My father had the pack doctor waiting as we ran into Cass's room. “Give her to me,” he said, holding out his arms. I handed her to him. He laid her on the bed and cut away her clothes.

“What happened?” My father leaned against the door. I turned, growled, and lunged at him. “You did this!” I screamed. I saw in his eyes that he agreed. “She shouldn’t have been out there alone. And you know it.”

“This was her job,” he began, but I interrupted. “That’s bullshit!” I screamed. “This is Cass, for goddess’ sake! Don’t spout your bullshit when another pack member is fighting for their life.”

My dad pushed off the wall. “I—” The door opened, and Greyson walked to the bed. “Stop it,” he said calmly, dropping to his knees.

“See, even Greyson doesn’t want to hear your bullshit,” I retorted, but Greyson looked up at me. “I was talking to you,” he said, his words like a slap.

“What?”

“You are looking at my mate like she’s still the weak little friend you knew growing up,” Greyson said, looking at Cass. “But she isn’t. You gave her the chance to become stronger, Amy, and she spent the last few years honing it. When you were fighting for your life, no one questioned your duty because you’re an alpha. Cass is a Gamma, and she’s the best damn tracker we’ve ever had. Stop diminishing her.”

I stumbled back. “I wasn’t,” I protested, but he looked at me with devastation in his eyes. “You were. So stop it.” He looked at the doctor, who had finished cutting Cass’s clothes, leaving her in boy shorts and a sports bra. “How is she?”

The doctor hesitated, inserting an IV. “The pup obviously returned to the goddess, but something’s going on, and I’m trying to figure it out.” He withdrew a vial of blood and frowned. “Interesting.”

“What is?” My father asked, pushing off the wall.

The doctor turned, handing him the vial. “I thought she’d been injected with silver or wolfsbane. She shows no sign of healing, so I was concerned.” He looked from Cass to the vial. “But…” he trailed off.

“But what?” Greyson asked, his voice trembling.

The doctor pointed to the vial. “If there was silver or wolfsbane, we’d smell it and see a distinct separation in the blood. But there’s nothing.”

“Then what’s going on? She isn’t healing,” my father said, pointing to Cass.

The doctor looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

“It’s Cass,” I whispered. Everyone turned to look at me.

“What did you just say?” The doctor asked, confused.

“Cass is the reason she isn’t healing.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” he pointed out.

But Greyson nodded. “She’s right.”

I nodded. “Cass would have told her wolf to focus on saving the baby. She would have made her promise.”

Greyson let a tear fall. “Foolish woman,” he whispered, kissing her temple. “Come back to me.”

“Is that possible?” My father stepped closer to the bed.

The doctor considered it. “While normally I’d say no, this might be an exception. Normally, if a wolf miscarries, she moves on quickly. She might nest, or be restless, but she’d move on and try for another, probably starting a new heat within the month. If it’s an attack, the wolf would save the human and console her until she was ready. But obviously, this isn’t happening.”

“She would have convinced Lily to save our pup,” Greyson said, his voice hollow. “She was so excited when she figured it out; she ran to see Amy to see if she was right.”

I stepped into Rowan’s arms. “She came to me yesterday to hang out.”

He nodded. “Yeah. She was a little disappointed, but then your dad called for a tracker. She said she’d see you after.”

“Why did she volunteer if she was pregnant?” My dad asked.

Greyson smiled, looking down at Cass. “She said she wanted to finish this so we could raise our pup here, at home, instead of the Agora.”

Alicia S. Rivers