My body shuddered violently, muscles clenching hard enough to draw a scream from my throat.
“I can’t—” I sobbed. “I can’t hold on.”
“Tamsin, listen to me.”
It was Bishop’s voice this time, his English accent almost musical. He was close.
“You’re not alone,” he said. “You’re going to survive this.”
“I’m not,” I gasped. “I can feel it. It’s tearing me apart.”
The heat crested again, white-hot, obliterating my every thought. My back arched off the bed, a hoarse, animalistic cry ripping free as a piece inside me snapped and surged?—
—and stopped.
Because then their hands were on me.
Griff’s palm pressed down on my left shoulder, firm and unyielding. Nox’s presence flanked my other side, lethal and coiled, his hands like a lifeline that cut through the madness. Bishop’s fingers curled around my wrist, pulse to pulse, grounding me in the rhythm. Eamon knelt at my feet, voice calm as his hands wrapped around my ankles.
“Tamsin,” Eamon stated calmly. “Stay with us. Breathe with me.”
I dragged in a breath. Then another.
The wolf surged again, responding to them all, reaching for something it recognized asmine.
Mine.
The lycan screamed in rage, thrashing, but for the first time it didn’t feel alone in my body. It felt… crowded.
I turned my head weakly, vision swimming, and found Elias watching me from the edge of the bed. His expression was carved from stone, eyes full of concern, jaw tight with restraint.
“You bit me,” I whispered. “You’re a wolf.”
“I am,” he answered softly.
Another wave slammed into me, and I whimpered, fingers clawing weakly into my palms.
“It hurts,” I begged. “Make it stop.”
I fumbled, lifting my hand with monumental effort, pointing, first at Griff, then Nox, then Bishop, then Eamon.
“I need—” My voice broke. “I need you. All of you. The rest of you. Mark me. Please.”
Griff swore under his breath.
Bishop inhaled loudly.
Nox’s eyes narrowed.
Eamon closed his eyes for a brief second, and then opened them again, his gaze hardening.
“She’s right,” he thought aloud. “It may be the only way. She needs more wolf in her blood to combat the lycan bite.”
I couldn’t tell if it was my blood that was screaming or my bones or even me.
Maybe it was all three.
The room swam in and out of focus. Every breath scraped my throat raw. Every blink felt like I was opening my eyes into fire.
