Kyle had lost so much blood. His skin was pale to the point of harboring a subtle gray tinge. As she stared at him, memorizing his profile and the line of his body under the spider web blanket, she was surprisingly numb on the inside. On an intellectual level, she understood he had shifted. He was a werewolf, like her. But the risk of losing him was too raw a wound for her to set aside her worry. If he’d died, it would have been similar in magnitude to losing her parents. To protect herself, she slipped into doctor mode, observing the situation from a distance with an icy, cold detachment, a stranger in her own body.
“How’s he doing?” Silas asked, entering the room.
“Not well enough. They tell me he’s healing, but I can’t let myself believe it until he wakes up.”
“Gerty saved our lives, bringing us here.”
Laina focused on her brother. “What is she? I mean, I know she’s fae, but—”
“She’s Kyle’s fairy godmother, a woodland fae. All woodland fae must return to their trees at regular intervals. Arthur didn’t have knee surgery. He’s been rejuvenating in his host tree. From what I understand, Kyle’s father offered to buy and protect the land where her and her husband’s host trees grow in exchange for her protection of his boys. Apparently the property is still owned by Kyle’s family.”
Laina remembered the story Kyle had told her about his father’s death. “The cabin in Red Grove. Kyle and Nate wondered why their father went there to die. That explains it.”
“Last night, when things were at their worst, it was Gerty who freed Milo to come help us. The dog was a gift from her to the senior Kingsley, enchanted for his protection. He never went anywhere without the dog because he knew Milo could protect him from a supernatural threat.”
Laina marveled at the luck that Kyle had kept Milo, then deflated when she realized that if he hadn’t, they would have never met, and Kyle wouldn’t have needed the mastiff. She frowned at the implications, not prepared to go there. “What happened to Kyle’s real mother?”
“No one seems to know. I’m a detective, but I couldn’t find a thing on her. If Gerty knows, she’s an excellent liar.” Silas scratched behind his ear. “What are you going to do about this, Laina?”
“What do you mean?”
“I know you love him, and it is painfully clear he loves you. But you are a werewolf princess targeted for assassination by a rogue wolf with a dragon fae girlfriend, a dragon fae strong enough to slip through a woodland fae’s protection spell and live next to her undetected for two months.”
Laina said nothing but hung her head and stared into her lap. “He’s a wolf too. A wolf without a pack.”
Silas frowned. “He is, and I hope you know that I will support your choice on this. He saved our lives by shifting when he did. You know, I want you to be happy.”
“But?”
“Alex’s magic, along with intense emotions, triggered Kyle’s first shift. I can connect him with someone in Fireborn to mentor him if he shifts again. But I did some research into dormants, and as a half-breed, he may not. It’s possible he could go back to his human life.”
“And that’s why you won’t let us be together?” she snapped, sending death rays in his direction. She was so sick of Silas and pack politics keeping them apart.
Silas stroked one bushy brow with his thumb. “I’ll support whatever you want to do, Laina. I swear I will. But you must know, his status as a werewolf isn’t the issue here. You can’t walk away from your role in the pack, even if you leave the pack. If Kyle is a part of your life, he needs to know that danger will be part of that equation. Alexwilltarget him. He’ll use him as a pawn.”
“Alex is probably dead. I tore his liver in two.”
“Nickelova will heal him. He’ll want revenge. He’ll want my head. And he knows who Kyle is now. Alex will use him to manipulate you at the first opportunity to circumvent Gerty’s defenses. And thanks to Nickelova, he now knows more about those defenses than ever before.”
Laina rubbed her eyes. “Nothing you’re saying is making sense. If Alex knows who Kyle is, which we both know he does, and he knows how we feel about each other already, then abandoning Kyle now won’t change anything. Do you really think Alex will leave him alone after what happened last night?”
“A madman’s thinking is hardly prone to logic, but it seems that Alex’s goal is revenge on our pack and the Lycanthropic Society. He can’t go in two different directions at once. Kyle has a much better chance of survival if Alex is distracted with you and you are somewhere else. If Alex thinks your relationship has run its course, he won’t split his efforts to pursue Kyle. He’ll be too busy focusing his revenge on the three of us and Fireborn Pack.”
Everything Silas said was true. Laina slumped in her chair. On some level, she’d known this day would come. Her pack needed her, and it was well past time for her to return to her old life, both for their sakes and to salvage her business. She did love Kyle, but her being here was always supposed to be temporary. Gerty and Milo could protect him here. Alex, when he recovered,ifhe recovered, would strike again, but now that the protective wards were in place at Four Paws and Rivergate, they’d be ready for him. It was time to go back to her real life and to allow Kyle to have his. Her desire to keep him in her life was selfish. He deserved better. He deserved to be safe.
“Maybe someday, when Alex is truly dead—”
Laina groaned and waved a hand dismissively. “Someone else will take his place. There will always be some crazy, power-hungry creep with our family in its crosshairs, as long as you are alpha and leader of the Lycanthropic Society.”
Silas shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. Again, I’ll back you up, whatever you want to do here, but I just—”
“You wanted me to be aware of the danger I’m putting him in if we stay together.”
Silas nodded.
The pain that radiated from Laina’s heart was unbearable. “Excuse me.” She stood and strode from the room, plucking a Kleenex from the box at the nurses station as fresh tears poured from her eyes. She headed for the privacy of the bathroom.
“Laina?” Jason snagged her elbow, pulling her into an alcove of vending machines.
