Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
“She’s my friend, Derren, I want to see her! I’m worried about her!”
If his conscience wasn’t so undeveloped, he might have felt bad for Shaya. Right now, though, he was only interested in Ally. He didn’t truly believe any of his pack would harm her, but his protective instincts wouldn’t allow him to take the chance. While she was vulnerable, he’d watch over her.
A feminine huff traveled through the door. “Taryn’s on her way here. If she thinks that Ally might potentially need her healing skills, she’s going to come up here and there’ll be no stopping her. Unless, of course, I can assure her that I’ve seen Ally for myself and she’s fine.”
Cursing, Derren stalked to the door and yanked it open, finding most of the pack gathered behind a smug-looking Shaya. He knew that she’d played him, but he also knew she was right. Taryn, a powerful healer, would demand to check on Ally if Shaya couldn’t assure her that it wasn’t necessary. He moved aside for Shaya. “Just you.” Ignoring the complaints coming from the others, he shut the door.
The redhead’s expression crumpled into one of concern as she approached the bed. “Has she flitted in and out of consciousness?”
“No. She hasn’t moved an inch.” At least the wound on her head from her fight with Jesse had healed.
Shaya gently took hold of her wrist. “Her pulse is strong. I’m guessing her system has shut down while she recovers. She used up a lot of strength.”
He was thinking the same thing. “Why is Taryn on her way here?”
“We called Roni, told her what happened. When Taryn heard, she insisted on coming along with Roni and Marcus.”
“Is she bringing Trey?” If so, that would be a problem. As Marcus had told them, Trey despised Seers. Derren was resolute that Ally would be spared the prejudice from now on.
“I don’t know, Roni didn’t say.”
Another knock on the door had Derren sighing. “Go away.”
“Let us in, we just want to see her,” groused Kent.
Derren grumbled to Shaya, “I should have taken her to her own lodge.” Or his. Somewhere she’d have space and privacy. Noticing the smile on his Alpha female’s face, he frowned. “What?”
“I see your attitude toward her has done a one-eighty. It’s ’bout time.”
Coming to stand at Ally’s side, he smoothed a strand of her hair between his fingers. “She healed me.”
“You sound mystified.”
“After the way I acted, I wouldn’t have blamed her if she sat back and watched with glee while I writhed in agony.”
“Ally’s prickly and she doesn’t take too kindly to bullshit, but she’s also moral and fair.”
Yeah, he got that. “She foresaw the explosion.”
“I’m guessing so. One second she was fine, the next she was staring into space and her pupils had turned white.”
“Did you see the way she looked at you when she snapped out of it and saw you were beside her?”
Shaya swallowed hard. “Like she’d seen a ghost.”
And that spoke volumes about just what Ally had seen in her vision. And just how much they owed her.
“Shaya!” called Caleb. “Roni and Marcus are here with some of the Phoenix Pack!”
“I’m coming!” Shaya gave Derren a weak smile. “If she wakes up, send for me.”
Once she’d left, he returned to his seat and clasped his hands beneath his chin as he continued to watch over Ally. Some of the color was coming back to her cheeks, but not enough for his liking. What worried him most was that she was so still. He’d seen her sleeping many times in her hammock, noticed that she fidgeted something awful in her sleep—especially when she was having nightmares.
He wasn’t sure what those nightmares were about, and he didn’t have the right to ask. But it both interested and concerned him that she suffered from them so regularly. The fact that she wasn’t his concern didn’t seem to matter to his instincts or to his wolf. And it was slowly not coming to matter to Derren either.
His thoughts cut off as her eyelids fluttered and one leg straightened. Then those almond green eyes met his. Confusion, wariness, and surprise fought for supremacy in her expression as she glanced around. “You’re all right,” he assured her. “You’re in Nick and Shaya’s lodge.”
Her gaze returned to his as she licked her lips, seemingly more alert now.
“How are you feeling?”
It was a long moment before she answered. “Okay.”
“Do you remember what happened? Do you remember the explosion?”
After another moment, she nodded. “What was it?”
“We think it was a rifle grenade of some kind.” He hadn’t made much of a contribution to Nick’s investigation, wanting to stay with Ally instead. “You healed me. It was hurting you. I could feel it.” He’d hated that. He was a dominant wolf shifter; it was in his makeup to protect females and children, especially those directly under his protection. But whether he’d wanted to or not, he’d caused her pain. And she’d still willingly taken his. “But you didn’t pull away. You took my pain and added it to your own. Why?”