Nathaniel hesitated, then nodded, though he didn’t look happy about it.
Ethan moved to Hunter’s side and pulled a small folding knife from his pocket, then clicked it open. Nathaniel followed close behind, watching nervously as Ethan cut the palm of his left hand with a practiced motion and let the blood drip between Hunter’s lips.
The effect was immediate. Hunter’s legs kicked, his body animating in a jerky motion. An instant later, he collapsed into human form, breathing hard. He was still in Daniel’s arms and didn’t try to pull away.
Lee took his hand. “It’s going to be okay,” his brother said firmly.
Daniel, his eyes still wet with tears, met Ethan’s gaze. “Thank you.”
Ethan shrugged, looking almost embarrassed. “Don’t mention it. This is what I do.”
Then he moved to me and, while I lay there helplessly, Nathaniel’s strong, cool hands parted my jaws gently so a few drops of Ethan’s blood could fall into my mouth.
With a herculean effort, I managed to swallow it.
The icy numbness burned away from my body instantly and I allowed myself to shift back into human form, just as Harris and Simone reached me.
Ethan and Nathaniel stepped back, giving us room. I pushed myself into a sitting position, not giving a single shit that I was naked and covered in my own blood. My eyes were locked on my mate.
“Harris,” I choked out. “You could have died. You could have—”
“She needed help,” he said simply. “I had to.”
I understood everything, then. Because Harris had spent years as a law enforcement officer and then as a detective. He rantowarddanger, not away from it. He couldn’t stand by and do nothing when someone needed saving.
Of course he’d gone after her.
It was who he was. His courage was one of the many things I loved about him.
The realization hit me, twisting into my chest like a knife.
I was in love with him.
It wasn’t just the bond. It wasn’t merely the mate connection or magic or fate or whatever cosmic force that had brought us together. This was something deeper and simpler than that. It was real and raw and utterly terrifying.
I loved him.
The stubborn, reckless, impossibly brave man who had charged into the Otherworld to save someone he barely knew. Who had taken silver bullets meant for vampires and turned them on monsters to save my life instead of running the other way. Who read cozy mystery novels about witches who solved crimes and faced his own shortcomings head-on, even when it scared him shitless. Who had somehow seen past all my walls, all my bullshit, and still decided I was worth staying for.
I loved him. Because how could I not?
And I had almost lost him.
The thought was a yawning chasm of fear so deep I thought I might fall into it and never come back out. Because Harris was mortal.
He could die.
Not someday in the distant future, but now. Today. In the next fight, or the one after that.
And there would be more fights. That was what it meant to be part of our pack, to be mated to the alpha. To protect this place, we had to stand between the monsters and all of the people we cared about.
What if I failed again, the way I’d failed this time? What if next time, Simone wasn’t there to save him?
“Reed.” Harris’s voice pulled me back. His hand found mine. His grip was weaker than usual but still steady. “I’m okay. I’m right here.”
I studied our joined hands. His knuckles were stained with dirt and blood, but if his hand had been injured, Simone’s blood had completely healed the wounds.
“You’re not okay,” I managed, the words painful and hard to speak around the burning lump of emotion lodged in my throat. “You almost died.”
