Caldwell's boots on the po

the nightstand. I drifted in and out, feeling his cool hands

eak, Alpha Sean's voic

wrong w

as flat as a

leared h

simple. The kind that drains a wolf's lif

ri

in the air, h

eeper into t

Ellie's

wildfire, her little

ords I'd never forget: "Th

mes: "Alpha, please-our pup needs that heart

ut he was at Lillian's "get-well" party, feeding h

I send for a home nurse?" But Alph

oment, it was just us-him standing

ic smell of the hospital, feel Ell

she-wolf,"

an

till in

ouldn't

hand slipped from mi

til her soul felt torn apart,

over and over, pleadin

tiny body, despera

I tried, Ellie grew cold

e was tr

, the nightmare's claws

ded my senses, and his h

the-" His growl cut

my cheeks burning with the m

t had echoed in my mindlink for days: "Do

or a second, the alpha co

my cheek-rough, fa

ia, wa

, like he'd forgotte

p cry

I cou

her tiny hands grabbing my finger, the way s

something, then reach

t my cheeks, his touch aw

, enough.

te bond-though frayed-thrummed at his nearness. Th

den, a command mo

e, just like he'd sile

mething

ingling with mine, and

e like this, since his mouth had moved

m away. Instead, my wolf