pack and others like us try to keep the peace. Some of us work behind the scenes to chase the undead away from the human population because only in that way can we, as a Were species, stay safe.”
There was more to tell her. Things she needed to know—such as the fact that she had spent one entire day and night in a coma, fighting the transition from human to something else.
He could tell her that he’d never seen a human take such a short time to pass through the first phase of moving toward their half wolf status, and that she was an anomaly.
He could warn Kaitlin that possibly she would hit the next wall in the hours to come, and therefore would need him for a while more, though he dreaded that need for closeness.
He could not bring up the fact that humans, like the one she had been, had hunted and killed his mother for sport.
“Then I should be grateful you were out there.” She surprised him again with a complete change of tone. Her voice became softer now, with an almost magical ability to work its way under his tough Were skin. The prickle of anticipation Michael felt when he observed Kaitlin was always unexpected, and wholly unique.
He fended off the desire to shift right there and avoid those gray eyes, the way he had done the night before. But shifting was a private matter, and Kaitlin had already seen him do it twice.
“Thank you for whatever you did to keep me alive, Michael. I mean it.”
She was still curled up in a ball, knees drawn tight. “I didn’t want to die and prayed for intervention. So, really, you can be considered an angel. My angel.”
Michael counted the passing seconds by his own racing heartbeats, knowing that this was the moment to take his leave. He wanted to argue again that he was the furthest thing possible from an angel. He had lethal teeth, ten razor-sharp claws, and he pretty much adhered to the moon’s beck and call. What kind of angel used the moon for their higher power?
He was a tough fighter for the rights of his kind to exist in this world, and yet his reactions to Kaitlin left him feeling fuzzy and ill-defined about the whole human-versus-wolf thing. These feelings were new and unwelcome. They left him feeling vulnerable when that word had never entered his vocabulary. They made him feel guilty about breaking certain vows.
I’m not to be trusted here, Kaitlin, this close to you.
He had to take care of this problem of being attracted to Kaitlin, and quickly. He couldn’t afford time away from his hunt for vampires and the protection of his pack.
Now that Rena knew about what he’d done, she could take Kaitlin under her wing. That task would serve Rena right for coming to see Kaitlin uninvited.
He shouldn’t linger near Kaitlin Davies for two minutes more. He’d done a good deed, had shared Lycan blood, which was a rare event for any Lycan, and Kaitlin had thanked him. The sun was up. She had made it through the weekend and seemed to be okay.
Damn, though...
Only heartless, soulless vampires left their offspring to fend for themselves. Vamps, and also a new breed of nasty rogue Weres created from the bites of other werewolves bent on passing along that trait to unsuspecting others. He had an obligation here to see Kaitlin through her transition to becoming Were, no matter how attracted to her he was. Three members of his pack had been the recipients of illicit tooth-and-claw encounters. Surely those Weres would understand about Kaitlin needing help, and condone what he had done to save her.
Kaitlin’s voice rose again, cutting through Michael’s internal chatter. “Why me? If you have a secret to keep, why help me?”
Her beautiful gray eyes reflected the chill of her fear. Kaitlin’s sober expression pierced his soul. Hell, this woman made the big bad wolf want to protect her.
“You’re young, beautiful and innocent. You have a whole lifetime ahead of you and didn’t deserve to die like that,” Michael said.
“Does anyone deserve to die?” she asked.
“Yes. The monster that attacked you and dozens of others like it.”
“God, there are more of them?”
“A seemingly infinite number,” Michael replied.
Kaitlin winced at the pain turning her head caused, and said, “You would have helped anyone out there?”
He had to think about that, and took too long for Kaitlin’s current need for answers.
Her eyes were accusatory. “You’re telling me the truth? You’re some sort of shape-shifter? I wasn’t mistaken about what I saw?”
He said, “Beneath a full moon, I change from this shape into another one.”
“Only with a full moon? I don’t recall seeing one last night.”
“I can change other times, as well. Only a few Lycans can do that, and not very many of us.”
She fired off another remark. “I’ll be a hybrid because I’m also human.”
“Because you started out human.”
“Why didn’t I die, Michael? What about this blood gift you mentioned? How does that work?”
“If you’re not born into our species, a transfer of blood is the only way to be initiated. It doesn’t take much, and is the only way I know of to heal the damage from a deadly vampire attack.”
“But it creates another werewolf.”
“Yes,” he reluctantly admitted.
Species. Initiated. Heal. Michael wondered how anyone in Kaitlin’s situation could possibly comprehend this.
“Would I have become a vampire if the monster’s blood had been left inside me?” she asked.
“You would have died and then been reanimated as one of them. Just like them. No heart. No soul. No need for breath. Hungering for blood.”
She pried her lips apart. “Maybe you helped me so that you wouldn’t have to contend with one more bloodsucker like the one I would have become.”
“Being like us seemed the better option, Kaitlin. Our genetics cause us to heal faster than normal, and we recover from injuries cleanly. We can survive a lot of things. With wolf blood in your veins to counteract that vamp’s damage, you had a chance. You’ve made it this far. In another month, that wound will be nothing more than a thin white scar. So I suppose...”
He leaned over her, with his hands on the mattress. “I suppose that though this new turn of events is unbelievable, you can be thankful you’re here today.”
Staring at Kaitlin, Michael relived how he had breathed life back into her after she had lain on the hard, damp ground. How he had cradled her in his arms and run his fingers over her bloodless face. He, who prided himself on remaining aloof from the human population, had whispered assurances to this woman, though one of her species had destroyed his family and others like his with a spray of silver bullets.
Did helping Kaitlin make him a traitor to his family, or just a bighearted
