Drake slid the stethoscope from around her neck and placed it on the tray beside the treatment table. “Not that I expected anything different, but you seem a hundred percent fine. How’s that headache?”
Sophia pushed her hair back from her face with both hands, grimacing slightly. “Just a dull throb in the back of my head. I don’t think I’ve ever had a headache before.”
“I don’t imagine you have. Weres aren’t subject to that sort of malady.” Drake leaned her hip against the table a few feet away from Sophia, careful not to touch her. Sophia was still in heat, and with the new mate bond, she would be hypersensitive to any physical contact from a Were. As careful as she had been during the exam, she’d felt Sophia’s discomfort every time she’d touched her. Sophia was better than most Weres at hiding her physical and emotional states, but her shields were shaky after her injury. The only thing preventing Niki from charging in was Sylvan’s order that Drake examine Sophia while Elena checked Katya. Nothing short of the Alpha’s command could have convinced Niki to let Sophia out of her sight, and Drake doubted even that would hold her back much longer. Still, she and Sophia needed to talk. “Your atypical physical reaction to whatever happened out there points even more strongly to a thrall. Unless you were hit by lightning, or shot, stabbed, or poisoned with silver, I don’t see any other explanation.”
“But why? Whoever is responsible must have known we would figure it out.”
Drake had been asking herself the same thing. “Maybe they didn’t have any choice. You were in pelt when you sensed Katya in danger, weren’t you?”
Sophia nodded.
“Do you think what your wolf sensed might have been Katya in bloodlust? The scent of pain and blood might have overpowered your wolf’s ability to recognize Katya’s involvement. Or her pleasure.”
“It’s possible my wolf misunderstood.” Sophia snarled softly. “I’ve sensed Niki’s response with a Vampire when she fed Lara. I…felt her pain…and her pleasure.” Her canines flashed. “But I was in skin.”
“And able to reason.” Drake shrugged. “I’m not excusing what was done to you. You were assaulted, and that cannot stand. But it’s not exactly easy to reason with a charging wolf bent on protecting one of the Pack.”
Sophia’s expression changed and she frowned. “But it would be easy to kill one.”
“Yes. A very strong Vampire could have submitted your wolf and drained her. Maybe the thrall seemed like a better choice.”
“If the only way to avoid doing greater harm was to subdue me with a thrall, I hold no quarrel with the Vampire as long as Katya was not taken against her will,” Sophia said. “Do you think Niki will accept that?”
“Right now, Niki’s not going to be very rational. In fact, she probably won’t be able to control her aggression or her possessiveness until she is sure that everyone recognizes the mating.”
Sophia rubbed her arms, pulled her T-shirt from the pile of clothing next to her, and slipped it on. “We aren’t mated.”
“The Alpha senses you are,” Drake said softly. “Sylvan recognizes the physical and chemical signs of your mating. If she says you’re mated, I think you can trust her.”
“But how? I didn’t bite Niki.”
“You know that physiology is not always one hundred percent predictable. The mate bond is a chemical fusion, yes, but also a physical and psychic connection. Maybe what the two of you share is strong enough, intense enough, to induce the chemical blending without the bite. Or maybe your mate bond is expressed slightly differently than the usual one.”
Sophia stared at the floor. “It’s not fair to her. To take less.”
“I don’t think Niki would agree that anything about you is less. Do you love her?”
Sophia’s head jerked up, her eyes flashing wolf for a second. Her voice came out a growl. “Of course.”
Drake smiled. “Do you want her as your mate?”
“Always.”
“I think it’s safe to say that Niki feels the same way. Would you consider yourself mated if the Alpha and the Pack looked at you that way?”
“Without a mate bite?” Sophia shuddered. “I want to bite her. I want that final claiming. I want everyone to see my mark on her.”
“Niki has already claimed you.”
Sophia brushed her shoulder. “I carry her mark. She doesn’t carry mine.”
“It’s time for you to have the immunologic studies repeated. Another tissue biopsy. A bone marrow biopsy.” Drake glanced toward the door, feeling Niki pacing restlessly in the hallway. “We’ll run the same tests on me too. Maybe something we discover will help our new patients.”
“You’re pregnant,” Sophia said. “The Alpha will never allow testing now.”
Drake grinned. “Let me talk to her.”
*
Niki prowled furiously up and down the center hall in the infirmary, rumbling steadily, staring at the closed door to the treatment room. Her skin glistened with sex-sheen, her muscles rippled with tension. She wanted Sophia, and she wanted everyone else to get away from her. Sophia was hers.
The main door behind her opened and she spun around snarling, warning the intruder away. There were already too many dominant Weres in the building for her comfort.
Sylvan strode toward her. “Sophia still with Drake?”
“Yes,” Niki growled. “They’ve been in there almost thirty minutes.”
Sylvan gripped the nape of Niki’s neck and drew her away from the door. “Sophia is safe with Drake. The Prima will respect your claim, you know that.”
“I want to see Sophia.”
“I’m sure they won’t be much longer.” Sylvan shook Niki hard enough to bring fire snapping into her eyes. “Can you hear me through your need?”
Niki shivered, her skin tightening over her bones. “Yes, Alpha.”
“I know what you’re feeling. I know your rage…and your fear. When your mate is in danger, there’s nothing else that matters. But she’s all right now.”
“Someone hurt her,” Niki rasped, her voice so thick with fury her words were barely intelligible.
“I know. But we don’t know why—sometimes, accidents happen.”
Niki whipped her head around and glared at Sylvan, so close to shifting her muscles screamed to make the final change. “Someone hurt her.”
“If we find out the attack was willful and malicious, I promise you blood.”
“I want retribution.”
“You shall have it. But I’m asking you to wait until we know the circumstances.” Sylvan slid her arm around Niki’s shoulders and pulled her close. “You didn’t intend to injure Drake—you didn’t deserve to die. But believe me, I wanted your blood in my mouth.”
“I’m sorry,” Niki rasped.
“You’re forgiven.” Sylvan rested her forehead against Niki’s. “Sophia needs you right now. She needs to feel safe, and she needs not to be frightened by what you might do. Don’t let your need to protect her hurt her even more.”
Niki dragged in a breath, visibly settling her wolf. “I feel like I’m burning.”
Sylvan laughed. “That’s because you are. As soon as Drake finishes, take Sophia somewhere, make her understand that she belongs to you, to the Pack, and always will.”
“She won’t claim me.”
“She already has. Long before today.” Sylvan rubbed Niki’s back. “Your Alpha declares you mated. The rest will come.”
*
The instant Sophia opened the door, Niki grabbed her and yanked her close. “Are you all right? Did she hurt you?”
“Of course not,” Sophia murmured, stroking Niki’s face. “The Prima was very careful. I’m fine. Are you all right?”
“No,” Niki growled. She grasped Sophia’s wrist and tugged her toward the outer door. “I want to see for myself that you are all right.”
Sophia’s stomach tightened and need raced along her nerves. She wanted Niki over her, inside her, quenching her fires, drowning her thirst. She hesitated, unable to pull away, unable to deny her, but frightened. So frightened. She couldn’t hold back any longer. Her need was too great. “Niki, wait. Please.”
Niki rammed the door with her shoulder, not even bothering to flip the latch. The door banged open, revealing a sky already aflame with the first rays of dawn. The Compound would be waking any minute—Weres would be rising to run, to eat, to train. Sophia would be surrounded by other dominants who would sense her heat, respond to her call. Niki wanted to cover Sophia in her scent, fill her with her essence, so no one would mistake who she belonged to. “I want you now.”
“Niki,” Sophia whispered. She grasped Niki’s shoulders, catching her off guard, and pushed her against the post before Niki could drag her across the Compound to the barracks. She kissed her, rubbing against her. Niki was naked except for jeans, her nipples stone-hard, her abdominals as wooden as the railing Sophia gripped on either side of Niki’s hips. She sucked Niki’s lip and thrust her tongue deep into Niki’s mouth, piercing Niki’s lip with her canines. Niki’s hips lurched, and Sophia felt claws shredding her shirt, scraping along her spine. She slicked her tongue over Niki’s mouth. “I want everyone to know you’re mine too. I’m tired of holding back. I’ve wanted you for so long.”
Niki arched against the post and threw her head back, giving her throat, a position she would never give to another. “Please, bite me.”
Sophia pressed her face to Niki’s throat, licking her, scoring her skin with the tips of her canines, fighting her instincts with every ounce of her reason. “I can’t. Not yet. I’d rather die than hurt you.”
“You could never hurt me,” Niki snarled, thrusting her hands into Sophia’s hair. She pulled Sophia’s mouth tight against her skin. “I need you. I’m lost without you.”
“You’re mine,” Sophia cried, raking her claws down Niki’s abdomen, raising welts in the lush line of her pelt. “Say it.”
“I’m yours.” Niki pulled Sophia’s thigh between her legs, groaning at the pressure against her swollen sex. “I’ve always been yours.”
“Then trust me, please,” Sophia whispered. “Wait for me.”
Niki jerked, her grip on Sophia’s hips tightening. “What are you saying? You’re not going anywhere.”
Sophia braced her hands on Niki’s shoulders and pushed away, the distance between them chilling her like death itself. “I have to go. Please, this time, you have to wait for me.”
Niki grabbed for her, but Sophia shifted and bolted up onto the railing and down onto the ground. As she raced for the trees, she heard Niki shouting her name. She pushed on until she couldn’t hear Niki’s voice. All she could feel was Niki’s call in her heart. Niki’s pain echoed inside her like a thousand silver bullets shredding her soul.
*
Dasha saw a glimmer of snow flickering through the trees off to her right. She shouldered her rifle and sighted on the ghostly form. Callan’s orders were to shoot any intruder without giving a warning. She scented the wind, searching for a foreign Were, and her finger stilled on the trigger. She smelled Pack. A wolf vaulted out of the underbrush a few feet away, and Sophia shimmered into skin.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Dasha snarled. “I almost shot you.”
“I knew you wouldn’t. You’re too good to fire without being sure.”
“What are you doing out here?” Dasha eased the butt of her automatic off her shoulder. “We’re still on general alert. That means no one leaves the inner Compound.”
“I know that. I need the keys to one of the vehicles.”
“What for?”
“I need to leave.”
Dasha shook her head. “I can’t let you do that.”
“If you care about me, you’ll let me go.”
“You know I do.”
Sophia reached out but stopped when her fingers were a few inches from Dasha’s face. She couldn’t touch her—something inside her prevented her from making contact. The sensation was almost painful. “I’m sorry. I’m not free.”
Dasha raised her head, breathed in sharply. “You’re mated. I didn’t realize. My apologies.”
“I owe you an apology too. I shouldn’t have let you close yesterday—you and Niki would not have fought.”
“We would have anyway,” Dasha said, laughing wryly. “The imperator and I needed to sort out our places.” She studied Sophia narrowly. “Where is she? Why did she let you come out here alone?”
“She won’t be far behind. That’s why I need the keys. It’s important, Dasha. Just trust me.”
“If Niki doesn’t flay me alive, Callan will.”
“I’ll call them both as soon as I’m on the road. I’ll explain.”
“And the Alpha?”
“She’ll understand.”
Dasha heaved a sigh and dug the keys out of her jeans. “It’s fifty yards down the fire road. You ought to hurry. Niki’s not likely to let her mate get far away.”
Sophia grabbed the keys and ran.