevent her from shifting again?” Drake couldn’t imagine what that would do to a dominant Were like Lara, whose very purpose in life was to fight and protect her Pack.
“She hasn’t shifted again since the Alpha called her wolf, right after she fed from the Vampire. She didn’t hold her wolf long, even then.” Niki hesitated, and then revealed a secret only a very few Weres knew. “Some Weres voluntarily blood-bond with Vampires. Most lose their ability to shift when they do.”
“You mean they mate with a Vampire?”
“Yes.” Niki grimaced. “They trade their most powerful gift to live with the dead.”
“Maybe their love is stronger—more important—than even that,” Drake suggested gently.
“It’s not love.” Niki couldn’t block out what was happening in Lara’s room, even though she’d retreated to another part of the building when she’d heard the human female’s cry of ecstasy and Lara’s roar of release. Her sex had tightened with a rush of pleasure and she was still ready. When Jody had fed from her, she’d burst more ferociously than she ever had before. The intensity was exquisite. Addicting. Even now she couldn’t think of it without needing desperately to release. “The Vampire is with her now. Let me help you with the Alpha.”
“Yes.” Scenting Niki’s call, Drake said, “Once we’ve moved her, you should get some sleep. And take care of your other needs.” Niki’s eyes narrowed and her lip curled. For some reason, she thought of Sophia and quickly abolished the image. If she let Sophia feel her call, she could seduce her and Sophia would not resent her for it. But Sophia rarely tangled and when she did, she always chose a nondominant Were. Niki wouldn’t draw Sophia into a liaison she would not willingly have sought. Anya, on the other hand, was always willing.
Niki’s clitoris twinged at the image of Anya’s mouth on her. “I won’t be far, if you or the Alpha need me.”
“I know.” Drake started back to the treatment room when Niki grasped her arm.
“When she wakes up, her hormone level will be astronomical—from her injury, from the danger to the Pack, from Lara. She’ll be in need.” Niki grinned ruefully. “You know what I’m talking about. The same thing is happening to you right now.”
Drake couldn’t deny it. Her hours of fear and anxiety had kicked her entire system into overdrive. Her heart raced, her pulse pounded, her clitoris was stiff and throbbing.
“Whatever she needs, I’ll take care of her.”
Sylvan glided through the forest as silent as a ghost, following the one trail out of dozens that would lead her home. The tangy scent of aged wine and autumn leaves was familiar, comforting, exciting. She ran effortlessly, powerfully, covering ground in great leaping strides.
Her heart beat with pride and passion. She was the Alpha, the leader and protector of her Pack. She would always be their heart, as they were hers. But now she did not run alone. She was whole. She was healed.
Sylvan’s eyes flew open and she snarled.
“You’re all right. You were hurt, but you’re all right now.” Drake’s heart brimmed with joy. She’d fallen asleep next to a wolf and awoken with a Were.
Sylvan turned, her gaze seeking Drake’s. They were both nude and their legs naturally entwined. Sylvan’s nipples were tight and when her breasts brushed Drake’s, heat pooled in her belly. She pressed her palm to Drake’s stomach, steadying herself in Drake’s heat. “Lara? The Pack? Are they safe?”
“Yes. Everyone is. Niki has seen to it.” Drake slid her hands up and down Sylvan’s back. She loved her muscles, her taut skin, her wild scent. “How do you feel?”
“I dreamed of you,” Sylvan said, pressing her face against Drake’s throat and inhaling deeply. “I followed your scent. You led me home.” Drake trembled, every instinct driving her to affirm her bond with Sylvan. She wanted her. Needed her. She had to get away from her.
“You should rest now.”