I can’t even cover my ears because of the fucking handcuffs. I groan, and I feel Luke shuffle up beside me.
“It’s okay. Just breathe.” His forehead touches mine. “Concentrate on my voice. Try and block out everything else.”
“Can’t.”
“You can. I know it’s hard, but you need to do this, Morgan. It’ll be a hundred times worse when you’re fighting later.” He grips my hands. “Pick one thing to focus on. Can be anything. Picture it in your mind and try to block out everything else. Focus.”
Lynx.
That’s who I picture in my head.
The way he looked at me in the forest behind their compound. That mix of hunger and possessiveness that I shouldn’t like but really fucking do.
“Good,” Luke encourages as my shoulders relax. “That’s it.”
I close my eyes and imagine it’s his voice whispering to me instead.
The noises slowly start to fade into the background. They’re still there, but not as overwhelming as they were before.
“Keep doing what you’re doing. It needs to be second nature by the time they come for us.”
Fuck. I start to lose it as panic seeps in. “I can’t do this.” I shake my head, but Luke grips my hands tight.
“You can, and you will.” He nods when I get it under control again. “There you go. It’s gonna be ok, Morgan.”
No.
It won’t.
I’m a fucking shifter.
Nothing’s going to be okay ever again.
22
LYNX
“You’re not going.”I put my hand on Cal’s chest when he tries to get up. Again. “No.” I consider ordering him to stay put. I don’t want to, but the fucker won’t stay down. “You almostdied, Cal. It takes more than twelve hours to come back from that, even for us.”
He grimaces at the reminder, but it’s like I’m talking to a brick wall. “You need me. I’m the only one he’ll talk to.”
And fuck’s sake, he has a point.
Lives depend on Cal’s contact remaining a secret. More than just Morgan’s, but he’s all I can think about right now. “Will he meet with me if you vouch for me?”
“Maybe if you came with me to start with, but he’s not about to meet up with a stranger. Would you?”
“No.” I stand and pace at the side of Cal’s bed. “Fuck.”
“Look. We know he’s not with the FBs. We’ve had eyes on them ever since Morgan and the others went missing.” Without me watching him like a hawk, Cal manages to push himself into a sitting position. He can’t hide the pain though. “If you want to get him back,” he says softly. “You need to let me do this.”
Of course I want him back. I fuckingneedhim back. But I won’t risk my brother, mybetato do it.
“It’s dangerous.”
“I know the risks.”
I give up pacing and sit on the side of his bed again. “What if this time they follow him, or they find out somehow and it’s a trap?”
