“Yes.”
“But he’s not right now.”
“Correct.”
“Can you talk to him?”
“The last time I tried, he cursed at me. The time before that, he ignored me.”
“Hmm. I don’t feel him.”
“My bear?”
“Yes.”
My bear, apparently dissatisfied with being poked at, opened the floodgates of his power until it filled the room. But this was basically useless posturing because Draven merely lifted an eyebrow in thought.
“Your bear?”
“Yes.”
“Feisty, isn’t he?”
I didn’t know how to answer that question. Normally, yes. Lately, no, he was not.
“Normally, I would say yes. But lately…” I shook my head.
“May I try something?”
“That depends on what you want to try.” I didn’t want to be bitten if that was what he wanted to try.
“Nothing dire, I assure you,” he said, his eyes alight with repressed laughter.
I sighed, resigned. “If it will help, yes.”
He scooted his chair closer and put a single finger on my arm, then closed his eyes. We stayed like that for a good five minutes before he opened his eyes again.
“You were in danger of contracting Missing Mate Disease before your mate came, were you not?”
I nodded slowly.
He sat back, lacing his hands over his stomach again. “Hmm.” He looked thoughtfully at the wall for a moment, gathering his thoughts. “Well, the good news is that it’s been reversed. The bad news is that your shifter half is extremely depressed. I’m fairly surprised it isn’t affecting you as well.”
Wasn’t it?
My body ached, and I’d been more tired lately, but I’d chalked that up to late nights with Alanna. Satisfaction was still present but dimmed, and happiness felt elusive. I was mentally weary as well, and nothing seemed to help. Not even when I managed to get rest.
“I think it is a little bit,” I said. “Maybe not as much as my bear, but I think I’ve still been feeling it. I just… attributed it to other things.”
Draven nodded thoughtfully. “It’s easy to do.” He sighed. “I could write you a prescription, but I think the best thing you can do is beg your mate to take a chance on you, and eliminate any threats to her and your cub.”
I almost corrected him. Alanna wasn’t my cub, after all.
But something inside me resisted.
“Thank you,” I said dryly. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
He chuckled.
